SFS40416 Organisation and leadership 3 (Autumn 2018–Spring 2019)

Modern organisational forms impose strict requirements on the leader's competence, and the need to develop such competence has therefore become an important focus for development in many organisations. The aim of the course is to enable the students to conduct development work in their own organisation, within the framework of their own leadership position or as part of staff functions. The basis for conducting such development work is a critical analysis of the organisation's functioning, a good understanding of the special conditions that apply to change processes and the expedient choice of instruments.

Leaders require mental tools to interpret trends in working life and social life in a critical and constructive manner, but also specific action-oriented tools to bring about desired changes. The goal of being both critical and constructive is a fundamental element of the course.

Through the course, the students will work towards developing a project outline for their thesis. This work will be carried out in groups, individually, at seminars and with their supervisor. Through teaching in philosophy of science, research design and quantitative and qualitative methodology, the students will develop the necessary knowledge and skills for work on the thesis. Work on philosophy of science, research design and methodology will be directly linked to the students' thesis work so that on completion of the course, the students will have a more reflective basis for starting to write their thesis.

• understanding the background for and content of relevant changes in working life and what consequences these have for the roles of leader and employee
• understanding the leader's role in development work
• understanding development and change processes in a learning perspective
• understanding how learning takes place in working life
• understanding how leadership is learnt and how leadership can be developed in a more systematic manner
• understanding appointment processes and how new employees are integrated in their new place of work
• planning and carrying out an independent, limited research or development project (master's thesis) under supervision and in accordance with applicable research ethical standards
• using qualitative and quantitative research methods

The course builds on the students' own experience and requires a great deal of activity and engagement on the part of the students, both at and between sessions. The sessions will be similar to workshops, with a great deal of group work on developing methods and tools for organisational and leadership development. Lectures and literature review will make up a small part of the sessions. This places great responsibility on the students in relation to working independently on the syllabus and raising difficult topics at the sessions in the form of questions.

Supervision
Each student will be appointed a supervisor and a contract between HiØ and the individual student will be signed that sets out the supervision and its scope.

Attendance requirement of 75 % of teaching days
Thesis seminar:

• Submit a thesis outline and present it orally
• Act as an opponent for the outlines of fellow students

Required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam.