INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATIONS AND MANAGEMENT
Graduate Diploma in Applied Management / Bachelor of Applied Management
Principles of Leadership - CX663001
Block XXXXXXXXXX
Assessment Two - Individual – 70% of final weighting)
Due date: XXXXX 2018
Time: 11:55 p.m.
SECTION
TOPIC
Learning Outcomes
A
Teams and ethical Leadership
(Case-study analysis – (1500 words)
Participate ethically in various team roles to inspire others and self to achieve desired outcomes and knowledge) using reflective practices and feedback to propose actions for their leadership development
B
Individual self-reflection and leadership development (2000 words)
Evaluate their own cu
ent leadership potential (skills, abilities and knowledge) using reflective practices and feedback to propose actions for their leadership development
Section a (TOTAL - 40%)
You can’t make stuff like this up
Steve once worked as a regional sales director for a large health insurance company called Blue Star Health. Blue Star Health was once quite successful but had become complacent over the past five years. Competitors gained market share using aggressive marketing and sales tactics, and Blue Star was selling antiquated products and using inefficient processes for settling claims. With falling revenues and margins, Blue Star became an acquisition target and was bought by Anthum, a Fortune 100 company. At the conclusion of the deal Anthum
ought in an injection of cash, a reputation for operational excellence, and a new vice president of sales, Jim Blaylock. The CEO of Anthum described Jim as
ight, experienced, successful, and “more energetic than the Energizer Bunny.” Jim had joined the corporation immediately after college; because of his “potential” the company sent him to law school and rapidly promoted him into increasingly responsible positions. Senior management had tremendous confidence in Jim’s leadership abilities and appointed him as the vice president of sales in Blue Star Health, even though he had no previous sales experience.
Steve was initially impressed with Jim’s freshness and energy; he was constantly touting “midwestern values” and the “work ethic of the Midwest.” However, the sales management team soon became disenchanted with his views: Steve and his sales team were working 70 to 80 hours a week and becoming exhausted and frazzled. Moreover, Jim’s interactions with internal and external clients were lessons in poor human relations. He seemed to seek confrontations, and as time passed, his behaviour became steadily more extreme. Jim harangued people, ignored appointments and made no excuses for missing them, made promises he never kept, called sales directors at 6:00 a.m. with insignificant questions, and abused
okers. Those who questioned Jim’s leadership were summarily dismissed. One day Jim asked Steve to a
ange a meeting with a
oker at 9:00 p.m. The
oker was from a large benefit house and was older, and the meeting time was late. However, he was a long-time personal friend of Steve’s and as a courtesy agreed to the meeting. Jim did not show up for the appointment and would not answer Steve’s calls to his cell phone. After an hour, Steve and the
oker went home. When Steve asked Jim why he missed the appointment, he said he was drinking with a friend and did not think the meeting with the
oker was important. Jim refused to apologize to the
oker and was surprised when business with the
oker’s organization came to an end.
Jim loved working on high-visibility projects and landed an opportunity to convert the membership of another acquired company to Anthum. This was an important project for Anthum, and shortly thereafter Jim set up an elaborate “war room” in which all sales planning and action would take place. He asked Steve to lead the conversion project, repeatedly announcing that the acquisition was to garner new contracts and to
ing quality employees into the organization. At this point Steve had over 70 direct reports in five different locations across the state and some aggressive sales targets. It would be impossible for Steve to hit his revenue numbers and run the conversion project. But Jim cut Steve no slack, and the computer system intended to convert the contracts did not work. Jim spent no time with any of the newly acquired sales team members, and as a result they showed no interest in working for Anthum. Yet Jim made grandiose statements about the quality of the sales force at the acquired company, which implied the cu
ent sales employees were unsatisfactory and fostered a sense of mistrust in both sales organizations.
Because of Jim’s shoddy treatment, the long hours, and poor sales and invoicing processes, the morale of the sales team began to plummet. Tantrums and tears occu
ed frequently, and Steve spent a lot of time smoothing ruffled feathers and telling team members that things would get better over time. But there was only so much Steve could do, and as team members began to quit, Jim blamed Steve for the decline in department morale. As the situation continued to deteriorate, Steve requested that Jim meet with the remaining staff to talk about their frustrations with Anthum. Jim opted to set up an all-employee
eakfast at a local restaurant to address their concerns.
