KOLM33BSS Principles of Strategic Leadership / Spring 2016

Lecturer Svend GlüsingISSUE DATE
11-February 2016
SUBMISSION
The coursework must be submitted no later than 23:45 on 29-April:
1. electronically through Wiseflow
2. in two hard copies to IBA Administrator, Robert Whittle (can be delivered by noon on Monday 2nd
May)
REPORT REQUIREMENTS
Word count 6.000 words in length plus references and any appendices
Maximum/Minimum/Range: 10%
Any penalties for not complying with word limits will be in accordance with University
and Faculty policy.
Type Individual
Form Essay
Style The coursework will be in a format with page numbers, section headings, etc
and appropriately referenced using the CU Harvard Style. In Microsoft Word you can use
the auto style function, choose “Harvard”.
Download the Coventry University Harvard Reference Style on
http://www.coventry.ac.uk/study-at-coventry/student-support/academicsupport/
centre-for-academic-writing/support-for-students/academic-writingresources/
cu-harvard-reference-style-guide/
Please note:
1. All work submitted after the submission deadline without an approved valid reason (see below) will be
failed.
2. Short deferrals (extensions) of up to three calendar weeks can only be given for genuine “force majeure”
and medical reasons, not for bad planning of your time. Please note that theft, loss, or failure to keep a
back-up file, are not valid reasons. The short deferral must be applied for on or before the submission
date. You can apply for a short or long deferral by submitting an Examination/ Coursework Deferral
Application Form. Relevant application forms are available from and should be submitted to the
Programme Administrator.
Please make sure that your ID number and the module number appear on the actual coursework assignment
as well as on the cover sheet that you attach to it (but don’t put your name for individual assignments as
marking is anonymous).
Plagiarism warning! – Assignments should not be copied in part or in whole from any other source, except
for any marked up quotations, that clearly distinguish what has been quoted from your own work. All
references used must be given, and the specific page number used should also be given for any direct
quotations, which should be in inverted commas. Students found copying from the internet or other sources
will get zero marks and may be excluded from the university.
INTENDED MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES
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Coursework Assignment
KOLM33BSS Principles of Strategic Leadership / Spring 2016
Lecturer Svend Glüsing
The intended learning outcomes are that on completion of this module the student should be able to:
1. Develop a critical understanding of theoretical models and issues associated with the concept of
strategic leadership within organizations.
2. Synthesise material from various sources to develop an evidence-based perspective on leadership.
3. Demonstrate knowledge and skills to critically appraise successful leadership in a variety of contexts
and industry sectors
This assignment will assess learning outcomes 1 and 3.
ASSIGNMENT
Great managers seem scarce. And according to Randall Beck and James Harter ( (Beck & Harter, 2014) many
companies have many people with leadership and management talents in non-managerial positions, and vice
versa, a lot of managers and leaders with no, or limited leadership skills and talents.
Read the annex text and critically assess this statement and include some of the main concepts and principles
of strategic leadership in your discussion, and elaborate to what extent these concepts and principles are
applicable within different industry sector organizations and cultures – illustrated with industry
examples/practice. In particular, highlight how poor managers can develop and improve their personal
leadership skills, and how employees with managerial talents in non-managerial positions can be discovered,
developed, and prepared for a managerial position. Provide examples from readings, research and/or case
studies to underpin your argumentation.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND MARKING SCHEME
The paper will be assessed using the following criteria:
Assessment criteria Mark allocation
Critically assess the statement that “Good Managers Are Rare”
Identify and critically examine the main principles of strategic leadership and discuss
to what extent these differ from the traditional framework of organizational
management.
Critically assess to what extent these are applicable within different industry sector
organizations and cultures
Use of industry examples/practice to assist the answer
Integration of theoretical models from study materials, readings on the module
and/or case studies to underpin the argumentation.
15 %
35 %
20 %
10 %
10 %
Structure, layout and presentation, including a natural flow in the development of the
essay and a good conclusion that develops findings from the main part.
