Academics

Program Format

Organizational Leadership courses are delivered in 7-week terms, typically with a one-week break between terms. Two 7-week terms comprise the standard academic semester. Students focus on just one course at a time (i.e., one course per 7-week term), which helps them juggle the competing demands of their busy personal, professional and academic lives. By taking one course per term (two courses per semester), students usually complete the program in five semesters (including summers), or around 19 months.

Our Learning Models

Part of what makes CU Boulder’s program special is its use of two models: a cohort model and an independent model. Whichever way you advance your degree, you will grow a strong professional network and make connections that last beyond the program. 

Cohort model benefits: 

  • Close professional cadre: Progress through the core courses with the same group of students.
  • Structured learning: Receive a set academic plan that clearly outlines which courses you will take each semester.  
  • Defined timeline: Complete the program in five semesters (fall, spring and summer) by taking one course in each 7-week term. 

Independent model benefits: 

  • Broad professional network: Interact with different students throughout your time in the program.
  • Flexible learning: Adjust your schedule based on your availability and needs. 
  • Flexible timeline: Complete the program on your schedule. You can take more classes per semester to finish the program quickly or take one course per semester as your schedule allows.  

Can’t decide which learning model is right for you? You may choose to move between the cohort and independent models as needed. If you have questions about which model is the best fit for you, email us at msol@colorado.edu.

Course Structure

Our 100% online courses are presented in an asynchronous learning model which means that you can complete your coursework when it’s convenient for you.

However, Organizational Leadership courses are not self-paced, where you are left to teach yourself. Our expert faculty are very engaged and involved in every course. You’ll have specific deadlines each week, but with flexibility as to when to complete the work to meet those deadlines. Also, unlike some online programs, there are no long (say, 2½ hour) lectures that you have to call into or watch! Each week, there may be a chapter or two from a textbook to read, articles or case studies to review, discussion questions to which you’ll respond in an online discussion forum, short videos to watch, etc. The format makes the classes dynamic and engaging – and more manageable in terms of when and where you do the classwork. In general, students report spending at least 15 hours per week on coursework.

Comprehensive Curriculum 

CU Boulder’s Organizational Leadership program offers a focused 10-course, 30-credit curriculum consisting of the following components:

  • Core courses: Six classes that provide a foundation in leadership theory and practice
  • Specialized tracks: Four courses that offer you the opportunity to customize the program to your interests
  • The Professional Skills Mastery Lab (ProLab): A noncredit, professional development component that helps students enhance their professional skills and knowledge.

Core Courses

The core courses ensure you have the necessary understanding of the complexities of organizational leadership within the context of public, private and nonprofit organizations. The curriculum prepares you to be successful in understanding organizational strategy, anticipating and managing change and enhancing performance and human capital management.

Focuses on leadership theory and practice in contemporary organizations, discussing, comparing and contrasting theories of leadership, as well as factors that impact leadership in an organization. Students assess their own leadership style in the context of existing leadership models and potential organizational settings. Current topics and case studies in leadership are also discussed.

Addresses theories, methods and challenges associated with organizational change. The course exposes students to forces that drive organizations to change, why organizations change or fail to change, impediments and barriers associated with change and how change helps organizations become more competitive and profitable. The course also examines a variety of approaches, tools and techniques for effective personal and organizational change.

Focuses on analyzing data for making high quality predictions and decisions. The course covers use of statistical packages to make sense of large sets of data and turn them into actionable information for various audiences. The problems faced by decision makers in today's competitive business environment are often extremely complex and can be addressed by numerous possible courses of action. Evaluating these alternatives and choosing the best course of action represents the essence of this course.

Communicating competently in the workplace requires the ability to express thoughts and ideas across all domains and barriers of an organization. From one-on-one interactions, conflict management situations, and large scale presentations, Strategic Communication is the backbone of a successful business model and it represents one of the most important foundations of career success.

