BMGT 365 – Individual Deliverable #2 – Crisis Leadership Report – 20%
APA
Purpose:
The purpose of this project is to apply leadership concepts to a crisis leadership situation and to make recommendations for a crisis-ready culture.
Skill Building:
You are also completing this project to help you develop the skills of analysis, critical thinking, and writing a report. Writing is critical because in business it is important to convey information clearly and concisely and to develop a personal brand. Developing a personal brand is important because it is the ongoing process of establishing an image or impression in the minds of others especially those in positions above you. Having a strong personal brand can lead to opportunities that include promotions.
Skills: Writing, Critical Thinking, Developing a Personal Brand, Situational Analysis, Writing a Report.
Outcomes Met With This Project:
-
- use leadership theories, assessment tools, and an understanding of the role of ethics, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, competencies, values, and attitudes to evaluate and enhance personal leadership skills
- assess the interactions between the external environment and within an organization to foster responsible and effective leadership and organizational practices
- Develop individual awareness, style and communication skills that enhance leadership skills
- Integrate and apply analytical principles and concepts of leadership to make strategic decisions.
Instructions:
The Scenario
Read the Case Scenario that follows and answer Mr. Barney’s questions in the form of a report. Address the report to Mr. Barney.
You walk into your office one morning and see an article on your desk. You pick it up and realize that Mr. Barney, the CEO, placed it there! He also has some questions on a post-it note and a request for recommendations.
Max Barney was exhausted. He had just finished a long meeting with his current VP of Headquarter Operations, Michael Brown. Michael, who was himself getting ready for retirement, was giving Barney a rundown of a recent crisis that impacted the company. While the dust seemed to be settling, Barney recognized that this was one of the worst things to ever happen to his company.
Michael recalls the crisis in the following way:
“On the morning of January 19th, I got a call from Joanne Edwards, my contact at our major distributor, Happy and Healthy Foodmart. She told me that three of her customers had complained that Biotech’s echinacea had made them ill. I called our legal department immediately to put them on alert. By noon that day, the number of reported illnesses had risen to seven. By January 22nd, the worst possible news came in – one of those people had actually died.
I called my team together immediately to come up with a plan for an immediate Recall. We needed to manage this crisis with our employees, our distributors, and most of all our customers. Controlling the message to the public and the media was critical. We’d had Recalls before, but never in reaction to a customer death. This was a whole new ball game for us.
Once the Recall had been put in place, we needed to get to the bottom of the echinacea problem. We started looking at the suppliers and ended up in the Purchasing Department. When we discovered that Henrietta Higgins, the Assistant Director of Purchasing, had cut a deal with a new supplier I became furious, Max. I mean, it was not one of my proudest moments.”
“That’s understandable,” replied Max, “go on. Tell me more.”
“Well, Higgins received an offer from a new supplier to buy genetically modified echinacea. She explained that she thought it was a good move because it would save the company over 20% on the wholesale price. She made the decision unilaterally, Max, without every going to her supervisor or to me to discuss it.”
“What did you do when you found this out?” asked Max.
“I fired her, of course. We had no other choice, Max. It’s because of her we have this crisis. And on top of that, we’ve decided to halt all sales of all echinacea in the foreseeable future.”
“Who’s we?” Max asked, with concern in his voice now.
“My team, of course. I told my managers about my decision and they’re all behind me 100%. We all know how important it is to act quickly in this situation, Max. You can trust me to turn this situation around.”
Max left the meeting sure about two things. First, he was secretly relieved that Michael was nearing retirement. The new VP of Headquarter Operations could start fresh. Second, he had just finished reading an article about a “Crisis Ready Culture”. He knew that it was time for Biotech to start developing a crisis-ready culture.
Max drops by your office with a copy of that article. He has a post-it note on the article, with the following questions and a request for recommendations:
- What Leadership Styles were used in the recent echinacea crisis? Discuss the leadership style of every person involved.
- What Leadership Styles would be most beneficial in a crisis-ready culture?
- What leadership competencies were evident in the recent echinacea crisis? Discuss the leadership competencies of every person involved.
- What leadership competencies would be most needed in a crisis-ready culture?
- What role did Emotional Intelligence (or lack of Emotional Intelligence) play in the echinacea crisis?
- What role would Emotional Intelligence play in a crisis-ready culture?
- What role did Authentic Leadership (or lack of it) play in the Echinacea crisis?
- What role would Authentic Leadership play in a crisis-ready culture?
- What role (if any) did Biotech’s current culture play in the Echinacea crisis?
- How can Biotech align its current strategy, culture and organizational structure to develop a crisis-ready culture?
- Give three specific and actionable recommendations that could be implemented to develop acrisis-ready culture for Biotech. (Each recommendation should be supported by course materials).
Step 1: Course Material
For this project, you are required to use the case scenario facts and the course material. External sources are not permitted. You are not researching on the Internet or using resources from outside the course. You are expected to answer the requirements identified below showing the connection between the case scenario facts and the course material. Using course material goes beyond defining terms and are used to explain the ‘why and how’ of a situation. Avoid merely making statements but close the loop of the discussion by explaining how something happens or why something happens, which focuses on importance and impact. In closing the loop, you will demonstrate the ability to think clearly and rationally showing an understanding of the logical connections between the ideas presented in a case scenario, the course material and the question(s) being asked. Using one or two in-text citations from the course material throughout the entire paper will not earn many points on an assignment. The use of a variety of course material is expected consistently supporting what is presented. The support must be relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed. Points are not earned for mentioning a term or concept but by clearly and thoroughly explaining or discussing the question at hand.
Step 2: The Questions to Answer
You will answer the 11 questions above provided in Step 1.
Step 3: Write the Report.
Report Format:
Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) report should be no more than seven (7) pages double-spaced. Those five pages do not include the required Title Page, Reference Page and Appendix. You will use the following format.
The report should use Roman Numeral numbering for each section and answer each of Mr. Barney’s questions, as follows:
- The Leadership Styles demonstrated in the recent echinacea crisis. Provide evidence for your claims from the case scenario and support your claim with course material.
- The Leadership Styles that would be most beneficial in a crisis-ready culture. Support your reasoning with course materials.
- The leadership competencies that were evident in the recent echinacea crisis. Provide evidence for your claims from the case scenario and support your claim with course materials.
- The leadership competencies that would be most needed in a crisis-ready culture. Support your reasoning and conclusions with course materials.
- The role that Emotional Intelligence (or lack of Emotional Intelligence) played in the echinacea crisis. Provide evidence for your claims from the case scenario and support your claim with course materials.
- The role that E.Q. would play in a crisis-ready culture. Support your reasoning and conclusions with course materials.
- The role that Authentic Leadership (or lack of it ) played in the Echinacea crisis. Provide evidence for your claims from the case scenario and support your claim with course materials.
- The role that Authentic Leadership would play in a crisis-ready culture. Support your reasoning and conclusions with course materials.
- The role (if any) that Biotech’s current culture played in the Echinacea crisis. Provide evidence for your claims from the case scenario and Biotech Company Profile and support your claim with course materials.
- How Biotech can align its current strategy, culture and organizational structure to develop this crisis-ready culture. Support your analysis with course materials.
- Three specific and actionable recommendations that Biotech leadership could implement to develop this crisis-ready culture. (Each recommendation should be supported by course materials). Make sure these three recommendations are actionable (in other words, leadership can take your advice and put it into practice immediately) and specific (in other words, not too general that it cannot be easily understood). For example, “change leadership style” is not actionable today, and too general to be clearly understood. However, “train leaders on different leadership styles” can be put into practice today and is specific enough to be understood. (Do not use this example in your answer!).
- Reference Page – provide references to match your in-text citations, written in APA format.
Step 4: Submit the Completed Report in the Assignment Folder.
Submitting the project to the Assignment Folder is considered the student’s final product and therefore ready for grading by the instructor. You must also submit the project to Turnitin. It is incumbent upon the student to verify the assignment is the correct submission. No exceptions will be considered by the instructor.
Other Required Elements:
- Read the grading rubric for the project. Use the grading rubric while completing the project to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.
- Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use them.
- Paraphrasing and do not use direct quotation marks. This means you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, but put a passage from a source document into your own words and attribute the passage to the source document. Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa. If direct quotes are presented, they will not be included in the grading. If direct quotes are used (even if no quotation marks are used) they will be excluded from the grading.
- Direct quotes are NOT allowed if they are quotation from course materials. This means you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, but put a passage from a source document into your own words and attribute the passage to the source document, using in-text citations in APA format. Changing words from a passage does not exclude the passage from having quotation marks. If more than four consecutive words are used from source documents, this material will not be included in the grade and could lead to allegations of academic dishonesty.
- In-text citations should be included in ALL SECTIONS of the report, and should demonstrate application of the course material. Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa. Provide the page or paragraph number for ideas that are reference in all in-text citations.
- You may only use the course material from the classroom. You may not use books or any resource from the Internet.
