Course Description:

Every arena in our society has leaders. There are leaders in business, government, education, non-profit organizations, religious institutions, etc. Despite the prevalence of leadership in our everyday lives, we rarely think of leadership in systematic or cross-disciplinary ways (for example, through the lens of social science or cutting across disciplinary boundaries).

The purpose of this course is to encourage you to think about leadership in new ways. We will examine leadership as a function of 1) the leader, 2) the followers, 3) the situation in which leadership occurs, and most importantly 4) the multifaceted interactions among these components. We will do this together through the use of case studies, scientific studies of leadership, and experiential exercises.

Course Objectives:

By the end of the course, you should be able to:
1. Describe the relationship between leader characteristics and leader performance.
2. Describe the relationship between follower characteristics and leader performance.
3. Describe the relationship between situational characteristics and leader performance.
4. Describe the ways in which leader, follower, and situational characteristics interact to influence leader performance.
5. Apply this learning through the analysis of organizational situations.

None

1. Leadership as a process.
2. Leader characteristics.
3. Follower characteristics.
4. Situational characteristics.

All requirements are described in the "Assignments and Projects" section of the syllabus.

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain current textbook information for this course: http://rodp.bkstr.com

None

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm.

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm.

Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

All testing will be done on-line. Specific instructions will accompany each test, but you will be expected to complete individual tests without assistance from others.

Chapter Quizzes: 50 Points (Weekly quizzes keep you on track to finish the course assignments on a timely basis.)
Project 1: 100 Points (You will choose a leader from any field and analyze their performance using concepts from the first half of the course.)

Project 2: 100 Points (You will choose a leader from any field and analyze their performance using concepts from the entire course.)

Leadership Presentation: 50 Points (You will create an online presentation to share Project 2 with your classmates.)
Team Seminar: 100 Points (You will discuss course topics and complete exercises with an online team of classmates.)
Total: 400 Points

90-100---A
80-89---B
70-79---C
60-69---D
<60---F
Grades will be assigned on the scale presented above. There will be no rounding up a letter grade at the end of the course. There is no extra credit available in this class.

The grading scale emphasizes assignments, projects, and student participation in the virtual learning community.

1.  Students are asked to  communicate with other students in the chat room. 
2.  Students are expected to communicate with the instructor as a learning resource.
3.  Students are asked to check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements.
4.  Students are asked to actively participate in threaded discussion events.

Your attendance and active participation are essential elements of this class.  Much of the learning will come from shared ideas in Threaded Discussions, Chat, Email and the Team Seminar. Your active participation is necessary to build a learning community. Your participation in the Team Seminar, Threaded Discussions, Emails and in Chat will be graded as follows:

1) Student initiates thoughtful discussion.

2) Student provides valuable feedback to the seminar.

3) Student gives timely input into the seminar.

4) Student shows concern for quality of all products and deliverables presented in the seminar.

5) Student adds value to the overall learning community.

Course Ground Rules

Teaching Methods:

Homework assignments, threaded discussions, team seminar/project, and cases.

PowerPoint summaries, chat rooms for virtual office hours with instructor and dialogue with peers, and electronic calendar.

Written Communications Content:

Team Seminar and final case reports

International Business Content:

International aspects of leadership are covered in many chapters of the required text and in some of the cases.

Ethics Content and Honor Code:

Personal ethics and social responsibility issues are emphasized in the required text.  The ethical dimensions of organizational decision making will also be considered during all case discussions.

Guidelines for Communications

Email:

Always include a subject line.

Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.

Use standard fonts.

Do not send large attachments without permission.

Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.

Respect the privacy of other class members.

Discussion Groups:

Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.

Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.

Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of other’s ideas.

Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.

Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.

Be positive and constructive in group discussions.

Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

Chat:

Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.

Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.

Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.

Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.

Be constructive in your comments and suggestions.

Use the chat rooms for group presentation planning and project management. Schedule a time to meet in chat and work on group project planning. 

Web Resources:

Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor

Citation Styles Online http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading are included in this  course.

Students With Disabilities

If you have a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), that might impair your performance in this course, please inform your instructor during the first week of the term.. "Students with a disability requiring accommodations should contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS). An Accommodation Request (AR) should be completed as soon as possible, preferably by the end of the first week of the course." Phone number 931-372-6119 or http://www.tntech.edu/disability

Syllabus Changes

Any necessary changes to the course syllabus will be sent to the student by e-mail and posted on the bulletin board.

Technical Support

Telephone Support:

866-550-7637 (toll free) Help Desk for AskRODP

Web Support:

help.rodp.org   Web-based help for AskRODP

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