5 %
Correctly reference all published material included in the paper 5 %
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Coursework Assignment
KOLM33BSS Principles of Strategic Leadership / Spring 2016
Lecturer Svend Glüsing
GUIDELINES ON WRITING A COURSEWORK ESSAY
Preparation
Think carefully about what you have been asked. Research the topic, drawing on information from lectures
and tutorials, plus relevant books and articles. Make sure that you are familiar with the major debates or
viewpoints. Answer the question, the whole question, and nothing but the question!
Structure
Introduction
Start with addressing the question. Set out what you are going to look at in the essay, state what the
significant issues are, and say how you propose to examine them. This has two consequences: (1) It compels
you to discipline yourself and address the question in a relevant fashion, and (2) It shows the reader that you
are in control of the subject.
Main arguments / discussion
Unfold the main arguments in a coherent sequence, bringing relevant evidence to bear on the points being
made. Points should always be substantiated and sources acknowledged. Do not base your essay on
unsubstantiated assertion. All arguments are based on evidence and it is important, therefore, to be able to
cite relevant items of evidence in support of an interpretation or argument.
Use paragraph breaks carefully to help structure your argument. Each paragraph should introduce, develop,
make and substantiate a point, and prepare the way for the next paragraph and the next point.
Conclusion
Draw together your ideas, summarize your argument and demonstrate that you have answered the question.
Points that can help an essay to be in a presentable, consistent, written style
? Be clear in your use of words
? Do not leave the reader to guess the meaning. Ask, could this mean anything else?
? Be concise in you use of words
? Do not string a lot of ideas together in one sentence. Avoid verbosity.
Proof reading
Check that you mean what you write and write what you mean. Avoid typing errors and errors of spelling
and grammar. Using the Spelling Tool in Microsoft Word (or similar) may be helpful but this will not pick up
all mistakes. For instance, form and from, where and were, are often missed. There and their, principal and
principle and use of American language may all be confused.
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Coursework Assignment
KOLM33BSS Principles of Strategic Leadership / Spring 2016
Lecturer Svend Glüsing
Why Good Managers Are So Rare
by Randall Beck and James Harter | 8:00 AM March 13, 2014
Gallup has found that one of the most important decisions companies make is simply whom they
name manager. Yet our analysis suggests that they usually get it wrong. In fact, Gallup finds that
companies fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82% of the time.
Bad managers cost businesses billions of dollars each year, and having too many of them can
bring down a company. The only defense against this massive problem is a good offense, because
when companies get these decisions wrong, nothing fixes it. Businesses that get it right, however,
and hire managers based on talent will thrive and gain a significant competitive advantage.
Managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement scores across business
units, Gallup estimates. This variation is in turn responsible for severely low worldwide employee
engagement. Gallup reported in two large-scale studies in 2012 that only 30% of U.S. employees
are engaged at work, and a staggeringly low 13% worldwide are engaged. Worse, over the past 12
years these low numbers have barely budged, meaning that the vast majority of employees
worldwide are failing to develop and contribute at work.
Gallup has studied performance at hundreds of organizations and measured the engagement of 27
million employees and more than 2.5 million work units over the past two decades. No matter the
industry, size, or location, we find executives struggling to unlock the mystery of why performance
varies so immensely from one workgroup to the next. Performance metrics fluctuate widely and
unnecessarily within most companies, in no small part from the lack of consistency in how people
are managed. This “noise” frustrates leaders because unpredictability causes great inefficiencies in
execution.
Executives can cut through this noise by measuring what matters most. Gallup has discovered
links between employee engagement at the business-unit level and vital performance indicators,
including customer metrics; higher profitability, productivity, and quality (fewer defects); lower
turnover; less absenteeism and shrinkage (i.e., theft); and fewer safety incidents. When a company
raises employee engagement levels consistently across every business unit, everything gets
better.
To make this happen, companies should systematically demand that every team within their
workforce have a great manager. After all, the root of performance variability lies within human
nature itself. Teams are composed of individuals with diverging needs related to morale,
motivation, and clarity — all of which lead to varying degrees of performance. Nothing less than
great managers can maximize them.
