This assignment will be a business report of 2,500 words (+ / – 10%). You will base the report on an organisation of your choice: one where you can gain access to a good range of relevant information in terms of leadership, change and culture. If you are currently working or have previously worked for an organisation then you are free to choose that if you wish.
You will identify / choose a major organisational issue to focus your report on that will enable you to critically analyse leadership, culture and change. This might be a strategic challenge, opportunity or project that the organisation has either faced in the past or is currently ‘live’– the critical thing is that it involved a significant ‘change’.
You will critically analyse the:
Organisational leadership / leaders
Organisational culture
Way that the organisation approached the change process
Identifying dimensions of leadership and culture that affected the successful / unsuccessful outcome. You should outline recommendations for future success and organisational practice that consider the practicalities of how your recommendations would be implemented – given leadership capabilities and organisational culture challenges.
The report will be an academic piece of writing in a ‘business report’ style (written in the 3rd person) and the overarching aim of this work is to execute a refined, but succinct, piece of coursework that observes and analyses approaches to leadership in the context of organisational culture and change.
In analysing and articulating the organisation you will consider the key role leaders have in orchestrating strategic change and managing the challenges that uncertainty brings in the context of the chosen organisation’s purpose, culture, future direction and leadership approach, taking into account issues of leadership ethics, diversity and sustainability.
There should also be careful consideration of the nature and scale of the strategic change; whether incremental change (over a period) or more substantive (as a result of crises), and the nature of leadership this has and/or will require.
There is no required structure or mandatory ‘headings’ for your report – each assignment will vary depending on the issue chosen to analyse and how that issue is analysed or approached – however the following guide may be helpful:
Executive Summary
Clear articulation of your chosen issue, including why the particular issue was chosen and its relevance / importance to the organisation
Broadly what your report covers / says
Organisational and leadership analysis
A brief introduction to your chosen organisation to give the reader a context for your assignment.
Analysis and assessment of the organisation’s culture (and how this may have impacted your chosen issue) including analysis of strategic factors such as purpose, vision, mission etc
Analysis / assessment of organisational leadership (both of the organisation in general and of the particular issue)
Organisation’s approach to implementing the chosen strategic change (perhaps including how the organisation ‘understood’ the nature of the problem it was trying to solve and whether you would agree with its perspective)
Dimensions of leadership: ethics, sustainability and diversity
Recommendations and Conclusions
Developing key recommendations and conclusions for the organisation in terms of how it continues with your issue into the future or would approach / undertake a similar substantive strategic change in the future.
What the practical considerations are of implementing your recommendations
Bibliography / references