SOURCES
Week 1: What is Meant by Leadership and Who are Leaders?
Theme 1: Understanding the nature of leadership helps to frame the viewpoint of a leader
Although many scholars have defined leadership, but the definition of leadership is dynamic. This week, we will discuss the definitions of leadership to understand the field of study upon which we are about to embark. The definition of leadership has significantly changed over the past generation to meet the needs of a contemporary business environment. In fact, many scholars have disagreed on the nature or essential characteristics of leadership but instead have offered a variety of perspectives as to what leadership is not. As we discuss the contemporary definitions of leadership, pay close attention to various definitions and compare them to those of prominent leaders today. Are they similar? If so how? If not, why not?
Read:
Simon Sinek on Leadership at TED
Satel, G. (2014, June 1). To Create Real Change, Leadership Is More Important Than Authority
Theme 2: The evolution of leadership theory can help to explain what makes a good leader today.
The second theme for week 1 details how the definition of leadership has adapted to fit the changing business environment. Changes in the definition of leadership are reflected in how leadership has been viewed by scholars. Leadership theory took root in the social science fields of sociology and psychology. People wanted to know what made a good leader and whether they could become a good leader by adapting the “good” traits. Debate still rages on in leadership research as to whether leadership is inborn or learned. By examining leadership theory this week, we will begin to define leadership in terms of answering the question of what should Biotech’s leaders look like for success today. The evolution of leadership theory illustrates how leaders have perceived the act of leading and how the psychology of leading people interfaces with the real job of leading others. How one views and defines leadership influences the beliefs, values and behaviors maintained while leading and relating to others.
As mentioned earlier, leadership experts have perspectives/ theories about leadership. It is important to understand the history of leadership theories, because it will help define the way leadership is today. The business environment controls the view of the leader as it controls the actions needed for a company to survive. By reviewing the chart below and the leadership theories from the attached readings, it should become clear to you how leadership has evolved. Understanding how leadership theory has evolved to meet the needs of the organization over time will help to define us as leaders today.
|
Decade(s) |
1950-60 |
1960-80 |
1980-2000 |
2000-Now |
|
Theories |
Great Man/Trait |
Behavior/ Contingency |
Influence |
Relational |
|
Organizational Structure |
Vertical/ Pre-bureaucratic |
Vertical Hierarchy/ Bureaucratic |
Horizontal/Cross-Teams |
Flat/ Functional |
|
Leader View |
Single Hero |
Command and Control |
Team/Change Leader |
Shared Vision/ Alignment/ Change Agent |
|
Environment |
Post-War Stable |
American Business Growth/ Stable |
MNC Dominance/Japanese Model/ Chaotic |
Technology Revolution/ Disrupted/ Chaotic |
Source: Adapted from Daft, R. L. (2010). The leadership experience (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
TAKE AWAY POINT FROM LEADERSHIP THEORY EVOLUTION
The flow from “Great Man” views of leadership to “Learning Leader” illustrates that the view of good leadership is colored by the demands of the business landscape of its time. Leadership and its definition is dynamic and complex. Leadership changes in response to the needs of the organization.
Presently, many business leaders are continuing to transition from the “Calm Chaos” of the latter half of the 20th century to the “Turbulent Chaos” of the 21st. Leaders are focusing on change management, facilitating vision and values to encourage high performance and continuous adaptation. New theorists, such as Jacob Morgan, are modeling the organizations of today blending the vertical structures of the 80’s and 90’s with the flat structure of the 21st century. Morgan (2015b) maintains that it is costly and inefficient to dismantle the vertical structures that currently house many of the viable business organizations. Instead, Morgan (2015a) proposed a new structure known as a “flatarchy,” that can be relatively flat yet can create an ad hoc hierarchy to work on a project or function and then disband when finished. The organization can also have a loose hierarchy that can flatten when required and then return to a loose hierarchy when the need is over. The leader of today must find ways to transition quickly from the old to the new. Implementing fast change and getting people to accept and implement the change is the greatest task facing leaders.
The leader must combine the “soft” skills of leadership with the “hard” skills of management to effectively guide an organization.
Understanding the evolution of leadership theory helps a leader to define the contemporary concept of successful leadership by identifying strengths and weaknesses of scholarly perspectives from the past to the current time, and explore the relationship of leaders to the business environment.
