People Leadership, Learning and Competence ManagementLaajuus (5 ECTS)

Objective

The most important resource in a new service-oriented and knowledge-based business is people; their competence, ability learn and innovate, their motivation and commitment. To lead competent and innovative people requires understanding of people´s mind and brain as well as emotions. The leaders must be able to create attractive visions, to communicate them clearly, to inspire and motivate people to work in teams, size new knowledge and share it in order to achieve the objectives.

The course equips the student with an overview of service leadership on levels of people, teams, and organizations. It also provides tools for managing the key resource competence, and leading the key process learning.

Content

The course is based on a cadre of leadership studies, brain research, work psychology and organizational science.

Topics include among others:
- Focus of leadership in service business
- Leading people, understanding diversity of people, and being aware of how people think, make decisions, solve problems, and how they can stay in good cognitive fitness for work.
- Leading teams, Building and leading a high-performing team
- Leading organization and specially developing and leading a learning organization, which is agile and proactively reacts to the environmental changes.
- Competence strategy as a tool to implement the business strategy in service business, competence management and competence development in service-oriented and knowledge-based business.

The readings are listed in Curriculum Guide 2015-16 as follows:

Topic 23. Team leadership, organizational leadership and self leadership; DISC analysis.
Topic 24. Knowledge management; Competence management. Competence strategy development.
Topic 25. Learning organizations.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree (240 cr) and minimum of three years of work experience.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

The execution of the course requires two assignments: one academic and the other a consultancy report implementing outcomes of academic assignments.

The academic assignment focuses on a specific area of leadership of service business. The second assignment focuses on developing plan of a case organization into a learning organization. Both assignments are carried out as a team assignments.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)
The course work meets with several of the six criteria below. The assignment shows satisfactory performance in more than three of the criteria.

The following criteria are used for assessing the IM Master’s coursework (lecture involvement, discussion, written assignments, leadership presentations and learning organization development presentation).

•The student shows an understanding of the relevant course content in relation to the contents of the articles, lectures and discussion.

•Student texts/presentations demonstrate an understanding of the article/lecture content and an ability to select, interpret and justify key messages in a grounded manner.

•The student shows interconnections between the proposed concepts and current business practice, showing abilities of reflection, evaluation and discussion.

•The student shows professional initiative, active participation and responsibility in both individual and team work.

• The student shows the ability to collect valid knowledge for his/her topic from outside the course sources by using scholarly search tools, by questioning current business practice and by practicing source critique.

•Student presentation contributes new knowledge, is well planned, and professionally presented to the audience. The team encourages and sustains a good discussion on the topic.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Assessment criteria, good (3-4). The course work meets with most of the above criteria.

Additionally the assignment shows good (=3) or very good (=4) quality performance in three or more of the criteria or otherwise good interpretation.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The course work meets with all the above six criteria. Additionally the assignment shows excellence in three or more of the above criteria or otherwise deviating excellence.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

The execution of the course requires two assignments: one academic and the other a consultancy report implementing outcomes of academic assignments.

The academic assignment focuses on a specific area of leadership of service business. The second assignment focuses on developing plan of a case organization into a learning organization. Both assignments are carried out as a team assignments.

The course work meets with several of the six criteria below. The assignment shows satisfactory performance in more than three of the criteria.

The following criteria are used for assessing the IM Master’s coursework (lecture involvement, discussion, written assignments, leadership presentations and learning organization development presentation).

•The student shows an understanding of the relevant course content in relation to the contents of the articles, lectures and discussion.

•Student texts/presentations demonstrate an understanding of the article/lecture content and an ability to select, interpret and justify key messages in a grounded manner.

•The student shows interconnections between the proposed concepts and current business practice, showing abilities of reflection, evaluation and discussion.

•The student shows professional initiative, active participation and responsibility in both individual and team work.

• The student shows the ability to collect valid knowledge for his/her topic from outside the course sources by using scholarly search tools, by questioning current business practice and by practicing source critique.

•Student presentation contributes new knowledge, is well planned, and professionally presented to the audience. The team encourages and sustains a good discussion on the topic.

Further information

The advanced professional courses are integrated with each other to increase effectiveness of learning in a one-year program. This is why the timing of courses (lectures, workshops, team/individual work as assignments) is not always sequential, but activity- or theme-based, to allow for a variety of competence and substance area expertise development.

As this course is elective, the student may also select another Master' level course instead of this program, for example ERP, Quality Management or a Study Visit to St Petersburg, with industry analysis included.