PLease refer to the assignment brief.
RMIT Classification: Trusted Graduate School of Business and Law — BUSM4737 Leadership and Management Assessment 2: Individual case study analysis Assessment type: Individual written case study exercise Time/word limit: 2,300 (+/- 10%) Due Date: Sunday of Week 5, 23:59 (Melbourne time) Weighting: 30% Overview The purpose of the case study assignment is to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to use the concepts and language introduced during the first part of the course. This exercise is based on the importance of gaining credibility within an organisation by using the language of managerial leadership to apply key concepts to case study examples. This assignment helps in evaluating students' comprehension of the course materials in relation to real-world cases and provide students with tools for understanding business and leadership problems and designing solutions. Assessment criteria • Quality of the written expression (10%) • Demonstrated understanding of the course reading materials and the course topics (30%) • Answers that demonstrate an ability to apply concepts and ideas taken from research and practice to arrive at an insightful understanding of real-world cases. (30%) • Extent to which the answers effectively address all aspects of the case study questions (30%) Course learning outcomes This assessment is relevant to the following course learning outcomes: CLO 2 Accurately assess your personal strengths and areas of challenge and effectively self-manage these towards improved practice. CLO 3 Explain how effective managerial leaders are able to diagnose and ethically improve the key areas of organisational functioning. CLO 4 Motivate and influence others in ways that contribute to sustainable organisational performance. RMIT Classification: Trusted Assessment Details This assessment will be broken up into five questions. The five questions are designed to test your comprehension of the course materials in relation to real-world cases, and your capacity to see how different course topics overlap with each other and provide you with tools for understanding organisational and leadership problems and solutions. Essential preparation for this task requires you to carefully read/watch: Watch the video titled ‘Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos’ (available in the Assessment task 2 section of the course Canvas) and read the following article: Bezos, J 2020, ‘How Amazon Thinks About Competition’, Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, pp. 2–4, viewed 12 March 2021 via: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=147821836&sit e=ehost-live. Here are the five questions: 1. Apply the concept of ‘triad of awareness’ to the case of Jeff Bezos' leadership of Amazon and identify if he needs to pay more attention to any one the focused areas. 2. Discuss the importance of paradoxical thinking and examine the paradoxes that a leader like Bezos may need to address recurrently. 3. Describe the ways in which the theory of the business can be used to explain how Bezos’ is leading Amazon. 4. Discuss whether Bezos’ style of leadership aligns with two of the secrets of the super bosses as described by Finkelstein. Defend your answer. 5. In the context of ‘the five exemplary leadership practices’ covered in the course, identify two business areas/examples where you think Bezos fell short of exhibiting the exemplary leadership practices. Reflect on how he could have exemplified the practices more successfully. Note specially: Your assignment must include the reading materials and journal articles studied in this course. That is, at least 50% of the referencing must be based on the course learning resources provided on Canvas. You can draw on key media pieces (e.g. article, interview, podcast, book etc.) about Jeff Bezos to strengthen your answers and analysis. RMIT Classification: Trusted Submission format Upload as one single file via the Assignments submission page within Canvas. Referencing guidelines If you source any material from a primary or secondary source, please include the information in your submission. You must acknowledge all the sources of information you have used in your assessments and use RMIT Harvard referencing style for referencing. Refer to the RMIT Easy Cite referencing tool to see examples and tips on how to reference in the appropriated style. You can also refer to the library referencing page for more tools such as EndNote, referencing tutorials and referencing guides for printing. Academic integrity and plagiarism Academic integrity is about honest presentation of your academic work. It means acknowledging the work of others while developing your own insights, knowledge and ideas. You should take extreme care that you have: • Acknowledged words, data, diagrams, models, frameworks and/or ideas of others you have quoted (i.e. directly copied), summarised, paraphrased, discussed or mentioned in your assessment through the appropriate referencing methods • Provided a reference list of the publication details so your reader can locate the source if necessary. This includes material taken from Internet sites If you do not acknowledge the sources of your material, you may be accused of plagiarism because you have passed off the work and ideas of another person without appropriate referencing, as if they were your own. RMIT University treats plagiarism as a very serious offence constituting misconduct. Plagiarism covers a variety of inappropriate behaviours, including: • Failure to properly document a source • Copyright material from the internet or databases • Collusion between students For further information on our policies and procedures, please refer to the University website. Assessment declaration When you submit work electronically, you agree to the assessment declaration. https://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/easy-cite/ https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/student-essentials/rights-and-responsibilities/academic-integrity https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/student-essentials/assessment-and-exams/assessment/assessment-declaration RMIT Classification: Trusted Criteria Ratings Pts HD D CR P N Criteria 1 Quality of the written expression (10%) The writing is admirably clear and fluent. The level of expression would greatly impress if it were read as an example of your writing by your potential employer. In-text citations and reference list comply with the Harvard referencing style. Meets word length requirements. The writing is clear and fluent. The level of expression would appear impressive if it were read as an example of your writing by your potential employer. In-text citations and reference list comply with the Harvard referencing style. Meets word length requirements. The writing makes your intended meaning mostly clear, but at times the reader has to make assumptions about the arguments you made because they are not logical and cohesive. Minor inconsistencies in the in-text citations/ reference list when compared to the Harvard referencing style. Meets word length requirements. Whilst the answers can be understood, the writing often confuses the reader because the arguments are not logical and cohesive. The writeup lacks academic tone at times or it requires proofreading. Some inconsistencies in the in-text citations/ reference list when compared to the Harvard referencing style. Word length exceeds. Answers are vague and do not articulate the information and concepts in a convincing manner. There are lexical or grammatical issues. The assignment does not maintain an academic tone. Major inconsistencies in the in-text citations/ reference list when compared to the Harvard referencing style. Word length exceeds. 3.0 to > 2.39 pts 2.39 to > 2.09 pts 2.09 to > 1.79 pts 1.79 to > 1.49 pts 1.49 to > 0 pts 3.0 pts RMIT Classification: Trusted Criteria Ratings Pts HD D CR P N Criteria 2 Demonstrated understanding of the course reading materials and the course topics (30%) Most relevant ideas and examples from the course reading materials have been logically discussed, critically evaluated and applied to answer the questions. Response provides relevant citations, where applicable, which are properly referenced. Relevant ideas and examples from the course reading materials have been logically discussed and applied to answer the questions. Relevant ideas and examples from the course reading materials have been discussed and applied to answer the questions. Response demonstrates basic understanding of the course reading materials and the course topics Only a few relevant ideas and examples from the course reading materials were used in answering the questions. Response does not demonstrate an understanding of the course reading materials and the course topics Limited use of relevant ideas and examples from the course reading materials. 9.0 to > 7.19 pts 7.19 to > 6.29 pts 6.29 to > 5.39 pts 5.39 to > 4.49 pts 4.49 to > 0 pts 9.0 pts Criteria 3 Answers that demonstrate an ability to apply concepts and ideas taken from research and practice to arrive at an insightful understanding of real-world cases. (30%) Most relevant concepts are provided, and there is a clear and convincing explanation of why and how those concepts deepen the reader’s understanding of the assigned case. Relevant concepts are provided, and there is a clear and convincing explanation of why those concepts apply to the set case. Relevant concepts are provided, and there is a genuine attempt to explain why those concepts apply to the set case. Relevant concepts are provided, but there is little attempt to explain why or how those concepts add to understanding the business case. The bulk of the responses are in the form of lists, which merely repeat or summarise course concepts. There is no attempt to explain why relevant concepts add to our understanding of the case. The bulk of the responses are in the form of