MBA 698
LEADERSHIP IN THE 21st CENTURY
SUMMER, 1998

Thursday, 6:00-10:00 p.m.
Roush Hall 424
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INSTRUCTORS:
Dr. Richard J. Yntema, History/Polictical Science
Office: 823-1884
Dr. Betsy MacLean, History/Political Science
Office: 823-1509
Dr. Denise Y. Hatter, Psychology
Office: 823-1987
Dr. Karyl, Sabbath, Communication
Office: 823-1752
Dr. Don Eskew, Business/Accounting/Economics (Coordinator)
Office:
Roush 414
Phone:
823-1212 (Office)
848-3381(Home)
Fax:
823-1014
E-Mail:
DESKEW@otterbein.edu
 
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READINGS:
  • DuBrin, A.J. (1998). Leadership: Reaserch, Findings, Practice, and Skills(Second Edition). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  • Oldham, J. M. and Morris, L.B. (1995). New Personality Self-Portrait (Second Edition). New York: Bantam Books.
  • Fairhurst, G.T. and Saar, A.J. (1998). Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills (Second Edition). SF: Jossey-Bass.
  • Readings in your MBA 698 Notebook.
 
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 
          The objective of this course is to provide students with a multidisciplinary exposure to the study of leadership. While emphasis of the course in on analysis, students will acquaint themselves with the special terms, concepts, and institutions encountered in past and present leadership environments. Leadership will be examined through the disciplines of history, psychology, communication, and business. Upon completion of this course students should:

  • Have a heightened awareness and an appreciation for diversity and the complexity of leadership practices and behavior;

  • Have an understandding of theory and scholarly ideas of traditional leadership study, as well as practical mechanisms that can enhance of deter leadership effectiveness;

  • Be able to understand and analyze problems which encompass leadership principles;

  • Be able to see how on establishes the ability to lead others through the use of language, symbols, and the shaping of reality;

  • Be able to critically examine how context, group/organizational perceptions and individual characteristics interact to shape leadership effectiveness.

  • Students will have the opportunity to question and re-think assumptions concerning leadership from historical, modern, and personal perspectives. Through their work with both theory and practice, students are expected to identify with the situational contingencies any leader may face.
 
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COURSE FORMAT
 
          This course is a team-taught course that will be taught in the following topic order: History, Paychology, Communication, and Business. The expectations and evaluations for each topic will be as follows.
 
Weeks 1 and 2 - History
 
          In Week 1, there will be an analysis of Henry Ford and his impact on business. The focus of this discussion will be on Ford's entrepreneurship, innovation, his influence on society, and how he transformed an industry. The debate of whether an individual shapes history or history shapes the individual will be introduced. On the third class of the course students will turn in a case study or essay on Ford and leadership. This will be worth 10% of your grade.
 
          In Week 2, the institutional restraints and public pressures placed on a leader will be introduced. The interaction of those pressures with the characteristics, world view, style, and personality of the leader will be analyzed to help determine the leader's success or failure. Students will focus on President Lyndon Johnson as a case study. In Week4 of the course students will submit an essay related to the readings for Week 2. This will constitute 10% of your final grade.
 
          Evaluation: The work required from the first two weeks will be worth 20% of your final grade. On the evenings of class sessions, students will be expected to be able to discuss the reading selections. On the final exam, students will be expected to write an essay analyzing Ford and Johnson and the issue of leadership. This will be discussed in class.
 
Weeks 3 and 4 - Psychology/Specific Focus: Individual Differences
 
          In Week 3 students will be introduced to the psychology of presonality and its influence on leadership attitudes and behavior in the workplace. This focus will entail a brief examination of various perspectives on personality; views on effective leadership characteristics and styles; and individual personality assessment. Discussion of individual personality styles and associated leadership characteristics will be facilitated. Further, the effectiveness of employing personality in leadership selection will be presented for consideration and debate. To help facilitate the process of this area of focus students will be minimally expected to complete assigned readings, a view of media presentation, and respond to a self report measure of personality.
 
          In Week 4 the focus on individual differences in leadership will be continued with specific reference to diversity in the workplace. Students will be introduced and challenged to consider a myriad of issues and demands associated with being a leader in an increasingly diverse workplace. Instances of successes, failures, etc., associated with the management of diversity will be critically examined through the use of media and case analyses, class discussions and lecture material. Experiences of specific ethnic and gender groups will be highlighted, as examples, although there will be an inclusive focuss on diversity.
 
          Evaluation: The work required in the second two weeks will be worth 20% of your final grade. Class participation in discussion/debate, case analyses, and completion of a self-report will be included in the evaluation. This will be discussed more in class.
 
Weeks 5 and 6 - Communication
 
          Week 5 will provide a focus on communication as the process which empowers leaders to initiate structure, to coordinate activities, and to direct others toward the accomplishment of goals.
 
          During Week 6 students will examine communication as the ongoing social construction of meaning within organizational life. Essential to this examination is the discussion of language and its relevance in the shaping of organization culture. Speeches, written texts, theoretical perspectives and case studies will be used in our analysis of leadership from a communication perspective.
 