Focuses on organizational performance management systems and individual performance appraisals, explored in relationship to other human resource activities and processes designed to achieve organizational success. The course builds requisite management and leadership competencies of assessing performance, providing feedback, coaching, motivating, engaging, and increasing employees' achievement. Course utilizes lecture, readings, discussion, case studies, role plays, research, and/or personal peer feedback.

Taken at/near the end of the MSOL program, this course allows students to synthesize the theoretical knowledge acquired during the program to complete a basic business research project involving actual data in a realistic setting. Students will recognize/identify a problem; form a methodology for possible solution of an hypothesis; gather data; verify/test the hypothesis; and form implementable recommendations. Department consent required.

What is the capstone?

The purpose of the Capstone, the final course of the program, is for you to apply knowledge and skills acquired during your program to address actual challenges facing an organization. You do this—under the guidance of the instructor and other subject matter experts—by collecting, and processing and analyzing data and information about the organization and applying appropriate analytic methods to develop, propose and substantiate your recommended solution to the organization’s problem.

Specialized Tracks

In addition to the six core courses, you will select one of the specialized tracks to customize your degree to fit their specific career goals. You may elect to complete the general Organizational Leadership track or to specialize in one of the following tracks listed below. With pre-approval, you may also opt to transfer in up to three of the four track courses from other graduate programs for the ultimate in degree customization.

Human Resources

This track is ideal for students who wish to enter or advance a career in Human Resources or who want to focus on enhancing employee satisfaction and organizational performance as they assume increasing management and leadership responsibilities.

Introduces students to theory and research behind negotiation and conflict resolution as they relate to professional experiences in the workplace. Students will learn necessary information for understanding how negotiation can be used to resolve conflict. Students will also apply knowledge about negotiation and conflict resolution through addressing negotiation problems that are commonly faced by managers and professionals.

Provides an overview of employment and labor law, regulations and emerging issues. Topics covered include: proper classification of workers and pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act; civil rights (race, color, gender, religious, disability, age and national origin discrimination); family and medical leave; workplace torts and contracts; privacy rights; OSHA; workers' compensation; and the National Labor Relations Act.

Studies the total rewards provided to employees in return for their contributions to an organization. The principles of modern compensation and benefits are considered from legal, practical and theoretical perspectives. Students will examine how compensation and benefits can add strategic value by aligning total compensation with organizational goals.

Provides an understanding of the knowledge and skills required to assess employee training needs, design and administer employee training and development programs and evaluate both the efficiency and effectiveness of such programs. Training and development is based on the premise that people are the most valuable asset of an organization. Department consent required.

Strategic Leadership

This track is geared to students who want to hone their ability to think, plan and operate strategically, lead personnel in the allocation of organizational resources and accomplish organizational objectives in a deliberate and systematic manner.

Addresses theories, techniques and challenges associated with strategic planning. This course exposes students to the processes and tools that drive organizations to create a framework for developing, adapting and aligning organizational vision, mission, values and goals to achieve and sustain a strategic advantage. Students will gain the knowledge needed to facilitate, formulate, execute and monitor strategic planning for any organization.

Discusses how to perform a formal competitive analysis to better understand a company’s brand, the brand's position in the marketplace, and the role the brand’s competitors play in shaping the marketplace. The course addresses product positioning, Integrated Marketing Communications, markets (realized and potential), and company/brand strengths and weaknesses and how those may become threats. Students learn how to create Buyer Personas, conduct SWOT analyses, and establish Communication Objectives.

Addresses theories, techniques and challenges associated with effective designs of organizations. Students learn to use processes and tools that contribute to the competitiveness and survival of an organization, develop an understanding of how organizations affect and are affected by their environments and learn principles of organizational operations and design that can be used to improve the match between an organization and its environment.

