1st Term MBA-2016
LEADERSHIP
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Introduction
All students arrive to the MBA program after several years of challenging work
experience. In most cases, however, this experience is based on individual
performance, or working in small teams, and managing only few direct reports. This
course will help students develop an understanding of the increasing complexity of
leading and managing people at different levels of the organization. By relying on
theoretical, empirical, and practical frameworks, this class will provide the tools
necessary for students to make meaningful contributions as leaders of people, teams,
and organizations.
The course is designed to address several fundamental aspects of managing and
leading people in organizations. These include understanding human behavior and
work motivation, inspiring trust and commitment, managing interpersonal
relationships and conflict, working in teams, developing talent, and fostering a sense
of mission in the organization.
2. Objectives
This course intends to achieve three main objectives:
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Doing things through people: A greater understanding of what basic motives drive
people’s behavior, and how we can influence those motives.
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Effective and meaningful interpersonal relationships: A greater appreciation of
how to foster effective and meaningful interpersonal relationships in the
workplace. This requires understanding effective and ineffective uses of power
and influence, and learning how to address conflict. We will also focus on how to
develop talent and foster effective teamwork and how to promote organizational
cultures aligned with the company´s mission.
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Global business environment: A greater understanding of how to develop and lead
people in a global business environment. We will work with cases from multiple
continents and diverse cultural contexts with the aim of developing students'
ability to identify, adapt to, and prosper in different organizational contexts.
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3. Learning Outcomes
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Understand key responsibilities of leadership
Broaden toolkit for motivating people beyond financial incentives
Be able to build and exercise power and influence at both personal and positional
levels
Analyze and address root causes of conflict from rational and emotional
perspectives
Build and lead teams with diverse backgrounds
Know how to develop and coach people so as to achieve excellent outcomes
Understand how to cultivate organizational culture that is aligned with vision and
strategy
4. Competences
General competences:
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Fostering vision and employee engagement
Motivating people
Conflict resolution
Communication and feedback
Building effective teams
Specific competences:
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Develop a view of leadership with vision and mission, that not only focuses on
achieving result but also on creating positive impacts on people and society.
Understand key skills to motivate and influence people to reach common goals,
through developing individuals and teams and adequately defining the culture and
structure of organization.
5. Content
The course is divided in six modules:
1. Motivation. We explore individual motivation and the three basic types of
motives: extrinsic, intrinsic, and transcendent.
2. Power and influence. We focus on three levers of effective people management:
power (use and misuse), authority (“auctoritas," in the Latin etymology), and
trust.
3. Conflict management. We focus this module on managing expectations,
negotiating over scarce resources, understanding the emotional side of conflict,
and healing broken relationships.
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4. Talent development. We devote this module to understanding the skills of the
manager to develop his people. These coaching skills include giving and receiving
feedback, observing, assessing competencies, and facilitating development by
designing work experiences.
5. Teams. We focus on managing teams effectively in organizations, including in
global and cross-cultural business contexts.
6. Culture. We explore how to foster and manage a specific organizational culture.
All the topics discussed previously happen in specific organizational contexts, and
such contexts can cast strong influence on how people perceive and interpret a
situation.
6. Methodology
The course is based on the case method, and it will include also classroom exercises,
and lectures. At the end of each case there will be a wrap-up with the main learning
points. Course requirements include a team assignment and a final exam.
7. Evaluation
Your final grade for the course will be based on three criteria:
40% Class participation
20% Team project
40% Final exam
The link between course evaluation and course objectives is described below:
• Doing things through people. Team meetings and the video team project constitute
the “lab” for the concepts developed in class about leadership, motivation,
conflict, power, culture, etc. Students are encouraged to reflect on their team
performance and processes. Performance in class participation and the final exam
likely reflects the quality of team discussion in their small groups. It is almost
impossible to do well in class without “doing things through people.”
• Effective and meaningful interpersonal relationships. Class content includes
interpersonal relationships in the workplace, especially sections on power and
influence, conflict management, talent development, and teams. Class
participation should reflect the extent to which students have learned this
material. More importantly, their own experience on teamwork and team meetings
provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on how to foster effective
interpersonal relationships. Team project performance should reveal the extent of
student learning on this front.
