06201109 - Leadership and governance in Multinational Organizations (MNOs)

This course introduces students to the different concepts of leadership and governance in multinational organizations. At the end of the course the students will be able to describe the governance mechanisms of multinational organizations, explain how they are accountable to their different constituents, identify the challenges of leading organizations and implementing programs internationally and the different reporting requirements.
Note that governance is a system that provides a framework for managing organizations by identifying who can make decisions, who has the authority to act on behalf of the organization and who is accountable for how an organization and its people behave and perform. Leadership is a set of behaviors used to help people align their collective direction, to execute strategic plans, and to continually renew an organization. 

Estimation of private study (outside of contact hours): 40 hours

DIMENSION OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is a key topic in leadership and governance. Awareness and implementation of an ESG strategy is the responsibility of both the executive leadership team and those overseeing the Organization. Governance is part of the overall course content.

TARGETED KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS 

The aim of the course is to provide an introduction to Leadership and Governance in multinational organizations. Students will gain an overall understanding of the international operating environment. The learning goals are to:

Identify and classify multinational organizations, their systems of governance and structure;
Explain how multinational organizations are held accountable to different constituents;
Analyze the different challenges in leading a multinational organization;
Understand how to coordinate and implement strategy and programs internationally;
Describe the different reporting requirements of multinational organizations.

COURSE OUTLINE

The course is presented in 5 sessions of 4 hours. There is an introductory session to introduce the main concepts that will be taught during the course, followed by two sessions on Governance and two on sessions on Leadership.
Governance: The sessions focus on Corporate Governance and Oversight. The first Governance session focuses on “principles and codes”  on the board structure and the difference between executive and  non executive management. They will introduce Corporate Governance codes and the accountability to shareholders, focusing on accountability, authority and who makes the decisions. Key issues and themes will be presented such as oversight, control and audit and the corporate governance failures and the reasons behind them ; remuneration, and ESG and corporate responsibility.
Leadership: The sessions will focus on executive management and the difficulties in multinational organizations. Focus will be on organizational culture, leading teams and change management as well as the follow-up on performance and reporting.

PRESCRIBED TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS

1. International Corporate Governance: Prof Marc Goergen;
2. Leadership and Governance from the Inside Out: Robert Gandossy; Jeffrey Sonnenfeld;

Further texts and MOOCs will be provided during the course.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS

1. Further texts and MOOCs will be provided during the course.

EMBLEMATIC BOOKS OR RESEARCH PAPERS REGARDING THE SUBJECT OF THE COURSE

1. The Structuring of Organizations: Henry Mintzberg
2. Understanding Organizations: Charles Handy
3. Measure what matters: John Doerr
4. The Art and Practice of Corporate Governance, David Larcker, Brian Tayan, 979-8399430843

TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS OF IAELYON FACULTY ON THE SUBJECT OF THE COURSE

1. Further texts will be provided during the course.

Individual grade

Individual paper
Multiple choice assessment

Other grade(s)
Presentation in a group, 30min

Weight: 50/50

TEACHING METHODS

The teachers are practitioners from industry. The focus is on practical issues and implementation of leadership and governance in multinational organizations. There is a mixture of classrooms sessions, home study and group work. Classroom sessions will present theory and allow students to discuss key issues, especially understanding current evolving trends in leadership and governance in multinational organizations. At the masters’ level, the teaching will be encouraging students to research the subject and form their own opinions whilst providing some theory and demonstrating that theory with practical examples, using current business examples.

NATURE OF MATERIALS

The course is classroom based and instructor led. The main principles of the course will be taught directly to the students, and the students then encouraged to provide their own examples from experience and research. Examples of leadership and governance in multinational organizations will be taken from recent current affairs and business news. The general nature of the course general means that there is no overall guiding textbook, albeit general principles and current trends will be highlighted from management text books and research papers. There is group work and a case study.

TEACHING INNOVATIONS AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY

Student presentations will actively contribute to the course, notably in providing peer reviews using survey monkey and voting. Presentations can be made using video. Interaction will be encouraged using online tools such as Kahoot and voting software. Each session will start with a review of current business headlines from the past week. The course will be supported by MOOCs.

PRE-REQUISITES IN TERMS OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Students need to have a fluent level of English, being able to communicate actively in English both written and orally. Students should have a good understanding of the business environment, the general structure of business organizations and their control mechanisms.

ADVISED PRIOR READING

Understanding Organizations - Charles Handy
The structure of organizations – Henry Mintzberg