Leading the Future of Work (DBA611)

DBA611 Leading the Future of Work prepares senior leaders for applied research in leadership, organisational behaviour and the future of work. As organisations navigate hybrid work, AI augmentation, teamwork across national and cultural boundaries, and shifting workforce expectations, there is a growing need for leaders who can generate evidence-based insights that shape effective work practices and promote individual, team, and organisational performance. The course covers modern leadership theories, employee wellbeing and engagement, hybrid work, talent and human capital, organisational change, and AI-augmented work. Students are expected to design and conduct rigorous, future-oriented research that addresses real-world challenges in leadership and organisational behaviour. The course is designed for CEOs, CHROs, and other current or prospective senior leaders seeking to lead high-performing organisations through research-informed practices, strategies, and interventions.

• The leadership and OB research landscape
• Modern leadership theories
• Foundational organisational behaviour theories
• Employee wellbeing, engagement and work-life interfaces
• The future of work and AI-augmented work
• Talent, human capital and the skills-based organisation
• Organisational structure, culture and climate
• Diversity, equity and inclusion
• Organisational change and change-leadership in the AI era
• Teams, collaboration and cross-cultural management
• Methodological approaches for leadership and OB research
• Designing an applied research project in leadership and OB

• Critique foundational and contemporary theories of leadership and organisational behaviour as to how they shape organisational practices
• Investigate the academic and practitioner literature on a chosen leadership / OB / future-of-work topic to identify novel, meaningful, and industry-relevant research questions
• Formulate an applied research project in leadership, OB or the future of work that addresses a real-world challenge faced by senior executives and HR leaders
• Evaluate the conceptual novelty, theoretical foundation, and practical significance of a research question
• Construct a methodologically rigorous and feasible applied research study within the leadership / OB domain
• Defend the positioning of research findings such that they advance both scholarly discourse and practitioner action on leadership and high-performing organisations