Course Syllabus for "BUS401: Management Leadership"
All managers are leaders. All leaders are managers. Which of these
statements is true? Neither. The words are often confused, even in
academic settings, because we think that both leaders and managers are
in charge of a specific task or group of people. However, there are
many differences between the two. One such distinction is that a
manager may not be in charge of people at all. For example, a manager
may be in charge of data, including its acquisition, analysis, and
dissemination. Or consider the fact that a leader may have no formal
power; many of history’s greatest leaders only had power “earned” from
their peers instead of power granted by another individual or group.
Think of our country’s founding fathers, like Thomas Jefferson, who went
against the British government to draft the Declaration of
Independence—the situation created the “team,” and from that the
recognized leaders emerged. All of these distinctions will be explored
in this course. Not only will this course distinguish between managers
and leaders, but it will provide you with some of the resources to be
both a competent manager and a good leader. Whether you want to run a
doctor’s office or a company with thousands of employees, management and
leadership skills are the keys that open those doors. Many believe that
the highest positions are given to those that know the most about the
business, but in reality those positions are reserved for leaders whose
leadership skills transcend business acumen. These skills are difficult
to teach in any setting, so it is important to study them carefully and
look for real world situations in which to practice them. The structure
of this course focuses mostly on leadership, because a good portion of
management skills are reserved for technical knowledge in a position.
This course will begin with an introduction that will help further the
distinction between leadership and management, and then you will be
introduced to major theories and models of leadership and of leadership
development from a variety of perspectives. Next, you will be
introduced to the process of decision-making in a variety of leadership
settings. You will then study the processes of leading independently,
or without direct authority. The final unit will focus on managing
groups and teams. You may not be a leader after concluding this course,
but you certainly will have a better understanding of the qualities of
leadership. Perhaps you will discover there is a leader right at your
fingertips. Since April 29th, 2013, students have been able experience
portions of this course through the interactive problem based learning
pedagogy from Sunstone Business
SchoolMOOC. 
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- Distinguish the concept of leadership from the concept of management.
- Compare and contrast the major theories of leadership.
- Analyze the decision-making process and change management.
- Assess the skills necessary to exert power and influence in a non-authoritative leadership role.
- Evaluate the qualities necessary to effectively manage or lead in a team/group environment.
Course Requirements
In order to take this course, you must:
√ Have access to a computer
√ Have continuous broadband internet access
√ Have the ability/permission to install plug-ins or software (e.g. Adobe Reader or Flash)
√ Have the ability to download and save files and documents to a computer
√ Have the ability to open Microsoft files and documents (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc.)
√ Have competency in the English language
√ Have completed BUS208 and BUS209 successfully.
Course Information
Welcome to BUS401. Below, please find some general information on the
course and its requirements.
Course Designers: Phillip Whitley and Spyridon Patton
Primary Resources: This course is comprised of a range of different
onlinematerials, as the subject is extensive and lends itself to both
written and visual formats. While many different materials are used,
the following is a list of primary sources:
- Time magazine’s “The Time 100: Leaders and Revolutionaries”
- Legacee.com Murray Johannsen’s Leadership and Management series
- Mindtools.com series on Leadership Skills
- Free Management Library’s articles on Leadership by Carter McNamara
- Zainbooks’ Lesson in Leadership and Team Management
Requirements for Completion: You are expected to complete the
readings and video assignments for each unit. At the end of each unit,
there is a set of reading questions which will enable you to properly
frame the assigned material within the overall objectives for the unit
and for the course. At the end of the final unit, there is a Final Exam
that must be completed. Please note that you will only receive an
official grade on your Final Exam. In order to “pass” this course, you
will need to earn a 70% or higher on the Final Exam. Your score on the
exam will be tabulated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass
the exam, you may take it again.
Time Commitment: This course should take you approximately
96.5hours to complete. Each unit includes a “time advisory” that lists
the amount of time you are expected to spend on each subunit. These
should help you plan your time accordingly. It may be useful to take a
look at these time advisories and to determine how much time you have
over the next few weeks to complete each unit, and then to set goals for
yourself. For example, Unit 1 should take you 12.75 hours. Perhaps you
can sit down with your calendar and decide to complete subunit 1.1 (a
total of 3 hours) on Monday night; sub-subunits1.2.1 through 1.2.3(a
total of 4.5hours) on Tuesday night; etc.
Tips/Suggestions: Remember that the time advisories are simply
estimates. You should dedicate time to reviewing resources and studying
the content of the materials presented in this course. It will be
helpful to take comprehensive notes on the resources in this course.
These notes will serve as a useful study guide as you prepare for your
Final Exam.