BUSN20027 - Contemporary Leadership

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit examines contributions of contemporary leaders to organisations. In this context, leadership refers to influencing, motivating and empowering others to contribute to the success of organisations. Effective business leaders create a compelling vision that motivates others. You will evaluate the effectiveness of various leadership models, theories, frameworks and techniques capable of improving individual, group and organisational productivity. Commonalities and points of differentiation will be explored between leadership theories, including transactional, transformational, charismatic, authentic, path-goal, situational, servant and implicit, as well as related theories and practices. These theories and practices influence the development of strategic decisions aimed at achieving sustainable business outcomes. Of particular interest is the capacity of transformative leaders to convince followers to perform beyond what can normally be achieved. Such leadership refers to the behaviours that inspire followers to achieve a desired future for the benefit of an organisation's members. Transformational leaders can change organisational culture through creative initiatives and solutions that inspire followers to achieve deep and enduring positive change.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band 10
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

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2026 - Online
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Higher Education Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Report 20%
2. Presentation 40%
3. Reflective Practice Assignment 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

No previous feedback available

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Analyse contemporary leadership theories, frameworks and techniques to enhance organisational productivity
  2. Evaluate a leadership challenge in an organisational setting
  3. Reflect upon a real-world example of leadership in an organisational setting
  4. Critically argue how contemporary leadership theories, frameworks and techniques can enhance organisational culture and achieve enduring, positive change.

N/A

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Report • •
2 - Presentation • • •
3 - Reflective Practice Assignment • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Knowledge • • • •
2 - Communication • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • •
4 - Research • • •
5 - Self-management •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • •
7 - Leadership • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8