The goal of this course is to help participants gain a better understanding of the founda­tions of leader­ship and help them to be more effective in leadership roles in their organizations. This entails developing knowledge and skills to analyze key issues in motivation, influence,decision-making, interpersonal relations, team processes, and organi­zational change. Analysis of real-life cases will demons­trate that effective leadership involves four critical processes: establishing direction, aligning people behind it, setting and main­taining values, and growth of self and others. These leader­ship tasks require self-awareness and self-manage­ment skills, therefore this course will also provide participants with an opportunity to reflect on their personality and leadership style, assess their leadership devel­opment needs and goals, and create a personal development action plan.

In addition to leadership basics,this course will cover a range of issues related to global leadership. At no time in human history has the contact between individuals and organizations from different countries been greater. The increase in global competition and the corresponding erosion of national boundaries has spurred an unprecedented surge in cross-border alliances, mergers, and acquisitions. Executives travel around broader regions while their jobs remain headquartered in one place. Global virtual teams are created to address important strategic challenges. Supplier and customer value chains circle the globe. As a result, the demands on global executives have increased exponentially.

Another focus of this course is on how to lead with foresight and integrity in a global and, often, turbulent environment. Today’s executives face unprecedented levels of complexity and have to make decisions that have huge social, economic and environmental implications. In so doing, they find themselves torn between the divergent and often conflicting needs and expectations of global and local stakeholders.Leading in such a context is fraught with ethical dilemmas and “integrity landmines”, and another goal of this course is to provide participants with strategies to navigate those tensions.

Knowledge and Understanding

• First-hand accounts of the challenges facing global corporations and leaders.
• Guidelines on managing people, teams and organizations in global contexts.
• Better understanding of the ethical dilemmas facing global managers and strategies for dealing with those dilemmas.
• Knowledge in culture theory and better understanding of how culture affects corporate strategy, organizational structure, and management practice.
• Understanding of the career issues facing global managers and how they can be addressed.
• Understanding of which attributes are important for global leadership success.

Cognitive and Subject Specific Skills:

• Knowledge to manage effectively in cross-cultural and global organizational environments.
• People management best practices and tools for managing organizational culture.
• An awareness of the pervasive and hidden influence that culture has on organizational behavior, and increased sensitivity to important cultural differences.
• The capacity to detect and analyze cultural differences in communication patterns, negoti­ation styles, and leadership behavior.
• The capacity to develop and implement high quality solutions in a global context.

General Skills:

• The ability to apply management know-how and skills to real-world leadership challenges.
• The ability to analyze cases dealing with global management and cross-cultural issues and to apply the learning to practical business situations.
• Experience working in multicultural teams and better team work skills.
• Greater intercultural sensitivity and empathy.
• Better implementation skills and the ability to balance global and local demands.
  

Please note: There are two sections of this course, limited to 30 participants each. Students who attended or are planning to attend the Becoming a Global Leader and/or the Synergy Through Diversity elective courses with Prof. Stahl are not eligible for this course.

The course is structured around ten 4-hour classroom sessions. Each session addresses a particular leadership challenge facing global execu­tives (e.g., leading a diverse team) or illustrating a particular leadership principle (e.g., influencing without using authority). Participants will be provided with a set of management concepts, analytical frame­works, and practical tools that will help them develop their capa­city to influence and manage people and groups effectively. Our modus operandi will be dialog, and the teaching approach varied, with a mix of lecture input, group discussion, case analysis, experiential exercises, videos, and assessments. Effective leadership requires self-awareness, so self-diagnostic tools will also be made available. Some classes will follow a learning group or L-Group format involving an input by the instructor, leading to a short period of roundtable discussion. In addition, a one day cultural immersion experience or service learning project will provide participants with an opportunity to spend time in an unfamiliar environment and apply some of the learnings.

The course grade will be computed as a weighted average of three elements:

a) Participation (40%)

b) Individual project: Cultural immersion experience or service learning project (40%)

c) Reflection paper: My leadership story (20%)

While evaluation is a necessary feature of this and any other course, it is not expected that participants will populate both tails of a normal distribution.

Please note:

There are two sections of this course, limited to 30 participants each. Students who attended or are planning to attend the Becoming a Global Leader and/or the Synergy Through Diversity elective courses with Prof. Stahl are not eligible for this course.

Günter Stahl

Institute for International Business, Building D1, Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Wien

Phone: +43-1-31336-4434

guenter.stahl@wu.ac.at

Office hours by appointment