LDR 531   ENTIRE COURSE (2018)

 
 
WEEK  1

 
LDR 531 Week 1 Individual Assignment Personal Leadership Evaluation
 

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide students with an

opportunity to reflect on their personal leadership styles at the

beginning of the class, as a basis for class learning.

Assignment Steps

Resources: Mastering Leadership Self-Assessment

Take the Mastering Leadership Self-Assessment.

Create a 1,400-word analysis based on the assessment, text, video,

and any other information you wish including:

• Explain how you view your strengths and weaknesses, along with a

development plan to address both.

• Be specific, and explain your rationale based on the text and video,

with cited evidence.

You will use this assignment as a reference for the assignments in

Weeks 2-6. You will be required to take the Mastering Leadership Self-

Assessment listed in the Resources.
 

 

 

 

 

 

WEEK 2 

LDR 531   Week 2 Learning Team Charter

 
Overview

In this course, your team will work together to complete a few

assignments. This chartering assignment is designed to help you apply

your project management skills to understand the scope of your project,

then break the project into goals, tasks, responsibilities, resources, and

milestones. The assignment also asks you to discuss and answer some

questions that will lay the foundation for developing your project.

Beyond the Standard Charter

You will notice that this chartering process goes beyond your standard

University of Phoenix Charter by helping your team create a project

plan for team success by providing you with opportunities to define your

deliverables, recognize the connections between the deliverables and

other classroom activities, determine your timelines and milestones,

identify each team member's expected contribution, and answer

questions that lay the foundation for building your projects.

Putting "I" in "Team"

Important to note is the section for defining learning team expectations

related to participation, collaboration, communication, team

contributions, assignment deadlines, and other considerations. Please

take the time to discuss and document how your team will address

each area and any challenges that may arise. It is important to

understand that we are "Putting 'I' in 'Team'". In short, we will recognize

and reward individuals according to their contributions to team output,

not according to their team membership. This means that individual

grades may be different from the team grade depending on each

individual's contribution to each team deliverable.

Completing this Assignment

Do the following to complete this assignment:

• Review the Charter and Project plan.
• Review the weekly Learning Team deliverables.
• Complete the provided Learning Team Charter and Project Plan,

including the following: team member contact information, project by

week, learning team expectations, team discussion questions

 

 

 

 

LDR 531  Week 2 Individual Assignment Comparing Leadership Models

 

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide the student with an

opportunity to understand and analyze the Universal Model of

Leadership in the text, and compare it to one other model to see the

similarities and differences.

Assignment Steps

Create a 10- to 12-slide PowerPoint® presentation to compare the

Universal Model of Leadership in Mastering Leadership to one other

leadership model.

Include the following:

• Include a graphic to compare and contrast those two models, noting

similarities and differences.

• Develop your conclusions regarding the significance of those models

in business. How might they apply?

• Include detailed speaker notes, supporting citations, and references.
   

 

 

 

WEEK 3

 
LDR 531   Week 3 Learning Team Communication Challenges Conversation

 

 Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide students an opportunity to

apply communication theories and research to actual business

situations. The discussion with other learning team members is

designed to identify and consider different perspectives.

Assignment Steps

Read Case 2: Global Shared Services, McDonald's Corporation,

located in Mastering Leadership.

Discuss in your learning team the communications and group

behavioral issues that might arise in an organization that hires

employees for their first job. Each member must post at least two

substantive comments (minimum 350 words each) to the learning team

discussion area.

Note: Grades are awarded based upon individual contributions to the

Learning Team assignment. Each Learning Team member receives a

grade based upon his/her contributions to the team assignment. Not all

students may receive the same grade for the team assignment.

 

 

 

 

 

LDR 531  Week 3 Individual Assignment Communications Challenges and Strategies

 
Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide students with an

opportunity to apply communications theories, research, and

conversation with class colleagues to actual business situations,

through the development of applicable strategies.

Assignment Steps

Read Case 2: Global Shared Services, McDonald's Corporation located

in Mastering Leadership.

Analyze in 1,050 to 1,225 words the communications and group

behavioral issues that might arise in an organization hiring employees

for their first job based on the discussion from your learning team.

Include a strategy to address these challenges.

 

 

 

 

 

WEEK 4

 
LDR 531  Week 4 Individual Team Signature Assignment

 

 
About Your Signature Assignment

This signature assignment is designed to align with specific program

student learning outcome(s) in your program. Program Student

Learning Outcomes are broad statements that describe what students

should know and be able to do upon completion of their degree. The

signature assignments may be graded with an automated rubric that

allows the University to collect data that can be aggregated across a

location or college/school and used for program improvements.

