Managerial Skills

MBA (Executive) Program

AGSM MBA Programs

Published in 2008 by Australian School of Business The University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052 CRICOS Provider Number: 00098G This document is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publishers, Australian School of Business, The University of New South Wales.

Managerial Skills

Course overview

AS00727

Contents
Course structure Course outline The learning approach Assessment Assessment policy Summary of requirements Assessment criteria Assessment 2: Career plan Assessment 3: Final exam Self-assessment: unit exercises Exam preparation Before the exam In the exam Essay structure 360 degree feedback survey Summary of key dates for 360 degree feedback Step 1: Introduction to 360 degree feedback Step 2: Complete the Self questionnaire Step 3: Identify colleagues and distribute questionnaires Step 4: Printing your profile report Using the 360 Facilitated website Learning technology Learning resources Web based support Acknowledgements Course leader References Appendices Managerial Skills Sample Examination 2 3 8 10 10 11 12 15 16 16 17 17 18 19 22 22 25 28 29 32 32 33 33 34 35 35 36 37 1

Session 2, 2008 Calendar

Managerial Skills
Graduate Diploma in Management (GDM)

Week number 1 (Intro) 2 3 4 5

Week begins 2 June 9 June 16 June 23 June 30 June

Unit 1 2 3 4 5 Workshop 1 (Saturday 5 July)

Assessment due (% weighting)

Assessment 1 due (20%)

6 7 8 9

7 July 14 July 21 July 28 July

6 7 8 9 Workshop 2 (Saturday 2 August) Assessment 2 due (35%)

10 11 12

4 August 11 August 18 August

10 11 12 Final Exam (45%) (Saturday 30 August)

Course overview
0048 AS00578_MS Calendar_S208 Issued 25.02.08

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Course structure
Focus on intra-personal issues

Unit 1 Management and personal development

Unit 2 Managing stress

Focus on inter-personal issues

Unit 3 Communication skills

Unit 4 Negotiation skills

Unit 5 Engaging employees for superior performance

Unit 6 Leadership skills

Focus on hot topics

Unit 7 Career management self-assessment

Unit 8 Career management moving forward

Unit 9 Managing ethically

Unit 10 Skills for managing diversity

Unit 11 Coaching skills

Unit 12 Review

Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

Course outline
A 2007 report commissioned by the Australian government titled 2020 Vision, The Manager of the 21st Century, suggested that Australian managers of 2020 will need very different skills to todays business leaders (The Boston Consulting Group 2007). The report identifies major changes in the business environment up to 2020: There will be three very different generations in the workplace for the first time. The needs and aspirations of Generation X and Generation Y are likely to prove very different from those of the baby boomers, which have dominated the workplace for the last 20 years. The services economy is likely to globalise (possibly following the path of manufacturing during the 1980s), creating a major change task and a much more complex management environment. A likely long-term structural labour shortage will lead to much more flexible working environments, more organised to suit employee needs and desires. Flexibility will become the key to attracting and retaining high calibre staff. The obsession with short-term shareholder value, which dominated the last decade, will be replaced by a much broader perspective on the obligations of a company to a wider range of stakeholders. These changes are likely to have a major impact on the skills and attributes that successful managers will require: Managers will need to rethink their role in the years to 2020. They will be asked to balance a wider range of interests, under greater internal and external scrutiny. Managers will still be required to achieve good returns for shareholders, but the results they achieve will also be assessed on the basis of how well they have met a wider range of stakeholder needs. Managers will need to become more team focussed. The cult of the CEO, a world wide phenomenon of the last decade, is likely to decline, with greater focus on the team rather than the individual Managers will face greater personal challenges about the balance in their own lives. Dramatic increases in remuneration will give them greater choices than their predecessors. They will need to become much better at managing their personal wealth, and will face more tensions and trade-offs between work life and personal life. Executives will need to spend more time thinking about their personal choices and managing stress than any previous generation.

Course overview

The report also noted that there had been little progress in the status of women in the professional workplace, however predicted that successful organisations in 2020 will take on the personal challenge of bringing talented women into management ranks and keep them there. Managerial Skills is a course that addresses many of the skills and attributes regarded as necessary for managers of 2020. As you progress through the units you will see that many of the concepts we cover build your knowledge and skills in the areas deemed important in 2020 Vision, the Manager of the 21st Century. We endeavour to expose you to new skills and approaches that integrate technical and generic competence with the ability to think laterally to solve problems. The particular focus of this course is on helping you to identify, develop, and apply managerial competencies to yourself and others in organisational settings. In doing so, the course focuses on you, the manager, and the cluster of people with whom you have regular, frequent, day-to-day contact. The course incorporates a process of 360-degree feedback, which will enable you to collect confidential feedback from your colleagues on how they observe you performing as a manager and a leader. The 360-degree feedback instrument provides a sophisticated analytical tool for you to determine which management behaviours you need to develop to be a skilled practitioner. You will be asked to consider your baseline performance at the beginning of the course and to identify the skills you are developing to improve your performance. The course, therefore, takes a highly practical approach to your learning, enabling you to concentrate on those skills you personally need to develop to enhance your performance.

Structure of Managerial Skills

The units in Managerial Skills focus on a range of topics that explore the theoretical underpinnings of various skills that effective managers use in organisations. These topics can be broadly categorised into three clusters focus on intra-personal issues, focus on inter-personal issues and focus on managerial skills related to hot topics. This will be explained below. Part 1: Focus on intra-personal issues (Units 12): Here we ask you to consider your own management competencies and what skills you need to develop to more effectively manage yourself and others. Part 2: Focus on inter-personal issues (Units 36): These units examines the skills managers need to be effective in building and maintaining relationships with others in organisational contexts and asks you to consider what skills you need to develop in this regard.

Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

Part 3: Focus on hot topics (Units 711): This part of the course looks at the skills managers need to effectively conceptualise and deal with issues that have special topical relevance. We focus on managerial skills and concepts related to dealing with diversity as well as ethics in organisations. We also consider career management, a subject that qualifies as a hot topic for most students in an executive MBA program.

Focus on intra-personal issues

A fundamental assumption of Managerial Skills is that effective management of others is underpinned by strong self-management. The first two units of this course are aimed at enabling you to consider your own strengths, and building the resilience that will help in dealing with the inter-personal issues covered in subsequent units of this course. Unit 1: Management and personal development Unit 2: Managing stress The first two units focus on you and introduce the following two key themes that continue in later units: The importance of the processes of self awareness, self reflection, and self diagnosis The use of personal action learning reviews to facilitate these learning processes. Unit 1 emphasises taking stock. Any plan for change and development requires an accurate and reflective assessment of where one is at on various dimensions of managerial effectiveness. Unit 1 is clearly focused on self assessment and planning for personal development aimed at managerial effectiveness. Unit 2 covers one of the major skills needed to initiate, manage and sustain personal development the skills involved in managing stress. If skill development is to be a continuous process, all of us need to develop strategies that can help sustain our efforts over the long haul, and in the face of distractions and perceived failures (Loehr & Schwartz 2001). We hope that this selection of areas personal development and managing stress will be useful in starting on your journey of managerial skill development.

Course overview

Focus on inter-personal issues Clearly, managers need to be able to build and sustain effective working relationships at every level of the organisation. The skills in the following quartet of units have been chosen since they form the bedrock of interpersonal relationships in organisations. The units in this section are: Unit 3: Communication skills Unit 4: Negotiation skills Unit 5: Engaging employees for superior performance Unit 6: Leadership skills. In Unit 3 we discuss how effective communication helps build a relationship between individuals. We examine a specific relationship that between you and your boss and consider how that relationship can be developed by focusing on your skills in sending and receiving messages. Unit 4 examines the complex skills required for negotiating a satisfactory resolution of differences. These skills are particularly useful in the context of building relationships in that they help in managing potential conflict. Unit 5 describes what employee engagement is and how it relates to business performance. We review the levers of engagement and draw on motivation theory as a way of applying the concepts. In addition, we consider the power of rewards and other outcomes in sustaining engagement. In this unit we discuss the multigenerational workforce and the different motivators of Generation Y, generation X and Baby Boomers. Finally, in Unit 6 we discuss, with the use of the 360-degree feedback instrument, our skills in managing and leading others in the performance of organisational tasks. The major focus of this unit is processing the feedback that you will get from your colleagues at your workplaces. This unit then provides a framework for incorporating that feedback into action plans. Focus on contemporary hot topics In this part of the course we move our focus to two categories of hot issues. The first is the management of your career. Most individuals undertaking MBA studies are explicitly or implicitly considering the current trajectory of their career and evaluating if the destination and the process of getting there needs adjustment. We devote two units of this course to career consideration. The second category of issues we consider relate to how an effective manager navigates through the challenges thrown at him or her

Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

when managing a diverse workforce, or dealing with ethical issues at the workplace. The units in this section are: Unit 7: Career management self-assessment Unit 8: Career management moving forward Unit 9: Managing ethically Unit 10: Managing diversity Unit 11: Coaching skills In Units 7 and 8, we consider the skills needed in managing your career. In these two units we encourage you to review your current career situation and develop strategies and skills for moving forward. Students are encouraged to use their reflections from Units 16 to help them assess and plan their careers. Units 9 and 10 deal with the cognitive skills needed to manage current and very topical organisational issues diversity and ethics. These issues have been chosen because Australian managers work within increasingly diverse workplaces (Chattopadhyay, George & Lawrence 2002), and because they are increasingly being challenged to examine the ethical implications of their actions. Our success in handling these issues depends on our ability to understand the nature, sources and consequences of each issue. Unit 11 considers the coaching skills used by managers in diagnosing problems and issues, and facilitating change. The aim of this unit is to consider some of the challenges you will face if you attempt to initiate personal change in yourself and others as well as some of the skills required to meet these challenges. The course concludes with Unit 12, which contains a series of review questions relating to the content of Units 111.

Course overview

The learning approach

The three parts of this course use the following learning approach: experiential learning, action research and planning detailed feedback and in-depth analysis formulation of strategies for more effectively managing relationships and performance in the context of change. Figure 2 Integrative model of experiential learning
Insights into the causes of what has occurred Awareness of objectives, opportunities and threats

Reflection: on values, objectives, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and problems. Questioning your assumptions

Immersion: in experience through the collection of extensive, unbiased feedback. Exploring what you can learn from it Implementation: Building motivation and confidence before implementing plans to enhance effectiveness, capitalise on opportunities and solve problems

Conceptualisation: Formulation of theories into concrete goals and plans, before assessing their suitability, their cost/benefit and potential obstacles

Results of implementation

Concrete goals and plans

The course, as shown in Figure 2, is based on the experiential learning cycle: from our own experience we observe and reflect so that we can formulate concepts and strategies and then test them in new situations. The experiential learning approach is based on the assumption that to achieve change we need to practise new behaviours and skills, receive feedback, see the consequences of new ways of behaving and, thereby, integrate new skills into our way of thinking and behaving.

Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

This cycle of learning, based on the work of Kolb (1984), informs the three key parts of this course: managing yourself, managing interpersonal relationships and managing organisational issues. As you move through the course your concrete experience, reflection and strategies will widen and encompass all three skill areas for integrated managerial performance. The experiential approach does depend upon the personal commitment of the learner to undertake this process. Our experiences with this course have shown that many people readily identify with the material and feel very comfortable with it. Some of these people report profound changes in their lives as a result of the experience. Other people, however, do not particularly enjoy the more introspective parts of the process and may at first be uncomfortable with some of the activities. What you gain from these units will largely depend on your willingness to reflect on your past experiences and explore your inner thoughts and feelings. At all stages, you will be encouraged to take responsibility for, and direct the depth and pace of, your learning. While Managerial Skills has been designed to be stimulating and rewarding, it will also be challenging and sometimes confronting. Because of the personal nature of some of the exercises, at times there may be points of painful recognition or personal realisation. There is growing evidence to suggest a great deal of our learning and personal development is the result of trials and tribulations which arise unexpectedly, in our work and in our personal lives. It is often these events that help us gain a greater sense of self and a clearer understanding of how we relate to others. As participants engage in a number of self reflection and self analysis exercises some will thrive and the benefits will be immediate; for others those benefits may be less obvious in the short-term. This may cause a degree of frustration for some. However, if you find that you are falling into this category you can be reassured. Experience shows that such reactions are temporary. Ultimately, you will emerge better equipped to manage yourself, others and groups/teams of people within your workplace.

Course overview

Assessment
Assessment policy
The assessment process plays two roles: it provides feedback to you on your progress, and is a means of testing and grading your performance. All information on assessment is provided in the Policies and Forms section of the AGSM website. Please refer to these policies for details on how to present your assignments. Log onto the AGSM website: http://www.agsm.edu.au/ 1. Go to the MBA (Executive) Student area 2. Click Policies and Forms 3. Click MBA (Executive) Policies and forms 4. Click Assessment and examination.

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Summary of requirements
To pass the course, students must attain an average of a pass grade over all the assessments. (For more information on assessment and grading policies refer to te Policies and Forms section of the MBA (Executive) Student area on the AGSM website.)
Assessment 1: Action learning review You are required to submit an action learning review. Weight: 20% Maximum length: 4 pages Due: In class in Week 4 Assessment 2: Career plan Assessment 2 requires you to develop a career plan for yourself using the concepts from the units to guide you. Weight: 35% of total marks Maximum length: 8 pages Due: In class in Week 9 Assessment 3: Final Exam This is an open book exam covering the entire course, Units 111. It will test your conceptual understanding of the content and your ability to apply management skill principles to situations. Weight: 45% Duration: 3 hours plus 15 minutes reading time Date: Saturday, 30 August 2008

Course overview

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Assessment criteria
Unless otherwise specified, the following criteria will be applied in assessing your written work: attention to the primary focus of the exercise or assessment evidence of understanding of the concepts, theories and ideas developed in the course ability to apply these concepts to examples from your own experience capacity to structure an assignment logically, showing clarity of thought degree to which the material submitted for assessment addresses the specified assignment requirements, including limiting the assessment to the required length. Blooms (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is a useful tool to test the qualities of your work. Please refer to Appendix 2 for more detail.

A completed assessment cover sheet must be attached to the front of each submitted assessment. Blank assessment cover sheets are included at the end of this overview in Appendix 3.

Assessment 1: Action learning review

Weight: 20% Maximum length: 4 pages Due: Due in class in Week 4 The purpose of an action learning review is to analyse an event in which you, or others, were acting in a managerial role; to analyse and assess the effectiveness of the management practice in terms of the concepts you have covered in the course; and to consider ways of acting more effectively in the future. The purpose of the entry is to develop ideas about specific ways of improving your management practice. The ideal event/incident for this kind of review would be an episode from your own practice as a manager, in which: you handled a challenging situation in a particular way; ideas from the subject could be used to analyse the situation, and to analyse and assess the effectiveness of the way you handled it; and

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 there was scope for being more effective in similar situations in the future, using managerial skills. The action learning review will provide you with the opportunity to consider and articulate ways of integrating new managerial skills into your daily behaviour. Note that you can draw on concepts from several units in a single action learning review. Try to choose events that have happened recently. The more recent the events, the more detail you will remember and the more salient the analysis will be for you. However, choosing more distant, yet meaningful events, is also acceptable. For Assessment 1 choose an event that relates to the materials from Units 13. Your entry should be presented in essay style, that is, it should have a coherent argument or set of points that you develop through the essay. Avoid heavy descriptions of events that contain little conceptual analysis or application of relevant concepts. Also avoid using the action learning review as a place to explore your feelings about work. This kind of exploration is a useful exercise that you can do at another time.

Course overview

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A suggested format is to write your entries under the following three headings: Observation: Provide a brief description of a specific event you have experienced recently. Dont get too lost in the detail of the event. Provide only as much detail as is necessary to provide a platform for the analysis in the next section of the review. Including a brief statement which summaries the key issue or focus of the action learning review, can be helpful to keep you on track.

Analysis: Analyse the event using concepts from the course material and/or assigned readings. Show that you have read and understood the relevant concepts. Discuss the insights you obtained from using the concepts to understand the event and the implications for being more effective in the future. Discuss the adequacy of the course concepts for understanding the event that you analyse. Improvement planning: Based on your analysis, outline some actions that you could take in similar situations in the future to manage them more effectively. State precisely how you would evaluate the effectiveness of applying the steps or initiatives you have identified. Describe any obstacles that are likely to occur (e.g. emotions, lack of time, insufficient resources, unsupportive colleagues) and how they can be overcome.

In short, each entry provides you with an opportunity to consider an area of management in which you may become more effective, and to use course concepts to describe precisely how you will improve your management practice. Note: You will need to write concisely in order to cover all the important aspects of your action learning review within the strict limit of 4 pages.

