This module provides learners with the opportunity to explore some of the emergent issues impacting on the realities of leadership and management. Inevitably wide-ranging in its scope, teaching and learning focusses on interactive and collaborative exploration of key issues and implications, with a focus on the responses of the individual leader.

The learning strategy for this module requires students to commit 150 learning hours (including assessment). This will include 24 hours of scheduled teaching and learning and 126 hours of independent and self-directed study.

The aim of this module is to introduce the student to a range of contemporary workplace issues, essential for the effective management of an organisation.

Content of the module includes issues such as:

• Diversity in the workplace
• Equal opportunities
• Green Business - issues and strategies
• Ethical leadership and management
• Corporate social responsibility
• Knowledge management
• Media communication
• Roles and responsibilities within the health and safety framework
• The legal framework within which organisations operate

The specific issues may be varied from the above as others become current. The underlying principle of the content is to identify and analyse the relationship between the organisation and its stakeholders, and understand the role of the Leader in managing that relationship.

Staffordshire University electronic resources and off-campus library facilities.
Module website
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform - www.berr.gov.uk
ACAS – www.acas.org.uk (incorporates useful links to business and regulatory sites covering module content)

Students will find significant value in accessing a range of contemporary business news reporting, using a range of sources such as industry publications, general business and news publications, and major news media outlets such as:

news.bbc.co.uk
Forbes
Financial Times
Management Today

Browaeys MJ and Price R. (2011) Understanding Cross-Cultural Management. 2nd Ed. FT Prentice Hall.

Cole G.A., (2011), Management Theory and Practice 7th Edition, Padstow: Thomson International

Palmer A. & Hartley R., (2012), The Business Environment (7th Ed.), Maidenhead: McGraw Hill

A work based assignment (2000 words) (100%) (Learning Outcomes 1-3)

This will focus on understanding and evaluating stakeholder expectations and current legal requirements where applicable, in respect of their own working environment. The assignment report will involve the evaluation, interpretation and contextualisation of module content, culminating in a reflective account identifying potential recommendations for action.