What is positive leadership and how it will help a specific business organization such as a restaurant, or any other real business, which is closing due to COVID-19 lockdowns?

Part B – 30 Points

INSTRUCTIONS:

Please note, this is an open-book exam. However,
you must cite the source both inside the text and at the end of each question.
You can use APA referencing style.
Grading of the final exam
will consider: how you relate theories/concepts learned in class with their
applications in these questions, quality, clarity, depth of analysis and
rationale.
Your work will be
scanned through SafeAssign, therefore, please make sure you submit your own
original work.
After completing your
exam, save your file with your full name and then upload it in Final Exam Part B
& C Submission folders at Blackboard.
For Part B and
C, you will create a word file with your answers and submit through Blackboard,
a folder has been created for you in main Assignment module. For each question,
you can write maximum of one page with 12-font size (Calibri, Times New Roman,
Arial) and 1.5 spacing. In total, your answers to Part B and Part C questions
should not exceed 6 pages.

Answer the following questions. Please note, all
questions are compulsory.
1.
Positive leadership has been argued to be a game changer for business
organizations. In your opinion, what is positive leadership and how it will
help a specific business organization such as a restaurant, or any other real
business, which is closing due to COVID-19 lockdowns? Discuss in detail. (10 Points)

2.
In the class we discussed some of the important cultural dimensions which
help us to differentiate cultures across the globe. Do you think these cultural
dimensions would lead us to make more stereotypical assumptions about people
from other cultures? What are the implications of this stereotyping in business
setting? Please discuss with examples. (10 Points)

3.
David is an auto electrical engineer in XYZ company for the last two
years where he is trying his best to show his performance. David has been
working on a new fuel injection system for the last six months. The preliminary
testing of the new fuel injection system shows it can reduce at least 10% fuel
consumption. He is excited with the initial testing and intend to bring this
new fuel injection system in automobile engine in the next two years. It would
be impossible to launch this new product without the support of his team and
superiors. Being a relatively new in the company, he is not sure, how can he win
the trust of his team and convince his supervisor about the positive impact of
this new product. Based on the lessons learned in class, what would you
recommend to David to motivate his team and convince his boss? Please describe
well with rational. (10 Points)

Part C – 10 Points
Please read the case
provided at the end and answer the following questions.
1.
In your opinion, what are the
reasons that the regions are not responding to Wilkes’s initiative for change? Analyze
Wilkes’s change implementation strategy to explore what is wrong with it? (3 points)
2. In your opinion, how can Wilkes solicit more active
support from Bernini and McCann for the change he is attempting to implement? Do
you think they can help? (2 points)
3. If you were implementing this change, what you could
have done differently? What would you include in your change implementation
plan? (5 points)
CASE:
“From This Point On …”
Bernini Foods is one of
several companies offering healthy, frozen-packaged meals in the once-laughable
and nutritionally challenged frozen dinner industry. Meeting the changing needs of modern, on-the-go,
budget-conscious consumers, the new generation of meals offered by Bernini
faces unprecedented competition from long-time industry leaders including
Bertolli, Marie Callender’s, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, and others.
Cutthroat competition within
the industry means every corporation must hustle for high-quality ingredients,
improved packaging, efficiency in delivery systems, and decreased cooking
times. Like its competitors, Bernini strives for increased market share through
a combination of price cuts and the introduction of new products.
To meet these challenges, CEO
Roberto Bernini created a new management position to monitor pricing and
purchasing. Vice president for finance Ted McCann hired Lucian Wilkes, a
retired army colonel, for the new position, giving him wide latitude for
setting up new rules and procedures. With an announcement from CEO Bernini,
Wilkes was introduced to the company. Following an intense period of in-house
research and information gathering, Wilkes zeroed in on what he saw as the
major problems—the fragmentation of pricing and purchasing decisions, with
managers in various regions devising their own standards and making their own contracts.
The process sent up red flags
for Wilkes. He made an across-the-board e-mail announcement for new
standardized procedures, basically informing each regional office that “from
this point on …” regional managers must inform his office of any price change
above 3 percent. In addition, all local purchase contracts above $10,000 must
also be approved by Wilkes’s office prior to implementation.
Directives for these new
procedures were issued to regional managers for their policy manuals. These
managers, according to their immediate feedback, were all in agreement with the
changes. But as one month followed another, Wilkes’s concern and level of
frustration grew, and everyone seemed to carry on with a culture of “business
as usual.” Managers did not resist. Frequent correspondence across the various
regions, including e-mails, faxes, and conference calls, brought repeated
assurances that change was coming.
“We just need time to make
the changes,” one manager said.
But time dragged on and the
situation remained unaltered. Complicating the situation, Wilkes appeared to
have no vocal support from company executives, who were busy with their own
concerns. While both Bernini and McCann offered lukewarm comments about the
need for new initiatives to spur efficiency, neither demonstrated wholehearted
support for the changes. The new plan was going nowhere, and Wilkes was aware
that the failure of the company to increase profits could result in the loss of
his own position.
“If nothing changes,” Wilkes
complained to his wife, “the regional managers will remain on the job. My job
will be cut.”
Wilkes wondered what his next
move should be. In how many ways could he inform the managers to implement the
new procedures? What pressures could he apply? How could he impress upon
Bernini and McCann the importance of their support for the changes? He felt at
a loss for what he should do. Did Bernini Foods want these new standards
implemented or not?
Source: Daft, R. L and
Marcic, D. (2014). Building Management Skills: An Action – First Approach,
South-Western CENGAGE Learning, USA.

Last Completed Projects