Select One:

Intrapreneurship involves the practice of behaving entrepreneurially within a large organization. This course teaches students how to employ concepts from organizational behavior, strategic management, leadership, and entrepreneurship to develop and lead an intrapreneurial organization. Specifically, the course addresses topics such as how to develop highly-functioning teams; effect organizational change; create a learning organization that values innovation, idea generation, and mobilization; and align the organization with its external environment to create a sustained competitive advantage.

Addresses the issues and challenges of running a firm in a competitive environment. It is an integrative course emphasizing a total organizational perspective as opposed to a functional viewpoint (accounting, finance, marketing, information technology, etc.). The emphasis is on the use innovation as an integral part of business strategy. Furthermore, it gets deeper in studying sustaining innovation enhancements for traditional business models, as well as disruptive innovations for radical new technological models.

Leading Innovation

This track explores leadership at the intersection of business and innovation and helps students learn to drive strategic organizational transformation. This program addresses the gap that exists between the aspirations of executives to innovate and their ability to execute. It focuses on the question: why and how should leadership, innovations and technologies be leveraged to shape and support strategic and entrepreneurial initiatives in the global competitive landscape?

Intrapreneurship involves the practice of behaving entrepreneurially within a large organization. This course teaches students how to employ concepts from organizational behavior, strategic management, leadership, and entrepreneurship to develop and lead an intrapreneurial organization. Specifically, the course addresses topics such as how to develop highly-functioning teams; effect organizational change; create a learning organization that values innovation, idea generation, and mobilization; and align the organization with its external environment to create a sustained competitive advantage.

Explores the process of 'design thinking,' a systematic methodology that enables companies to identify a business model that truly addresses customer needs while providing greater returns for the company. The course looks at several real-world examples from different organizations that used design thinking to uncover compelling solutions. Topics addressed include customer journey mapping, value chain analysis, and ideation.

Addresses the issues and challenges of running a firm in a competitive environment. It is an integrative course emphasizing a total organizational perspective as opposed to a functional viewpoint (accounting, finance, marketing, information technology, etc.). The emphasis is on the use innovation as an integral part of business strategy. Furthermore, it gets deeper in studying sustaining innovation enhancements for traditional business models, as well as disruptive innovations for radical new technological models.

Learn how to build innovative work teams, with a special focus on promoting cohesion among groups that are inclusive and diverse. Students will learn how to diagnose low-performing groups before they reach the point of failure. The course will also address the use of “tight-loose” leadership, which controls the process while giving free rein to diverse thinking. Special attention is paid to specific managerial tools, such as brainstorming, the nominal groups technique, devil's advocacy, and dialectical inquiry.

Organizational Communication

Organizational communication is the key social process that creates and sustains all features of organizational life – including assumptions about power, knowledge, diversity, culture and teamwork that shape the practice of leadership. This track offers a perspective that puts communication at the center of our understanding and explanation of all organizational and leadership phenomena.

This course examines how we construct our social identities through everyday communication and how these identities intersect in complex ways to shape and influence organizational life. In other words, this course reframes social identities like gender, race, sexuality, and so forth as something that we do through ongoing communication at work, rather than as something we are or have and merely bring to work. Importantly, this shift in perspective underscores how systems of inclusion and exclusion that seem to be “just the way things are” are actually made by us as we all participate in seemingly mundane, everyday dynamics of identity and power. In shifting attention from people to everyday practice, it points toward innovative ways we can intervene in the current state of affairs and cultivate organizations that better understand and value difference and diversity. Accordingly, students will learn to reflect on their own contributions to routine practices of identity and power.

Focuses on aspects of group communication leaders need for success in a variety of organizational contexts. Topics include decision making, creativity and innovation, conflict management, technology and virtual environments, difference and diversity, systems and institutions, group development and socialization, negotiation, identity, and interaction design. Organizational work often occurs in groups, and communication is essential to effective group work. Therefore, organizational leaders need to understand the dynamics of group communication and improve their group communication skills.

