Kennesaw State University
Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics & Character
ILEC 8930 Leadership and Ethics-Study Abroad
Summer 2012
Course Description: This study abroad course focuses on a human paradigm of
leadership – the ability to connect with people you work with, to create an ethical
culture in the workplace, and to engage and motivate employees appealing to their
strengths and passions. It will answer questions such as ‘How do you get beyond
solving problems to creating possibilities?,’ ‘How does one deal with conflict within an
international organization?’ and ‘How can a leader generate true commitment vs. weak
compliance?’
The vision of the leader in this fast-changing 21st century is that of the “integral” leader
who is able to unleash the potential of each individual and in the total organization. This
course draws on frameworks presented by Daniel Golemen (Emotional Intelligence),
David Cooperrider (Appreciative Inquiry), and especially Mark Gerzon, author of
‘Leading Through Conflict: How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into
Opportunities.’
The students will engage with each other face-to-face and on-line prior to the trip and
on-line after the trip abroad.
Credits: 3 credits
Prerequisites: Acceptance into a KSU graduate Master’s or Doctoral degree program
and/or into the Siegel Institute’s Graduate Certificate Program in Leadership and Ethics.
Dates: Summer 2012. Specific dates to be determined.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this course participants will:
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Use various team and group experiences to identify and reflect on their own style
of leadership in groups.
Practice the leadership tools of integral vision, inquiry, dialogue, and innovative
thinking and plan for using them in real work situation.
Use the process of appreciative inquiry to examine a real work situation.
Practice international negotiation theories in a simulation.
Create a presentation to synthesize their learning on the subject of leadership.
Required Texts: *****
Modules:
1. Integral Leadership: Leading the Change How can you bring your values to
the workplace and develop leadership skills for sustainability? This module will
take participants through exercises helping them to first identify and then
integrate values into everyday business decisions.
2. Ethical Leadership for Sustainability How can you bring your values to the
workplace and develop leadership skills for sustainability across different value
systems? This module will take participants through exercises helping them to
identify and then to integrate values into everyday global business decisions.
3. Corporate Responsibility, Communications, and Stakeholder
Engagement This module focuses on engaging and inspiring stakeholders and
Corporate Responsibility (CR) reporting and branding. Some subthemes:
mapping stakeholders; behavioral and organizational change; long-term strategic
brand positioning and building brand value through CR.
4. Organizational and Behavioral Change Techniques, strategies, and case
studies to affect change at an individual and organizational level. How to ensure
high-level policies are supported by frontline behavior.
5. Cross-Sector Partnerships for Sustainability How can one develop win-win
cross-sector global partnerships when there is a probability of conflicting values
and cultures? This module will explore the principles for developing effective
partnerships for sustainability and illustrate with case studies.
6. Social Entrepreneurship What does the life of a social entrepreneur look like?
How banks are developing new business models around microfinance and
becoming trusted partners working towards strategic social and environmental
goals.
7. Social Enterprises This module will explore businesses that are contributing
positively to society while being profitable, and analyze what elements are
needed to succeed. Sustainability within the public and non-profit sectors will
also be explored.
8. Sustainability Frameworks This module focuses on the UN Global Compact
(the largest voluntary CSR framework) and the Global Reporting Initiative. A
case-study format will allow participants to implement these frameworks in a
medium-sized organization.
Course Format: The course is designed to be a practical and hands-on course,
allowing space for sharing and peer-to-peer learning.
Course Instructors:
Dr. Linda M. Johnston, Executive Director of the Siegel Institute for Leadership,
Ethics & Character will oversee the overall class. She will meet with the students before
the trip to Costa Rica and do all the grading for the class.
There are two proposed faculty members who will work with the students while they
are in Costa Rica.
Mohit Mukherjee, Director of the UPEACE Centre for Executive Education and a
faculty member at UPEACE. Prior to this position, he served as Education Program
Manager of the Earth Charter Initiative, an international nonprofit organization. He also
spent four years in the private sector at a top-tier international management consulting
firm based in the USA. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from
Stanford University and his Master’s at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and
also taking two courses at Harvard Business School on how to start up, manage, and
grow social enterprises.
Christine Little is a consultant working with organizations who want to build capacity
and commitment to implement their programs. She has worked directly in eighteen
countries on five continents developing training and capacity building programs and
facilitating processes that help teams and organizations define their goals and decide
how they will reach them. Before launching her consulting business, she was the
International Director of Learning and Organizational Development for Habitat for
Humanity. Christine holds an MSc in Organizational Development from Pepperdine
University’s Graziadio School of Business and a BA in English from Baldwin-Wallace
College.
Course Cost: The tuition fee includes all flights, local transportation, course materials,
housing, and meals. The cost for international participants for the trip is $****.
All participants will be awarded a certificate from the UN-mandated University for Peace
upon completion of the course.
ASSIGNMENTS AND DATES - SUBJECT TO CHANGE : Assignments and dates may
be subject to change. Students are responsible for all changes made to the calendar as
announced by the instructor via e-mail in an on-line learning platform.
Your Final Grade Based on
Points:
A
B
C
D
F
=
=
=
=
=
At least
270 Points
240 Points
210 Points
180 Points
less than 180 points
LATE WORK: Assignments that are not submitted on time will be graded -0- points.
