M.S. in Leadership

There are many challenges in the work of an ethical, vision-oriented leader at any level of organization. In this course, students examine these challenges and learn about the skills needed to navigate in turbulent, changing environments that often pose difficult choices. Students explore concepts related to level-five leadership and servant leadership, and they begin the process of self-assessment and reflection-in-action. Students are also provided with an introduction to Walden University, graduate studies at Walden, the M.S. in Leadership program, and all related processes and policies, including best practices of online learning and employing graduate-level standards to coursework.

Organizational leaders act as partners in shaping, and are shaped by, the organizational cultures they seek to influence. Students in this course learn to recognize the elements that make up and organization’s culture as well as ways to harness these for positive change and organizational success. They explore perspectives on how to make conceptual sense of the cultural landscape of organizations and examine the implications for leading and building effective communities at various levels of application. Students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as tools of self-development, the reciprocal nature of leadership, and cultural components.

Effective leaders at all levels of organization apply their knowledge of group dynamics to create productive groups. They produce desirable goal-oriented behaviors within their groups, maximize the impact of diversity of people and perspectives on group functioning, and create cultures of trust and justice.  Students investigate these aspects of the leadership role and how it creates vibrant, diverse communities, organizations, and groups. Students examine diversity in a myriad of contexts and explore the particular challenges of building effective teams that are fueled by diversity. Through assignments focused on personal assessments, real-world contextual frameworks, and application of theory integrated with personal experience, students sharpen their critical-thinking and writing skills while working toward becoming a more effective leader.

Leaders encounter many challenges as people from different cultures, social structures, religions, and languages participate in a globalized landscape and workforce. Students in this course examine these challenges and develop an understanding of the interrelatedness of nations in the global economy. They also explore the changing nature of international business and leadership.  Students evaluate and discuss the concepts of sustainable business strategies, international trade, foreign direct investment, and regional economic integration in relation to leadership in a global environment.

Leadership is a complex landscape of analysis and decision making. Students in this course work toward increasing their ability to think critically, with a long-term view, about identifying and analyzing problems and interpreting data. Through this practice, they learn to avoid common decision errors that occur because of faulty, deep-seated mental models. Students also review and discuss fundamentals of scientific research, including the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods to understand leadership phenomena for a conceptual and practical understanding of research strategies available to leaders.

An important leadership qualification is the leader’s ability to accurately and persuasively frame for their stakeholders solutions to complex problems. In this course, students learn ways to create and frame the decision-making context and to produce and present viable solutions for complex issues in volatile and uncertain environments. They analyze real-world problems and learn to identify and communicate with organizational stakeholders. Students create a plan to align stakeholder mental models with effective decision-making practices, using the tools of communication, engagement, consensus building, and strategic-decision models.

The concept and reality of a system and its dependence upon all its parts drives how decisions are made in an organization. Students in this course focus on building their capacity to see things systemically to be able to recognize a system and all its parts for effective decision making. They use systems thinking tools to model single, double, and multiple-loop feedback systems, at micro and macro levels of analysis, and they practice using multiple-scenario analysis. Through practical exercises, students learn how the practice of systems thinking lays the foundation for creating sustainable outcomes. Through discussion and reflection, they consider the impact of decisions and actions. Students have the opportunity to gain skills to plan for multiple scenarios, creating highly agile responses and preventing vulnerability imposed by rapid change with no ready response on the part of leaders and organizations.

Students taking this course build upon previous core content related to framing, prioritizing, assessing risk, and identifying variables associated with complex issues in dynamic environments. They have the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge that will help them provide clarity in constraining, confusing, and complex situations so that others engage, support, and follow new plans. In the context of leadership, students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as systems-environment, change, socio-technology systems consideration, leverage points, sustainability, and paradigm shifts. Students also engage in assignments designed to provide practical application of content for a real-world understanding of how to be a successful leader for sustainable futures in rapidly changing contexts.

An important trend of which managers must be aware involves business organizations moving from a profit-only mentality to one in which they utilize their profits and other resources to enhance society. Students in this course explore entrepreneurial concepts and processes that apply to startup enterprises as well as those that are well-established with an innovative focus or entrepreneurial spirit. Students engage in coursework focused on market opportunity, risk management, change management, innovation, product development, financing and raising capital, intellectual property, and commercialization. They have the opportunity to apply these and related concepts to problems common in contemporary organizational contexts.

In this course, students continue to build their entrepreneurial skills and knowledge by addressing problems drawn from real-world organizations. Students analyze how the organization contributes to society (local, national, or international), how entrepreneurship and commercial activities affect the environment, and how the potential of forming “glocalities” (a combination of individuals, business organizations, and political agencies) becomes more significant in the future in terms of working in unison to better society. Students also use case studies and other practical exercises to evaluate innovative funding sources and investigate the challenges involved in maintaining growth and sustainability. (Prerequisites: MMSL 6640.)

This course is built on the fundamental idea that individuals achieve great change in organizations and communities of all sizes by working toward growth and positive change in their own lives. In this capstone course, students examine the challenges of rebuilding a sense of community in the world, starting with the final crafting of their personal vision profile and personal plan of action and resulting in changes that could reverse the declines of economies, communities, and families. Integrating themes from the program, students develop a personal plan of action and an evidence-based, formally researched, service project proposal within their communities.