          Evaluation: The work required in the third two weeks will be worth 20% of your final grade. Each student will be responsible for providing a "script" (segment of a speech, story, or even the packaging of visual images) which will illustrate how a leader can effectively or ineffectively manage meaning. These examples will be presented in class during Week 6. Evaluation will be based on appropriateness of application and clarity or presentation.
 
          Students will also be responsible for one case study analysis. A quality analysis will depend on the synthesis of the assigned readings from Weeks 5 and 6. Evaluation of this assignment will be based on the appropriateness and thoroughness with which the readings and in-class discussions are applied. Additional guidelines will be provided in class.
 
Weeks 7 and 8 - Business
 
          In Week 7, students will discuss effective leadership and overall organizational effectiveness. This will be done through examination of business leadership theories and research on the organizational effectiveness-leadership link. Discussion could center on whether effectiveness can be directly attributed to the leader (their vision, their charisma, their motivational skills), to the organizational attributes at the leaders disposal (power/authority the position gives, the right "mix" of leader and followers, the financial situation of the company, institutional constraints), or a combination. Finally, ethics and leadership will be examined. Discussion in this area will focus on followers perceptions of leadership behavior, the ethics of using charisma and personality in leading others, and how leadership use social responsiblility.
 
          Week 8 will involve discussion of a case analysis and a wrap-up of the course. Particular emphasis will be given to the synthesis of all four of the topics discussed over the course.
 
          Evaluation: The work required in the last two weeks will be worth 20% of your grade. Students will also be responsible for one case study analysis. A quality analysis will depend on the synthesis of the assigned readings from Weeks 5 and 6. Evaluation of this assignment will be based on the appropriateness and thoroughness with which the readings and in-class discussions are applied. Additional guidelines will be provided in class.
 
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FINAL EXAM
 
          The final exam will be worth 20% of your final grade. This exam will be a four hour, in-class essay exam. The final will be cumulative. The exam date is noted on the calendar. There will be NO make-up times of extensions of due dates, and you will be required to complete the exam. There will be NO "extra credit" projects in this class.
 
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READINGS
 
          There are a selection of text chapters and articles provided for your reading. Any selection assigned on the syllabus is required reading - it is not an option. You will be expected to read these articles before class discussion and they will be used to form exam questions. Please check the Calendar for selections and dates. We will expect you to read these articles before class – plan and allow time to do so.
 
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FINAL GRADES
 
           The cutoff points used to determine grades will be as follows:
Percentage Grade
100%-93% A
92-90 A-
89-87 B+
86-83 B
82-80 B-
79-77 C+
76-73 C
72-70 C-
69-67 D+
66-60 D
59% or lower F


CALENDAR (* Denotes Case)

Date Topic Week
Thurs 6/18 HISTORY
Bryant & Dethloff, A History of American Business
Smith & Clancy, Major Problems in the Histoy of American Technology
Jardim, The First Henry Ford: A Study in Personality and Business Leadership 		1
Thurs 6/25 HISTORY
Barber, "The Presidential Character"
Chapters 1, 9, 10, and 11 		2
Thurs 7/2 PSYCHOLOGY
*First Section Assignment #1 (History) Due
Dubrin: Chapters 2, 4, and 5 Oldham & Morris, New Personality Self-Portrait: Why you think, work, love and act the way you do.
 3
Thurs 7/9 PSYCHOLOGY
*First Section Assignment #2 (History) Due
Durbin: Chapter 14
Blank & Slipp, Voices of Diversity, Chapters 1-5
Eichenwald, "One smiles on minorities: One sneers at them, which one is real?" (online)
http://dorsai.org/~jdadd/texaco4.html 		4
Thurs 7/16 COMMUNICATION
*Second Section Assignments (Psychology) Due
Dubrin: Pages 302-331
Fairhurst & Saar, Chapters 1-4 		5
Thurs 7/23 COMMUNICATION
Fairhurst & Saar, Chapters 5-8
Bormann, "Symbolic convergence: Organizational communication and culture"
Eisenberg, "Ambiguity as strategy in organizational communication"
Smith & Eisenberg, "Conflict at Disneyland: A root-metaphor analysis"
 6
Thurs 7/30 BUSINESS
*Third Section Assignments (Communication) Due
DuBrin: Pages 5-9; Chapters 3, 6, and 8
Haleblian and Finkelstein, "Top management team size, CEO dominance, and firm performance: moderating roles of environmental turbulence and discretion"
Howell and Avolio, "The ethics of charasmatic leadership: Submission of liberation?"
Dechant and Altman, "Environmental leadership: From compliance to competitive advantage" 		7
Thurs 8/6 Business
*Fourth Section Assignment (Business) Due
Deitzer, Krigline, & Peterson, "Goodyear: The Gault years"
Boje, "Stories of the storytelling organization: A post-modern analysis of Disney as "Tamara- Land"
Boeker, "Strategic change: The effects of founding history"
 8
Thurs 8/13 FINAL EXAM

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