Background to this assessment

This assessment focusses on the role of leadership in facilitating the transformation of organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally. Currently, many organisations are in a state of transformation and instability. Since 2020, the digitisation of a vast amount of operations, products and services has occurred rapidly across NZ, accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis. Change is now faster than ever, and leaders need to be able to respond to change and instability with their environment and also within their organisations. This has created multiple challenges for organisational leaders here and across the world.  While many of these challenges are threats, opportunities have also arisen and the challenge is to recognise and take advantage of these.

Instructions:

Identify and critically evaluate one current leadership challenge for one ‘real’ Aotearoa New Zealand organisation that has global implications, from the following list that appeared in the ‘Top 20’ of the 2023 Randstad Employer Brand Research that explored New Zealand workers’ perceptions of employer brands to provide an understanding of employee and jobseeker preferences:

Air New Zealand                                                                     Deloitte

New Zealand Customs Service                                        Green Cross Health

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment     ASB (bank)

Department of Conservation                                           Ministry of Health

WSP                                                                                      Oji Fibre Solutions

Super Retail Group                                                            Coca Cola Amatil

ANZ (bank)                                                                          IBM

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare                                              St John New Zealand

You may also choose another Aotearoa New Zealand organisation with your lecturer’s permission.

In Week 1, please advise your lecturer of the organisation that you have chosen and the leadership challenge on which you will focus.

Your report must:

1.   Identify one current leadership challenge facing the chosen Aotearoa New Zealand organisation (the challenge could be an opportunity or a threat).

2.   Critically evaluate and apply relevant leadership paradigms, styles, concepts and practices that would enable the Aotearoa New Zealand organisation to meet the identified challenge selected from Topics in Weeks 1-3:

·         21st -Century Leadership.

·         Current and Emerging Approaches to Leadership Theory and Practice.

·         Agile Leadership

·         Virtual/Digital Leadership.

3.   Recommend appropriate leadership strategies and approaches that will help the organisation to successfully implement relevant changes or responses in the future.  These must be focussed on guiding the organisation towards meeting the identified leadership challenge.

Reference List – APA 7th edition

Appendices – Charts or diagrams referred to in the report.

Format and content

4.       Use the report format below:

EIT Cover page includes a signed plagiarism declaration and a word count.

Report Cover page – design your own cover page.

Executive Summary – Summary of key points and recommendations in the report (300 words).

Table of Contents – headings and page numbers.

1.0                 Introduction:

Provide an outline of the purpose of the report, a brief introduction to the organisation and the challenge to be evaluated and a brief discussion of the content (200 words).

2.0                 Critical Evaluation

A brief description of the leadership challenge and a critical evaluation of current and improved leadership strategies, approaches and responses that are required to be implemented in the future by the organisation to meet the challenge in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally.   Potential outcomes of the leadership responses are also to be evaluated, with the application of relevant leadership concepts and theories, which are supported by an accurate definition of these (1000 words),

3.0                 Conclusion:

A clear summary of findings from each section is required and an overall conclusion for the report. This must include how relevant leadership theories and concepts were evaluated in the previous section.

The Conclusion will form a clear basis for the Recommendations below (250 words).

4.0                 Recommendations

 Actions that should be taken by the organisation in the future to meet the leadership challenge – one sentence supported by a brief justification.  No further discussion is required (up to 200 words).

Reference List – APA 7^th edition

Appendices – Any additional charts or diagrams referred to in the case study report but not included in the report.

Guidelines

1.   All analyses, evaluations and recommendations in the report are to be supported by demonstrated links to relevant up-to-date academic literature and other appropriate sources such as business case studies, and published reports and quality news articles which are appropriate for use at this level of academic study.

2.       Critical evaluation is required in this report. The focus is on future improvements and responses needed by leaders to  enable the organisation to meet the identified challenge. You should look at ideas and concepts from multiple perspectives and critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of any theory, concept or piece of information before applying it in the report. Any theory or concept must be supported by a definition from an academic journal article or textbook.  Your critical evaluation of appropriate responses to the identified leadership challenge must be supported by applicable theories and concepts and should provide a useful explanation or solution to the leadership challenge, based on your research.  These should be new solutions or responses which the organisation has not already implemented. Do not just report on what the organisation has already implemented to respond to its changing environment.

Note: Relevant leadership paradigms, concepts, styles and practices include those drawn from:

·         Leadership in the 21^st Century.

·         Current and Emerging leadership concepts.

·         Agile Leadership.

·         Leading virtual organisations/digital leadership.

3.   Relevant graphics, charts and/or diagrams to which you refer may be included within the body of your report, or in the appendices as appropriate (depending on size and space). Please explain the purpose of these in your report.

4.       All sources and quotations must be acknowledged using in-text citations and reference list formatted using APA (7th edition). An appropriate reference list for this assignment is at least 10 academic references.  These include a mixture of peer-reviewed academic journals, industry journals, and media sources. At least 5 of these should be less than 2 years old.

Your assignment should be word processed in 12-point Calibri font with double spacing between lines, a normal margin, one-line space between paragraphs; each section should begin on a new page.