Focuses on theory and practice associated with the successful development of organizational culture. Topics covered include symbolic artifacts, beliefs, and assumptions that distinguish organizational, corporate, and occupational/professional identities. Related coverage of the communication practices (e.g., performance, ritual, etc.) through which the cultural elements of organizing are created, maintained and transformed. Special emphasis placed on issues of cultural leadership, cultural control, and cultural change in the contexts of contemporary globalization and technological innovation.

Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives typically define knowledge as a commodity that is easily stored and transferred; explores how technological advancements and claims to knowledge ownership constitute management in KM. The course then presents alternative models of knowledge and management in which knowledge is understood as a component of communicative action, and management is portrayed as the construction of communities of practice that share responsibility for innovation.

Corporate Communication and Public Relations

Relationship building with key stakeholders is critical for organizational function. The corporate communication and public relations track offers students the opportunity to become skilled in the strategic development of organization/stakeholder interactions and relationships.

Select Four:

This core course will orient students to corporate communication as a strategic activity that helps organizations manage their relationships with key stakeholder publics. Students are exposed to the basic concepts and theories of the field that are designed to link these concepts to corporate communication practice. Students are oriented to the different needs, values, and functions of for-profit corporations, not-for-profit organizations, and governments and government agencies as a prelude to communication choices by these different types of organizations.

Globalization is the 21st century’s reality. Corporate communicators should adapt to the demands of the need to communicate with diverse publics that hail from different countries and cultures. This course orients students to the diverse political, economic, cultural, media, and activist environments they will need to operate in, to be effective in building relationships with diverse audiences.

Corporate Communication practitioners face ethical dilemmas on a daily basis. Information is power and, as purveyors of information through communication, practitioners should be sensitive to ethical dilemmas in the field and have an understanding of relevant ethical principles. This class will equip students with the ability to apply these ethical principles in their communication practice.

Research is integral to strategic corporate communication. The ability to conduct research is at the core of an effective communicator. The class exposes students to research design and the fundamentals of both qualitative and quantitative research methods and their application in practice.

This course educates students on the various ways they can measure the quality of relationships their organizations have built with various strategic publics. Students will be exposed to the use of vital measurement indicators that can be used to justify the investment that organizations make in public relations activities.

This course highlights the importance of internal communication in building a strong organizational culture, developing internal communication strategy that is aligned with the overall public relations strategy, and the vehicles (traditional, digital, and social) available to practitioners to implement two-way internal communication.

This course helps students perceive the components of risk and understand the prevalent principles of crisis management such as risk/benefit analysis, managing fear and uncertainty, and responding to crises. Using case studies and practical applications, students will investigate the media and channels available to conduct two-way symmetrical communication with an organization's publics in a crisis.

This course supplements the strategic approach of the core courses by introducing the techniques practitioners can use to implement strategy. This ground-level hands-on course will have students examine persuasive communication in written, verbal and digital format including white papers, position statements, opinion pieces, senior executive speeches and emails, newsletters, magazines, blogs, news releases (traditional and social), media conferences, issues advertising, etc. It will explore the evolving nature of the tools and platforms available to communication practitioners, as also the converging of techniques across communication, advertising and marketing.

With the onslaught of social media, business conduct is more under public scrutiny than ever before. Simultaneously, organizations are increasingly aware of their part in influencing the public policy and legislation conversation. As policies create both threats and opportunities for corporations, it is critical to incorporate this into the company’s communication strategy. In this course, students will define an issue and learn various strategies (environmental scanning, organizational positioning, platform building, assessing periodic pulse checks, etc.) to identify and plan for emerging issues and manage them ethically through their life cycle.

This course introduces students to communication in the digital and social landscape. It distinguishes between digital and traditional/analog media and demonstrates how a strong strategic communication plan must include elements of both to be effective. It helps students identify the advantages, shortcomings and risks of digital communication and the significance of evaluating and reporting the impact of digital communication. Students will also be introduced to standard digital vehicles used in organizational communication.

