BUS 35 - Leading and Supervising Teams

Transfer Status

CSU

Unit(s)

3.00

• Lecture: 51.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/153.00 Total hours/3.00 Unit(s)
• Total: 51.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/153.00 Total hours/3.00 Unit(s)

Course Description: This course invites current and future managers to build foundational skills for leading teams of employees in a diverse, multicultural work environment. The focus is on self-assessment, analyzing to understand work situations, as well as developing leadership skills and strategies. This course emphasizes individual factors impacting success including communication skills, conflict resolution, motivation, decision making, leadership style, and business ethics.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Discuss key business concepts relating to leading employees and teams in a diverse, multicultural work environment focused on improving human relations and organizational effectiveness.
2. Apply improvement strategies related to key areas of effective leadership including decision making, communication skills, motivating employees, building teams, conflict management, and stress reduction.
3. Identify and describe their personal strengths and weaknesses related to human relationships in the workplace and devise a specific improvement plan.
4. Research, present and discuss cross-cultural differences in business conduct and employee relations in the workplace, such as workforce diversity, leadership styles, employee attitudes and communication.
5. Assess a business case and write a detailed, insightful case analysis report, identifying symptoms of an organization’s dysfunction and recommending appropriate short and long term improvement strategies.

Topic Titles / Suggested Time Topic

Lecture

1. Class Activities
2. Collaborative Group Work
3. Discussion
4. Homework: Students are required to complete two hours of outside-of-class homework for each hour of lecture
5. Lecture

1. Exams/Tests
2. Research Projects
3. Papers
4. Oral Presentation
5. Homework

Reading Assignments

1. Read the text material on ethics, including the description of the three stages of moral development: pre-conventional, conventional and post-convention. Conduct online research about businesses’ concerns about ethics and recent ethical transgressions. Prepare for class discussion of what businesses can do to optimize and reinforce the ethical behavior of their employees (operating at various stages of moral development).
2. Read the text material pertaining to motivation theories: need, choice and reinforcement. Prepare for in-class discussion about how these theories differ from one another, ways in which company strategies address Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and implications of the choice theories (expectancy and equity) for business managers wanting to motivate their employees.

Writing Assignments

1. Throughout the semester, complete assigned self-assessments relating to your personal traits and interpersonal style (e.g., personality, communication, conflict management, leadership). For each self-assessment, record your result and write a paragraph reflecting on it (e.g., its accuracy, its impact). After completion of all assessments, use a prescribed format to write a typed, 2-page memo, using descriptive sentences to detail your strengths, opportunities and improvement plan.
2. Read and critically evaluate a business case study that describes a dysfunctional work situation/environment. Identify indicators of existing problems, specify the causes or contributing factors. For each contributing factor, note evidence from the case to support your determination. Write up your case analysis findings in a 5-page report, using a prescribed format: Situation (including identification of symptoms), Contributing Factors, Short-Term Recommendations, and Long-Term Recommendations.

Out-of-Class Assignments

1. Leading and Supervising a Diverse Team: Research Report and Presentation As a member of a 3-6 person team of students, conduct research on the business environment and leadership practices in a country of your choice. Gather information pertaining to such things as the demographics; the educational levels; diversity in the workplace; communication style; office etiquette; and conflict resolution. After researching, collaboratively write a 15-20 page research paper (using APA style), following the format provided and incorporating references throughout and a bibliography.
2. Cross-Cultural Project Plan: As a member of a 3-6 person team of students, select a country and devise a project plan for the completion of your cross-cultural report and presentation. Identify team members and best way(s) of contacting them and their availability throughout the semester. Discuss individuals’ work styles and relevant skills. Determine and use the template format provided to depict the sequence of tasks to be completed prior to the final due date, appropriate due dates for work-in-progress, and team members responsible for various tasks. Use this plan/template as the basis for managing your cross-cultural team project process and enhancing team output.

Certo, S. (2024). Supervision: Concepts and Skill-Building. McGraw-Hill, Evergreen Ed.. 9781264887149.

Edwin C. Leonard, Susan Fant Cassity. (2025). Supervision: Concepts and Practices of Management. Cengage, 14th ed. 978-0357719008.

Zero Cost Textbook

Title: Organizational Behavior

Publisher: OpenStax.com

URL: https://openstax.org/details/books/organizational-behavior/

Publish Date: Jun 05, 2019

Web Version Last Updated: Jan 09, 2024

Hardcover: ISBN-13: 978-1-947172-71-5

Paperback: ISBN-13: 978-1-59399-877-6

Digital: ISBN-13: 978-1-947172-72-2

Contributing Authors:

J. Stewart Black, INSEAD

David S. Bright, Wright State University

Donald G. Gardner, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs

Eva Hartmann, University of Richmond

Jason Lambert, Texas Woman’s University

Laura M. Leduc, James Madison University

Joy Leopold, Webster University

James S. O’Rourke, University of Notre Dame

Jon L. Pierce, University of Minnesota-Duluth

Richard M. Steers, University of Oregon

Siri Terjesen, American University

Joseph Weiss, Bentley University

Other Learning Materials

Instructor may provide supplementary materials.

Business (Masters Required)

Management (Masters Required)