MQM1BDE: Building Board and Director Effectiveness

Module code: MQM1BDE

Module provider: Marketing and Reputation; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

Level: Postgraduate Masters

When you'll be taught: Full year

Module convenor: Professor Andrew Kakabadse, email: a.kakabadse@henley.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: No placement specified

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students:

Talis reading list:

Last updated: 28 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module aims to introduce the role, responsibility and dynamics of directors and board for their effective strategic engagement. 

Students will learn about the different roles at board level - chairman; CEO; SID; NEDs; CFO; company secretary and their responsibilities in role and as part of the board. This will include developing an awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses; personal background influences and skills/capability as part of the broader board that sets the tone at the top. Further, the module will consider influencing skills at board level as individual contribution and as board capacity in enabling strategy design and execution. The module includes both academic and practitioner supported learning.  Students will also learn about leading through change e.g. through crisis and innovation. This module includes a psychometric test in handling complexity at the top. Further, the nature/issues of dysfunctional board cases and succession planning as critical to director effectiveness and board value will be considered. 

Outline the nature of governance and its importance for the development and sustainable future of the organisation. 

Define the role, contribution and responsibilities of different board positions. 

Discuss the abilities required to be a high-performing board director.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that the student will be able to: 

• Identify the role and responsibilities of different board members on the board. 
• Demonstrate a greater awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses as part of the board. 
• Judge the strategic value and contribution of directors as board members. 
• To evaluate capabilities of high performing board director as part of board and organisation 

Express their own skills, competencies and capabilities in terms of governance and leadership qualities and have the confidence to call out the issue. 

Formulate at board level more broadly (wider informed, with greater critical judgement of the evidence) and in alignment with each other for longer term sustainability. 

Module content

 This module will provide an overview of the different roles and responsibilities at board level and highlight the characteristics and features of board dynamics and relationships as critical to effective monitoring and realising strategic alignment. Students will benefit from both specialist practitioner and academic sessions on the director as part of board.  Further, students will enhance their own self-awareness and skills through doing a psychometric test and consider through cases on board performance, their own board and organisation context as contribution to building board effectiveness. 

This module is designed to allow for multiple delivery points. 

• Content: 
• Role, responsibility and influences of directors and board 
• Board dynamics, relationships and strategic alignment 
• Depth of engagement (practitioner) 
• Building board value and effectiveness (practitioner) 
• Strategy: leading through change 
• Psychometric: dealing with complexity 
• Dealing with dysfunctional board 
• Evaluation and succession planning

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module will be taught by practitioner and academic staff, reflective of their specialisms. The lectures/workshop will include: 

• PowerPoint presentations 

• Appropriate use of learning technologies where relevant 

• Interactive Q&A 

• Individual exercises 

• Group exercises. 

• Work based and active learning opportunities. 

• Problem solving opportunities. 

Cases that combine theory and practice facilitate T&L approaches and exercises which will cater to individual needs by including wide range questions as part of scaffolding, moving progressively towards more active learning.  Each student will also have opportunity to contribute to their own diary as part of the learning experience. 

Guided Independent Study includes preparation and planning for scheduled sessions, pre-reading or research, follow-up work, wider reading, practice or application to practice, understanding learning tools and techniques (e.g. technologies, software and different research methods) - relevant to participants own area of interest or context of study. This also includes completion of assessment tasks e.g. getting access or information, analysing data, evaluating, synthesising and reflecting on the particular case or topic of interest. 

Study hours

At least 20 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

50% pass mark - Students need to achieve a mark of 50% in each assessment and overall 50% mark to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

This module is subject to the Penalties for late submission for Postgraduate Flexible programmes policy, which can be found at:

https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmissionpgflexible.pdf

The Module Convenor will apply the following penalties to work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted up to one calendar month after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark; 
• where the piece of work is submitted more than one calendar month after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students are required to work in groups and progressively analyse and develop a case study, producing a flip-chart or power-point presentation. Students are required to present the findings to the cohort and receive feedback from their peers and from the module convenor, towards the writing up of their group case study analysis report. 

Reassessment

Additional costs