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Why do I need to complete an action learning review?

It is important to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits from the action learning review. It is considered a necessary part of the learning process for you to record your responses to events and integrate your learning in your learning review. It provides the means whereby you can reflect upon issues for future action, and plays a critical role in the development of your managerial skills.

What is my instructors role?

Your instructor will assess the action learning review in order to determine your understanding of concepts and integration of skills. You will not be judged on the events you choose to record only on your reflections on the events, and your integration of concepts covered in the course.

Assessment 2: Career plan

Weight: Length: Due: 35%
8 pages

In class in Week 9

The aim of Assessment 2 is to help you integrate the concepts from the units and structure your thinking about your career. Content from Unit 7 and Unit 8 will be particularly relevant and the first six units will all be useful in completing the following task. Develop a career plan for yourself. Ensure that you: Write a plan that includes all the features of SMART+ goals (except Handwritten). Explain the areas of fit and misfit between your plan and each of your career/life preferences, as discussed in Unit 7 and Unit 8. Outline your major career constraints and how you will address them. Include a detailed action plan for three of your areas for development, e.g. networking, lack of knowledge or skill, etc. Be sure to also apply concepts from Units 1 to 8 when completing this section. While we want you to create a career plan that is meaningful for you, it will be useful to draw on relevant course ideas, concepts, models and theories to support and extend your discussion. Your plan should be no more than 8 pages. Include the results for your career/life preference activities as an appendix. This will not be part of the page count.

Course overview

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Assessment 3: Final exam

Weight: Duration: Date: 45% 3 hours (plus 15 minutes reading time) Saturday, 30 August 2008

The exam will be based on work covered in Units 1 to 11. The exam is designed to provide you with the opportunity to display an understanding and application of concepts and techniques within the course.

Open book exam policy

Under the open book exam policy you may bring your course materials and any textbook provided as part of the course materials into the exam session. Your materials may be annotated and the use of Post-it Notes is permitted. Your own study notes are also permitted. However, you are strongly cautioned against copying the work of others. Copying the work of others is plagiarism and carries severe penalties. Calculators with alpha keypads, lap-top computers and other electronic devices are prohibited. Students from non-English speaking backgrounds who have written approval from the Award Programs office may use standard linguistic dictionaries. No other dictionaries are permitted. If you inadvertently enter the exam session with prohibited material or equipment, surrender it immediately to the examination supervisor. For more information on examination policy and procedures refer to the AGSM website.

Self-assessment: unit exercises

In addition to the formal assessment components in Managerial Skills, each unit contains a number of self-assessment exercises. These are clearly marked in the course notes and are intended to reinforce your understanding of the content. Marks are not awarded for these exercises and they do not form part of the formal assessment program. However, during each class session, the instructor may discuss and, where appropriate, explore a range of answers to the exercises. Further, many of the exercises form the basis of, or contribute to, the formally assessed assignments. You will find it easier to complete the assignments, and it is likely that your work will be enhanced by completing the self-assessment exercises.

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Exam preparation
Before the exam
Note on preparation: Prepare summary notes for each unit. Prepare summary notes for what you regard as key topics in the course, bringing together relevant ideas and references from a range of units. Swap summary notes with your learning partner to check you both agree on important themes/concepts. Practise writing exam answers: Most importantly do sample exams under exam-like time pressure; note the time it takes to do a question, how many pages you can write in one hour. Do a mock exam question and have your learning partner mark it for you. To remind yourself of what the examiner is looking for review the grading criteria in your notes. Review Section 9: Exam Strategies of Managing Your Learning. Use the feedback you have received in previous assignments to identify the things you tend not to do well, and be clear how you can do these things well in the exam. A final conversation with your instructor may help here.

Course overview

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In the exam
In selecting questions to answer: Read all questions several times prior to making your selection. Select questions where you; a) fully understand what the question is asking; b) can respond to all parts of the question; c) have personal examples to support your arguments; and d) feel most confident. Make sure you understand the question: Underline the key words in the question. To understand what the question is asking for carefully read and reread the question. There are usually key activity words like analyse, discuss, evaluate, compare and contrast; and words that indicate the focus and scope of the question. Carefully identify all the issues that are raised in the question. Plan your essay: Decide what positions you are going to take on the issues raised in the question. Work out how you can support these positions with arguments, evidence or examples. Identify relevant concepts/theories/models that you can relevantly use in the answer. Identify relevant examples that you are going to use. Decide on a structure and sequence for the essay. Manage your time: Keep as close to one hour per essay as possible. If the answer to a question is in several parts, make sure that you allocate time according to the comparative weighting of the parts.

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Continually refer to the question as you are writing: Continually check that what you are writing is addressing the question. Continually check that what you are writing is adding value, rather than repeating yourself, or developing a point or example in too much detail. Make sure that you dont get carried away: One possible way of getting carried away is to get immersed in the narration of an example. Keep narrative detail to the minimum required to illustrate or support a point. Another way of getting carried away is to spend time arguing for a strong conviction of yours that has only tenuous relevance to the question. Use the materials wisely. Dont get lost in your folders trying to find the answers. You should know whats in there by now! While you are writing, if you dont know a reference off the top of your head leave a space for it and come back later to look it up. This way you dont interrupt the creative flow.

Essay structure
The essay should have a clear structure and logical sequence. You can sometimes use course models and key points of theories to effectively structure your answer. For example, a question on change leadership could have headings Collaborative, Consultative, Directive and Coercive. The structure of an action learning review may be appropriate for some questions. Make it easy for the marker to find what they are looking for: If you can, highlight your use of concepts/theories/models by for example using a key word, referring to an author, including a citation, or using a highlighting device. Use sub-headings, headlines, underlining, and other highlighting devices to highlight the structure of the essay and key points in the essay. Write in paragraphs and leave a line between each paragraph.

