Today more than ever business demands confident leaders. The complexity of contemporary organisations are exacerbated by current volatile business environments. Effective leaders must understand the different aspects that constitute an organisation, and be able to apply different theories and strategies to maximise the output of each organisation. Importantly, they must know themselves and their own leadership philosophies, to motivate change in a complex world.

This course will challenge you as a leader and shape your perspective on a range of organisation issues. Though exploring theories of organisational behaviour and leadership philosophies, this paper will enrich your ideas and the approaches you bring to your work. The course starts with the history of organisational theory and continuous on to explore behaviour on individual, group and organisation level. The effect of individual traits, values and perceptions are investigated, as well as the importance of effective groups and teams in the workplace. Organisational learning and change and a variety of topics vital for today's leaders such as culture and diversity, employee engagement, and stress and mental health will be explored. Assignments are designed to be thought provoking and self-reflective, and provide opportunity for students to renovate their own leadership philosophies.

This paper is taught in two four-hour sessions per week. It is vital to attend classes in person, unless circumstances prevents this. In such cases, alternative arrangements need to be made with the lecturer. A variety of approaches will be used such as lectures, group discussions, case studies, guest speakers, and student presentations.

Note that LEC01 will be moved to Monday 12noon-4.00pm MSB1.05 in due course. LEC02 will remain on Thursday 12noon-4.00pm.