The night before the meeting a major snowstorm hit the city, and the streets were covered with a foot of snow. Some employees had to drive 40 miles to attend the meeting, but everyone made it to the restaurant. The only person missing was Jim, and Steve started calling him 10 minutes before the meeting start time to check on his status. Jim did not answer, so Steve began to call and leave messages every five minutes. Jim finally answered his phone 30 minutes after the meeting start time and told Steve that the reason he was not at the meeting was that he decided to go skiing and people would have to meet with him another day. He also asked Steve to quit bugging him by leaving messages every five minutes. Steve could do little to put a positive spin on this message, and the employees left the restaurant bitter and hurt. Of the 60 people who showed up for the meeting, only one was still with Anthum six months later. Jim never acknowledged his behaviour and was “shocked” at the turnover in the sales group. Despite the turnover and declining sales revenues, Jim was still considered the company’s darling, and it was commonly believed that the CEO tacitly condoned his behaviour.
LO 2
Participate ethically in various team roles to inspire others and self to achieve desired outcomes
Assessment Task A (40%):
From the information provided in the case study, assess Jim Blaylock’s leadership approach in the context of managing effective teams and ethical issues for managing the organisation effectively. Discuss improvements on how effective leadership may contribute to better managing teams and ethical practices in the context of the case-study XXXXXXXXXXwords)
LO 3
Evaluate their own cu
ent leadership potential (skills, abilities and knowledge) using reflective practices and feedback to propose actions for their leadership development
· You are expected to apply relevant leadership concepts, theories and frameworks as you ca
y out a self-assessment of your leadership skills and generate a leadership plan to develop your leadership skills for your future roles as a leade
manager when you graduate from OPAIC.
· This report requires you to research relevant resources (texts and other relevant articles) that can help you to reflect on your cu
ent level leadership competencies, and identify leadership areas for future development.
Assessment Task B (60%):
You are required TO submit a 2000 word report based on:
1. (Part 1 – 50%) - undertaking a personal leaderships skills audit and
2. (Part 2 – 50%) - developing a leadership development plan.
Assessment Task – Section B - Part 1- Personal Leadership skills audit
· Choose a minimum of 5 attributes of leaders which is a combination of skills, traits and competencies required for effective leadership. Explain these attributes and assess your cu
ent level/performance in each of the identified areas.
· Prepare a simplified tabulation of your skills profile and assess your leadership competencies using a strengths/weaknesses framework as provided below. You will need at least 4 academic references (books and journal articles must be in-text cited and referenced in your report).
Leadership skill & competencies audit
Grade-1
Excellent
Grade-2 Good
Grade-3
Fair to moderate
Grade-4 Satisfactory
Grade-5 Unsatisfactory
Assessment Task – Section B - Part 2 - Leadership Development Plan
Based on the evaluation done in Part A, you are required to reflect and produce a development plan to develop your leadership competencies. The plan should be well set out with realistic SMART goals that are
oken down into achievable milestones. Make sure your goals relate to leadership development. Also note on your plan any resources and timeline that is required for achieving each milestone or goal. Present your plan in this given format.
Leadership Goals
Action Plan
Resources Required
Timeline.
· .
·
Marking Ru
ic
Student’s name:
ID:
Criteria
0
1 mark
2 marks
3 marks
4 marks
5 marks
X
Total
Introduction
Introduction covers
- Assess and evaluate their cu
ent leadership potential (skills, abilities and knowledge) and how these impact on their leadership capability
· Personal Audit and Personal Development Plan
Not stated
Vaguely
discussed
Inadequately discussed
or i
elevant
Stated but need
improvements
Clear and
appropriate
Excellent and well
written
1
5
Question 1 -1
Assess Jim Blaylock’s leadership approach
-context of managing effective teams and ethical issues for managing the organisation effectively
Not stated
Not relevant, very
poorly organized or not from
credible sources
Inadequately written,
poorly organized or i
elevant or not
sufficient
Stated but needs some improvements
Clearly stated and
focused appropriately
organized and from
credible sources
Excellent and well-
focused in a well-organized and
integrated style and
from credible sources
4
20
Question 1 -2
Discuss improvements
- how effective leadership may contribute to better managing teams and ethical practices
Not stated
Not relevant, very
poorly organized or not from
credible sources
Inadequately written,
poorly organized or i
elevant or not
sufficient
Stated but needs some improvements
Clearly stated and
focused appropriately
organized and from
credible sources
Excellent and well-
focused in a well-organized and
integrated style and
from credible sources
4
20
Question 2-1-1 – Personal Audit – Attribute 1
· Choose an attributes of leaders and explain these attributes and assess your cu
ent level / performance in each of the identified areas.
Not stated
Not relevant, very
poorly organized or not from
credible sources
Inadequately written,
poorly organized or i
elevant or not
sufficient
Stated but needs some improvements
Clearly stated and
focused appropriately
organized and from
credible sources
Excellent, well-focused,
well-organized and well written Literature Review using credible sources
1
5
Question 2-1-2 – Personal Audit – Attribute 2
· Choose an attributes of leaders and explain these attributes and assess your cu
ent level / performance in each