Reference no: EM133876763

Provide leadership across the organisation

Assessment Task 1

Provide answers to all of the questions below:

Discuss, in one paragraph, the concept of business ethics.

Discuss ethical leadership and its importance in supporting organisational values.

Discuss three characteristics of an ethical leader.

Give, and explain, three benefits of ethical leadership.

Discuss four (4) styles of leadership and the impact each of the identified styles on organisational culture.

Explain how a charismatic leader can assist in ensuring that a company's vision is implemented.

Discuss at least three strategies that can be used to encourage employee participation in decision-making.

Discuss three strategies that a leader can use for building trust and confidence with colleagues.

Explain the importance of leadership in ensuring that work health and safety legislation is met.

Give five (5) reasons why it is important to follow anti-discrimination law and provide equal opportunity, giving a short explanation of each.

Explain the key phases of a change management process.

Explain the organisational change process using Kotter's 8-step change model.

Assessment Task 2 Instructions

Carefully read the following:

Boutique Build Australia was established in 2013. It is a boutique building company based in Sydney that specialises in the design and build of high-quality designer homes for the Sydney metropolitan and surrounding areas.
A Strategic Plan has been developed for the company by an external consultant with input from the CEO and senior management. The rationale for the Strategic Plan is to set the direction for the company over the next three years, establish strategic priorities and to describe how these will be achieved and the measures (operational priorities) to achieve them.
A first important stage of implementing the Strategic Plan is to meet with the Senior Management team to plan the operational activities to be implemented to achieve the organisation's objectives. The preliminary meeting will focus on the objectives for the upcoming year being the expansion of the company into Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast markets as described in the Strategic Plan and to discuss and allocate roles and responsibilities in relation to the expansion.
The Senior Managers who will attending the meeting will be:
• Operations Manager (Bob Sales) - Bob has been with the company since its inception. He was a former builder and therefore has an excellent understanding of the industry. His main role is to manage the day to day activities for the business, including setting and reviewing budgets and overseeing procurement.
• Marketing Manager (Jane Smith) - Jane has recently joined the company. She is responsible for all aspects of marketing, including marketing planning and marketing implementation. Jane's strengths are in digital marketing.
• Human Resources Manager (Deborah Terns) - Deborah has been with the company for 2 years. She has worked in human resources for 10 years and her previous position was also with a construction company and she therefore has an excellent knowledge of the industry.
• Customer Service Manager (Amar Singh) - Amar has recently joined the company to manage the increasing number of sales staff. Amar previously worked with a construction company who expanded into other states and therefore has strengths in understanding how this process works.

Complete the following activities:

1. Develop a PowerPoint presentation
The first part of the assessment task requires you to prepare for the meeting with the Senior Management team to discuss the new Strategic Plan and the company's mission and objectives, as well as provide an opportunity for input and make decisions on operational priorities and activities for the upcoming year. This will also be an opportunity, as set out in the company's vision, to encourage employees to contribute innovative ideas and improvements, so you should ensure that you research techniques to encourage innovation and ideas for use in the meeting.

In order to prepare for the meeting, you will need to thoroughly review the Strategic and Operational Plan and operational priorities and prepare for a presentation about the new Strategic Plan as part of the meeting.

Your PowerPoint presentation will need to last approximately 15 minutes and use graphics, such as images and tables or graphs to add interest to the presentation, as well as providing a visual representation of data.

A further 15 minutes should be allocated to discussion of the operational priorities and activities required to achieve them.

Note that at the meeting your assessor will provide some additional ideas for operational activities which you will need to consider and discuss in accordance with the company's goals and objectives and the risk management plans identified in the Strategic Plan.

As the staff attending the meeting come from a range of educational backgrounds and familiarity with strategic planning processes, you will need to ensure that your presentation is free of jargon and presented in clear and concise English.

Your presentation should address:
• Meeting aims (scenario information and instructions provided to you).
• The purpose of the Strategic Plan.
• An outline of the organisation's mission, vision, values and key objectives, as well as strategic priorities as outlined in the Strategic Plan.
• Ensure you build staff commitment by explaining vision and values as a shared vision, which all staff can contribute to.
• A discussion of market characteristics and conditions as described in the Strategic Plan, including the global economy and technological advances, as well as environmental trends in relation to construction.
• A discussion of the company's strategic objectives operational priorities.
• An outline of key risks identified with regard to the Strategic Plan and at least four examples of how the company intends to manage identified risks.
• A discussion of operational priorities for the year ahead and activities required.
• Assigning of roles and responsibilities, as well as competencies based on the job role. Review the operational priorities in the Strategic Plan and identify specific operational activities and roles and responsibilities associated with the business expansion. For example, specific marketing activities that will need to occur and actions associated with the setting up of the new display centre. Identify at least ten (10) specific activities, as well as allocation of responsibilities according to the information about staff roles and competencies in the scenario information. This will need to be discussed and confirmed with staff at the meeting. Hire best assignment help & experienced tutors now!
• Outline of all of the resources that will be in place for the expansion as set out in the Strategic Plan.
• An outline of the expectations of the company with regard to ensuring that the objectives values and standards of the company are adopted in every day interactions with customers, suppliers and other staff. You will need to review this information in the Strategic Plan and provide specific examples of expected behaviour.

