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Course : Leadership in Corporate Strategic Management and Project Implementation

Leadership in Corporate Strategic Management and Project Implementation (W 2026-27)

LEPC2 - Konstantinos Gravas, Dimitrios Dimitriou, Ioannis Oikonomidis

Course Description

Course

Leadership relates to corporate strategy, encompassing investment initiatives and business development. This entails defining the organization's purpose, setting goals, and shaping strategies for goal selection. It primarily explores how an organization positions itself within its evolving environment, particularly with competitors, to gain and sustain a competitive advantage. Strategic management and leadership examine how an organization's internal resources and capabilities can respond to changing customer demands and stakeholders' expectations, prioritizing investments and actions within the optimal resource allocation framework to meet shareholders' expectations and stakeholders' goals.

  • Course Syllabus

    I. The big picture: Macroeconomics, Geoeconomics, and the Global Financial System
    II. Introduction to the Economics & Business Environment

    III. Economics & Business Environment and Decision Making
    IV. Introduction to Organizational Behavior
    V. Personality and values, Perception and Individual decision making
    VI. Organizational change and stress management
    VII. Motivation: Theories and Applications
    VIII. Group behavior and work teams
    IX. Communication management
    X. Framework of theory and analysis of business performance management
    XI. Framework and applications of business intelligence - Business Intelligence

    Course Objectives/Goals

    • Analysis of the global political economy environment in an era of uncertainty

    • Critical understanding of the basic principles of the economics and business environment

    • Exploration of corporate decision making

    •Demonstration of critical knowledge of the basic principles of organizational behavior
    • Analysis of principles influencing behavior in the business environment.
    • Critical understanding regarding the measurement of job satisfaction and job satisfaction factors
    • Differentiation between perception and decision-making and common decision-making biases or errors
    • Exploration of how individual differences and organizational constraints affect decision-making.
    • Critical assessment of the impact of emotions and attitudes, as well as the value of emotional intelligence in corporate performance.
    • Understanding concepts related to emotions and attitudes on specific topics of Organizational Behavior
    • Determination of the effects of employee commitment on management
    • Analysis of strengths and weaknesses in group (versus individual) decision-making
    • Understanding the functions of communication processes in organizations
    • Perception of theories about the main constraints of leadership behavioral theories
    • Exploration of how organizations can select and develop effective leaders
    • Critical understanding of common characteristics of organizational culture and basic approaches to change management
    • Awareness of the implications of framework and structure on the direction of "Business Intelligence" in companies and organizations

    Instructional Methods

    This course employs a dynamic blend of instructional methods to ensure a comprehensive learning experience. With a focus on engagement and flexibility, the instructional approach comprises 75% face-to-face teaching, fostering direct interaction between instructors and students in a traditional classroom setting. Additionally, 25% of the course involves distant teaching, which can be delivered either synchronously or asynchronously. This remote component allows students to access course materials, participate in discussions, and engage with learning activities at their own pace, leveraging online platforms and resources. By combining face-to-face interaction with remote learning opportunities, the course aims to cater to diverse learning styles and preferences, facilitating deeper understanding and collaboration among students while accommodating individual schedules and needs.

    Assessment Methods

    • 30%: Participation
    • 70%: Written assignment

    Prerequisites/Prior Knowledge

    This module has no prerequisites in the curriculum or prior knowledge requirements.

    Instructors

    Konstantinos Gravas holds a PhD in global political economy from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, with a post-doctoral research in the field of “Global Monetary System and the Euro Area” at the Department of Economics of the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) as an academic fellow and an adjunct lecturer/instructor. He has also received a 5-year diploma in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), a 2-year full-time Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the AUEB and the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and a Master of Science (MSc) in Mathematical Economics from the NTUA. He also holds the Financial Times Non-Executive Director (FT NED) Diploma. Dr. Gravas has taught at the Postgraduate Program of the Department of Banking and Financial Management of the University of Piraeus, at the Undergraduate Study Program of the Department of Economics (AUEB), as well as at the Hellenic Air Force Command and Staff College. He is also a SEP member at the Hellenic Open University. He has more than 15 years’ experience as a lecturer in professional certification training programs for banking executives and professionals, having constantly achieved an exceptional rating according to the electronic evaluation system of the respective programs. His research focuses mainly on global monetary history and policy, and on the Greek economy and the European integration. He has published a great number of opinion articles in the Greek and international press, and several articles in Greek and foreign academic journals. Dr. Gravas is the author of the book “Economic War and Monetary Peace. The Greek Great Depression” (foreword by Mr. Yannis Stournaras, Governor of the Bank of Greece), I. Sideris Publications 2019, and the co-author of the book “Central Banks. A Short Introduction”, Papadopoulos Publishing 2021.