There are many challenges in the work of an ethical, vision-oriented leader at any level of organization. In this course, students examine these challenges and learn about the skills needed to navigate in turbulent, changing environments that often pose difficult choices. Students explore concepts related to level-five leadership and servant leadership, and they begin the process of self-assessment and reflection-in-action. Students are also provided with an introduction to Walden University, graduate studies at Walden, the M.S. in Leadership program, and all related processes and policies, including best practices of online learning and employing graduate-level standards to coursework.

Organizational leaders act as partners in shaping, and are shaped by, the organizational cultures they seek to influence. Students in this course learn to recognize the elements that make up and organization’s culture as well as ways to harness these for positive change and organizational success. They explore perspectives on how to make conceptual sense of the cultural landscape of organizations and examine the implications for leading and building effective communities at various levels of application. Students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as tools of self-development, the reciprocal nature of leadership, and cultural components.

Effective leaders at all levels of organization apply their knowledge of group dynamics to create productive groups. They produce desirable goal-oriented behaviors within their groups, maximize the impact of diversity of people and perspectives on group functioning, and create cultures of trust and justice.  Students investigate these aspects of the leadership role and how it creates vibrant, diverse communities, organizations, and groups. Students examine diversity in a myriad of contexts and explore the particular challenges of building effective teams that are fueled by diversity. Through assignments focused on personal assessments, real-world contextual frameworks, and application of theory integrated with personal experience, students sharpen their critical-thinking and writing skills while working toward becoming a more effective leader.

Leaders encounter many challenges as people from different cultures, social structures, religions, and languages participate in a globalized landscape and workforce. Students in this course examine these challenges and develop an understanding of the interrelatedness of nations in the global economy. They also explore the changing nature of international business and leadership.  Students evaluate and discuss the concepts of sustainable business strategies, international trade, foreign direct investment, and regional economic integration in relation to leadership in a global environment.

Leadership is a complex landscape of analysis and decision making. Students in this course work toward increasing their ability to think critically, with a long-term view, about identifying and analyzing problems and interpreting data. Through this practice, they learn to avoid common decision errors that occur because of faulty, deep-seated mental models. Students also review and discuss fundamentals of scientific research, including the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods to understand leadership phenomena for a conceptual and practical understanding of research strategies available to leaders.

An important leadership qualification is the leader’s ability to accurately and persuasively frame for their stakeholders solutions to complex problems. In this course, students learn ways to create and frame the decision-making context and to produce and present viable solutions for complex issues in volatile and uncertain environments. They analyze real-world problems and learn to identify and communicate with organizational stakeholders. Students create a plan to align stakeholder mental models with effective decision-making practices, using the tools of communication, engagement, consensus building, and strategic-decision models.

The concept and reality of a system and its dependence upon all its parts drives how decisions are made in an organization. Students in this course focus on building their capacity to see things systemically to be able to recognize a system and all its parts for effective decision making. They use systems thinking tools to model single, double, and multiple-loop feedback systems, at micro and macro levels of analysis, and they practice using multiple-scenario analysis. Through practical exercises, students learn how the practice of systems thinking lays the foundation for creating sustainable outcomes. Through discussion and reflection, they consider the impact of decisions and actions. Students have the opportunity to gain skills to plan for multiple scenarios, creating highly agile responses and preventing vulnerability imposed by rapid change with no ready response on the part of leaders and organizations.

Maintaining a competitive advantage in business requires leaders who have the knowledge and skills to develop and implement growth strategies to ensure stability and promote expansion. Students in this course focus on the challenges and opportunities when leading organic growth and value innovation initiatives. Students build upon concepts ranging from skill-based strategy, organic growth, and value innovation, while evaluating the leadership challenges of developing new value and growth opportunities for organizations. They also explore and exercise various analytic strategic-thinking perspectives and tools that lend to the development and implementation of potentially successful and innovative organizational strategies in their chosen professional field.

Students are provided with a comprehensive overview of human resource (HR) management in this course. Students explore the role of HR managers as strategic partners who focus on the mission and goals of an organization. Within the strategic and legal framework, they examine the remaining areas of HR management functions, including workforce planning and employment; human resource development; total rewards of compensation, benefits, and rewards; risk management of health, safety, and well-being; and employee and labor relations. Students examine the use of technology as a tool in providing HR metrics to measure outcomes. They also work toward gaining the skills that enable them to develop important employment- and HR-related policies and procedures, responsibilities inherent in HR functions, programs, and activities.

One of the more difficult and large-scale challenges of leadership is effecting successful change in the face of resistance and conflict. Students in this course explore this challenge as well as the various facets of leading organizational change. They engage in writing assignments designed to help them focus their ideas and critically assess major topics, such as conflict resolution strategies aimed at the personal and organizational level. Students also consider the implications of emotion and the multifaceted array of conflict-management styles—factors for which professionals must account when making decisions regarding leadership and conflict resolution.