• Global business environment. Class content includes exploring diverse cultural
contexts and students´ participation should reflect the extent to which they have
learned this material. But students are likely to learn the most about global
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environments from their own experience working closely under pressure with very
culturally-diverse teams. The team grade should reflect student learning on this
front.
8. Course Outline
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Introduction
Motivation
Motivation
Motivation
Motivation
Power & Influence
Power & Influence
Power & Influence
Conflict Management
Conflict Management
Conflict Management
Talent Development
Talent Development
Talent Development
Teams
Teams
Culture
Culture
Conclusion
Conclusion
Conclusion
Hausser Foods
Sybila (A)
José Bové (A)
Frank Nash
Lecture
Helena Helsen
Bob Knowlton (I)
Gustavo Torres
Jeffrey Smith
In the Shadow of the City
Exercise
Rob Parson
Banco Azucarero
Exercise
Rudi Gassner (A)
Sun Microsystems
Bridgewater
Victorinox
Reflection on Teamwork
Team Project Presentation
Final Lecture
9. Readings
Please read the following materials, which may provide you with useful frameworks
and tools to analyze the challenges presented in the cases.
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DPON-10-E
DPON-12-E
DPON-53-E
FHN-345-E
R0611D-PDF-ENG
OP-03/11-E
FHN-216-E
Basics in work motivation
Trust in boss-subordinate relationships
Managing conflicts
Coaching in the development of professional competencies
Managing multicultural team
Management by missions
Business or enterprise? Different approaches to the
management of people in organizations
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10. Bibliography
1. Motivation and influence
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Work Motivation. Gary P. Latham. Sage, 2007.
Rewarding Excellence. Edward E. Lawler III. Ed. Jossey-Bass, 2000.
Working with Emotional Intelligence. Daniel Goleman. Ed. Bantam Books, 1998.
Managing with Power. Jeffrey Pfeffer. Ed. Harvard Business School Press, 1994.
2. Competencies and coaching
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How to Develop Leadership Competencies. Pablo Cardona and Pilar García. Ed.
EUNSA, 2005.
Effective Coaching. Marshall J. Cook. Ed. McGraw-Hill, 1999.
Building Robust Competencies. Paul C. Green. Ed. Jossey-Bass, 1999.
The 7 habits of Highly Effective People. Stephen R. Covey. Ed. Simon & Shuster,
1989.
3. Leadership
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The Nature of Leadership (2nd Edition). David V. Day and John Antonakis. Sage,
2012.
Handbook of Leadership: Theory and Practice. Nitin Hohria and Rakesh Khurana.
Havard Business Press, 2010.
Global Leadership. Mark E. Mendenhall, Joyce Osland, Allan Bird, Gary R. Oddou,
and Martha Maznevski. Routledge, 2008.
Stewardship. Peter Block. Ed. Berrett-Koehler, Publishers, 1996.
The Leadership Challenge. James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. Ed. Jossey-Bass,
1995.
4. Leading organizations
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Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate Competitive
Advantage. Scott Keller and Colin Price. Wiley, 2011.
Management by Missions. Pablo Cardona and Carlos Rey. Palgrave Macmillan,
2008.
Good to Great. James C Collins. HarperCollins Publishers Inc, 2001.
The Human Equation. Jeffrey Pfeffer. Ed. Harvard Business School Press, 1998.
The Individualized Corporation. Sumantra Ghoshal and Christopher A. Bartlett. Ed.
Harper Business, 1997.
5. Textbooks on Organizational Behavior
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Organizational Behavior (2nd European ed). Robert Kreitner, Angelo Kinicki, and
Marc Buelens. Ed. McGraw-Hill, 2002.
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A primer on Organizational Behavior (4th ed). James L. Bowditch and Anthony F.
Buono. Ed. John Wiley & Sons, 1997.
Classic Readings in Organizational Behavior (2nd ed). J. Steven Ott. Ed. Harcourt
Brace College Publishers, 1996.
Classics of Organization Theory (3rd ed.). Jay M. Shafritz and J. Steven Ott. Ed.
Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1992.
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