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide students an opportunity to

apply research on motivation and satisfaction to the analysis of their

individual behavior and environment.

Assignment Steps

Create an 8- to 10-slide PowerPoint® presentation describing your

Outer Game and Inner Game. See Ch. 3 of Mastering Leadership for

these concepts.

Include the following:

• Your leadership role and environment.
• The leadership process in your Outer Game.
• The leadership competencies in your Outer Game.
• The leadership consciousness in your Inner Game.
• Insights from this analysis.
• Two actions you will take for growth and development.
• Include detailed speaker notes, supporting citations, and references

 

 
 
WEEK 5

 
LDR 531  Week 5 Learning Team Creative Organizations and Strategic Change

 
Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide students an opportunity to

apply research definitions of a creative organization to real life

examples.

Assignment Steps

Identify and discuss several global creative organizations using the

criteria and descriptions in Ch. 10 and 11 of Mastering Leadership.

Include the strategic opportunities for change the organizations have.

Each member must post at least two substantive comments (minimum

350 words each) to the learning team discussion area:

• Discuss why those organizations could be considered as creative.
• Explore alternative views.
• Post two substantive comments from each team member in this

discussion.

Note: Grades are awarded based upon individual contributions to the

Learning Team assignment. Each Learning Team member receives a

grade based upon his/her contributions to the team assignment. Not all

students may receive the same grade for the team assignment.

 

 

LDR 531  Week 5  Individual Assignment Strategic Change: Case Study

 

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide a chance for the student to

examine an existing organization and apply research to identify

opportunities for strategic change.

Assignment Steps

Develop a 1,050-word essay to identify one global creative

organization, as defined in Ch. 10 and 11 of Mastering Leadership.

Analyze the opportunities for strategic change that are evident, citing

evidence.

Include considerations of culture and structure in addressing those

opportunities.

Include the following:

• Identify one organization that could be considered creative, based on

definitions in Mastering Leadership.

• Determine whether or not you believe the organization meets those

criteria. Explain why.

• Discuss the impact of organizational culture and structure on that

opportunity for strategic change.

• Formulate conclusions including personal learning on your analysis.

 

 

WEEK 6

 
LDR 531 Week 6 Individual Team Leading Organizational Change

 

 

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide an opportunity for the

student to integrate and apply the individual and organizational

leadership learning from this course by developing a plan for

organizational change.

Assignment Steps

Review course assignments for Weeks 1-5, including the results of the

Mastering Leadership Self-Assessment taken in Week 1.

Select an organizational change in your company or one you know.

Develop a 1,050-word analysis designing the action plan for you, as a

leader, to address the organizational change.

Include the following, in any sequence you choose:

• Identify the organizational change process steps you would take and

prioritize the order in which you would take them.

• Include both individual and organizational leadership actions.
• Scholarly citations must be given to support your rationale and

proposed actions.

 

 

LDR 531  Week 6  Individual Assignment Final Exam

 

Instructions:

Click the link to the Final Examination.

Complete the Final Examination. You are allowed one attempt to

complete the examination, which is timed and must be completed in 3

hours. Results are automatically graded and sent to your instructor.

Note: The automated final exam was designed in Google Chrome and

is best viewed in the latest version of the browser. If you do not use the

latest version of Google Chrome to view and complete the automated

final exam, you may not be able to view the entire exam content. If you

do not have the most current version of Google Chrome, download the

browser before you enter the exam.

Final Exam Study Guide

If you're taking the Final Exam, you probably have some questions,

such as:

• What is the structure of the Final Exam?
• What kinds of questions will I see? Can I see some examples?
• Why is the Final Exam designed this way?
• How should I study for the Final Exam?

This document will answer these questions and help get you ready for

the exam. Best wishes!

What's the structure of the Final Exam?

The exam questions are based on course objectives and concepts from

throughout the course.

There are 30 multiple-choice questions for each exam. The exam is

timed and must be completed in 3 hours. Students are given one

attempt to complete each exam. Results are auto-graded and sent to

the instructor.

Note: The final exam is best viewed via the Google Chrome web

browser. Please download the latest version of Google Chrome if you

do not have access.

What kinds of questions will I see? Can I see some examples?

The Final Exam will have a mix of the following types of questions:

• Applications: Knowing definitions is important, but you also need to

be able to apply those definitions in practice. On your exam, you'll need

to apply definitions from individual courses, and you'll also see

questions combining concepts from different courses. These different

kinds of application questions can ask you to:

• Connect a concept to an example of that concept. These questions

might ask you to recognize an externality in a transaction, identify a

marketing strategy given a description of activities, or spot an example

of a management technique in action.

