Leadership Models and Methods

Catalog description

Design, analysis and application of leadership models and research methods for solving organizational problems. LEAD 557 Leadership Models and Methods (3) LEAD 557 provides masters'-level graduate students with an initial understanding of the process of research methods, particularly within leadership and management-related disciplines and in organizational contexts. Students will survey a variety of leadership models and their application to leadership research and practice. They will learn how to evaluate and design research studies and apply them in organizational context in their consulting work, debate ethical and philosophy of science issues, and solve focused organizational problems by applying the scientific method. Emphasis in this course is placed on "learning by doing" in order to gain knowledge of how leadership theories are formulated, how data are analyzed to test theories, and how conclusions about data and theory are drawn. Students learn by critiquing a variety of key leadership models, identifying real organizational problems and applying the skills of theory and hypothesis formulation, measurement, sampling, and study design. Students learn techniques of data collection and analysis using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), and how to write clear and concise research papers. As the course progresses, new knowledge and skills are integrated into a more sophisticated framework for understanding how leadership models and methods can solve organizational problems.