This course is built on the fundamental idea that individuals achieve great change in organizations and communities of all sizes by working toward growth and positive change in their own lives. In this capstone course, students examine the challenges of rebuilding a sense of community in the world, starting with the final crafting of their personal vision profile and personal plan of action and resulting in changes that could reverse the declines of economies, communities, and families. Integrating themes from the program, students develop a personal plan of action and an evidence-based, formally researched, service project proposal within their communities.

There are many challenges in the work of an ethical, vision-oriented leader at any level of organization. In this course, students examine these challenges and learn about the skills needed to navigate in turbulent, changing environments that often pose difficult choices. Students explore concepts related to level-five leadership and servant leadership, and they begin the process of self-assessment and reflection-in-action. Students are also provided with an introduction to Walden University, graduate studies at Walden, the M.S. in Leadership program, and all related processes and policies, including best practices of online learning and employing graduate-level standards to coursework.

Organizational leaders act as partners in shaping, and are shaped by, the organizational cultures they seek to influence. Students in this course learn to recognize the elements that make up and organization’s culture as well as ways to harness these for positive change and organizational success. They explore perspectives on how to make conceptual sense of the cultural landscape of organizations and examine the implications for leading and building effective communities at various levels of application. Students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as tools of self-development, the reciprocal nature of leadership, and cultural components.

Effective leaders at all levels of organization apply their knowledge of group dynamics to create productive groups. They produce desirable goal-oriented behaviors within their groups, maximize the impact of diversity of people and perspectives on group functioning, and create cultures of trust and justice.  Students investigate these aspects of the leadership role and how it creates vibrant, diverse communities, organizations, and groups. Students examine diversity in a myriad of contexts and explore the particular challenges of building effective teams that are fueled by diversity. Through assignments focused on personal assessments, real-world contextual frameworks, and application of theory integrated with personal experience, students sharpen their critical-thinking and writing skills while working toward becoming a more effective leader.

Leaders encounter many challenges as people from different cultures, social structures, religions, and languages participate in a globalized landscape and workforce. Students in this course examine these challenges and develop an understanding of the interrelatedness of nations in the global economy. They also explore the changing nature of international business and leadership.  Students evaluate and discuss the concepts of sustainable business strategies, international trade, foreign direct investment, and regional economic integration in relation to leadership in a global environment.

Leadership is a complex landscape of analysis and decision making. Students in this course work toward increasing their ability to think critically, with a long-term view, about identifying and analyzing problems and interpreting data. Through this practice, they learn to avoid common decision errors that occur because of faulty, deep-seated mental models. Students also review and discuss fundamentals of scientific research, including the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods to understand leadership phenomena for a conceptual and practical understanding of research strategies available to leaders.

An important leadership qualification is the leader’s ability to accurately and persuasively frame for their stakeholders solutions to complex problems. In this course, students learn ways to create and frame the decision-making context and to produce and present viable solutions for complex issues in volatile and uncertain environments. They analyze real-world problems and learn to identify and communicate with organizational stakeholders. Students create a plan to align stakeholder mental models with effective decision-making practices, using the tools of communication, engagement, consensus building, and strategic-decision models.

The concept and reality of a system and its dependence upon all its parts drives how decisions are made in an organization. Students in this course focus on building their capacity to see things systemically to be able to recognize a system and all its parts for effective decision making. They use systems thinking tools to model single, double, and multiple-loop feedback systems, at micro and macro levels of analysis, and they practice using multiple-scenario analysis. Through practical exercises, students learn how the practice of systems thinking lays the foundation for creating sustainable outcomes. Through discussion and reflection, they consider the impact of decisions and actions. Students have the opportunity to gain skills to plan for multiple scenarios, creating highly agile responses and preventing vulnerability imposed by rapid change with no ready response on the part of leaders and organizations.

Maintaining a competitive advantage in business requires leaders who have the knowledge and skills to develop and implement growth strategies to ensure stability and promote expansion. Students in this course focus on the challenges and opportunities when leading organic growth and value innovation initiatives. Students build upon concepts ranging from skill-based strategy, organic growth, and value innovation, while evaluating the leadership challenges of developing new value and growth opportunities for organizations. They also explore and exercise various analytic strategic-thinking perspectives and tools that lend to the development and implementation of potentially successful and innovative organizational strategies in their chosen professional field.

Students are provided with a comprehensive overview of human resource (HR) management in this course. Students explore the role of HR managers as strategic partners who focus on the mission and goals of an organization. Within the strategic and legal framework, they examine the remaining areas of HR management functions, including workforce planning and employment; human resource development; total rewards of compensation, benefits, and rewards; risk management of health, safety, and well-being; and employee and labor relations. Students examine the use of technology as a tool in providing HR metrics to measure outcomes. They also work toward gaining the skills that enable them to develop important employment- and HR-related policies and procedures, responsibilities inherent in HR functions, programs, and activities.

In this course, students adopt a strategic view of human resource management programs in evaluating their alignment with organizational strategic goals for real-world problems. Students explore such concepts as human resource issues involved with mergers and acquisitions, global management of human resources, and high-performance systems required to achieve competitive advantage. (Prerequisites: Prior academic approval is required.)