Course overview

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Introduction
Keep this section brief and to the point. There are a number of ways in which students waste time on introductions that dont significantly add value: Dont repeat the question: For example, if the question has asked for an analysis of your leadership style and an action plan for further development, dont start with something like In this essay I will analyse my leadership style and formulate an action plan for further development. Dont write a traditional essay introduction with some general remarks about the topic that dont directly address the question: For example, if you have been asked to analyse your leadership style, dont write a general introduction discussing the contributions of leadership to change. Dont write a detailed, blow-by-blow summary of what you are going to say: This can involve a considerable amount of repetition. As far as possible, tackle the question from your very first sentence. In your introductory paragraph you can do the following: clarify your interpretation of the question briefly state your position on the issue(s) raised in the question give an overall sketch of how you are going to proceed. For example, in response to a question asking for an analysis of your approach to leadership, you could briefly define what you understand by leadership. You could then tell the reader that you are going to look at your goals and principles as a leader, and your leadership approach to a number of critical issues e.g. building commitment, how far to engage and empower, and the balance between charismatic and instrumental leadership,

Body
Answer the question using concepts and examples. If appropriate, show a balanced approach. Recognise the limitations/obstacles of any recommendations made. Write in paragraphs, each of which develops a single point, idea or topic. Make sure that each of these points clearly addresses the question and contributes to an overall argument.

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Conclusion
Your conclusion can be a brief summary tying together the main points you have made (e.g. finding a theme or issue that runs through them), or even a brief restatement of the position you have taken. Keep the conclusion brief and dont waste time and words on a comprehensive summary of what you have said. It can also create a strong ending to introduce something new for example, a fresh idea that opens up another perspective, or an interesting question or issue that arises from your answer.

Citations and references

Insert bracketed citations of authors whose ideas you use. Where appropriate, include publication dates. You do not need to add a reference list at the end of your answer.

Course overview

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360 degree feedback survey

Summary of key dates for 360 degree feedback
21 May 13 June 25 June 30 June In class Pre-course Week 2 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Initial information provided by Leaderskill Group All 360 degree feedback questionnaires to be completed and returned to Leaderskill Group by this date Instructors access students 360 profiles Students access their 360 profiles from the 360 Facilitated website Discussion of 360 degree feedback

In Unit 6 we will work with a 360 degree feedback questionnaire to analyse and develop your leadership skills. A 360 degree feedback instrument is a tool commonly used in organisations for developmental purposes. It is a way of finding out how others perceive you at work, and gives you high quality information that you can use to improve your leadership skills. It is often likened to holding up a mirror. The 360 degree refers to the range of information sources used in this feedback process. You will get information from those above, below and beside you in the organisation, as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 The 360 feedback process
My boss

My peers

How I see my behaviours

My peers

People who report to me

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Early Start
The survey begins on 21 May 2008 to allow you extra time to contact respondents. We recommend you begin as soon as possible to ensure you are able to include questionnaires from all your chosen respondents.

The 360 Facilitated Leader/Manager Profile we will be using has been developed by Peter Farey and Leaderskill Group. Researchers from these organisations have worked closely with managers in many different organisations in Australia and abroad to develop the survey. It is designed specifically for managers who are involved in development through learning, coaching and MBA programs. Feedback helps managers to understand how they may be influencing others around them, and allows them to use this input to focus their learning and measure their improvement over time. The 360 Leader/Manager Profile is a unique instrument, utilising feedback as a suggestion for change, not an appraisal of the manager. This significantly reduces appraisal defensiveness and instead provides useable information upon which the manager can readily act. It is based on Peter Fareys thoroughly researched Leader/Manager Model and gathers information on the full range of best practice behaviours (strengths) of leadership and management, both people and task issues, that may concern staff and peers.

Process
The 360 Leader/Manager Profile will be accessible on the Internet. We will provide Leaderskill Group with your name and email address, for use with the AGSM 360 only there is a strict privacy policy regarding all information. Leaderskill will email you with your password and details of how to log-in to your Participant Control Centre.

Course overview

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Through your Participant Control Centre you can: fill in your self-questionnaire enter your respondents and email their passwords monitor the completion of questionnaires and send reminders print paper questionnaires for respondents who do not have Internet access. There are four steps to completing the 360 Leader/Manager Profile: Step 1: ead the section that introduces you to the survey and includes R your instructions for completing it. Step 2: Complete the self questionnaire yourself. This will be included in your feedback for comparison. Step 3: Identify colleagues from whom you will receive feedback about your behaviour at work. These colleagues include your boss (two bosses can be entered), and we suggest four to six of your staff and four to six of your peers. Step 4: Download and print your profile report. After you have downloaded your profile report in week 5, read Unit 6 which will help you interpret the report.

Leader/Manager Types Instrument

In addition, from the Participant Control Centre, you can click on Leader/ Managers Type and use this self-scoring instrument to assess your preferences as a leader/manager. Print out the resulting profile and bring it to class with your 360 Leader/Manager Profile. It is often very useful to see the match between your preferred style or Type and the suggestions for change on your profile.

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Step 1: Introduction to 360 degree feedback

Before you begin to collect feedback we would like to introduce you to the process we will use. Please read this section carefully to familiarise yourself with the stages of 360 degree feedback and to prepare yourself for the ethics of this process and for receiving feedback.

