MBA 595 leadership in organization paper

MBA 595 leadership in organization paper
MBA 595 – Leadership Project Guidelines

The
Leadership Project requires each student to lead a group of people (friends,
workers, fellow workers, fellow club members, etc.) in a project or activity
that they would not normally undertake. The only rules of the project are: (1)
students must not tell their friends or co-workers that they are doing it for a
class, and

(2)
it should take at least three weeks of contact to complete. The Leadership
Project consists of two parts, a proposal for the Project due in Module 2, and
a Final 10-page Project Paper due in Module 7.

Leadership
Project Proposal (due by the conclusion of Module 2)

The
proposal is due by the conclusion of Module 2; however, you should begin
working on it during Module 1 as it will require you to conduct initial
research on your chosen topic. Specifically, you must complete the steps below
(by the end of Module 2):

1.
Read the Journal of
Management Education article titled “Personal Leadership Conundrum”

(referenced in the Module). This article
is available through the Saint Leo online library. (See the syllabus and the
link in the course Resources area for more information about accessing the
online library).

2. Identify
the leadership conundrum you will look into as you lead the group (what
personal issues do you need to address, etc.) . State it in the first person
and in the form of a question. See examples of conundrum topics in the
Recommendations section below.
3. Explain
why you have chosen this conundrum: Why is it of interest to you? How does it
relate

to
your experiences? How does it relate to who you are? In other words, what about
yourself and your experience are motivating you to seek the answer to this
conundrum?

4. Create
a bibliography of at least two peer-reviewed, academic journal articles
that deal with the conundrum (see below the Recommendations section for
examples of journals that qualify as academic and peer reviewed), at least
two periodical articles (newspaper, magazine, website, etc.), and at
least two books, stories, myths, parables, movies, poems, or songs that
will help you better

understand
and gain insight into your conundrum.
5.
Identify at least two
leaders you will interview to gain their insights into your conundrum and

explain
why you have chosen them to interview regarding your conundrum as you work on
guiding your group. Provide the title and contact information for each leader.

6.
List between five and seven
interview questions you will ask to each leader (the questions should be the
same or at least partially the same). The questions should be directly related
to the personal conundrum that you are trying to solve in leading the group.

7. For
this proposal (and the Final Leadership Paper), you will use the American
Psychological Association (APA) formatting guidelines. If you have any
questions concerning proper citation procedures, then ask the instructor prior
to submitting your work.

8. Submit
the completed Project Proposal to the Dropbox no later than Sunday 11:59 PM
EST/EDT of Module 2; this Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin and the
Final Leadership Project Paperis also (due by the conclusion of Module
7).

Students
should submit the Final Leadership Project Paper in APA-style, 10-pages,
that includes the following sections (please include the questions):

1.
An introduction of what your
leadership project encompassed (who did you lead, what did you lead them on,
etc?).

2. What
your particular “leadership conundrum” was all about (what did the issue focus
upon, details,etc.)?

3. A
discussion of what the leadership style you used is all about in dealing with
the group and why you think that was the style you used (document and relate to
the literature out there)?

4. How
did you deal with your particular conundrum in leading the group (list
references and ideas that might relate to how you handled it)? Did the ideas
you gained from the interviews help? Did fixing the conundrum help lead the
group or not?

5.
A discussion of available
data regarding whether the leadership approach you used worked or not (any
studies of it from research?).

6. A
discussion of how successful the project was and how you might have lead the
project more effectively.

7. A
discussion of what still needs to be learned about the style you used (studies
that might help, or other uses of it that still need to be explored).

8. A
summary of all of the above at the end of the paper.

9.
A bibliography (not included
as part of the 10-page requirement).

Again,
the Final Leadership Project Paper should be submitted to the Dropbox no
later than Sunday 11:59 PMEST/EDT of Module 7. (This Dropbox basket
is linked to Turnitin).

Recommendations

The
following are recommendations to consider as you complete your project:

1.When
necessary, please seek out advice from your instructor. Although you are
responsible for your learning, the instructor is available to help you make
this assignment meaningful and successful.

2.
You should choose a conundrum
of your own interest. In the past, students have explored such specific
conundrums as:

a. “How do I balance
confidence and humility to be an effective leader?” b. “How do I lead,
influence, and work with negative people?”

c.
“How do I lead people who don’t believe I should be doing the leading?”

d. “How will I be able to
effectively lead those who have negative stereotypes of working for/or with
females?”

e. “How do I institute change
in a group while maintaining high standards?” f. “How do I lead older, more
experienced people?”

g. “How can I be a role model
of hard work and dedication and also balance work and non-work domains?”

3. There
are numerous academic journals on management, leadership, psychology,
sociology, philosophy, education, and religion available through the library.
Below are a number of academic management journal titles:

a. Academy of Management
Journal b. Academy of Management Review c. Leadership

d.
Leadership Quarterly

e. Leadership and
Organizational Development Journal f. Organization
g.
International Journal of Management

h.
International Journal of Leadership Studies

i. Journal of Leadership
and Organizational Studies j. Journal of Management Inquiry
k.
Journal of Organizational Behavior

l. Journal of Management
and Organization m. Journal of Management Education

4. There
are, of course, many different leadership styles you can use in completing your
project (refer to your text and/or other sources) and there are, of course, a
number of different project you can lead people on—some of the ones that have
been done in previous classes are (organizing an office area, helping team
members to lose weight, leading a group in donating time at a Red Cross or
other social service agency, organizing a group to run a race for a particular
benefit, organizing a group to take a train ride to a particular part of the US
or elsewhere, etc.).

5. Please
schedule all interviews as early as possible and remember to respect the time
of those leaders you interview. Make sure you are prompt, courteous, formal,
and well-prepared (write out your questions before the interview). You will be
required to include an appendix which summarizes the key points of the
interviews as part of your Final Paper