Executive Leadership

This track is geared for students who want to enhance their executive leadership skills and broaden their perspectives regarding multiple aspects of organizational structure, strategy, and people management. Students completing this track will learn to navigate strategic thinking that drives organizations forward while building organizational cultures that are productive, cohesive and inclusive.

Addresses theories, techniques and challenges associated with strategic planning. This course exposes students to the processes and tools that drive organizations to create a framework for developing, adapting and aligning organizational vision, mission, values and goals to achieve and sustain a strategic advantage. Students will gain the knowledge needed to facilitate, formulate, execute and monitor strategic planning for any organization.

Focuses on theory and practice associated with the successful development of organizational culture. Topics covered include symbolic artifacts, beliefs, and assumptions that distinguish organizational, corporate, and occupational/professional identities. Related coverage of the communication practices (e.g., performance, ritual, etc.) through which the cultural elements of organizing are created, maintained and transformed. Special emphasis placed on issues of cultural leadership, cultural control, and cultural change in the contexts of contemporary globalization and technological innovation.

Select Two: 

Provides an overview of employment and labor law, regulations and emerging issues. Topics covered include: proper classification of workers and pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act; civil rights (race, color, gender, religious, disability, age and national origin discrimination); family and medical leave; workplace torts and contracts; privacy rights; OSHA; workers' compensation; and the National Labor Relations Act.

Studies the total rewards provided to employees in return for their contributions to an organization. The principles of modern compensation and benefits are considered from legal, practical and theoretical perspectives. Students will examine how compensation and benefits can add strategic value by aligning total compensation with organizational goals.

Provides an understanding of the knowledge and skills required to assess employee training needs, design and administer employee training and development programs and evaluate both the efficiency and effectiveness of such programs. Training and development is based on the premise that people are the most valuable asset of an organization. Department consent required.

Discusses how to perform a formal competitive analysis to better understand a company’s brand, the brand's position in the marketplace, and the role the brand’s competitors play in shaping the marketplace. The course addresses product positioning, Integrated Marketing Communications, markets (realized and potential), and company/brand strengths and weaknesses and how those may become threats. Students learn how to create Buyer Personas, conduct SWOT analyses, and establish Communication Objectives.

Addresses theories, techniques and challenges associated with effective designs of organizations. Students learn to use processes and tools that contribute to the competitiveness and survival of an organization, develop an understanding of how organizations affect and are affected by their environments and learn principles of organizational operations and design that can be used to improve the match between an organization and its environment.

Intrapreneurship involves the practice of behaving entrepreneurially within a large organization. This course teaches students how to employ concepts from organizational behavior, strategic management, leadership, and entrepreneurship to develop and lead an intrapreneurial organization. Specifically, the course addresses topics such as how to develop highly-functioning teams; effect organizational change; create a learning organization that values innovation, idea generation, and mobilization; and align the organization with its external environment to create a sustained competitive advantage.

Explores the process of 'design thinking,' a systematic methodology that enables companies to identify a business model that truly addresses customer needs while providing greater returns for the company. The course looks at several real-world examples from different organizations that used design thinking to uncover compelling solutions. Topics addressed include customer journey mapping, value chain analysis, and ideation.

Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives typically define knowledge as a commodity that is easily stored and transferred; explores how technological advancements and claims to knowledge ownership constitute management in KM. The course then presents alternative models of knowledge and management in which knowledge is understood as a component of communicative action, and management is portrayed as the construction of communities of practice that share responsibility for innovation.

Leading High-Achieving Teams

Students pursuing the leading high-achieving teams track will learn strategies for creating and maintaining productive and cohesive teams within organizations. From building teams, resolving conflict and enhancing communication, courses within this track emphasize the importance of leadership in creating teams that enhance organizations.

Select Four:

Introduces students to theory and research behind negotiation and conflict resolution as they relate to professional experiences in the workplace. Students will learn necessary information for understanding how negotiation can be used to resolve conflict. Students will also apply knowledge about negotiation and conflict resolution through addressing negotiation problems that are commonly faced by managers and professionals.