    E-mail: k_gravas1@yahoo.gr ♦ ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0183-2346

     

    Dimitrios Dimitriou is a professor and the Head of the Department of Economics, Democritus University of Thrace (DUTh), Greece. His professional experience centres on three pillars: education, research, and management in large transportation-sector enterprises. His specialisation includes large investment appraisal, large project financing, project management, transport and supply chain economics, management performance, decision-making, project development, strategic management, sustainable development, and strategic planning and management. His research outputs include contributions to 21 research projects and many papers and presentations at distinguished international events; peer-reviewed journals; scientific books; and workshops in the field of strategic planning, management and investment appraisal. His professional track record includes the occupation of executive management positions in large organisations; the delivery of dedicated studies for international projects; and consulting in a variety of infrastructure projects. He is a member of international expert and management committees in international associations and professional bodies, and he is the founder of the network of experts VIP4RIDE (https://vip4ride.com/). In 2021, he was awarded the Professional Contribution Award from the Chamber of Evros/Greece. In 2018, he was awarded the Professional Achievement Award in Greece by the British Council for the Study UK Alumni awards.

    E-mail: ddimitri@econ.duth.gr ♦ ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5744-5110

     

    Ioannis Oikonomidis holds an MA in International and European Studies (Environmental Governance and Sustainable Development, a program supported by the Jean Monnet Chair) from Panteion University, an MBA from HOU, and an MA in Applied Ethics from the Department of Philosophy at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, where he is a Member of its Applied Philosophy Research Laboratory. He also served as a panel member of the NATO/STO Human Factors and Medicine Panel for two years. He has a proven track record of executing official mandates within international organisations’ policy frameworks, leadership and management, supervision of financial and logistics services, strategic-to-tactical logistics, and public procurement. He also has experience in multinational activities, participation in EU negotiations, and government-to-government (G2G) agreements. Furthermore, in the context of his professional area, he has certifications from the: Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management (DISAM), Session Européenne des Responsables d'Armement (SERA36-IHEDN), PM2 Project Management Methodology (Adv. Level), and Logistics Functional Area Services (LOGFAS user). He has attended interdisciplinary conferences, forums, and seminars on sustainable development, environment, and Defence Cooperation. His research interests focus primarily on environmental ethics, business ethics, sustainable development, negotiations, and Ethics of Dual-use AI-robotics applications.

    E-mail: ioaoiko@philosophy.uoa.gr ♦ ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5853-6336

     

    Textbooks

    To be added soon.

    Bibliography

    • Dimitriou D., Sartzetaki M., Karagkouni A., (2024)., Managing Airport Corporate Performance: Leveraging Business Intelligence and Sustainable Transition, ISBN: 9780443291098, Elsevier.
    • Ferrell O.C., Hirt A., Ferrell L. (2018). M: Business. 6th Edition. February 5, 2018. ISBN-13: 978-1259929458., McGraw Hill
    • Gamble J., Peteraf M., Thompson A. (2023). Essentials of strategic management, The Quest for Competitive Advantage. 8th Edition. ISBN 978-1-264-12433-6, Mc Graw Hill
    • Ronald J. Ebert Ricky W. Griffin (2022). Βusiness Essentials. 13th Edition, ISBN 9780136862680, PEARSON.
  • XII. Project Implementation - Directing and Leading

    Unit overview

    The ultimate objective for an enterprise is to survive. Towards that end, the levels of management strive to ensure during projects’ implementation, the optimum contribution of the BI tools along with organizations’ people and functions. In this section, the ethical aspects of those actors will be explored, pivoting on the putting of the ‘Why’ before ‘How’. The scope is through the presentation of the Implementation stage to put under joint reflection the notions of Directing and Leading and the underlying ethical standards of judgment.

     

    Keywords

    project; project implementation; directing; leading; deliverables ; ethical standards

     

    Required readings

    Complementary readings

    • Kosteletos George, Melchior Florian, Teichman Birgit. German validation of three ethics questionnaires: Consequentialist scale, ethical standards of judgment questionnaire, and revised ethics position questionnaire. PLOS ONE. May 2, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319937.

Agenda

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