This course is built on the fundamental idea that individuals achieve great change in organizations and communities of all sizes by working toward growth and positive change in their own lives. In this capstone course, students examine the challenges of rebuilding a sense of community in the world, starting with the final crafting of their personal vision profile and personal plan of action and resulting in changes that could reverse the declines of economies, communities, and families. Integrating themes from the program, students develop a personal plan of action and an evidence-based, formally researched, service project proposal within their communities.

There are many challenges in the work of an ethical, vision-oriented leader at any level of organization. In this course, students examine these challenges and learn about the skills needed to navigate in turbulent, changing environments that often pose difficult choices. Students explore concepts related to level-five leadership and servant leadership, and they begin the process of self-assessment and reflection-in-action. Students are also provided with an introduction to Walden University, graduate studies at Walden, the M.S. in Leadership program, and all related processes and policies, including best practices of online learning and employing graduate-level standards to coursework.

Organizational leaders act as partners in shaping, and are shaped by, the organizational cultures they seek to influence. Students in this course learn to recognize the elements that make up and organization’s culture as well as ways to harness these for positive change and organizational success. They explore perspectives on how to make conceptual sense of the cultural landscape of organizations and examine the implications for leading and building effective communities at various levels of application. Students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as tools of self-development, the reciprocal nature of leadership, and cultural components.

Effective leaders at all levels of organization apply their knowledge of group dynamics to create productive groups. They produce desirable goal-oriented behaviors within their groups, maximize the impact of diversity of people and perspectives on group functioning, and create cultures of trust and justice.  Students investigate these aspects of the leadership role and how it creates vibrant, diverse communities, organizations, and groups. Students examine diversity in a myriad of contexts and explore the particular challenges of building effective teams that are fueled by diversity. Through assignments focused on personal assessments, real-world contextual frameworks, and application of theory integrated with personal experience, students sharpen their critical-thinking and writing skills while working toward becoming a more effective leader.

Leaders encounter many challenges as people from different cultures, social structures, religions, and languages participate in a globalized landscape and workforce. Students in this course examine these challenges and develop an understanding of the interrelatedness of nations in the global economy. They also explore the changing nature of international business and leadership.  Students evaluate and discuss the concepts of sustainable business strategies, international trade, foreign direct investment, and regional economic integration in relation to leadership in a global environment.

Leadership is a complex landscape of analysis and decision making. Students in this course work toward increasing their ability to think critically, with a long-term view, about identifying and analyzing problems and interpreting data. Through this practice, they learn to avoid common decision errors that occur because of faulty, deep-seated mental models. Students also review and discuss fundamentals of scientific research, including the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods to understand leadership phenomena for a conceptual and practical understanding of research strategies available to leaders.

An important leadership qualification is the leader’s ability to accurately and persuasively frame for their stakeholders solutions to complex problems. In this course, students learn ways to create and frame the decision-making context and to produce and present viable solutions for complex issues in volatile and uncertain environments. They analyze real-world problems and learn to identify and communicate with organizational stakeholders. Students create a plan to align stakeholder mental models with effective decision-making practices, using the tools of communication, engagement, consensus building, and strategic-decision models.

The concept and reality of a system and its dependence upon all its parts drives how decisions are made in an organization. Students in this course focus on building their capacity to see things systemically to be able to recognize a system and all its parts for effective decision making. They use systems thinking tools to model single, double, and multiple-loop feedback systems, at micro and macro levels of analysis, and they practice using multiple-scenario analysis. Through practical exercises, students learn how the practice of systems thinking lays the foundation for creating sustainable outcomes. Through discussion and reflection, they consider the impact of decisions and actions. Students have the opportunity to gain skills to plan for multiple scenarios, creating highly agile responses and preventing vulnerability imposed by rapid change with no ready response on the part of leaders and organizations.

Contemporary and successful leaders must leverage technology in every appropriate way to achieve goals in the complex global environment. In this course, students explore the role of information and information technology in organizations and learn how to identify and analyze emerging technologies, including and beyond the scope of information technology. Students focus on the importance of technology and innovation in today’s multifaceted environment as well as the ethical implications thereof. Through individual and group applications, students examine strategies to nurture innovation and cultivate technology development. They also take time to reflect on concepts presented in the course and consider how they can use this information to become the type of leader who effects change through innovative means.

Major fluctuations in the economy often force managers to make important, timely decisions that harness existing resources within their organization, leading to new developments and strategic advantage. In this course, students address important management challenges that are typical in today’s technology-based businesses. They learn ways to align business needs with technological solutions and identify new opportunities or applications for technology. Students have the opportunity to gain the requisite skills to manage processes that ensure technology solutions enhance an organization’s competitive position. (Prerequisites: MMSL 6540.)

In light of rapidly evolving technology, there are many factors involved in ensuring that businesses remain successful. Such factors involve understanding new technological capabilities and aligning them with the goals of a company and the needs of customers. Students in this course explore these factors and examine how managers make decisions to help ensure their company remains innovative and technologically adept. They examine the processes and tools involved in implementing new technologies and formulate solutions to overcome related challenges. In addition, students examine and discuss how technology solutions are affected when the context is global in scope. (Prerequisites: MMSL 6630.)