Ethical considerations
In this section we would like you to take note of the ethical considerations of 360 degree feedback. In order for this process to be effective and for everybody involved to be treated fairly and with respect, we suggest the following principles of appropriate disclosure, avoiding conflicts of interest, informed consent and confidentiality are observed.
Disclosure: Appropriate disclosure of information gathering and storage processes Conflicts of interest: The avoidance of conflicts of interest where sensitive personal information might be used for purposes other than the one intended Informed consent: Informed consent should be given

Disclosure: Appropriate disclosure of information gathering and storage processes. The information you and your work colleagues give will not be disclosed to anybody except you. The database is kept by Leaderskill Group and your results will not be accessible by anybody other than you. However, an overall statistic is maintained. Conflicts of interest: The avoidance of conflicts of interest where sensitive personal information might be used for purposes other than the one intended. Your colleagues have invested time in you by giving their responses. They do this under an agreement of confidentiality, therefore, when you get your report it is important that you do not use this information for anything other than your leadership development. Complaining to others at work about the feedback from your boss, for example, is inappropriate. Your boss acted in your best interest, and you should respect that by not using it against him or her. Informed consent: Informed consent should be obtained from all the parties involved. Everybody who responds to this survey must give their consent for the information to be used in the way it will be. Make sure they are aware of the format of the report that you will receive, and get their acceptance of this. This is particularly important for your boss/bosses, whose responses will be individually identifiable. Confidentiality: The practice of appropriate confidentiality, and assurances of this should be given to all participants.

Confidentiality: Appropriate confidentiality, and assurance of this should be given

Course overview

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Preparing yourself for feedback

Before you start this process we would like you to consider the way you might handle the information you receive. It is our reaction to information that precipitates behavioural change (Locke & Latham 1990) and there may be some information here which is challenging. If this is the case there is a danger that your reactions will become defensive and irrational, and that the associated behavioural change will be destructive rather than constructive. To try to avoid this let us spend a moment preparing ourselves and foreseeing any likely defensive reactions. Ask yourself the question How will I deal with feedback. Think carefully about the way you tend to respond to both negative and positive feedback. Negative feedback: Think about the way you might feel if your respondents suggest a lot of change. For example, your respondents tell you that you are not communicating enough, when you prided yourself on the fact that you were an excellent communicator. Rehearse the emotions you might feel. A common response to negative feedback is defensiveness. When we get negative feedback we might prefer, or find it easier, to blame somebody else rather than accept our own weaknesses. This may alleviate some of the stress we feel at first, but it does not resolve the issue that we have fundamentally different perceptions of our behaviour compared to others. Positive feedback: When you receive positive feedback do you use it to the full? Do you really hear praise and accept the associated feelings? It is usually a wonderful feeling to be praised, but many of us either cannot really hear it or we bask in the glory without building on our strengths. Building on your strengths could mean making a clear note of what you do well so that you can try to behave like this more often and in more situations.

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Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

Exercise 1: Receiving feedback

1. Think of a time when you have received negative feedback. How did you respond? Is this typical of your response to negative feedback?

a. How might you have responded more constructively?

b. What strategies can you use to avoid being defensive?

2. Think of a time when you have received positive feedback. How did you respond? Is this typical of your response to positive feedback?

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a. How might you have responded more constructively?

b. What strategies can you use to build on your strengths?

Step 2: Complete the Self questionnaire

Leaderskill Group will email you with details of how to log-in to your Participant Control Centre. You should complete your Self questionnaire as soon as possible. The final date for submission of all questionnaires (Self, Staff, Peers and Boss) is Friday, 13 June 2008.

Filling in the questionnaire

Your name will appear at the top of the questionnaire page. Note that: You can scroll up and down the page and there is a clear button at the bottom of the screen. You should ensure that you have 10 minutes of uninterrupted time. None of your input will be sent until you click on the Submit button at the bottom of the screen and see the message: Your questionnaire has been sent successfully. You must close down your web browser when you finish (this completes your input and deactivates the Back button).

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Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

Should you require further assistance, please contact Academic Affairs on phone 02 9931 9400 or, for technical support, contact Leaderskill Group via email from the website or phone 02 9533 7077.

Step 3: Identify colleagues and distribute questionnaires

The next step is to identify work colleagues who will fill in a similar questionnaire that asks them questions about your leadership behaviour. These colleagues should be: your Boss (two bosses are possible) four to six members of your Staff current direct reports if possible; if not, recent staff or indirect reports who work with you enough to be able to comment four to six members of your Peers associates with whom you work, but who do not report to you. When selecting colleagues choose people who know you well enough to be able to respond. Invite both fans and critics!

Minimum numbers
The four categories Staff, Peers, Bosses and Self are shown separately on the profile. You can include just Staff or just Peers, or you can include both: to show the Staff category in your profile, you must have 3 Staff to show the Peer category, you must have 3 Peers four or more in either category will give greater detail in the results for that category bosses are optional and their feedback is not anonymous. If you have only three people in a Staff or Peer category you will get a less detailed report. You wont be able to see the full range of responses; you will only get the average of all responses. You do not have to have colleagues from all of the categories complete questionnaires. For example, you may have your boss (you can enter two bosses) and four staff complete questionnaires, but no peers. However, we strongly suggest that you get colleagues in all categories to complete the questionnaire since this ensures a fuller and more accurate picture of your behaviour at work.

