Course syllabus

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Welcome to BOM030 Leadership and Communication!

Study Period 2, Autumn 2026 | 7.5 credits

This course is offered by the Department of Technology Management and Economics and is organized and led by Mikael Lantz and Martin Löwstedt

Course leader

Mikael Lantz email: mikael.lantz@chalmers.se

Lecturer and Examiner

Martin Löwstedt email: martin.lowstedt@chalmers.se

Schedule

Note: The detailed course schedule is available in the file “BOM030 (2026) Schedule and Syllabus” in the Files section of the course menu.

Content

Leadership is a central concern for contemporary organizations, industries, and societies seeking to develop and perform effectively. Leadership research has linked effective leadership to higher morale and well-being, stronger self-esteem and empowerment, greater creativity, more decisive action, and a stronger sense of meaning connected to a shared vision. At the organizational level, leadership can also explain substantial differences in performance and play a central role in organizational development and change.

Despite the extensive body of research, leadership remains difficult to capture in ready-made definitions or universal models. Leadership is often understood as a relational and dynamic process shaped through interactions among leaders, followers, and the situations in which they act. Leaders must continually engage with both the rational and emotional dimensions of human experience. Effective leadership therefore requires an understanding of the social conditions of a group: what motivates its members, what resources are available, and how engagement, responsibility, and accountability can be fostered in a particular workplace.

At the same time, leadership is not necessarily heroic, intentional, or inherently positive. It is embedded in everyday managerial work and shaped by organizational and situational (and at times destructive) conditions that may enable, constrain, or undermine its effects.

Leadership can be studied as a science, but it is also a form of practical expertise informed by experience, intuition, reflection, and judgment. In this course, leadership will be presented and discussed through a number of themes:

  • The role of leadership in managerial work
  • Feedback as a leadership skill
  • Coaching as a leadership skill
  • Understanding and practicing leadership charisma
  • Future making
  • Leadership and critical theory
  • Leadership in practice through examples from industry
  • Analyzing leadership

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, you will understand and be able to explain theories related to the areas listed above. You will also develop an understanding of leadership as a process involving interactions among leaders, followers and situations.

By the end of the course, you will also have developed your practical abilities in the following areas:

  • General communication skills, including written, spoken and listening skills
  • The ability to work effectively in groups and teams
  • The ability to support collective group learning through actionable feedback
  • Critical analyzis skills, including reflection, interpretation, assessment and argumentation
  • The ability to reflect on your own leadership skills and future development

Organization

The course is organized around six full-day sessions led by the two teachers. Each session consists of a combination of short lectures, practice-oriented exercises, collective reflection and discussions in smaller groups. Interview transcripts from practicing leaders will be used as recurring empirical material in the group discussions and in the final oral examination. All sessions will be held in person on campus (see the schedule in the Files section of the course menu to the left).

The learning process and examination in the course consist of the following components:

  • Attendance at the course sessions
  • Weekly group discussions, including both individual and group submissions
  • A classroom quiz
  • An Oral Examination
You will work in the same discussion group throughout the course. The work conducted during the weekly themes will contribute to the group’s final analytical framework and oral examination. The final assignment should therefore be understood as a synthesis of the learning and analysis developed throughout the course, rather than as a separate assignment undertaken only at the end.
Canvas will be used as the principal administration and communication channel throughout the whole course. You are therefore expected to check the Canvas page regularly and read all the announcements posted.  If you have questions that are not properly answered anywhere on the Canvas page, then please ask them during the sessions or send an email to: mikael.lantz@chalmers.se

Examination

The course examination consists of four learning and assessment components that together award a maximum of 130 points.

Your total number of points determines your final course grade according to the following scale:

  • U: 0–64 points
  • 3: 65–84 points
  • 4: 85–104 points
  • 5: 105–130 points

The points are distributed across the four components as follows:

Attendance at the sessions (0-30 points)

Attendance at each of the six course sessions awards 5 points, giving a maximum of 30 points.

Students who miss three sessions or more will be required to complete an extensive mandatory supplementary assignment. This assignment awards no additional attendance points but provides an opportunity to complete the attendance component.

Weekly group discussions (0-40 points)

One part of the learning process in this course is organized through discussion groups, related to four different leadership themes. You will be divided into groups during Session 1 and then work in these groups throughout the whole course. After submitting a written “individual discussion note” related to the assigned readings, you read and comment on your group members “individual discussion notes” before you meet together for a group discussion. This discussion is then to be documented in a written “group discussion note” and uploaded on Canvas.

Each group discussion is awarded with 0-10 points based on a combination of your own self-assessment and my review, resulting in a maximum of 40 points (4*10). Anything less than 10 points in total will subject you to an extensive mandatory hand-in which awards no extra points but can help you pass this module.

Detailed instructions for the group discussions are uploaded on Canvas as a separate document (“Instructions Group Discussions”), together with the weekly themes that will be posted ongoingly.