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Coursework Assignment
KOLM33BSS Principles of Strategic Leadership / Spring 2016
Lecturer Svend Glüsing
But first, companies have to find those great managers.
If great managers seem scarce, it’s because the talent required to be one is rare. Gallup finds that
great managers have the following talents:
They motivate every single employee to take action and engage them with a compelling mission
and vision.
They have the assertiveness to drive outcomes and the ability to overcome adversity and
resistance.
They create a culture of clear accountability.
They build relationships that create trust, open dialogue, and full transparency.
They make decisions that are based on productivity, not politics.
Gallup’s research reveals that about one in ten people possess all these necessary traits. While
many people are endowed with some of them, few have the unique combination of talent needed
to help a team achieve excellence in a way that significantly improves a company’s performance.
These 10%, when put in manager roles, naturally engage team members and customers, retain
top performers, and sustain a culture of high productivity. Combined, they contribute about 48%
higher profit to their companies than average managers.
It’s important to note that another two in 10 exhibit some characteristics of basic managerial talent
and can function at a high level if their company invests in coaching and developmental plans for
them.
In studying managerial talent in supervisory roles compared with the general population, we find
that organizations have learned ways to slightly improve the odds of finding talented managers.
Nearly one in five (18%) of those currently in management roles demonstrate a high level of talent
for managing others, while another two in 10 show a basic talent for it. Still, this means that
companies miss the mark on high managerial talent in 82% of their hiring decisions, which is an
alarming problem for employee engagement and the development of high-performing cultures in
the U.S. and worldwide.
Sure, every manager can learn to engage a team somewhat. But without the raw, natural talent to
individualize; focus on each person’s needs and strengths; boldly review their team members; rally
people around a cause; and execute efficient processes, the day-to-day experience will burn out
both the manager and his or her team. As noted earlier, this basic inefficiency in identifying talent
costs companies hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
Conventional selection processes are a big contributor to inefficiency in management practices;
little science or research is applied to find the right person for the managerial role. When Gallup
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Coursework Assignment
KOLM33BSS Principles of Strategic Leadership / Spring 2016
Lecturer Svend Glüsing
asked U.S. managers why they believed they were hired for their current role, they commonly cited
their success in a previous non-managerial role or their tenure in their company or field.
These reasons don’t take into account whether the candidate has the right talent to thrive in the
role. Being a very successful programmer, salesperson, or engineer, for example, is no guarantee
that someone will be even remotely adept at managing others.
Most companies promote workers into managerial positions because they seemingly deserve it,
rather than because they have the talent for it. This practice doesn’t work. Experience and skills
are important, but people’s talents — the naturally recurring patterns in the ways they think, feel,
and behave — predict where they’ll perform at their best. Talents are innate and are the building
blocks of great performance. Knowledge, experience, and skills develop our talents, but unless we
possess the right innate talents for our job, no amount of training or experience will matter.
Very few people are able to pull off all five of the requirements of good management. Most
managers end up with team members who are at best indifferent toward their work — or are at
worst hell-bent on spreading their negativity to colleagues and customers. However, when
companies can increase their number of talented managers and double the rate of engaged
employees, they achieve, on average, 147% higher earnings per share than their competition.
It’s important to note — especially in the current economic climate — that finding great managers
doesn’t depend on market conditions or the current labor force. Large companies have
approximately one manager for every 10 employees, and Gallup finds that one in 10 people
possess the inherent talent to manage. When you do the math, it’s likely that someone on each
team has the talent to lead. But given our findings, chances are that it’s not the manager. More
likely, it’s an employee with high managerial potential waiting to be discovered.
The good news is that sufficient management talent exists in every company – it’s often hiding in
plain sight. Leaders should maximize this potential by choosing the right person for the next
management role using predictive analytics to guide their identification of talent.
For too long, companies have wasted time, energy, and resources hiring the wrong managers and
then attempting to train them to be who they’re not. Nothing fixes the wrong pick.
Source:
Beck, R. & Harter, J., 2014. hbr.org. [Online]
Available at: https://hbr.org/2014/03/why-good-managers-are-so-rare/
[Accessed 13 March 2014].