Programmatic Overview

Faculty Guide
LDR/531 Version 5 / 1

LDR/531Faculty Guide

Programmatic Overview

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program prepares students in business, allowing them to develop managerial skills necessary to be effective in a rapidly changing business environment. The program is based on current research of managerial competencies and graduate business standards, as tested by existing national standardized graduate business examinations.
In addition to University of Phoenix learning goals, the MBA program prepares students to do the following:

Demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed to identify and solve organizational problems using a systematic decision-making approach.
Demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed to manage, develop, and motivate personnel to meet changing organizational needs in a global business environment.
Apply critical analysis of alternatives under conditions of uncertainty.
Develop an awareness of values and the effect of those values on organizational decision-making.
Assess whether an organization’s plans and actions align with its values.
Comprehend applying business administration knowledge in management, business law, human capital management, organizational leadership, quantitative reasoning for business, economics, accounting, applied business research and statistics, operations management, corporate finance, marketing, and strategic planning and implementation.

Course Overview

Course Description

This course prepares students to apply leadership principles to the roles they play as managers. Students will discover more about themselves and learn more about the connection between the individual and the organization. Other topics include organizational culture, structure, group behavior, motivation, power, politics, organizational change, and workplace conflict.

Course Approach

LDR/531 emphasizesleadership theories and styles. During the first week of class, students complete a DiSC assessment, which contains information about themselves and how they can relate to others. The remaining weeks of the course cover leadership theories and practices.

This course also includes weekly Knowledge Checks. A Knowledge Check is a learning tool and formative assessment offering just-in-time hints, pop-up reference materials, and instant-answer explanations. The tool offers students and instructors clear insight into students’ mastery of specific learning objectives, and they furnish personalized recommendations for improvement at critical intervals throughout a course.

Key Terms and Content Outline

See weekly Study Guide for key terms and content outline. The weekly Knowledge Check and Final Examination are based on the information included in these guides.

Grading Guides

Provide the grading guides to studentsat the beginning of each week so they understand the assignment expectations.

Learning Team Weekly Reflection

The Weekly Reflection provides studentswith an opportunity to discuss this week’s course concepts. This assignment encourages students to meet with their Learning Teams every week to discuss what they have learned.

Mentorship Component

This course includes a mentorship aspect that requires students to find someone in a leadership position who can serve as their mentor. Students will develop a mentor–mentee relationship by conducting weekly meetings to discuss weekly topics and to learn about the mentor’s experience in a leadership role. Students must submit the University of Phoenix Material:MentorshipAgreement Form by the end of Week Two. During Weeks Two through Six, they will complete a University of Phoenix Material: Mentorship Meeting Worksheet. This professional relationship could last longer than the duration of the course, but the minimum time frame would be until the end of the LDR/531 course.

Week One

Evaluating Self and Others

Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of self and others.
Create professional development plans based on individual strengths and weaknesses.

Weekly Overview

This week,students take the DiSC assessment and reflect on their individual personality style profile—Dominance (D), Influence (i), Steadiness (S), Conscientiousness (C). Students develop self-awareness of their personality strengths and weaknesses, and they examine strategies to increase compatibility with different personality styles.

Students analyze the differences between groups and teams in organizations, the stages of the groups’ and teams’ development, and communication methods between groups and teams.

Mentorship Component

Students begin to look for someone in a leadership position to serve as their mentor for Weeks Three through Six. Once students find their mentor, they and their mentormust complete the University of Phoenix Material: Mentorship Agreement Form to be submitted by the end of Week Two.

Week Two

Theories of Leadership

Compare and contrast leadership theories.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of established leadership styles.

Weekly Overview

This week, students are introduced to the theories used in discussing leadership strategies and styles. The required readings present an analysis of various attributes of the most commonly used leadership theories and styles. In addition, this week covers leadership substitutes and their effectiveness within a working environment.

By researching established leadership styles and theories and by assessing personal leadership strengths and weaknesses, students may develop and refine their personal leadership style. They may also determine the type of position in an organization that would be a good match for them now and in the future.

Students further assess their leadership strengths and weaknesses and determine how their individual styles relate to established leadership theories. Theythen develop a professional development plan that will help identify the strengths and weaknesses of their Learning Team members.

Learning Team Weekly Reflection

Learning Teams discuss this week’s objectives. When grading, faculty should be looking for evidence of the Learning Team discussion, as well as a detailed description of the discussion. Feedback to students should include instructions to access additional resources for more difficult concepts, comments on the length and detail of the discussion, and a discussion of missed concepts and opportunities for the team.

Mentorship Component

Students look for a mentor they can develop a professional relationship with to learn more about how to be a successful leader and how to improve their own leadership skills. Students must submit the University of Phoenix Material: Mentorship Agreement Form by the end of the final day of Week Two. Students must also complete the University of Phoenix Material: Mentorship Meeting Worksheet and submit it by the end of the week.