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Respondent Options
In the absence of enough direct reports, we recommend the following: i. use very recent direct reporting staff ii. use current indirect reports (i.e. the next level down, but no further) iii. use very recent indirect reports iv. use dotted line reports v. as a last resort, use someone who thinks they are able to respond as if you were their manager. If you cant find enough Staff respondents even in this way, then process with Peers only. In selecting the Peers you want to respond, the suggestions are much the same as those for Staff, that is, people who know your style, fans and critics. Four is sufficient, three is the minimum. And you may have to find very recent associates. If you cant find three Peers, you can process just with Staff. Note: two or less responses in Staff will not show that category. The same is true for Peers. It may be possible to combine Staff and Peer responses. If you are unable to obtain the minimum 3 in either category, please contact Leaderskill Group for options so that you can still receive a profile.

Briefing respondents
Aim to brief your respondents face-to-face, or at least by telephone, so you can deal with any concerns and questions at once. Before sending the emails, make sure they know why you are asking them to complete the questionnaire and confirm that they agree to do so. Ask each colleague if they are prepared to spend some time on the questionnaire in order for you to develop your leadership skills. When talking to them about their participation explain the process and discuss the following: They have been chosen because they are familiar with you at work. Their responses will be very valuable to you, but only if they are totally honest. Their responses are completely anonymous and confidential and you will not be able to see the questionnaire they fill in, nor identify their individual responses on the final report (except for your boss).

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Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

Since the responses from your boss are the only ones which are individually identifiable, you must make sure this is clear to your boss before he/she agrees to participate. Be prepared for any of the colleagues you approach to say no, in which case you will need to find somebody else. All questionnaires must be completed and submitted by 5pm, 13 June 2008. It is very important to ensure that your colleagues are aware of the deadline for completing the questionnaire and that they are confident they can complete it in time. Thank your colleagues in advance for their time and support of you.

Entering respondents and sending passwords

Once you have selected your respondents, you need to enter their details through the Participant Control Centre. You will need to select which category (Boss, Peer or Staff) they are responding in, and their name and email address. Remember you should have four to six respondents in both the Staff and Peer categories (limited feedback will be provided with three respondents in each of these categories). It is your responsibility to ensure that your respondents have completed the questionnaire by 5pm, 13 June 2008. Use the Monitor Respondents page to check their progress and Resend to remind them if they have not completed the questionnaire. By clicking on Send Emails, an email will be sent to each of your respondents, including details of how to log-in to the questionnaire, and their password. For each of your respondents you should complete the following process: add any notes or comments at the beginning of the email message re-check you have correct email addresses for your Boss/Staff/Peers. Send emails only to those people who have agreed to respond, and emphasise the importance of keeping them entirely confidential.

Monitoring progress and sending reminders

Through your Participant Control Centre, you can check on the progress of your respondents. The Monitor Respondents page will show you which of your respondents have completed their questionnaires. You can send reminders when required.
Course overview 31

Step 4: Printing your profile report

You will be able to access and print your profile directly from your 360 Facilitated Participant Control Centre from 30 June 2008 (Week 5). We strongly suggest that you read the material in Unit 6 before you spend time interpreting the report. The notes will help you deal with the personal and sensitive information you have been given.

Using the 360 Facilitated website

Please do your best to follow the guidelines and everything should go smoothly... However, unexpected things can happen around the Internet! Here are some tips that could save you time just in case! 1. Message: URL not found..., Check that your web link is correct. 2. Message: Name or Password not known It is almost certain that you or a respondent has typed in their password, name or survey title incorrectly. Please try again COPY AND PASTE if possible. 3. Message: This page cannot be displayed This is usually due to a temporary connection problem somewhere between your computer and the website. Click Refresh or Reload. 4. The wrong questionnaire came up for your respondent! There are various kinds of questionnaire for a survey e.g. Staff, Peers, Boss and Self (the participant/manager), each displaying the participants name. The respondent must respond in the right group to the right participant. Recheck your instructions and password, or email or telephone Leaderskill Group. 5. Running slow? There could be a delay anywhere between your computer and the website. Sometimes you have to wait for a screen to open completely. When it has, Done will appear at the bottom of your browser. For further assistance, please email or telephone Leaderskill Group ([email protected] at any time; or 02 9533 7077, 9am to 5pm Australian Eastern Standard Time) with as much detail of the problem as possible (i.e. what you did and whats on the screen) so that they can help you with it.

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Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

Learning technology
Learning resources
You have three major resources to help you learn: 1. The weekly study guides The course materials for Units 112 structure your reading and participation in the course. You will do much of your learning at home or at work by working through the materials, and by completing the exercises and activities as they arise. 2. The class meetings with your instructor The instructors job is to facilitate your learning by conducting class discussion, answering questions that might arise for you after you have done the weeks work, providing insights from his or her own practical experience and understanding of theory, providing you with feedback on your assignments and directing traffic in the inevitable arguments and disagreements that will occur between you and your co-participants in the classroom. Managerial Skills also has two Saturday workshops which provide extra time needed to conduct exercises and experiential learning activities, which illustrate and reinforce the conceptual content of the course. 3. Your co-participants Your colleagues in the classroom are an invaluable potential source of learning for you. Their experience in similar and different jobs and industries, and their willingness to question and argue with the course materials, the instructor and you, represent a great learning opportunity.