Learn how to build innovative work teams, with a special focus on promoting cohesion among groups that are inclusive and diverse. Students will learn how to diagnose low-performing groups before they reach the point of failure. The course will also address the use of “tight-loose” leadership, which controls the process while giving free rein to diverse thinking. Special attention is paid to specific managerial tools, such as brainstorming, the nominal groups technique, devil's advocacy, and dialectical inquiry.

Focuses on aspects of group communication leaders need for success in a variety of organizational contexts. Topics include decision making, creativity and innovation, conflict management, technology and virtual environments, difference and diversity, systems and institutions, group development and socialization, negotiation, identity, and interaction design. Organizational work often occurs in groups, and communication is essential to effective group work. Therefore, organizational leaders need to understand the dynamics of group communication and improve their group communication skills.

Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives typically define knowledge as a commodity that is easily stored and transferred; explores how technological advancements and claims to knowledge ownership constitute management in KM. The course then presents alternative models of knowledge and management in which knowledge is understood as a component of communicative action, and management is portrayed as the construction of communities of practice that share responsibility for innovation.

Provides an understanding of the unique dynamics and structure of leadership in sports teams and organizations, as well as within the sports industry as a whole. It delves into the types of ethics-based leadership that create success in community, collegiate, professional, and Olympic teams and organizations. Topics include: coaching and player development, media relations, marketing, winning negotiations, sports and contract law, and venue management. Students will have the opportunity to view theory in practice at various sporting events, venues, and organizations, including the University of Colorado sports programs.

Organizational Training and Development

The organizational training and development track is well suited for students seeking to improve the effectiveness of organizations through building and improving training and development programs. The courses in this track allow students to explore different areas of organizational structure that are critical for understanding how to improve and develop the organization and its people.

Provides an understanding of the knowledge and skills required to assess employee training needs, design and administer employee training and development programs and evaluate both the efficiency and effectiveness of such programs. Training and development is based on the premise that people are the most valuable asset of an organization. Department consent required.

Addresses theories, techniques and challenges associated with effective designs of organizations. Students learn to use processes and tools that contribute to the competitiveness and survival of an organization, develop an understanding of how organizations affect and are affected by their environments and learn principles of organizational operations and design that can be used to improve the match between an organization and its environment.

Focuses on theory and practice associated with the successful development of organizational culture. Topics covered include symbolic artifacts, beliefs, and assumptions that distinguish organizational, corporate, and occupational/professional identities. Related coverage of the communication practices (e.g., performance, ritual, etc.) through which the cultural elements of organizing are created, maintained and transformed. Special emphasis placed on issues of cultural leadership, cultural control, and cultural change in the contexts of contemporary globalization and technological innovation.

Select One:

Studies the total rewards provided to employees in return for their contributions to an organization. The principles of modern compensation and benefits are considered from legal, practical and theoretical perspectives. Students will examine how compensation and benefits can add strategic value by aligning total compensation with organizational goals.

Focuses on aspects of group communication leaders need for success in a variety of organizational contexts. Topics include decision making, creativity and innovation, conflict management, technology and virtual environments, difference and diversity, systems and institutions, group development and socialization, negotiation, identity, and interaction design. Organizational work often occurs in groups, and communication is essential to effective group work. Therefore, organizational leaders need to understand the dynamics of group communication and improve their group communication skills.

Organizational Leadership

This is a great track option for those who want to customize their degree to obtain broad exposure to the field of organizational leadership. Students select any four track courses from the offerings available under the other tracks (Human Resources, Leading Innovation, Organizational Communication, Strategic Leadership, Corporate Communication and Public Relations, Executive Leadership, Leading High-Achieving Teams and/or Organizational Training and Development). With pre-approval, students also have the option of transferring in up to three relevant graduate courses from other programs and colleges.

Visit the University Catalog for a complete summary of the program as well as its requirements, course descriptions and learning outcomes.