This course is built on the fundamental idea that individuals achieve great change in organizations and communities of all sizes by working toward growth and positive change in their own lives. In this capstone course, students examine the challenges of rebuilding a sense of community in the world, starting with the final crafting of their personal vision profile and personal plan of action and resulting in changes that could reverse the declines of economies, communities, and families. Integrating themes from the program, students develop a personal plan of action and an evidence-based, formally researched, service project proposal within their communities.

There are many challenges in the work of an ethical, vision-oriented leader at any level of organization. In this course, students examine these challenges and learn about the skills needed to navigate in turbulent, changing environments that often pose difficult choices. Students explore concepts related to level-five leadership and servant leadership, and they begin the process of self-assessment and reflection-in-action. Students are also provided with an introduction to Walden University, graduate studies at Walden, the M.S. in Leadership program, and all related processes and policies, including best practices of online learning and employing graduate-level standards to coursework.

Organizational leaders act as partners in shaping, and are shaped by, the organizational cultures they seek to influence. Students in this course learn to recognize the elements that make up and organization’s culture as well as ways to harness these for positive change and organizational success. They explore perspectives on how to make conceptual sense of the cultural landscape of organizations and examine the implications for leading and building effective communities at various levels of application. Students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as tools of self-development, the reciprocal nature of leadership, and cultural components.

Effective leaders at all levels of organization apply their knowledge of group dynamics to create productive groups. They produce desirable goal-oriented behaviors within their groups, maximize the impact of diversity of people and perspectives on group functioning, and create cultures of trust and justice.  Students investigate these aspects of the leadership role and how it creates vibrant, diverse communities, organizations, and groups. Students examine diversity in a myriad of contexts and explore the particular challenges of building effective teams that are fueled by diversity. Through assignments focused on personal assessments, real-world contextual frameworks, and application of theory integrated with personal experience, students sharpen their critical-thinking and writing skills while working toward becoming a more effective leader.

Leaders encounter many challenges as people from different cultures, social structures, religions, and languages participate in a globalized landscape and workforce. Students in this course examine these challenges and develop an understanding of the interrelatedness of nations in the global economy. They also explore the changing nature of international business and leadership.  Students evaluate and discuss the concepts of sustainable business strategies, international trade, foreign direct investment, and regional economic integration in relation to leadership in a global environment.

Leadership is a complex landscape of analysis and decision making. Students in this course work toward increasing their ability to think critically, with a long-term view, about identifying and analyzing problems and interpreting data. Through this practice, they learn to avoid common decision errors that occur because of faulty, deep-seated mental models. Students also review and discuss fundamentals of scientific research, including the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods to understand leadership phenomena for a conceptual and practical understanding of research strategies available to leaders.

An important leadership qualification is the leader’s ability to accurately and persuasively frame for their stakeholders solutions to complex problems. In this course, students learn ways to create and frame the decision-making context and to produce and present viable solutions for complex issues in volatile and uncertain environments. They analyze real-world problems and learn to identify and communicate with organizational stakeholders. Students create a plan to align stakeholder mental models with effective decision-making practices, using the tools of communication, engagement, consensus building, and strategic-decision models.

The concept and reality of a system and its dependence upon all its parts drives how decisions are made in an organization. Students in this course focus on building their capacity to see things systemically to be able to recognize a system and all its parts for effective decision making. They use systems thinking tools to model single, double, and multiple-loop feedback systems, at micro and macro levels of analysis, and they practice using multiple-scenario analysis. Through practical exercises, students learn how the practice of systems thinking lays the foundation for creating sustainable outcomes. Through discussion and reflection, they consider the impact of decisions and actions. Students have the opportunity to gain skills to plan for multiple scenarios, creating highly agile responses and preventing vulnerability imposed by rapid change with no ready response on the part of leaders and organizations.

Students taking this course build upon previous core content related to framing, prioritizing, assessing risk, and identifying variables associated with complex issues in dynamic environments. They have the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge that will help them provide clarity in constraining, confusing, and complex situations so that others engage, support, and follow new plans. In the context of leadership, students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as systems-environment, change, socio-technology systems consideration, leverage points, sustainability, and paradigm shifts. Students also engage in assignments designed to provide practical application of content for a real-world understanding of how to be a successful leader for sustainable futures in rapidly changing contexts.

Mentoring requires an understanding and integration of many theories, including leadership, interaction, and communication, that support the development of effective leaders. This course helps students understand and apply skills of effective mentoring, such as active listening, learning, empowering, and enabling change. Students engage in practical exercises, such as using feedback to create interactive dialogue and asking questions to acquire a deeper understanding of mentoring and coaching processes. In consideration of modern and virtual environments, students explore the challenges of mentoring or coaching individuals in a virtual or team setting.

One of the more difficult and large-scale challenges of leadership is effecting successful change in the face of resistance and conflict. Students in this course explore this challenge as well as the various facets of leading organizational change. They engage in writing assignments designed to help them focus their ideas and critically assess major topics, such as conflict resolution strategies aimed at the personal and organizational level. Students also consider the implications of emotion and the multifaceted array of conflict-management styles—factors for which professionals must account when making decisions regarding leadership and conflict resolution.

