Studying at York
International Perspectives on Leaders and Leadership - MAN00071H
- Department: The York Management School
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
Module summary
This module will introduce students to international perspectives on leaders and leadership, which are of central importance to international business management, public sector management, and politics.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
Module aims
This module will introduce students to international perspectives on leaders and leadership, which are of central importance to international business management, public sector management, and politics. The module will examine key theoretical and moral questions in leadership studies. What makes a leader successful? What social, political, cultural and organisational factors encourage “good” leadership and constrain or limit “bad leadership”? What do we mean by good/bad leadership? Should leaders be moral? Do ends/outcomes justify means? The module will be based on a survey of key ideas in leadership studies and through case examples exploring leaders and leadership in both business and politics in an international context.
Module learning outcomes
In this module students will:
1. Develop a critical understanding of leaders and leadership in an ethical and international context
2. Evaluate and critique political, sociological, and historical approaches to understanding leaders and leadership
3. Critically evaluate and apply theories leadership
4. Develop a thorough understanding of the field of Leadership Studies
5. Develop an understanding of, and critically reflect on, their own leadership preferences
Module content
This first section of this module will equip students with a thorough grounding in the theories of leadership studies. Core concepts and theories might include:
-Transformational Leadership
- Transactional Leadership
- Followership
- Toxic leadership
- Sustainable Leadership
- Crisis leadership
- Ethical and moral leadership
- Political leadership
The second section of the module will be based around case studies of leaders in action, drawn from both business and/or politics. This might include, for example:
1. John F. Kennedy, Nikita Kruschev and the Cuban Missile Crisis (Geo-politics, crisis leadership)
2. Margaret Thatcher, Arthur Scargill and the Miners Strike (Political leadership - Labour relations)
3. “Neutron Jack” Welch and the “Transformational Leader” (Corporate leadership - leadership ethics)
4. Gordon Brown and the Global Financial Crisis (Political leadership - financial leadership)
5. Donald Trump (USA) Jacinda Arden (NZ), and the Covid 19 Pandemic (Business leadership, political leadership, crisis leadership, toxic leadership)
6. Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Brexit (Political leadership, international political economy/trade relationships)
7. Putin, Zelensky, and Russian Invasion of Ukraine (International Political leadership, crisis leadership, economic disruptions)
8. Greta Thunberg and the Climate Crisis (Leadership from below, environmental crisis, green economy)
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Closed/in-person Exam (Centrally scheduled) | 60 |
| Essay/coursework | 40 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Closed/in-person Exam (Centrally scheduled) | 60 |
| Essay/coursework | 40 |
Module feedback
Students will receive feedback in line with University and SBS policy.
Indicative reading
Grint, Keith. (2010) Leadership: A Very Short Introduction. OUP Oxford.
Jackson, Brad, and Ken Parry. 2018) A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Studying Leadership. SAGE.
Tourish, Dennis. 2013. The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership: A Critical Perspective. London: Routledge.