Department of Professional Department Extended Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership (QCF Level 7) Assignment Brief and Assignment

Guidelines

Unit: 01 Developing Strategic Management and Leadership Skills Assessor: Salman Ahmad Outcomes Covered: 1 Pre-Submission Assessment Criteria: 1.1, 1.2 & 1.3 - Date: Due Date: 17th May, 2012

Assessment: Assignment 1 Issue Date:

Assignment Title: Developing Management and leadership Skills

TASK 1:
Assume that you have just taken a job, as the manager/supervisor of a team responsible for products development in an organization which was just taken over by a large multinational company. Uncertainty prevails in the organization due to a lack of direction and no clear stance of the company on whether to keep all or get rid from some of the existing employees. The process of new product development involves creativity and extensive brainstorming sessions which is not a possibility during the current circumstances. Questions: 1. What insights provided in this course can help you be an effective in charge/supervisor/manager/leader in this situation? 1. Analyze the impact of management and leadership styles on the current scenario and the future decisions in this regard. 2. What leadership style would you suggest for the current scenario? Provide reasons. All books/journals/articles used or referred to for writing this report should be properly cited.

Department of Professional Department Extended Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership (QCF Level 7) Assignment Brief and Assignment Guidelines

Assignment Guidelines

Generic Report Structure and Format 1- Title Page: Please make sure that the title page contains your name, assessors name, unit name, assignment title and date of submission Make it creative, eye catching and attractive. Learner can put logos and images relevant to the topic. 2- Assignment Cover Sheet: Please make sure that you have attached the assignment cover sheet (provided with the assignment brief) after the title page. 3- Acknowledgement: Be courteous, say a thank you to all those who have helped you in attempting your assignment. 4- Table of Contents: Contents sheet (TOC) with a list of all headings and page numbers is must for the report. 5- Executive Summary: This should give a quick and brief glance of learners report. Executive summary should not be more than one (or two) page. You should also include organizations mission, aims and objective in the summary. 6- Body: This will be the main content of the report. Make sure that you have given clear headings for each task and sub heading (under each task) wherever required. 7- Conclusion and Recommendations: Once all tasks are attempted, learner

should write a conclusion note upon which you should be able to base recommendations and suggestions for further improvement. 8- Bibliography and Annexure: This is the last section of the report. Bibliography would list all references and citation which learner have consulted while attempting the assignment, whereas the annexure would include all evidence which learners are required to attach with the report. It is mandatory for all learners should attach the evidences (Videos, Photos, Audio recordings etc) of all the work done in attempting the tasks.

Tips for Better Formatting and Report Presentation:

Department of Professional Department Extended Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership (QCF Level 7) Assignment Brief and Assignment Guidelines

Font Style and Size: Use A4 page size, 12 point Arial or Times New Roman font with 1.5 line spacing. Header and Footer: You should insert headers and footers to your report, this makes it more presentable. The header could contain assignment title, whereas the footer could contain the page numbers.

Using Footnotes: References and citation should be given in the footnotes, preferably following Harvard Style Referencing. Your assignment should be word-processed and should not exceed 6500 words in length (or 25 pages). Exhibits / appendices are outside this limit Pages should be numbered (bottom right hand corner) Spell-check the document and read thoroughly for grammatical errors

Non Web Research Internet is a helpful tool, as it gives you access to a diverse range of information but at the same time it is not a very comprehensive and reliable source. Therefore you should try to look for other sources of secondary information such as books, journals, articles, magazines, research reports etc. Learner can use following sources while attempting the tasks: Essential resources There are no essential resources required for this unit. Indicative resource materials Textbooks Adair J Effective Leadership: How to be a Successful Leader (Pan, 2009) ISBN 0330504193 Adair J How to Grow Leaders: The Seven Key Principles of Effective Leadership Development (Kogan Page, 2009) 0749454806 Gold J, Thorpe R and Mumford A Leadership and Management Development (CIPD, 2010) ISBN 1843982447 Kouzes J M and Posner, B Z The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition (Jossey-Bass,

Department of Professional Department Extended Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership (QCF Level 7) Assignment Brief and Assignment Guidelines

2008) ISBN 0787984922 Mullins L J Management and Organizational Behavior, 9th Edition (Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2010) ISBN 0273724088 Journals Management Today (Haymarket Business Media) People Management (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) Professional Manager (Chartered Management Institute) Training Journal (www.trainingjournal.com) Websites www.cipd.co.uk Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development www.leadershipnow.com Articles and blogs on leadership challenges www.managementhelp.org Free management library for articles and blogs on leadership development planning www.managers.org.uk Chartered Management Institute searchable database which members can use to access journal articles and other publications www.peterhoney.com Questionnaires and trainer packs www.strategicmanagement.net The Strategic Management Society Referencing/Citation It is mandatory to cite and reference work of others (e.g. theories, models, concepts etc) consulted for this assignment. Learners are suggested to use Harvard Style of referencing for citations and bibliography. Content and Proof Reading You should make sure that the content of the report is strong and relevant to your topic. Please ensure to proof read your report to avoid grammatical and spelling errors. Plagiarism Policy The college has strict penalty for plagiarism and the assignment will be cancelled if the assignment is observed for this.

Department of Professional Department Extended Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership (QCF Level 7) Assignment Brief and Assignment Guidelines

The definition and scope of plagiarism are presented below: Plagiarism occurs when a student misrepresents, as his/her own work, the work, written or otherwise, of any other person (including another student) or of any institution. Examples of forms of plagiarism include: The verbatim (word for word) copying of anothers work without appropriate and correctly presented acknowledgement; The close paraphrasing of anothers work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation, without appropriate and correctly presented acknowledgement; Unacknowledged quotation of phrases from anothers work; The deliberate and detailed presentation of anothers concept as ones own.

All types of work submitted by students are covered by this definition, including, written work, diagrams, designs, engineering drawings and pictures. Grading Statement (For Report) Pass 1.1: explain the link between strategic management and leadership 1.2: analyze the impact of management and leadership styles on strategic decisions 1.3: evaluate how leadership styles can be adapted to different situations Merit M2: Select/design and apply appropriate methods/techniques M3: Present and communicate appropriate findings Distinction D3: Demonstrate convergent/ lateral/ creative thinking General Instructions Books and online resources can be used of the college library and Central Computer Lab for any assistance. But direct copying from these resources is not allowed. The college has strict penalty for plagiarism and the assignment will be cancelled if the assignment is observed for this.

Department of Professional Department Extended Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership (QCF Level 7) Assignment Brief and Assignment Guidelines

Proper referencing should be given in the Harvard Style/Chicago/MLA etc. All work should be comprehensively referenced and all sources must be acknowledged fully, this includes books & journals used as well websites visited. Details such as page numbers, publishers and publication year should also be stated, in addition to the name of the author(s) and publication. Books, articles and journals should be the main sources; online sources are allowed up to 15%

Attach all the pages of assignment brief with your report as annexure at the end. Include a last chapter in your report about the limitations of your report and write any difficulty you faced while collecting data. Give conclusions and critically evaluate your work if possible.

Give proper evidence of all your activities for completing the tasks e.g. videos, pictures, visiting cards, or reference letter of personnel from whom data is collected.

Clearly mention if any assumptions are undertaken for the given scenario. Student could research together but you must analyse, evaluate and critically appraise the requirements of your assignment and produce the work on your own. The safety of your assessments is your responsibility. You must not permit another student access to your work.

Internal Verifier

Assessor