| Course Overview |
This course provides in-depth coverage of the supervision process with emphasis on techniques. Case studies at the end of each unit of the text allow you to apply the knowledge you will be gaining throughout the course. Also covered in this course is an introduction to management decision making. "Elements of Supervision" covers the concepts of modern-day supervision from a behavioral science approach, emphasizing the supervisor's major functions and development of sensitivity to human facets of management.
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| Required Textbook |
Hilgert, Raymond L. and Edwin C. Leonard, Jr., Supervision: Concepts and Practices of Management, 9th ed., South-Western Publishing Co., 2004. This text has been updated nine times and has an enduring popularity because of its clear writing style and practical emphasis on the essential issues of supervision. It is a "hands-on" text that puts you in the supervisor's shoes. It is skills-focused. The ninth edition has been revised significantly from its predecessor, but remains a comprehensive single source and leading textbook on supervisory management. The text focuses on helping you develop supervisory skills you can really use. While learning important supervisory management skills, you will also learn how to be a supervisor–how to apply the principles of management in the real world. The text is introductory in that it assumes no previous management knowledge. However, it presents challenging material in language that you can understand. The concepts are presented in direct, practical terms. It is not intended as a book for academic theoreticians. TOP |
| Lesson Objectives and Hints for Study |
Each lesson is designed to enable you to study a particular aspect of supervision. Lessons 1-9 each cover two or three chapters in the textbook. For each of the chapters in the lesson, you will find lesson objectives, a reading assignment, a short commentary on the major concepts of that chapter, and a set of questions to be submitted. The "Lesson Objectives" will guide your reading and alert you to the key points in each chapter of the text. You can use those as review questions after you have read each chapter, to see if you have mastered the key ideas. The reading assignment in the text and the chapter commentary will give you a good foundation of information and insight and prepare you to do the submitted assignment. Case Analysis The text is divided into six major parts. At the end of each part is a set of "Application Cases" that describes real-world situations in which the concepts you are studying apply. As part of your reading assignment in each lesson, you will be asked to read the pertinent cases and respond to the questions. These analyses will not be submitted, but it is to your advantage to spend the time to write notes on each. In Lesson 6 you will be asked to write a full analysis on three of these cases for the submitted assignment. TOP |
| Submitted Assignments |
Each lesson will have a submitted assignment. The purpose of these assignments is to enable you to demonstrate your comprehension of the material contained in the lesson as well as to attempt to use these concepts in actual business-world situations. You will complete the answer sheet at the end of each section of the lesson, then submit all the answer sheets for a lesson together with the lesson cover form. The assignment for Lesson 6 will require well-constructed essay answers to questions about the assigned cases. Good writing skills will be important for this assignment, as well as for any present or future work situation. The use of proper grammar and spelling, good paragraph structure, and neat appearance of your work all contribute to a positive image of you, both to your instructor and to your supervisors and co-workers. The importance of good writing skills cannot be stressed enough. The use of proper grammar, neatness, and spelling all reflect directly on you. Your writing style creates an image not only for your instructor, but also for your supervisor and other employees in your work situation. TOP |
| Examinations |
This course has only one supervised examination, Lesson 10, a comprehensive final. It consists of 100 multiple-choice questions similar to those on the lesson writing assignments. You must receive a passing grade (60% or higher) on the examination in order to pass the course. TOP |
| Grading Standards |
Your final grade for this course will be determined as follows: Lesson Writing Assignments -- 30%
Lesson 6 Case Study Analyses-- 20%
Final Examination -- 50% Letter grades A, B, C, D, and F, will be used in awarding your final grade, according to the following scale: A = Above 90%
B = 80% - 89%
C = 70% - 79%
D = 60% - 69%
F = Below 60% Plus and minus grades may be given at my discretion. You should understand that I do not give you your grade but merely act as a scorekeeper. You give yourself your own grade based on your performance throughout the course on the above factors. TOP |