Course overview

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Web based support

In Managerial Skills we are using an online environment called eLearning. By providing you with this online environment we hope to stimulate the sharing of ideas and understandings around the content of this course. The MBA (Executive) current students website also provides administrative information relating to workshop times and venues. The online documents are PDF (Portable Document Format) files, which allow you to access the course units in the same visual format contained in the course material binders. The PDF files can be viewed, printed and navigated using Adobe Acrobat Reader. The online files contain links to facilitate faster navigation through each unit, for example, the contents page has links to each major unit heading. Articles to which AGSM MBA Programs do not have copyright are not included as online documents. The website is an additional resource and is not core to the course requirements. Participants will not be disadvantaged if they do not have Internet access.

eLearning system support

Should you have any difficulties accessing your course online, contact NetSpot eLearning support services. Email: Toll Free: [email protected] 1800 730 288

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Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

Acknowledgements
Course leader
Julie Cogin PhD, MCom, Grad Dip Adult Ed, BBus
Senior Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour, Associate Head of the School of Organisation and Management, Australian School of Business Dr Cogin is the Associate Head of Organisation and Management in the Australian School of Business. She is course leader for the core subject Organisational Behaviour in the full-time MBA, course leader for Managerial Skills in the EMBA and Approaches to Change in the GCCM. Dr Cogins research interests are primarily concerned with deviant behaviour in the workplace and the impact on employee engagement and firm performance. She has authored two books and published in several prestigious academic journals and recently won an award for her research on sexual harassment in the workplace. Dr Cogin has held various management positions in the HRM arena prior to academic life. She was employed at Qantas Airways Limited for eight years and practiced in many areas including change management, recruitment and selection, performance management, process improvement and equal employment opportunity.

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References
Boston Consulting Group 2007, 2020 Vision, the manager of the 21st century, Innovation and Business Skills Australia. Chattopadhyay, P., George, E. & Lawrence, S. 2002, Why does dissimilarity matter? Contrasting self-categorization with similarity attraction, paper presented at the 2002 Academy of Management Meeting, Denver, CO. Farey, P. 1993, Mapping the leader/manager, Management education and development, vol. 24, pp. 109121. Kolb, D. A. 1984, Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Loehr, J. & Schwartz, T. 2001, The making of a corporate athlete, Harvard Business Review. Locke, E.A. & Latham, G. P. 1990, A theory of goal setting and task performance, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Yukl, G.A. 1998, Leadership in organizations, Prentice Hall International, London.

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Managerial Skills (Session 2, 2008)

Appendices
Appendix 1 Sample final examination. Appendix 2 Bloom, B. S. 1956, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain, Longman, New York. Appendix 3 Assessment cover sheet Course feedback sheet

Course overview

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Appendix 1

Sample final examination. Please note that this sample exam covers topics no longer studied in this course.

AGSM MBA Programs unauthorised copying prohibited

AGSM MBA Programs

Managerial Skills Sample Examination
Instructions 1. Time allowed: 3 hours plus 15 minutes reading time. You may make brief notes during reading time but may not begin writing in your answer booklet. 2. There are eight (8) questions to choose from. Answer any four (4) questions in total answering one (1) question from each section. 3. All questions are of equal value.

Question 1 i. Why is self-awareness necessary for management development and what prevents you from developing it? (4 marks) ii. Provide examples of the role of self-awareness in your management development. (6 marks) Question 2 i. The key to effective management of selfis in the Quadrant II paradigm that empowers you to see through the lens of importance rather than urgency (Covey 1990, p. 179). Explain this statement using examples from your own working life. (4 marks) ii. What are the costs for you and your organisation of working in quadrants other than Quadrant II? (6 marks) Question 3 i. What role does empowerment play in organisational effectiveness? (5 marks) ii. What barriers do you think managers could face in seeking to be more empowering? How can these be overcome? (5 marks) Question 4 Effective managers will be able to match their communication to the requirements of the situation. Discuss this statement using course materials and examples from your own experience. (10 marks)

Appendix 1: Sample final exam

Question 5 Ethical dilemmas are part and parcel of todays managerial roles. What might a manager do to assist him/herself when facing such dilemmas? Discuss this issue using course concepts and examples from your own experience. (10 marks) Question 6 i. Fostering diversity is always a good thing! Critically evaluate this statement. (5 marks) ii. What can you do as a manager to realise the benefits of the diversity within the groups you manage? (5 marks) Question 7 The performance management process could be treated as a negotiation. Discuss this statement using course concepts and examples from your own experience. (10 marks) Question 8 Clear communication is essential for business success. Unfortunately, what passes for communication often does not come up to expectations. i. Present a systematic outline of the factors that contribute to the success or failure of communication between a manager and a team member. (5 marks) ii. Evaluate your own listening style according to ideas presented in the Managerial Skills course. Describe an action plan for improving your own listening skills. How could your plan be evaluated? (5 marks)

Managerial Skills

Appendix 2

Bloom, B. S. 1956, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain, Longman, New York.

CAL licensed copy unauthorised copying prohibited

Appendix 3

Assessment cover sheet Course feedback sheet

AGSM MBA Programs unauthorised copying prohibited

Assessment Cover Sheet

GCCM GDM Hong Kong GDM/MBA Executive Year MBA

Fill in all details on this form and submit with your assessment
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I declare that: This assessment item has not been submitted for academic credit elsewhere. I have read and understood the University Rules in respect of Student Academic Misconduct. Appropriate citation methodology has been used throughout the assignment in accordance with the UNSW Policy on Academic Misconduct and Student Misconduct. https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/academiclife/assessment/AcademicMisconductStudentMisconduct.html I acknowledge that the assessor of this assessment item may: For the purpose of assessing this item, reproduce this assessment item and provide a copy to another member of the University. Communicate a copy of this assessment item to a plagiarism checking service (which may then retain a copy of the assessment item on its database for the purpose of future plagiarism checking). Please complete either the individual OR group assessment declaration below. Individual assessment items: This assessment item is my own work, except where acknowledged, and is not the result of collaboration with others. Signature Date

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This work is the result of collaboration amongst all members of the group listed below and no others. All members of the group have contributed to the assessment. Signature

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Course feedback
Managerial Skills Session 2, 2008
We would like to provide you with an opportunity to make comments and suggestions on these course materials. Please email your comments to [email protected]