References
Morgan, J. (2015a, July 20). The 5 Types of Organizational Structures: Part 2, ‘Flatter’ Organizations. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/07/0…
Morgan, J. (2015b, July 20). The 5 Types of Organizational Structures: Part 4, Flatarchies. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/07/1…
Read:
The Most Important Leadership Theories
The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory
The Relational Leadership Model
What Does Leadership Look Like in the Future of Work?
Week 2: Leadership Styles, Traits, Attributes, and Competencies
Theme 1: Leadership characteristics are demonstrated in a leader’s style.
Traits are characteristics that are ingrained in an individual. Traits are not easily learned or unlearned. For example, the introvert is unlikely to become the life of the party. On the other hand, leadership attributes are personal qualities or characteristics that can be learned and are typically described in the context of behaviors – values, habits, character, or motives. Leadership competence is a mix of leadership skills and behaviors that lead to an increase in performance.
Read:
Critical Skills: Leadership – In the Library search under Comstock (author) and Critical Skills: Leadership (title).
10 Traits of Great Business Leaders
Theme 2: Leadership style should fit the person, the organization, and the job. It should be situational in nature.
The way a leader sets the direction, implements plans and motivates people to accomplish a task is known as a leadership style. It cannot be emphasized enough that leadership style is not a one size fits all type of cloak. A leadership style must fit those that are led, the company and the job. The following story about leadership style illustrates theme two.
Alan Robbins started Plastic Lumber Company when he saw a way to help the planet by converting plastic milk and soda bottles into fake lumber while still making money in doing so. Robbins had strong opinions on how to run his company. He had an expectation that decisions be made in teams with participation from everyone. Sound familiar? To accomplish this goal, Robbins spent a long time on the factory floor chatting with employees, sounding them out on how best to get the job done. Robbins soon learned that this was not working. Most of his low-skilled employees simply wanted clear direction and a set of standards and expectations for doing the work. The freedom that Robbins’ laissez-faire leadership style encouraged led to frequent confusion, employee absences, tardiness, and fights on the factory floor. Employees came to work under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Robbins’ style undermined his authority in the eyes of many workers (Aeppel, 1998).
Although Robbins believed in his laissez-faire leadership style, he had to force himself to adapt a direct style with factory workers to save the business and instill order.
Would Robbins style fit better at Google than on the factory floor? While reading and preparing for this week, consider the aspects of style that relate to a leader’s ability to build relationships and keep the organization competitive.
Reference:
Aeppel, T. (1998, Jan 14). Losing faith: Personnel disorders sap a factory owner of his early idealism. The Wall Street Journal, A1-A14. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cac…
In week one, we learned that a leader must define leadership both personally and within the context of the organization. A successful leader should adopt a leadership style that fits his or her definition and the organization’s definition of leader. The choice of leadership style should enhance the point of view of the leader, the culture of the organization as well as the job and situation at hand.
The following notable leadership styles will be examined this week:
|
Leadership Styles |
||
|
Charismatic |
Laissez-Faire |
Situational |
|
Visionary/Innovative |
Steward |
Transactional |
|
Pace Setter |
Democratic |
Transformational |
|
Command/Coercive |
Servant |
Participative |
Many of the leadership styles have emerged from the theories discussed in week 1. Others have evolved from combined elements of different theories to create the characteristics, behaviors, attitude and values of the successful leader.
Read:
Pages 22-28 of (continued from last week):Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2017). The Emergence of Leadership Styles: A Clarified Categorization. Review Of International Comparative Management / Revista De Management Comparat International, 18(1),
8 Most Common Leadership Styles
The Impact of Leadership Style on Employee Commitment
Leadership Style, Emotional Intelligence, and Organizational Effectiveness
The Effective Organization: Five Questions to Translate Leadership into Strong Management
Week 3: Mission, Vision, Strategic Thinking, and Planning for Tomorrow
Theme 1: Companies need to make money to stay in business. The leader in the organization is to create a vision and mission. The vision and mission drives decision making in the organization so that resources of the organization, including human resources, are used properly to make financial sustainability happen.
Read:
- Principles of Management: Chapter 4.3 The Roles of Mission, Vision, and Values
- The Leader’s Role in Strategy
- Walt Disney Company’s Mission Statement and Vision: Formula for Success (An example of how they work together to bring corporate success in environmental sustainability)
- Visions & Missions of Fortune Global 100 Companies
- Management Tools: Mission and Vision Statements
- Strategy, Mission, and Vision: How Do They All Fit Together?
Theme 2: Strategic thinking is how Biotech’s vision is crafted by leaders to create organizational wealth, customer satisfaction, and sustainability. Stated at the outset, leadership talent needs to be built and available to make a
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