To provide students with a comprehensive understanding concerning the key concepts and theories of IT leadership. To provide students with a systematic understanding of individual leadership and individual leadership styles. To equip students with a wide ranging understanding of issues related to leadership, collaboration and change within organisations. To enable student to analyse critically, and understand, the responsibilities and privileges of leadership, and the moral and ethical dimensions of the use of authority and power.

(M1) A comprehensive knowledge of the role of the leader in the context of IT processes and management.

(M2) An ability to critically evaluate different leadership traits and skills, and to critically assess personal leadership styles.

(M3) An In-depth appreciation of the role of collaboration within organisations.

(M4) A deep and comprehensive understanding of issues related to the influence on leadership of culture, motivation and value creation within organisations.

(M5) A systematic and critical understanding of the role of change leadership in the context of risk mitigation in IT projects.

(M6) A comprehensive awareness of leadership issues in the contexts of ethics.

(M7) An in-depth appreciation of the complexity and dynamics of leadership in organisations.

(S1) Communication skills in electronic as well as written form.

(S2) Self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems.

(S3) An ability to act autonomously and professionally when planning and implementing solutions to computer science problems.

(S4) Experience of working in development teams, respecting others, co-operating, negotiating/persuading, awareness of interdependence with others.

Week 1: IT processes and leadership in context. The role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), imperatives for leadership and leadership theories in the context of IT.

Week 2: The personal qualities and traits of successful leaders within IT. Assessment and reflection on personal leadership styles.

Week 3: Skills for successful IT leadership, the relationship between leadership skills and IT project success, CIO effectiveness.

Week 4: Collaborative leadership as an IT leader fostering innovation.

Week 5: Transformation leadership and leading organisational change. The role of the change leader in motivating, inspiring and managing IT. The role of change leaders as a stimulus and model for change, implications of the change leader's own behaviour.

Week 6: Leadership in value creation, risk assessment and strategic partnership. The leader’s role in IT value creation and developing partnerships with other business units, risk assessment, con flict management and coping with crisis in IT.

Week 7: Ethics and leadership. Aspects of integrity, fairness, honesty and ethical traits of high performing leaders.

Week 8: Leadership in emerging scenarios. Emerging technology and its impact on business. Quality standards and leadership practices. Issues facing business leaders in the future and their impact on professional practices. Opportunities for professional development and collaboration.

The mode of delivery is by online learning, facilitated by a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This mode of study enables students to pursue modules via home study while continuing in employment. Module delivery involves the establishment of a virtual classroom in which a relatively small group of students (usually 10-25) work under the direction of a faculty member. Module delivery proceeds via a series of eight one-week online sessions, each of which comprises an online lecture, supported by other eLearning activities, posted electronically to a public folder in the virtual classroom. The mode of learning includes a range of required and optional eLearning activities, including but not limited to: lecture casts, self-assessment opportunities, and required and suggested further reading and try-for-yourself activities. Communication within the virtual classroom is asynchronous, preserving the requirement that students are able to pursue the module in their own time, within the wee kly time-frame of each online session. An important element of the module provision is active learning through collaborative, cohort-based, learning using discussion fora where the students engage in assessed discussions facilitated by the faculty member responsible for the module. This in turn encourages both confidence and global citizenship (given the international nature of the online student body).