This course is built on the fundamental idea that individuals achieve great change in organizations and communities of all sizes by working toward growth and positive change in their own lives. In this capstone course, students examine the challenges of rebuilding a sense of community in the world, starting with the final crafting of their personal vision profile and personal plan of action and resulting in changes that could reverse the declines of economies, communities, and families. Integrating themes from the program, students develop a personal plan of action and an evidence-based, formally researched, service project proposal within their communities.

There are many challenges in the work of an ethical, vision-oriented leader at any level of organization. In this course, students examine these challenges and learn about the skills needed to navigate in turbulent, changing environments that often pose difficult choices. Students explore concepts related to level-five leadership and servant leadership, and they begin the process of self-assessment and reflection-in-action. Students are also provided with an introduction to Walden University, graduate studies at Walden, the M.S. in Leadership program, and all related processes and policies, including best practices of online learning and employing graduate-level standards to coursework.

Organizational leaders act as partners in shaping, and are shaped by, the organizational cultures they seek to influence. Students in this course learn to recognize the elements that make up and organization’s culture as well as ways to harness these for positive change and organizational success. They explore perspectives on how to make conceptual sense of the cultural landscape of organizations and examine the implications for leading and building effective communities at various levels of application. Students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as tools of self-development, the reciprocal nature of leadership, and cultural components.

Effective leaders at all levels of organization apply their knowledge of group dynamics to create productive groups. They produce desirable goal-oriented behaviors within their groups, maximize the impact of diversity of people and perspectives on group functioning, and create cultures of trust and justice.  Students investigate these aspects of the leadership role and how it creates vibrant, diverse communities, organizations, and groups. Students examine diversity in a myriad of contexts and explore the particular challenges of building effective teams that are fueled by diversity. Through assignments focused on personal assessments, real-world contextual frameworks, and application of theory integrated with personal experience, students sharpen their critical-thinking and writing skills while working toward becoming a more effective leader.

Leaders encounter many challenges as people from different cultures, social structures, religions, and languages participate in a globalized landscape and workforce. Students in this course examine these challenges and develop an understanding of the interrelatedness of nations in the global economy. They also explore the changing nature of international business and leadership.  Students evaluate and discuss the concepts of sustainable business strategies, international trade, foreign direct investment, and regional economic integration in relation to leadership in a global environment.

Leadership is a complex landscape of analysis and decision making. Students in this course work toward increasing their ability to think critically, with a long-term view, about identifying and analyzing problems and interpreting data. Through this practice, they learn to avoid common decision errors that occur because of faulty, deep-seated mental models. Students also review and discuss fundamentals of scientific research, including the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods to understand leadership phenomena for a conceptual and practical understanding of research strategies available to leaders.

An important leadership qualification is the leader’s ability to accurately and persuasively frame for their stakeholders solutions to complex problems. In this course, students learn ways to create and frame the decision-making context and to produce and present viable solutions for complex issues in volatile and uncertain environments. They analyze real-world problems and learn to identify and communicate with organizational stakeholders. Students create a plan to align stakeholder mental models with effective decision-making practices, using the tools of communication, engagement, consensus building, and strategic-decision models.

The concept and reality of a system and its dependence upon all its parts drives how decisions are made in an organization. Students in this course focus on building their capacity to see things systemically to be able to recognize a system and all its parts for effective decision making. They use systems thinking tools to model single, double, and multiple-loop feedback systems, at micro and macro levels of analysis, and they practice using multiple-scenario analysis. Through practical exercises, students learn how the practice of systems thinking lays the foundation for creating sustainable outcomes. Through discussion and reflection, they consider the impact of decisions and actions. Students have the opportunity to gain skills to plan for multiple scenarios, creating highly agile responses and preventing vulnerability imposed by rapid change with no ready response on the part of leaders and organizations.

Students taking this course build upon previous core content related to framing, prioritizing, assessing risk, and identifying variables associated with complex issues in dynamic environments. They have the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge that will help them provide clarity in constraining, confusing, and complex situations so that others engage, support, and follow new plans. In the context of leadership, students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as systems-environment, change, socio-technology systems consideration, leverage points, sustainability, and paradigm shifts. Students also engage in assignments designed to provide practical application of content for a real-world understanding of how to be a successful leader for sustainable futures in rapidly changing contexts.

Taking into account global concerns, such as human rights, the environment, and factors of sustainability, individuals and organizations alike have incorporated a business model with a vision of change and a mission to positively influence society. In this course, students explore multiple approaches to understanding and improving the systemic relationships and obligations that exist among individuals, organizations, and the larger set of connected communities. Through assessment of past and current corporate practices of successful organizations, students gain practical insight on effective and non-effective strategies, in addition to related ethical considerations. Through application and reflection, students consider the role they can play in implementing change and growth without doing harm through unintended byproducts and outcomes, developing the ability to practice social responsibility as part of their daily work.