2. Write an email to your Operations Manager (your assessor).
The text of the email should be grammatically correct and be written in a respectful and businesslike style.
It should inform your manager that you have completed the presentation, and that you are ready to present it at the meeting.

Attach your presentation to the email.

3. Deliver your presentation and consult with staff at a meeting.
The next part of the assessment requires you to deliver your presentation to the Senior Management team and seek input from staff on the new Strategic Plan, as well as operational activities required to achieve objectives. You will need to be ready to answer questions and discuss ideas. You will also need to encourage innovative ideas as per the techniques you researched in assessment task 1.

Use the PowerPoint presentation you developed to deliver your presentation.

During the presentation, you will be required to demonstrate interpersonal skills and build trust and confidence in your team. To do this you will need to demonstrate
• Your ability to clearly and confidently present information
• Your ability to encouraging questions from staff
• Your ability to use active listening to confirm information and ideas.
• Your flexibility and adaptability to embrace ideas through your positive response to staff suggestions.
• Your ability to be a positive role model to other members of the team.

During the meeting, answer questions and discuss suggestions/ideas offered by staff at the end of the presentation, as this feedback will be used to update the Strategic Plan.

4. Send an email to staff (your assessor).
The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.

The email text should review the ideas discussed at the meeting, and how these will inform the Strategic Plan where relevant.

Your email should clearly show that all ideas have been considered in decision-making and indicate whether they will be implemented or not. Your rationale for implementing or otherwise should clearly show how decisions have been made based on the risk factors identified in the Strategic Plan.

You must send your email within two days of the meeting.

Assume that it is six months later and the expansion into Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast has proved to be highly successful. However, issues are arising with workplace fatigue. At a staff meeting, it was identified that some of the staff are working very long hours during the week and are also working at weekends. Hire best assignment help & experienced tutors now!
Staff are complaining of stress and fatigue. The long hours are as a result of the numerous projects that the company currently has. Many staff are also travelling extensively because of the interstate expansion.
The company's safe working guidelines are as follow:
• No one should work more than 8 hours in a day.
• There should be at least 10 hours' continuous break per 24-hour period.
• A lunch break of at least 30 minutes should be taken during the working day.
• Individuals should be aware of the hours worked and ensure they are aware of the risks.
Staff time sheets for September show the following:
• Human Resources Manager: shows 180 hours worked over a 4-week period (M to F). Break of at least 30 minutes taken each day.
• Marketing Manager: shows 190 hours worked over a 4-week period. Shows no lunch breaks taken.
• Operations Manager: shows 14.5 hours worked during three days of the month of September. Lunch breaks taken intermittently.
• Administration Officer: 152 hours plus lunch breaks of 30 minutes taken.

5. Investigate workplace issues
Your Operations Manager has asked you to investigate this issue, conduct research into fatigue management and then communicate the finding to staff as a first step in addressing this issue.

Develop a short report (at least a page long) for the staff that includes:
• An analysis of the data to show that staff have not been meeting the safe working guidelines.
• Health and safety implications of fatigue including:
o Problems associated with fatigue
o Signs of fatigue
o Risks associated with fatigue and procedures for managing the risk of fatigue.
• Proposed strategies for managing fatigue

To conduct your research, you should identify relevant sources of information on this topic and include the sources of information that you have used in your report.
Use Fatigue Management Report Template to structure your response.

6. Write an email to your Operations Manager (your assessor).
The text of the email should in grammatically correct English, in a style that demonstrates respect.

Assessment Task 3 Instructions

Carefully read the following:

Assume that the company now wants to develop a short media release about Boutique Build's expansion into the Brisbane and Sunshine Coast market. The intent of the release is to attract interest in the company and to provide a brief summary of the company and its operations. You are also going to use this project to provide leadership and support to the Marketing Manager, Jane Smith, who will be responsible for writing the media release under your direction.
The media release is to be released to the local press in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

Complete the following activities:

Prepare for a meeting with the Marketing Manager
Research some guidelines for developing engaging media releases that will promote a positive image. Prepare some information for Jane from the strategic plan and the presentation you developed in Assessment Task 2. The guidelines for the media release are:
No more than one page (400 words)
Should include a date, as well as contact details for future - you as the Director and CEO
Needs to be engaging and convey a positive image of the organisation

Have a meeting with the Marketing Manager
Meet with Jane (who will be roll played by your assessor) to brief her on the requirements for the media release.
During the meeting, you will be required to demonstrate interpersonal skills and build trust and confidence in Jane as part of your team.
To do this you will need to demonstrate:
Your ability to clearly and confidently present information and delegate tasks
Your ability to encourage questions from the individual
Your ability to use active listening to confirm information and ideas.
Your flexibility and adaptability to embrace the marketing manager's ideas through your positive response to suggestions
Your ability to be a positive role model to Jane as a valued member of your team
Your ability to empower Jane to be innovative and take responsibility for developing the media release and to feel assured of your trust and confidence in her.

