module specification

This final-year core module “Leading Innovation” aims to enable students to study and apply in practice:

a range of leadership theories and techniques to critically evaluate and develop their own personal leadership style
a range of leadership theories and techniques to critically evaluate contemporary innovation practice, and organisations in a range of industries engaged with innovation practice
a range of innovation theories and techniques to critically evaluate contemporary innovation processes, and organisations in a range of industries that innovate
the synergies between leadership and innovation in a range of contexts

The Module will be based around two themes:
(i) Theme 1: Leadership, where they will study, reflect on, and use leadership theories and techniques to assess and develop their own personal leadership style.  By doing this, students will be closely engaging with and evaluating classic and contemporary theories, and directly applying the ideas from these theories to their own experience and ambitions. 
(ii) Theme 2: Innovation, where they will study, analyse, and evaluate the innovation processes of selected organisations and industries (by critiquing, for example, Case Studies), and how innovation is achieved and operates within the contemporary economy (by critiquing, for example, classic and contemporary examples).  In addition, students will study the synergies between leadership and innovation, an emerging area in academic research and in practice.  By doing this, students will be closely engaging with and evaluating innovation practice and performance, informed by the leadership theories and techniques covered in Theme 1.

Each theme will conclude with an assignment: Theme 1 will conclude with a team-based formative assignment, and Theme 2 will conclude with a pairs-based summative assignment.  Once complete, this Module aims to enable students to understand a long-term timeline.  Firstly, students will ‘look back’ and be exposed to classic and contemporary leadership texts, so they can critically evaluate and develop their own personal leadership style.  Secondly, they will ‘look forward’ and critically evaluate how innovation can further emerge in the economy and society, and how contemporary and future organisations and industries can ensure sustainability through enhanced innovation, blended with enhanced organisational leadership.

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The Module will be divided into two themes: (i) Theme 1: Leadership, and (ii) Theme 2: Innovation.  A long-term time will provide a link between the two themes.

In Theme 1, students will study, reflect on, and use key classic and contemporary leadership theories and techniques (such as trait, behavioural, contingency, and transformational leadership styles), case studies, and academic articles, which they will then directly apply in order to critically evaluate and develop their own personal leadership style, and to critically evaluate leadership in contemporary organisations and industries. LO1

In Theme 2, students will study, reflect on, and use key classic and contemporary innovation theories in order to critically evaluate how innovation emerges in the economy, society, and in organisations, how leadership influences innovation, and how innovation relates to organisational, economic, and social sustainability in a range of industries and contexts LO1, LO2

Classes in both Themes will be student-centred, and will contain tasks, exercises, close readings (of textbook chapters, academic articles, company websites, journalism / media articles), discussions, presentations, activities, videos, feed-back, and feed-forward, designed around preparing students for the assignments.

Scheduled teaching will involve sessions which will include formal lectures, student-led sessions, workshops, seminars, discussions, presentations, online readings and tasks, and formative tasks.  All materials and readings will be available online, directly building blending learning directly into the Module.

Theme 1 will conclude with a formative task, for which the students will receive written and verbal feedback to reflect on, and will feed directly into the Theme 2 summative assignment.  Students will receive ‘feed-forward’ for the summative assignment, followed by written and verbal feedback after submission.  These activities will allow students to reflect on their learning style and academic performance on this Module and on other Modules also.

These class and online activities will contribute directly to the student’s Personal and Professional Development (PDP), as Theme 1 is based around Leadership, and Theme 2 is based around the synergies between innovation and leadership.

By the end of the Module, students will be able to:

LO1: Use, evaluate, and apply to both themselves and to organisations a range of classic and contemporary leadership styles

LO2: Critically analyse innovation processes in the economy, society, and organisations, and to evaluate the synergies between leadership and innovation

The summative assignment, Assignment 1(100% weighting), 2,500 words maximum, produced in pairs, will be a critical analysis of a Case Study (to be provided) of an organisation where leadership and innovation feature.  The task will require the students to critically evaluate the performance of the leaders and their innovation practices, and to suggest ways forward to improve and develop both leadership and innovation for sustainability in the future.

Within this assignment, the pairs will also reflect on their own leadership style, and style of business management analysis, referring to the core readings and materials (listed above).

By completing this summative assignment, students will directly address each of the two Learning Outcomes (detailed above).

Core (all either online or will be made available online with PDFs):
Bocken, N (2019) Innovation for Sustainability: Business Transformations Towards a Better World, Palgrave Macmillan (selected chapters will be made available online)

Hill, L, et al (2014) Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation, Harvard Business review Press (selected chapters will be made available online)

Northouse, P (2018) Leadership: Theory and Practice, 8th Edition, SAGE (selected chapters will be made available online)

Soleas, E (2020) Leadership strategies for motivating innovation in individuals: a systematic review, in Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Vol 9, May 2020, see:
https://innovation-entrepreneurship.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13731-020-00120-w#citeas

Websites:
Alsolami, H, et al (2016) Revisiting Innovation Leadership, Open Journal of Leadership, Vol 5, No 2, see: https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=67219

Chartered Management Institute on ‘Leadership’, see:
https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/Files/PDF/Checklists/CHK-256-Understanding-management-and-leadership-styles.pdf

Hatch Innovation, see: https://www.hatchinnovation.co.uk/

IDEO, see: https://www.ideo.com/eu

Various articles from The Stanford Social Innovation Review, see: https://ssir.org/ 

Journals:
Journal of Leadership (SAGE), see:
https://journals.sagepub.com/home/lea

Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies (SAGE), see: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/jlo

Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, see:
https://innovation-entrepreneurship.springeropen.com/

Journal of Creativity and Innovation Management:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14678691