Leaders can have a major impact on the environment and the lives of others through the promotion of positive social change in private enterprise. In this course, students explore and evaluate opportunities to create value through the development of new organizations that respond in sustainable ways to the needs of the micro-level community and the world at large. Students prepare to build new organizations that solve problems within a systems context. They gain hands-on experience drafting new venture plan outlines that focus on social and environmental entrepreneurship issues. Students assess and discuss planning, operations, and decision-making approaches from a leadership perspective. They also build into their approach to planning, operations, and decision making a global awareness that begins within their local community and extends far beyond.

This course is built on the fundamental idea that individuals achieve great change in organizations and communities of all sizes by working toward growth and positive change in their own lives. In this capstone course, students examine the challenges of rebuilding a sense of community in the world, starting with the final crafting of their personal vision profile and personal plan of action and resulting in changes that could reverse the declines of economies, communities, and families. Integrating themes from the program, students develop a personal plan of action and an evidence-based, formally researched, service project proposal within their communities.

There are many challenges in the work of an ethical, vision-oriented leader at any level of organization. In this course, students examine these challenges and learn about the skills needed to navigate in turbulent, changing environments that often pose difficult choices. Students explore concepts related to level-five leadership and servant leadership, and they begin the process of self-assessment and reflection-in-action. Students are also provided with an introduction to Walden University, graduate studies at Walden, the M.S. in Leadership program, and all related processes and policies, including best practices of online learning and employing graduate-level standards to coursework.

Organizational leaders act as partners in shaping, and are shaped by, the organizational cultures they seek to influence. Students in this course learn to recognize the elements that make up and organization’s culture as well as ways to harness these for positive change and organizational success. They explore perspectives on how to make conceptual sense of the cultural landscape of organizations and examine the implications for leading and building effective communities at various levels of application. Students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as tools of self-development, the reciprocal nature of leadership, and cultural components.

Effective leaders at all levels of organization apply their knowledge of group dynamics to create productive groups. They produce desirable goal-oriented behaviors within their groups, maximize the impact of diversity of people and perspectives on group functioning, and create cultures of trust and justice.  Students investigate these aspects of the leadership role and how it creates vibrant, diverse communities, organizations, and groups. Students examine diversity in a myriad of contexts and explore the particular challenges of building effective teams that are fueled by diversity. Through assignments focused on personal assessments, real-world contextual frameworks, and application of theory integrated with personal experience, students sharpen their critical-thinking and writing skills while working toward becoming a more effective leader.

Leaders encounter many challenges as people from different cultures, social structures, religions, and languages participate in a globalized landscape and workforce. Students in this course examine these challenges and develop an understanding of the interrelatedness of nations in the global economy. They also explore the changing nature of international business and leadership.  Students evaluate and discuss the concepts of sustainable business strategies, international trade, foreign direct investment, and regional economic integration in relation to leadership in a global environment.

Leadership is a complex landscape of analysis and decision making. Students in this course work toward increasing their ability to think critically, with a long-term view, about identifying and analyzing problems and interpreting data. Through this practice, they learn to avoid common decision errors that occur because of faulty, deep-seated mental models. Students also review and discuss fundamentals of scientific research, including the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods to understand leadership phenomena for a conceptual and practical understanding of research strategies available to leaders.

An important leadership qualification is the leader’s ability to accurately and persuasively frame for their stakeholders solutions to complex problems. In this course, students learn ways to create and frame the decision-making context and to produce and present viable solutions for complex issues in volatile and uncertain environments. They analyze real-world problems and learn to identify and communicate with organizational stakeholders. Students create a plan to align stakeholder mental models with effective decision-making practices, using the tools of communication, engagement, consensus building, and strategic-decision models.

The concept and reality of a system and its dependence upon all its parts drives how decisions are made in an organization. Students in this course focus on building their capacity to see things systemically to be able to recognize a system and all its parts for effective decision making. They use systems thinking tools to model single, double, and multiple-loop feedback systems, at micro and macro levels of analysis, and they practice using multiple-scenario analysis. Through practical exercises, students learn how the practice of systems thinking lays the foundation for creating sustainable outcomes. Through discussion and reflection, they consider the impact of decisions and actions. Students have the opportunity to gain skills to plan for multiple scenarios, creating highly agile responses and preventing vulnerability imposed by rapid change with no ready response on the part of leaders and organizations.

Contemporary and successful leaders must leverage technology in every appropriate way to achieve goals in the complex global environment. In this course, students explore the role of information and information technology in organizations and learn how to identify and analyze emerging technologies, including and beyond the scope of information technology. Students focus on the importance of technology and innovation in today’s multifaceted environment as well as the ethical implications thereof. Through individual and group applications, students examine strategies to nurture innovation and cultivate technology development. They also take time to reflect on concepts presented in the course and consider how they can use this information to become the type of leader who effects change through innovative means.

Students are introduced to the art and science of project management as applied to different types of project situations. They learn about the tools, techniques, and methodologies used to lead a project successfully throughout the project life cycle. They analyze the role of the project manager as an integral administrator overseeing the execution, progress, and interaction of all parties involved. They explore the function of the project management office (PMO), project organizations, team building, project selection, and portfolio management. Exploring context through real-world problems, students learn how managers employ the scope of work, work definition, scheduling, risk management, control, and closeout throughout the course of a project. In addition, students learn how project managers use request for proposals (RFPs), proposals, and contracts to define a project clearly and safeguard their company. Note: There is a special technology requirement for this course, requiring the use of Microsoft Project. The software will be provided in trial form, but there is not a Mac version available in this software. Students in this course are required to use Microsoft Windows XP, Server 2003, or later. Considering Mac users may experience difficulty using the software, we recommend the following: (1) Mac users should be prepared to use a PC during this course, or (2) Mac users should purchase the appropriate software or hardware to be able to replicate the Windows environment on their Mac.