Send an email to the Marketing Manager
Jane has sent you her media release for review. It has been worked on by her and her new marketing interns David and Bella. Compose an email to the marketing manager and her new team of interns congratulating them on a job well done. Make sure your email sets the tone that you have trust and confidence in their abilities and that demonstrates support for their team and an open-door policy.

The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.

Assessment Task 4 Instructions

Complete the following activities:

Develop a work goals and plans report.
Choose a company that you would be interested in working for, as well as a job role within that company. The role you choose should be at a managerial level, such as a Marketing Manager or Human Resources Manager.

Research and access information relating to the company, including the company's web site and a position description for the role that you are interested in within the company. Your assessor can provide you with assistance in identifying this information if you are having difficulty accessing such information.

Review the company's web site and the position description for the role you have chosen. For the position that you have identified, consider what your work goals and plans for 12 months would be if you were in that position. Note down at least five work goals for the job role. Your goals must be SMART goals and must address both personal work goals, as well as overall work goals for the roles based on the position requirements

Develop a short report about the business you have identified and the work goals you have identified that includes:
An overview of the business that you have chosen, including the purpose of the business and where it is located.
An overview of the company's goals and objectives as identified from the web site/position descriptions.
An overview of the position description for the job role you are interested in. Explain why you are interested in the job role and describe the key responsibilities of the job role.
An outline of the five personal work goals that you have identified for the position, including why these goals are relevant to the company's goals and objectives, as well as to the job role and how these are suitable goals for a 12-month period. Please note, at least one of these goals must be relevant to your communication skills. Conduct an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your own interpersonal skills and set a goal that will improve this area.

Develop a professional development plan for the next 12 months.
Research and review at least four professional development opportunities that would be relevant to the role that you have chosen and that relate to the work goals you have identified in activity one.

Use the Professional Development Plan Template to guide you with your response to this activity.

Assume that the organisation allocates a budget of $1,500 per year per staff member for professional development, so your decisions on professional development opportunities should be based on this. Also identify at least three free professional development opportunities that can be completed easily on your own or with some of your class members, for example, participating in webinars or engaging on Linked In forums, watching TED Talks together or some other suitable activities. You will be required to participate in these opportunities and provide a report on it.

Complete the professional development plan with the details of at least four professional development/networking opportunities that could be attended by someone in this job role over the next 12 months.

You will be required to include a brief description of each professional development opportunity, costs and location and date/s as applicable.

Participate in regular professional development opportunities
Participate in the three professional development opportunities you identified above. This will have to occur over a period of time so you will need to discuss with your assessor a timeline to complete the activities and when the due date will be.

Complete all sections of the Professional Development Report Template.
Each question in the report should be answered in approximately one paragraph.

Send an email to your assessor.
The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.

Assessment Task 5 Instructions

Carefully read the following:

Imagine that it is one year later, and Boutique Build has expanded into the Brisbane and Sunshine Coast market as planned.

As the Operations Manager, you are responsible for a number of staff who travel regularly from Sydney to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast as part of their role. It has come to your attention recently that several staff members have been accruing frequent flyer points from business travel and using these points for their own personal travel. You are unsure if this is allowed or not and so decide to investigate the situation.

Complete the following activities:

Write a memo on use of frequent flyer points and the company's code of ethics
Review the company's code of ethics to identify current values and standards and to identify whether it addresses the issues of accruing frequent flyer points.

Identify and review codes of ethics and other documents form at least other three other companies on how they manage the issue of staff use of frequent flyer points.

Your memo should make a recommendation on whether the practice of accumulating frequent flyer points for personal use should be allowed.

Send an email to the CEO (your assessor).
The text of the email should be written in grammatically correct English, using a style appropriate between an Operations Manager and their CEO. It should give a short summary of the contents of the attachment.

Attach the memo to the email.
The assessor in the role of CEO will email you their response.

Update the Code of Ethics
Write an updated version of the company's Code of Ethics based on your investigation and the response given to you by your CEO.

Send an email to staff (your assessor)
The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style and demonstrate positive leadership and role modelling.
It should include a summary of the company's position on this issue, as well as clear directions for staff with regard to the use of frequent flyer points.

Ensure that you use clear and concise language so that all staff can understand the company's position.