LEADERSHIP AND DECISION MAKING PROJECT - 2025/6

Module Overview

This is an advanced, research-led module on leadership and decision making. The module will draw upon a wide range of disciplines, including social psychology, cognitive psychology, organisational behaviour and managerial cognition to introduce students to the contemporary theories, research and practices or judgement, decision making, and leadership.

Leadership is the process through which individuals influence and are influenced by one or more people to accomplish group/organisational goals. It is one of the most important determinants of employee well-being and performance as well as organisational effectiveness. A central part of effective leadership and management is decision making under various organisational and contextual conditions. The rationale for this module is to enable students to critically evaluate different approaches to leadership and decision making in organisational settings and to understand the determinants of leadership and decision-making effectiveness and leadership development.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

COJUHARENCO Irina (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Leadership theory


• Rational decision-making


• Heuristics and biases


• Group decision-making


• Ethics and values


• Leading teams


• Negotiation

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Individual coursework

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate advanced understanding of the subject matter and mastery of the learning outcomes through practical application.

The group presentation assessment is an integrative collaborative project that showcases students' subject-specific knowledge and cognitive skills as well as their practical ability to apply their learning to complex problems and tasks in the relevant domain of professional practice. The individual portfolio offers students additionally the opportunity to showcase their personal engagement with the relevant current research and their personal development as leaders and decision makers.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Group presentation based on the module project 


• Individual portfolio 

Alternative assessment:

• Students who may need to re-sit the group element of assessment will submit a piece of individual coursework words similar to the content of the group presentation and worth 50% of total marks.

Formative assessment

Formative feedback is offered on an ongoing basis during seminars/group discussions, active learning sessions and project tutorials, which may be done face-to-face or online (synchronously).

 Feedback

Formative feedback is provided as detailed above.

Summative feedback is provided in writing, separately for each of the elements of assessment.

Module aims

• Develop critical awareness of theories and models of leadership behaviour and effectiveness.
• Develop an advanced understanding of key theories of judgement and decision making in organisations.
• Develop a practical ability to critically evaluate managerial decisions and actions, and to build awareness of own leadership style and development needs.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed on the principles of project-based experiential pedagogy to combine research-informed academic content with applied learning through project work.

Learning and teaching is research-led and follows a student-focused, experiential, flipped-classroom methodology with online elements. It comprises lectures/lecturettes, seminars, group discussions, and project tutorials. It includes active and self-directed learning - both group and individual. Following each session, students are expected to undertake the essential reading and complete any set work.

The project work, which is the basis of both active learning and module assessment, is designed to give students the experience of applied engagement with the latest research and practice in the area of leadership and decision making. This is supported by a series of dedicated group project discussions and tutorials Taken together, these sessions are designed to support student learning through project work and provide formative feedback in preparation for the assessment.

The learning and teaching methods include:

Lectures/lecturettes are mainly designed to illustrate and explain theoretical concepts and models.

Seminars/group discussions designed to develop a more practical insight into the applied nature of the various topics covered: they help explore the theoretical concepts and models by reference to a range of topical issues and case studies.

Active learning includes engaging in  classroom practical exercises, video and case analyses, and group project work.

Active learning through online study

Self-directed learning pertains to engaging with learning materials and undertaking desk-research required for classroom participation and assessment.

Project  workshops support students in their project work through systematic review of progress, discussion and formative feedback from the academic tutor and peers.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM450

Other information

Global and Cultural Intelligence

Students are encouraged to have a voice in the classroom and experiment with visioning, problem-solving, relationship-building and facilitation behaviours; listen to, debate and cooperate with fellow students from different countries and cultures.

Resourcefulness and resilience
Students are encouraged to reflect on the learning experience, responding positively to challenges, difficulties and setbacks; and produce creative coursework that documents their developing leadership and decision-making insight and expertise. 

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.