As organizations continue to grow in scope and size, so do their projects, requiring individuals with a unique and diverse set of management skills who are able to see a product through from conception to distribution. In this course, students delve deeper into the realm of project management to assess its impact on the business environment in a domestic and global context. Students examine the “soft” skills of project management as the keys to improving its practice. In the context of real-world problems, they assess research and engage in practical simulations to determine best practices of project management in today’s organizations. (Prerequisites: MMSL 6650.)

This course is built on the fundamental idea that individuals achieve great change in organizations and communities of all sizes by working toward growth and positive change in their own lives. In this capstone course, students examine the challenges of rebuilding a sense of community in the world, starting with the final crafting of their personal vision profile and personal plan of action and resulting in changes that could reverse the declines of economies, communities, and families. Integrating themes from the program, students develop a personal plan of action and an evidence-based, formally researched, service project proposal within their communities.

There are many challenges in the work of an ethical, vision-oriented leader at any level of organization. In this course, students examine these challenges and learn about the skills needed to navigate in turbulent, changing environments that often pose difficult choices. Students explore concepts related to level-five leadership and servant leadership, and they begin the process of self-assessment and reflection-in-action. Students are also provided with an introduction to Walden University, graduate studies at Walden, the M.S. in Leadership program, and all related processes and policies, including best practices of online learning and employing graduate-level standards to coursework.

Organizational leaders act as partners in shaping, and are shaped by, the organizational cultures they seek to influence. Students in this course learn to recognize the elements that make up and organization’s culture as well as ways to harness these for positive change and organizational success. They explore perspectives on how to make conceptual sense of the cultural landscape of organizations and examine the implications for leading and building effective communities at various levels of application. Students assess and discuss a variety of topics, such as tools of self-development, the reciprocal nature of leadership, and cultural components.

Effective leaders at all levels of organization apply their knowledge of group dynamics to create productive groups. They produce desirable goal-oriented behaviors within their groups, maximize the impact of diversity of people and perspectives on group functioning, and create cultures of trust and justice.  Students investigate these aspects of the leadership role and how it creates vibrant, diverse communities, organizations, and groups. Students examine diversity in a myriad of contexts and explore the particular challenges of building effective teams that are fueled by diversity. Through assignments focused on personal assessments, real-world contextual frameworks, and application of theory integrated with personal experience, students sharpen their critical-thinking and writing skills while working toward becoming a more effective leader.

Leaders encounter many challenges as people from different cultures, social structures, religions, and languages participate in a globalized landscape and workforce. Students in this course examine these challenges and develop an understanding of the interrelatedness of nations in the global economy. They also explore the changing nature of international business and leadership.  Students evaluate and discuss the concepts of sustainable business strategies, international trade, foreign direct investment, and regional economic integration in relation to leadership in a global environment.

Leadership is a complex landscape of analysis and decision making. Students in this course work toward increasing their ability to think critically, with a long-term view, about identifying and analyzing problems and interpreting data. Through this practice, they learn to avoid common decision errors that occur because of faulty, deep-seated mental models. Students also review and discuss fundamentals of scientific research, including the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods to understand leadership phenomena for a conceptual and practical understanding of research strategies available to leaders.

An important leadership qualification is the leader’s ability to accurately and persuasively frame for their stakeholders solutions to complex problems. In this course, students learn ways to create and frame the decision-making context and to produce and present viable solutions for complex issues in volatile and uncertain environments. They analyze real-world problems and learn to identify and communicate with organizational stakeholders. Students create a plan to align stakeholder mental models with effective decision-making practices, using the tools of communication, engagement, consensus building, and strategic-decision models.

The concept and reality of a system and its dependence upon all its parts drives how decisions are made in an organization. Students in this course focus on building their capacity to see things systemically to be able to recognize a system and all its parts for effective decision making. They use systems thinking tools to model single, double, and multiple-loop feedback systems, at micro and macro levels of analysis, and they practice using multiple-scenario analysis. Through practical exercises, students learn how the practice of systems thinking lays the foundation for creating sustainable outcomes. Through discussion and reflection, they consider the impact of decisions and actions. Students have the opportunity to gain skills to plan for multiple scenarios, creating highly agile responses and preventing vulnerability imposed by rapid change with no ready response on the part of leaders and organizations.

This course is built on the fundamental idea that individuals achieve great change in organizations and communities of all sizes by working toward growth and positive change in their own lives. In this capstone course, students examine the challenges of rebuilding a sense of community in the world, starting with the final crafting of their personal vision profile and personal plan of action and resulting in changes that could reverse the declines of economies, communities, and families. Integrating themes from the program, students develop a personal plan of action and an evidence-based, formally researched, service project proposal within their communities.