Leadership and organizational behavior (MBA)

Fall 2019-2020

Group Project 2 + Presentation (20%)

In an article namely: Are today’s business heroes challenging our ideas about leadership? Published in Harvard Business School website by James Heskett. Heskett has raised the issue of how the leadership style of the three very well-known leaders of high-tech companies: Bill Gates (The principal founder of Microsoft); Steve Jobs (Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc.); and Jeff Bezos (Founder and CEO of Amazon) challenged our time-honored ideas about great leadership.

Please carefully read the article in the link bellow:

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/are-todays-business-heroes-challenging-our-ideas-about-leadership

Purpose of the project:

The purpose of these assignments is to research, collect relevant materials from the available books, articles, news and then use it to analyze the critical aspects of the leadership example. Your team needs to: describe the leader’s vision, values, challenges and track record; provide an analysis of their leadership effectiveness and what made them a separate breed of leaders.

Groups required to prepare a written report in approximately 10 to 15 pages in length, excluding a bibliography, references and table of contents. Group are highly encouraged to integrate the learning concepts and course material within their report/presentation. It is advised to discuss each of those three leaders in three separate sections.

You should use Harvard Citation and Referencing Style in your report.  Please check the quick guide on how to use this referencing style at the end of this document.

Marks distribution:

Written Report: 15 Marks

PPTs Presentation: 5 Mark

Report Structure:

  • Cover page
  • Table of content
  • Introduction
  • A critical examination of Bill Gate leadership style
  • A critical examination of Steve Jobs leadership style
  • A critical examination of Jeff Bezos leadership style
  • Answer: Are Today’s Business Heroes Challenging Our Ideas about Leadership? What do you think?
  • Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendices (if any)

After submitting the written report as a hard copy in class on the due date specified, all groups are required to present and lead a class discussion on what they presented regarding the leadership style of those three leaders. The team needs to develop and present an in-depth analysis and recommendations based on course concepts; and lead the class in a discussion of the case. The PPTs presentation is based on a team approach – each team will develop and deliver a 10-15 minute PPT presentation.

An electronic copy of both the written report and the PPTs should be sent to me via email on or before the due dates:

Grading Rubrics for Assessed Elements

Grading Rubric for Course Assignments
Scaled Score: 0/1 2 3 4
Criteria Weight Below Standard Approaching Standard At Standard Exceeds Standard
Focus:

demonstration that the team understands the purpose of the assignment and key issues

 10% No awareness Shows limited awareness of purpose. Shows awareness of purpose. Purpose is clear.
Format 5%  

Inadequate format

  

Average format

  

Above average format

  

Effective format
Organization: Paragraphs 5% Paragraphs lack clear ideas Some paragraphs have clear ideas, support from examples may be missing and transitions are weak. Most paragraphs have clear ideas, are supported with some examples and have transitions. All paragraphs have clear ideas, are supported with examples and have smooth transitions.
Depth /scope of content and structure 60% Content is not sound Content is sound and solid; ideas are present but not particularly developed or supported; some evidence, but usually of a generalized nature. Well-presented and argued; ideas are detailed, developed and supported with evidence and details, mostly specific. Exceptionally well-presented and argued; ideas are detailed, well-developed, supported with specific evidence and facts, as well as examples and specific details.
integration of learned concepts to justify / support observations 15% No evidence of integration for the course concepts Shows limited integration for the course concepts Well-integrated for the course concepts Exceptionally well-integrated for the course concepts
Research/References (if assignment includes a research component) 15% The paper does not use adequate research or if it does, the sources are not integrated well. They are not cited correctly according to MLA style, nor listed correctly on the Works Cited page. Sources support some claims made in the paper, but might not be integrated well within the paper’s argument. There may be a few errors in MLA style. Sources are well integrated and support the paper’s claims. There may be occasional errors, but the sources and Works Cited conform to MLA style sheet. Sources are exceptionally well-integrated and they support claims argued in the paper very effectively. Quotations and Works Cited conform to MLA style sheet.