Students will be expected to seek texts from contemporary literature; example texts are given below:
Back, K., Back, K. (2005). Assertiveness at Work: A Practical Guide to Handling Awkward Situations. McGraw-Hill. Maidenhead.
Baddelely, S., James, K. Owl, Fox, Donkey or Sheep: Political Skills for Managers, Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham, published in Management Education and Development, Vol. 18 Pt1, 1987, pp 3-19.
Fisher, R., Ury, W., Patton, B. (2008). Getting to Yes: Negotiating an Agreement Without Giving In. Penguin Books. London.

Goleman, D. (1990). Working with Emotional Intelligence. Random House. New York.
Hartley, J., Fletcher, C., Wilton, P., Woodman, P., Ungemach, C. (June 2007). Leading with political awareness: Developing Leaders¿ skills to manage the political dimension across all sectors. Chartered Management Institute & Warwick Business School,(sponsored by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) for local government, Atkins and the Leadership Centre for Local Government (IGPM)).
Harvey, R. (2008) Tork and Grunt¿s Guide to Effective Negotiations. Marshall Cavendish. London.
Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), (November 2008). Giving councillors the tools for the job: the supporting councillors¿ declaration.
Ury, W. (1999). Getting Past No: Negotiating with Difficult People. Penguin Books. London.

Staffordshire University library facilities and Blackboard support.

The strategy for this module is one of blended learning, providing a mix of classroom delivered material, self-assessment, and learning online.

The learning strategy for the module requires you to commit 150 learning hours (including assessment). Of this there will be:

¿ 12 hours of workshops which will introduce key aspects of the module content, including a summary of the blended learning material and the type of formative feedback available through Blackboard VLE and the module tutor. They will also introduce the summative assessment and how the module is structured and carried out.
¿ 1 hour (minimum) of e-learning
¿ A discussion forum (4 hours minimum) on Blackboard
¿ Pre-course and post-course diagnostics with feedback totaling 9 hours.

Formative ¿peer assessment¿ will be a natural feature of the online discussion forum.

You will have additional support from the module tutor via email and telephone.

The programme will place a premium on developing critical thinking and analytical capabilities that can be applied in management situations. As would be expected, the depth of this subject area is such that there is a wealth of material available in text books, journals, other media and current events; you will be encouraged to research some of your own materials and share them in the ensuing discussions.

The richness of experience brought about by the expected diversity of organisations and organizational elements represented by the students in the group will facilitate discussion and debate of issues from a wide range of perspectives. As might be expected, there will often be no ¿right answer¿ to a number of issues and the direction and depth of discussion will rely greatly on the facilitation skills of the tutor.

A reflective journal (1500 words) weighted at 60%, LOs 1 & 2

A Poster (A1 or A2 siz, 1000 words equivalent) weighted at 40%, LOs 1 & 3

A minimum grade point of 4 must be achieved in both assessments to pass this module.

Indicative content is expected to be diverse in nature, reflecting the issues that are current and/or of direct concern to the students at the time. For the core content of this module typical areas might be selected from the aspects listed below but other aspects may be added/subtracted as considered appropriate:

Learning contract and personal objectives
Managing in a Political Environment
5 dimensions of political skills
Influencing skills & negotiating skills
Emotional Intelligence
Assertive communication
Principles of collaborative negotiation
Dealing with difficult behaviour
Learning logs and action planning