Unit Outline

Examination of the role and nature of leadership as a practice, as behaviour and as a suite of capabilities has been reignited in the wake of responses to the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, critique of leaders and the role they play has been ongoing for some time. This unit aims to identify a more expansive view of leadership practices beyond prevailing Western paradigms. Developing an appreciation of alternatives is imperative for leaders particularly if they are to leverage the benefits of diverse talents via a culture of belonging. Generating an understanding of the role of ‘place’ to appreciate the nuances of context is a key competence for leaders and managers if they are to recognise and implement appropriate responses to capability challenges amid complexity. As part of a suite of units examining leadership and the central function of organisational capability development the premise of this unit is to expand your understanding or knowledge of non-traditional notions of leadership and to appreciate the importance of sensemaking in organisations. The unit encourages you to think more expansively about the nature of leading in contemporary organisations.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Critically appraise dominant theories of leadership and capability against non-Western (including indigenous) paradigms of leadership and management.
2	Engage in and reflect on processes of sensemaking to identify opportunities for leadership in specific and diverse places.
3	Generate and communicate insights regarding your ongoing nuanced awareness of place and reflexive approach to leadership in developing organisational capability.
4	Communicate well reasoned arguments utilising an academic writing style and appropriate referencing.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Brief Consultant’s Report	Week 8	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Narrated PowerPoint Presentation	Week 10	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Portfolio of Current Affairs	Week 12	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Brief Consultant’s Report

Task Description:

Drawing on material from relevant literature and from current affairs if appropriate, in pairs you are to develop a report to the board of your own organisation or one that you have knowledge of.

Choose a leadership issue, challenge or practice and analyse alternatives or remedies drawing on alternative notions of leadership (particularly place based approaches). Critically appraise how/if more nuanced approaches might deliver more appropriate outcomes.

Examine and analyse how sensemaking has contributed to the ways in which the issue, challenge or practice has come to be and make recommendations as to how alternatives or remedies might be applied.

Due date: Monday 4 November

Task Length:

2500 words

Due Date:

Week 8

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Drawing on your knowledge of an organisation, clearly articulate a leadership issue, challenge or practice that could be improved for better outcomes	LO1
2	Critically analyse and communicate how sensemaking has contributed to the issue, challenge or practice under review	LO1
3	Utilising evidence from theory and relevant contemporary literature, generate well-reasoned recommendations	LO2
4	Articulate recommendations that clearly connect to and improve the issue, challenge or practice under review	LO1, LO3
5	Write clearly and in an appropriate manner for your intended audience using Harvard referencing	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Narrated PowerPoint Presentation

Task Description:

Drawing on the first assessment task, (in the same pairing) develop a ten-minute narrated PowerPoint presentation aimed at briefing the organisation’s staff about a change to leadership approaches as recommended in your consultant’s report.

Referencing relevant literature and theory, support your briefing with clearly articulated statements on how a more nuanced, perhaps non-traditional, approach to leadership might be of benefit to the organisation in responding to the issues, challenges or practices covered in the first assessment task.

Clearly articulate in the notes section of your presentation, how the content aims to contribute to processes of sensemaking in the organisation.

Take particular care to pitch your communications appropriately to your intended audience.

Due date: Monday 18 November

Task Length:

10 minutes of presentation time + support slides

Due Date:

Week 10

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Make convincing evidence-based arguments regarding leadership as it applies to the case in context.	LO1
2	Evidence how the recommended approaches will support sensemaking in the organisation	LO2, LO3
3	Clearly articulate recommendations that are consistent with the consultant’s report and connect clearly to the issues/challenges/practices under scrutiny	LO3
4	Clearly communicate your arguments with due regard to the intended audience	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Portfolio of Current Affairs

Task Description:

Over the course of the unit, collate four current affairs articles (from robust sources) identifying how organisations (local, regional or global) are responding to current challenges. Critique and compare the response as reported with possible alternatives drawn from emerging or non-Western perspectives on leadership as a facilitator of organisational capability. Draw on extant literature to support your arguments. Identify how ‘place’ or context is an important consideration and make explicit your reflections on sensemaking about new leadership concepts.

Due date: Friday 6 December

Task Length:

3000 words (maximum +10%)

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Drawing on relevant theory, critically appraise the ways in which leaders can utilise ‘place’ in developing organisational capability to achieve organisational objectives	LO2
2	Drawing heavily on extant theory, compare and contrast western theory associated with leadership in organisations with non-Western perspectives making explicit reference to processes of sensemaking	LO1, LO3
3	Generate and communicate convincing recommendations to support or deny the applicability of non-Western leadership paradigms as it relates to developing organisational capability	LO1
4	Write clearly in an academic style using Harvard referencing style throughout	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.