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2024/2025  KAN-CPSYO2005U  Strategy and Leadership

English Title
Strategy and Leadership

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Third Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and Psychology, MSc
Course coordinator
  • Nicole Ferry - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Leadership
  • Strategy
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 25-09-2024

Relevant links

Learning objectives
  • Demonstrate understanding of strategy and leadership, and in particular the interpersonal and group processes involved in strategy and leadership in practice
  • Analyze how social, cultural, and political dynamics relate to strategizing and leading in team and organizational contexts.
  • Critically reflect on strategy and leadership, as well as their intersection, in theory and practice.
  • Demonstrate critically reflexive strategic and leadership skills when applying course concepts to realistic business scenarios.
Prerequisites for registering for the exam (activities during the teaching period)
Number of compulsory activities which must be approved (see section 13 of the Programme Regulations): 2
Compulsory home assignments
2 mandatory assignments max. 3 pages, has to be approved during the course in order to attend the final exam.
Examination
Strategy and Leadership:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Assignment type Essay
Release of assignment An assigned subject is released in class
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Spring
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Practice-based approaches to understand both leadership and strategy are becoming increasingly widespread in management and organization studies. The practice perspective on strategy focuses on strategists and strategizing, rather than organizations and strategies; similarly, the practice perspective on leadership looks for leadership in the interpersonal processes that actually happen, rather than in the traits or behaviors of particular individuals. What strategy- and leadership-as-practice have in common is that they are less concerned with what (top) leaders think or do and more with what people accomplish together in the workplace. Both strategy and leadership are understood as social processes, and the focus is on the micro-level social activities, processes and practices, as well as the social, cultural, political and material contingencies that shape how strategy and leadership emerge and unfold through day-to-day experience. This course will zoom on managerial activity, including how people in the workplace ‘do strategy’ and ‘do leadership’. We will study social processes including but not limited to power and influence, group dynamics, social networks, intersubjective agency, shared sensemaking, trust, adaptive leadership, information sharing, communication and dialogue, negotiation, and co-construction of responsibilities and routines. Through simulations and role plays, we will experience (ethical) decision making, experimentation, learning by doing, crisis response, strategic interaction, global collaboration, teamwork, change-directed efforts, problem solving, and coping. We will reflect upon how strategy and leadership unfold in managerial situations where individuals face uncertainty and ambiguity, and need to work together to solve problems and achieve (common) goals.

Description of the teaching methods
Several award-winning simulations will be deployed to achieve the learning objectives of the course. Combined with research articles and other readings, the in-class activities and lectures will serve as basis for individual critical reflexive journaling, which will then contribute to the final exam.
Feedback during the teaching period
Feedback will be given by the teacher on an ongoing basis during the semester, as well as following the mandatory assignments 1 and 2.

A forum will be organized for individualized, specialized peer feedback.
Student workload
Preparation 156 hours
Teaching 30 hours
mandatory assignment 1 6 hours
mandatory assignment 2 6 hours
Examination 8 hours
Expected literature

Required materials

  • Several Harvard Business Publishing simulations (approx. 15-25 USD each)
  • Academic articles (posted on Canvas)

 

Further reading

  • Cunliffe, A. L. (2004). On becoming a critically reflexive practitioner. Journal of Management Education, 28(4), 407–426.
  • Golsorkhi, D., Rouleau, L., Seidl, D., & Vaara, E. (Eds.). (2015). Cambridge handbook of strategy as practice (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Johnson, G., Langley, A., Melin, L., & Whittington, R. (2007). Strategy as practice: Research directions and resources. Cambridge University Press.
  • Raelin, J. A. (Ed.). (2016). Leadership-as-practice: Theory and application. Routledge.
Last updated on 25-09-2024