Week Three

Communication and Group Behavior

Identify communication challenges of groups and teams.
Develop messages to address organizational communication needs.
Determine strategies and interventions to manage conflict.

Weekly Overview

This week, students learn how to foster a productive, collaborative work environment. This week’s assignment allows students to work with their mentor to identify their strengths and weaknesses to learn how they can become more effective leaders. In addition to evaluating their own leadership qualities, they will also evaluate a chosen leader to identify why they were so successful.

This week’s instructional topics and readings focus on organizational leadership. Differentiating between groups and teams, the readings discuss how leadership styles affect informal and formal groups in an organization. This week’s materials also introduce the challenges of and strategies for overcoming communication obstacles and conflict within a group or team environment.

When organizational leaders are surveyed on what they consider to be the most important qualities in managers, they invariably list team skills, people skills, and effective communication near the top of their list, if not at the very top. This week’s learning helps students develop the skills to be an effective leader who is well prepared to hold important positions in their organizations.

Learning Team Weekly Reflection

Mentorship Component

Students meet with their mentors to discuss weekly topics and to learn about real-world experiences and insights that will help make the course materials more relevant and personal. Students will complete the University of Phoenix Material: Mentorship Meeting Worksheet and submit it by the end of the week. Students must also complete the University of Phoenix Material: Mentorship Meeting Worksheet and submit it by the end of the week.

Week Four

Motivation and Satisfaction

Analyze the influence of attitudes, emotions, personalities, and values on behavior.
Develop plans to maximize motivation and satisfaction.

Weekly Overview

Studentsassess how attitudes, emotions, personalities, and values shape their behaviors in the workplace. They also consider how they can apply this self-evaluation to creating a working environment that increases motivation, fosters satisfaction, and improves performance. This week’s assignment allows students to apply their understanding of the benefits and challenges associated with groups and teams. They demonstrate this knowledge by reflecting and analyzing a professional experience or a current conflict within a company.

This week’s material elaborates on organizational behavior by explaining how to evaluate behavioral influences using attitudes and emotions within the workplace. The weekly readings build on organizational behavior fundamentals and how they relate to motivation, satisfaction, and performance within a working environment. This week’s material also discusses the obstacles presented while managing or leading a diverse staff, and it provides strategies for successfully leading individuals in an organization.

Mentorship Component

Week Five

Opportunities for Strategic Change

Analyze business opportunities for strategic change.
Analyze the influence of culture on departments and organizations.

Analyze the influence of structure on organizations.

Weekly Overview

This week, students are introduced to the social hierarchies within businesses that may not be easily classified, such as culture and structures. The readings assess how control is evaluated in relation to an organization’s size and structure. Topics include strategies to maximize managerial effectiveness based on organizational structure and culture.

Students are also introduced to strategies for initiating change policy within an organization. The readings and topics identify innovative organizations and tactics for creating or sustaining a cohesive working environment, for recommending change, and for implementing strategies needed to uphold successful operations in an organization.Students collaborate with each other to broaden their perspectives and to produce a motivation plan that addresses their differences.

Learning Team Weekly Reflection

This week, students use the 360 assessment and refect on the benefits of using this assessment as a tool.When grading, faculty should be looking for evidence of the Learning Team discussion, as well as a detailed description of the discussion. Feedback to students should include instructions to access additional resources for more difficult concepts, comments on the length and detail of the discussion, and a discussion of missed concepts and opportunities for the team.

Mentorship Component

Week Six

Leading Organizational Change

Evaluate power and politics of the organization.
Determine strategies for implementing change.

Weekly Overview

Using knowledge gained from the course and the concepts presented this week, students evaluate the influence of organizational size, structure, and culture on control in their final project. They also examine the effects of structure and management practices on developing power and politics or formal and informal structures.Students then recommend a change that would empower employees while improving the dynamics of the workplace.

Mentorship Component

Final Examination

The Final Examination will be based on the readings and graded electronically during the final week. The exam will be multiple choice. The results will be available to students and faculty. You must manually enter the scores for each student once the results are available. A Final Examination Study Guide will be provided with questions similar to those on the Final Examination. The correct answers will be provided at the end of the study guide. This allows students to research the concepts they do not understand to encourage learning of the concept. During the final week, faculty are encouraged to review any topics or objectives that are misunderstood by a large portion of the students in the class.

For ADA approved students, an extended time version of the Final Exam is available. Please direct your accommodated student to the Alternative Assessment Option for Faculty link. Only ADA approved students should use this extended-time version of the exam. The Disability Services office will notify faculty when a student has qualified for the use of this accommodation.