TU-EV0002 - Leadership Theory, 03.06.2021-19.08.2021
This course space end date is set to 19.08.2021 Search Courses: TU-EV0002
Outro essay
The Outro essay assignment consists of three parts: 1) A literature review of the entire reading material, 2) A personal reflection about the literature and, 3) An application exercise.
1: Read all of the reading material for the essay and write a classic literature review (for typical literature review guidelines see e.g. https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/literature-reviews/ https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/literature-review/ ; Note that in this assignment you do not have to search for literature or define your research questions)
In your review you should address the following questions, however neither confine yourself nor organise your essay based on these questions:
How has the leadership literature developed and what is its current state?
How is the academic literature on leadership different from literature directed towards executives and laymen?
How many different overarching schools of thought about leadership can you find in the literature and how are they different from each other?
What key concepts, frameworks or developments would you highlight as especially significant in the literature?
Remember to use and reference all of the assigned literature in your essay.
2: Consider the literature you have read from different vantage points and exercise the full scope of your critical thinking and imagination for application. In your essay, use the following questions for support, but do not organize or limit yourself to these questions:
What are the limits and possibilities of leadership theory?
For whom is the read leadership literature for?
What is the past, present and future zeitgeist in leadership research?
What can you do with leadership theory and what not?
Which articles do you like more than others and why?
If you believe a particular article to 100%, what are the implications?
If you doubt some aspect of an article, what are your strongest grounds to do so?
3: This assignment has two parts and you should do either part A or B, not both.
A: Provide a short case description of a significant event or chain of events from your own life which is somehow related to leadership. Present three different renditions or interpretations of the event using three established theories of leadership from the course reading material. Summarise their significant differences and similarities as well as what this exercise has taught you.
B: See the following insert from the Academy Award winning movie Braveheart (1995). ‘ Analyse the material from three established theoretical vantage points on leadership stemming from the course material and explicate their significant differences and similarities. End with a short discussion on what this exercise has taught you.For an example of how to provide three different vantage points about a single set of data, see Knights & Willmott (1992). Please note that Knights and Willmott (1992) is not otherwise part of the reading material.
Knights, D., & Willmott, H. (1992). Conceptualizing Leadership Processes: A Study of Senior Managers in a Financial Services Company. Journal of Management Studies, 29(6), 761–782.
The evaluation criteria for your essay include six criteria: Content knowledge, Critical thinking, Application, Structure, Academic Writing, and overall Presentation. Each criterion is of equal importance and weight in calculating the final grade of the essay. Each criterion is assessed on a scale from 0(0-49%) to 5(90-100%).
Content knowledge is based on show of knowledge acquisition: To what extent does the content of the essay illustrate that the student can recall, reproduce, combine, interpret, engage with, and comprehend scientific articles, information, conceptual knowledge, and existing literature. The student should be able to engage with both the minute details and the more overarching themes in the literature.
Critical thinking is based on how well students reflect on and use alternative points of views to assess knowledge claims, explicitly and implicitly employed assumptions, and other relevant aspects of academic texts. Critical thinking puts the texts in perspective, that is, a reasoned, proportionate, and well-articulated context(s) that draw forth novel insights about the literature. The show of critical thinking is based on to what extent the student is able to illustrate a strategic, reasonable, and personal point of view on the texts, argue the case for that view, for example, by drawing logical conclusions that are not immediately obvious and by managing to showcase a genuinely compelling understanding of the literature.
Application is short for knowledge application: To what extent does the essay illustrate that the student can use academic concepts and cognitive skills to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, and analyse texts and topics in an insightful way. To what extent does the content of the essay illustrate that the student can think extensively about what else can be done, how else can the learnings be used, and how could the student personally use what they have learned in different academic and real-world contexts.
Structure is assessed on the extent to which the submitted work of the assessment has a logical, fluent, and coherent flow of thought in the essay. In addition, how well the student is able to accentuate major points and provide a lucid and proportionate argument. The essay should include an introduction, paragraphs of appropriate length and development, and summaries or conclusions where appropriate.
Academic Writing is assessed on how well students employ standard academic practices in their essay. This includes the use of both active and passive references amongst the text, the use of quotes, use of italics and bold to emphasise key parts of the text, use of appropriate examples, metaphors, and analogies to bolster the argument, and a standard presentation of table of references. In these essays it is preferable that students use the “I”-form when they present their own opinions and critical thoughts about the literature.
Presentation is based on general readability and correspondence with the assignment: To what extent has the student provided a lucid, concise, consistent, and readable essay. Also to what extent has the student answered all the questions or tackled the entire assignment, showing the same level of consistency across questions, and has demonstrated an overall ability to make prudent judgment on writing the essay.
General instructions regarding form and the length of the essay
The suggested length of the whole essay is 14-18 pages (approx 6-8 pages question 1; 4-6 pages question 2; 4-6 pages question 3).
Maximum length is 20 pages. If there are longer than 20 page essays then the first 20 pages of content will be assessed. Cover page, table of content and references are not added into the 20 page limit.
Write your name, student number, and contact information on the first page. Use a basic font and font size (e.g. Calibri, 11 pt); line spacing 1-1,2; basic margins (e.g. 2,54 cm all).
Page numbering
PDF-format
Name the essay "LT_Outro_lastname_firstname"
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