However, the instructor reserves the right to extend the deadline for a particular
individual based on extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control; however,
in order to take advantage of this, the student must contact the instructor by telephone
as soon as the problem arises, provide a satisfactory explanation, and make alternative
arrangements for fulfilling the assignment requirement.
GRADING CRITERIA
Discussion Board - Reflections: Substantive answers to questions that are posted
and assigned for completion by a specific date are to be backed up by data, references,
thoughtful critique of your reading, thorough consideration of the question, and your
own experience.
Discussion Board - Responses: Class participation is willingly and spiritedly engaging
in asking questions of classmates in the virtual environment and freely participating in
posting and responding to the discussion of the topics at hand. The student will be
evaluated according to the degree to which he/she charitably reconstructs others'
arguments and engages in a thoughtful critique of those arguments. Thoughtful
critique indicates areas to build upon (strengths) and areas that demand rethinking,
stronger development, and clearer exposition (weaknesses).
Other Assignments: Some assignments will have special grading criteria associated
with them. Criteria for grading these assignments will be available in the on-line
learning platform.
FACULTY FEEDBACK
You will receive faculty feedback from the instructor on a regular basis throughout the
semester.
THE ONLINE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT (“NETIQUETTE”)
This is an online course taught within a sixteen-week semester. The online classroom
provides the opportunity for achieving learning objectives without attending in-person
classes on a traditional campus. Online learning requires a strong commitment to
responsibility for one's own learning and diligent adherence to the schedule. Selfdiscipline is the key attribute to success in this course. In this classroom there will be a
collaborative approach to learning, including students and facilitators. The facilitators
(faculty members) will assist students in identifying experiences that promote
achievement of the objectives.
When participating in an online course, it is expected that students will be respectful of
others and their beliefs and opinions. Anyone who becomes abusive of others will be
asked to leave the course. It is expected that we all will remain cordial and civil and we
will approach this learning environment as a place for all to learn and grow personally
and professionally. Remember that everything you say in an online environment is
permanent and will be taken literally. Your writings should be in a professional style,
that is, full sentences, well-structured paragraphs, no online colloquialisms, and
endnotes for references.
MINIMUM TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
*BY SIGNING UP FOR AN ONLINE or HYBRID COURSE, YOU ARE
RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING A WORKING COMPUTER with a Web
Browser with an audio file plugin for .mp3 or .mp4 files, Adobe Acrobat
Reader, Email and a word processing program. If you wait until the last
minute to submit your work, and it is late, expect to lose points. MAKE SURE
YOU HAVE A BACKUP PLAN. All county libraries have computers with access
to the Internet. Additionally, the university has computer laboratories.
UNLESS the on-line learning platform VERIFIES THERE’S A PROBLEM, YOU
WILL LOSE POINTS FOR LATE SUBMISSIONS.
COURSE POLICIES
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY. Every KSU student is responsible for upholding the provisions
of the Student Code of Conduct as published in the Graduate Catalogue. Section II of
the Student Code of Conduct addresses the University’s policy on academic honesty,
including provisions regarding plagiarism and cheating, unauthorized access to University
materials, misrepresentation/falsification of University records or academic work,
malicious removal, retention or destruction of library materials, malicious/intentional
misuse of computer facilities and/or services, and misuse of student identification cards.
Incidents of alleged academic misconduct will be handled through the established
procedures of the University Judiciary Program, which includes either an “informal”
resolution by a faculty member, resulting in grade adjustment, or a formal hearing
procedure, which may subject the student to the Code of Conduct’s minimum one
semester suspension requirement.
DISRUPTION OF CAMPUS LIFE. It is the purpose of the institution to provide a
campus environment that encourages academic accomplishment, personal growth, and a
spirit of understanding and cooperation. An important part of maintaining such an
environment is the commitment to protect the health and safety of every member of the
campus community. Belligerent, abusive, profane, threatening and/or inappropriate
behavior on the part of students is a violation of Kennesaw State University Student
Conduct Regulations. Students who are found guilty of such misconduct may be subject
to immediate dismissal from the institution. In addition, these violations of state law may
also be subject to criminal action beyond the University disciplinary process.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT. If you are a student who is disabled as
defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act and require assistance or support
services, please seek assistance through the Disabled Student Support Services—a unit of
the Student Development Center. Contact Ms. Carol Pope at 770-423-6443.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT. No person shall, on the grounds of race, color,
sex, religion, creed, national origin, age, or disability, be excluded from employment or
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination
under any program or activity conducted by KSU.
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT. All copyrighted material (hard copy or software) is
protected by state and federal legislation. Any reproduction of said material without
written permission is a violation of the law.
WRITING CENTER HELP. The KSU Writing Center is a free service offered to all KSU
students. Experienced, friendly Writing Assistants will work with you to become a
better writer--regardless of your strengths or weaknesses. Commonly covered writing
strategies include topic development, organization, revision, research, source
documentation, and grammar, but the Writing Center listens to and works with each
writer individually. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit
http://www.kennesaw.edu/english/WritingCenter, or stop by Room 242 in the English
Building.