• Evaluate a situation and draw conclusions. These questions ask

you to analyze a situation and make an appropriate recommendation.

For example, you might be asked what would make communications

more effective, what is required for a contract to be enforced, or to

identify what would likely happen according to a particular theory.

• Perform calculations and apply techniques: You could be asked to

perform operations related to finance or accounting, determine what

would happen to an equilibrium point if something in the world changes,

or predict changes in exchange rates.

• Critical Thinking Questions: On your Final Exam, you'll see questions

testing your critical thinking skills, which means that you'll have to draw

sound, logical conclusions while applying the techniques you've

learned. You might be asked to identify an assumption, analyze an

argument to determine what would make it stronger or weaker, or spot

a flaw in an argument. These questions are often quite difficult, so get

started by checking out the examples below.

Sample Questions:

Note: These are general examples that may not necessarily reflect the

content of your specific course, but rather will give you an idea of how

the questions on your exam will be structured.

1. Rahul is a manager in the Marketing Department of Acadia Bear

Hospitality, a mid-size chain of hotels primarily appealing to vacationers

who are interested in nature. Rahul's goals for next year include the

following: increasing revenue from guided tours by 20%, increasing the

number of customers who visit Acadia Bear's Web site by 25%, and

turning Acadia Bear customers into ambassadors for the Acadia Bear

brand.

Individual Nov 20, 2018 11:59 PM 15

Which of the following changes would most improve the list of yearly

goals specified above?

1. doubling the proposed percentage increases in revenue from guided

tours and Web site visitors

2. clarifying what is meant by an "ambassador for the Acadia Bear

brand"

3. including proposals for changing Acadia Bear's core mission
4. specifying the decisions that Rahul should make each week in order

to meet these goals

Answer: (B)

Explanation: For goals to motivate employees, they must be clear.

While many organizations want to turn their customers into "brand

ambassadors," this goal should be more specific in order for Rahul to

understand what success with respect to that goal would look like. (B)

Is therefore correct, as it would provide Rahul with the clear

understanding he would require. (A) Could be a good idea, but might

not be realistic. Goals are not always improved by making them more

demanding, so it is not clear that (A) would be an improvement. Asking

Rahul to change the organization's core mission would be outside the

scope of his responsibilities and so would not be a clear improvement

to this list of goals. The list of weekly actions in (D) would probably

make things worse by micromanaging Rahul. Yearly goals should not

be that specific.

2. What real-world decisions would people be more likely to make if

they are risk averse when considering potential losses?

1. paying more for an extended warranty than the expected value of

the cost of the repairs covered by the warranty

2. considering the entertainment value of the gambling experience

itself when deciding whether to wager in a casino

3. performing home repairs oneself instead of hiring a professional
4. preferring to participate in a lottery with a small chance of winning a

large prize instead of receiving a small gift certificate

Answer: (A)

Explanation: If people fear losses in a way that strict calculations would

not predict, then they would be willing to pay more to insure against

those risks than the expected value of taking that risk would suggest. In

(A), people pay high amounts to insure themselves against a risk that,

on average, would be less costly than the warranty. So (A) is correct.

(B) Makes people sound more inclined to risk losses, which doesn't fit

here. (C) Is also at least arguably on the side of taking risks, given that

regular individuals tend to know less about home repair than

professionals do. (D) Suggests that people prefer risks when it comes

to gains, but this question is about losses.

3. A research team is measuring the willingness of consumers to pay

for a bundle of premium television channels. The lowest any of the

participants would be willing to pay per month was $50, and the highest

amount was $200. Based on this evidence, the team concludes that the

median amount that the consumers studied would be willing to pay

would be $125.

The conclusion reached by the researchers is flawed because it _.

1. fails to demonstrate that all potential consumers have the same

willingness to pay as the individuals who were studied

2. provides insufficient evidence to show that any one of the

consumers studied would be willing to pay exactly $125

3. fails to demonstrate that the mean amount that the consumers

would be willing to pay is also $125

4. does not compare the number of consumers who would be willing to

pay more than $125 with the number of consumers who would not be

willing to pay $125

Answer: (D)

Explanation: The researchers have evidence on the range of prices that

the consumers would be willing to pay, but that does not mean that the

median is the average of the highest and lowest figures. The median is

the middle value, and for all we know, the other consumers could be

willing to pay much less than $125, or much more. (D) Described this

flaw and is correct. (A) is incorrect because the conclusion concerns the

consumers who were studied. The researchers aren't claiming that this

data represents all potential consumers. (B) is incorrect because $125

could be the median even if no individual would be willing to pay exactly

$125. The median of an even number of items is the average of the

middle two items. (C) Is wrong because the median and the mean are

different measures that do not have to be the same.

