Assignment Description – You will choose a leader (usually the CEO or equivalent) of a large public company, government agency or nonprofit organization, and you will prepare a written analysis of how this individual’s leadership approach has contributed to the success or failure of their organization. You will also present your findings to your professor and classmates in the final week of the semester. Your analysis should be supported by solid research that draws from high-quality academic and professional literature, including books, articles, cases and reputable online sources. Detailed requirements for the paper and the presentation appear below. Questions that you should seek to answer while doing your research include, but are not limited to, the following:

· How did the leader’s educational, professional and personal background contribute to his or her ability to run a large organization?

· In what ways do the leader’s personality and abilities affect his or her performance as a leader?

· What inspirations or influences in the leader’s life have impacted his or her leadership

approach?

· How does this individual handle the stress that accompanies a top management role?

· What is the leader’s espoused leadership philosophy? (Find quotes and interview responses that

reveal his or her thinking.)

· How has the leader formed and managed teams, including his or her top management team?

· How does the leader motivate organizational members?

· How has the leader shaped the culture of the organization?

· What structural changes has the leader made to the organization? How have these changes

helped or hurt organizational performance?

· How does this leader make decisions? What is the role of learning in this organization, and how

has the leader promoted learning and continuous improvement?

· How well has the leader identified a purpose for the organization? Is the leader a good

strategist? Why or why not?

· What specifically has this leader done to ensure that the organization complies with legal

requirements and acts ethically with respect to organizational stakeholders and the

environment? How committed is this leader to making the organization socially responsible?

· How effective has the leader been in achieving a balance between achieving economic results

and caring for employees’ well-being?

· Which leadership theory or theories best explain this leader’s approach to running a large

organization?

· How does the leader interact with the board of directors or similar governance unit?

Format – The paper must be written in APA format. Rules for preparing academic papers in APA format can be found in the Course Information module in Canvas. Points will be deducted from your grade if your paper does not follow APA format. Please use MS Word to create your paper so that I can make corrections and comments using the ‘track changes’ function.

Length – The paper should be 8-10 pages in length, not including cover sheet, table of contents, appendices or works cited pages.

Documentation – It is extremely important that you cite the sources of the information that you use to prepare your narrative analysis. Please remember that this is a graduate course, so you are expected to be thoroughly familiar with the rules for giving proper attribution to others when you borrow their words and ideas to support your work. A ‘works cited’ or ‘references’ page is essential but not sufficient to document your sources. You must also use in-text citations throughout your paper whenever the information that you are presenting has been derived from other authors. Your in-text citations must follow APA format. Of course, if you reprint the words of others verbatim, you must so indicate by using quotation marks. Students who simply copy and paste text from the Internet and other sources and claim it as their own are in violation of the Berkeley College policy governing academic integrity. That policy will be enforced strictly in this course.

Submission of the Paper – Submit your paper electronically by uploading it via our course site in Canvas by the deadline indicated in the syllabus. Late papers will not be accepted.

Presentation- You will present your research to your professor, classmates and invited guests during the final class of the semester in Week 15. Ungraded practice presentations will take place in Week 14. There will be no other opportunities to present the paper for credit. Prepare approximately 12 slides, using presentation software such as MS PowerPoint. A copy of your slide deck must be submitted via Canvas by the deadline indicated in the syllabus. Slides must be thoroughly reviewed before presentation to ensure that they are formatted professionally and are free from spelling or grammatical errors. You should be thoroughly familiar with the content of your slides before presenting them so that you can engage with the audience rather than read the slides. Dress for the presentation as you would for an important business presentation in the workplace.