To connect the course literature to empirical examples of leadership, the interview transcripts will be integrated progressively into the group discussions:
  • During Theme 1, each group will work with one assigned leadership transcript.
  • During Theme 2, a second transcript will be introduced, allowing the group to begin comparing two leaders.
  • During Themes 3 and 4, the groups will work with all four transcripts.
  • The work conducted across the four themes will contribute to the analytical framework used in the final oral examination.

Exam quiz on lectures and course literature (0-40 points)

The final course session begins with an exam quiz covering the lectures and the articles assigned to the four weekly group discussions. The quiz consists of 20 multiple-choice questions. Each correct answer awards 2 points, giving a maximum of 40 points. The quiz is not mandatory, but it provides an opportunity to earn points based on the learning developed through the lectures, assigned readings and group discussions. 

This is the only occasion offered to take this quiz.

A student who does not participate in the scheduled quiz may instead complete an extensive written alternative assignment based on the lectures and course literature. The alternative assignment awards 0–20 points. It is designed to provide an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge corresponding to the passing level of the quiz component.

Oral Examination (0-20 points)

The final assessment component is a group-based leadership analysis presentation. Each discussion group will develop a theoretically informed framework and use it to analyze and compare the four interview transcripts from practicing leaders that are already familiar by this time.

All group members must be prepared to present and explain the group’s analysis. Presentation roles will be assigned at the beginning of the examination, and each student will also answer an individually directed question. The assessment will consider both the quality of the group’s shared analysis and each student’s individual understanding.

Participation in the oral examination is mandatory. Students who do not participate in the scheduled examination must complete an individual oral supplementary examination at a later occasion.

Detailed instructions, assessment criteria, deadlines and information about the practical examination format will be presented later and published separately under files.

Overview of Course Examination and Deadlines:

    1. Attend and participate in the scheduled course sessions.
    2. Read the assigned articles.
    3. Submit and send your "individual discussion notes" to the other group members before each group discussion.
    4. Read and provide feedback on the "individual discussion notes" prepared by the other group members.
    5. Participate in the group discussions.
    6. Submit the joint "group discussion note" through Canvas.
    7. Write individual grading report after each group discussion and submit when all are finished.
    8. Read and analyze the assigned leadership transcripts according to the instructions for each theme.
    9. Complete the classroom quiz on the lectures and course literature.
    10. Develop the group’s analytical framework and prepare the final presentation.
    11. Submit the group’s presentation slides.
    12. Participate in the Oral Examination.

Course literature:

The course literature consists of 13 academic texts assigned across four themes, together with four interview transcripts from practicing leaders (see the "Files" section to the left). 

Your understanding of the course literature will be developed and assessed through the individual discussion notes, peer feedback, group discussion notes, the classroom quiz and the final oral examination.

The work completed during the weekly themes will therefore contribute directly to the final examination. Reading the assigned literature carefully and according to the course schedule will create important learning synergies throughout the course.

Theme 1 Group discussions: “Managerial work and Leadership”.

Mintzberg, H. (1971). Managerial work: Analysis from observation. Management Science, 18(2)

Tengblad, S. (2006). Is there a ‘new managerial work’? A comparison with Henry Mintzberg's classic study 30 years later. Journal of Management Studies, 43(7), 1437-1461.

Antonakis, J., & Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2012). The nature of leadership (INTRO CHAPTER) Sage publications.

Cannon, M. D., & Witherspoon, R. (2005). Actionable feedback: Unlocking the power of learning and performance improvement. Academy of Management Perspectives, 19(2), 120-134.

Theme 2 Group Discussions

Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. 

Antonakis, J. (2012). Transformational and charismatic leadership. In D. V. Day & J. Antonakis (Eds.), The nature of leadership (2nd ed., pp. 256–288). SAGE Publications.

Conger, J. A. (1991). Inspiring others: The language of leadership. Academy of Management Executive, 5(1), 31–45. 

Theme 3 Group Discussions

Ladyshewsky, R. K. (2010). The manager as coach as a driver of organizational development. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(4), 292–306.

Quinn, R. E., & Spreitzer, G. M. (1997). The road to empowerment: Seven questions every leader should consider. Organizational Dynamics, 26(2), 37–49.

Padilla, A., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2007). The toxic triangle: Destructive leaders, susceptible followers, and conducive environments. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(3), 176–194.

Hogan, J., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2011). Management derailment. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology: Vol. 3. Maintaining, expanding, and contracting the organization (pp. 555–575). American Psychological Association.

Theme 4 Group Discussions

Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2003). Managers doing leadership: The extra-ordinarization of the mundane. Human Relations, 56(12), 1435–1459.

Holmberg, I., & Tyrstrup, M. (2010). Well then – What now? An everyday approach to managerial leadership. Leadership, 6(4), 353–372.

Course summary:

Course Summary
Date Details Due