Questions 5-6

A Web site offers free resources to visitors who have medical

questions. The site provides lists of symptoms and possible treatments

for various conditions but makes no specific recommendations. The

owners of the Web site claim that since the information in the site is

medically accurate, use of the site will only improve the health

outcomes of the people who use it.

5. The owners' claim depends on which of the following assumptions?
6. Most of the visitors to the site have received inaccurate health

advice from medical doctors.

2. The site contains advice on mental health issues as well.
3. The visitors to the site are capable of interpreting the information on

the site accurately.

4. No single resource can be expected to keep up to date with all of

the latest medical research.

Answer: (C)

Explanation: The advice on the site is accurate, but can it do harm?

One open question is whether the visitors are capable of understanding

the information they receive. If (C) is not true, and they cannot interpret

the information on the site accurately, then they may well do harm to

themselves or others as a result of this misunderstanding. (C),

therefore, must be assumed. (A) Suggests that traditional sources of

advice are not perfect, but that does not suggest anything about

whether any harm can come from this site. (B) Need not be assumed

because the issue here is the harm that can come from the medical

advice present. Nothing about other kinds of advice need be assumed.

(D) Could only weaken the argument by suggesting that the advice may

not be up to date.

6. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the owners' claim?
7. When they have a medical issue, users of the site tend to rely on the

site instead of seeing medical professionals.

2. The site's revenue is closely linked to the number of unique visitors

who come to the site each month.

3. The site owners have plans to expand the range of medical

conditions addressed on the site based on suggestions from the site

visitors themselves.

4. For years, the cost of medical care has increased at a higher rate

than the rate of inflation.

Answer: (A)

Explanation: If the information is accurate, could the site still cause

harm? Simply receiving accurate information doesn't seem likely to

cause harm, but if (A) is true, using the site could lead people to rely on

the site instead of consulting with professionals. If the site becomes a

substitute for proven forms of medical care, then it could cause

considerable harm. (A) Is therefore correct. (B) is incorrect because

there is no clear link between this form of revenue generation and

harm. If anything, the site owners would have an incentive to maintain

quality in order to get people to keep coming back. (C) Is wrong

because taking suggestions from visitors on the topics the site should

cover should not be a problem. The customers know what their issues

are, so why not ask them? (C) Would be a problem if the advice were

based on customer suggestions, but that's not what (C) says. (D) is

irrelevant because it tells us nothing about this site or what happens to

the people who use it.

Academic Integrity

The exams for this course are individual, at home, open book

exercises. Although you have and can continue to discuss concepts

with others prior to taking the exams, the exams must represent your

own learning and information utilization competency.

Collaboration in completing the exams or sharing of questions and

answers with other students or on the Internet will be treated as serious

violations of the Student Code of Conduct and reported to the

University as a violation of the Student Code of Conduct.

By completing the exams you certify that the results represent your

individual effort and that you will adhere to the Student Code of

Academic Integrity.

Why is the Final Exam designed this way?

The Final Exam brings together key concepts, skills, and knowledge

from the entire course, because that's what you'll need to do in the real

world to help organizations reach their goals. While we often study skills

one at a time, we use them in combinations.

In addition, while understanding concepts and techniques will always

help and is often necessary, you'll also need critical thinking skills to

maximize your impact in your career. There is widespread agreement

that critical thinking is one of the essential skills required for postgraduation

success. Critical thinkers can help organizations avoid

disaster, but they can also spot opportunities that other people miss

and find alternative solutions when others see only one way. That's why

your Final Exam has questions asking you to critically evaluate claims

and analyze the connection between evidence and conclusion.

How should I study for the Final Exam?

Start by reviewing the core concepts from each week of the course.

Without that background, you'll have trouble with the applications. Don't

just memorize terms and formulas. Imagine how you would use those

concepts to make better decisions. Use the sample questions above to

get a better sense of what the Final Exam will be like. Get used to

critically evaluating claims, spotting assumptions, and weighing

evidence. This will help you do better on the exam, and those skills will

stay with you for your entire career.

A bonus: Preparing for the exams will allow you to take inventory of the

knowledge and tools you've acquired throughout the course, so you can

more readily apply what you've learned for professional success.