Leading and Managing People/PMAN102/Assessment

Level 5 / 1st year University course assessment

Summary:	Prepare an essay demonstrating your understanding of the differences and similarities between leadership and management and complete two learning challenges providing evidence of your knowledge in motivating successful teams and managing conflict in the workplace.
	5 hours (excluding study of supporting resources and / or prior work experience).

Assessed learning outcome: Recognise the difference between leading and managing and apply this knowledge to the management and motivation of successful teams to foster performance, identify signs of conflicts and how to resolve them.

(If you are completing this course for formal credit, you must complete and submit this assessment.)

Part A: Leading vs Managing Essay (50%)

The purpose of this assessment is to analyse the roles of managers and leaders drawing on management and leadership theory.

You are required to identify :

• A person you believe is a good manager (Person A)
• A person you believe is a good leader (Person B) - see for example, the roles of managers and leaders activity.

Note

You can choose a well known manager or leader from the published corporate literature, or someone from your personal experience. When selecting an individual from your personal experience, you must respect the privacy of the individual and the respective corporation by referring to the role in general terms, for example: the "Director of marketing at a medium sized retail store." However, when choosing a well-known leader from the published literature, you can mention the name and affiliation, for example: "Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group"

In this essay, you will write an analysis about the key characteristics, differences and similarities in these two roles.

Your analysis should contain the following:

1. Introduction including purpose and objectives
2. A paragraph that defines management and leadership and summarises the key differences and similarities you see between the roles of manager and leader.
3. Detailed presentation of each person you have chosen and explanation of why you believe they fit the leader or manager role.
4. Linkages between your chosen people and the published literature used to support why you believe they are either a leader or a manager.
5. An examination, with citations from the published literature to back up your points, of the overlap between leadership and management. A possible discussion may include thoughts on how good managers need leadership skills and visa versa.
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography

Your analysis should be 1250 words maximum.

When preparing the assignment, learners must consult and cite five (5) relevant books, book chapters, or journal articles (at a minimum). These books and journal articles can be sourced online. Remember to look at the ANU e-Press, of Open Access Journals or the Bielefeld Academic Search Engine when researching your assignment. (For information on finding open access resources, you can consult the OERu course, Digital literacies for online learning.)

Part B: The happy workforce learning challenge (25%)

The purpose of this assessment is to provide evidence on the importance of motivation in leadership and management by reflecting on the performance appraisal.

This assessment is based on "The happy workforce learning challenge". If you completed the challenge during the online course, you are free to adapt and improve your original answer for submission. For the purposes of the assessment, you are not required to publish a blog post but you should include the text of your answer in the assessment submission.

Your answer should be about 600 words maximum.

Instructions

1. Complete the The happy workforce learning challenge:
   • Learning challenge summary
   • Learning challenge tasks
   • Learning challenge outputs for submission, specifically:
     1. Why do you think performance reviews are stressful for both manager and employee?
     2. As an employee, what do you look for in a performance review?
     3. As a manager, what should you try to communicate to your employee in a performance review?
     4. Justify your responses drawing on needs-based and processed-based theories of motivation.
2. In addition, conclude your answer with a concise paragraph on the implications of your findings for leadership and management.
3. Include a bibliography.

Part C: Conflict resolution learning challenge (25%)

The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your knowledge of ways to reduce or manage conflict in the workplace.

This assessment is based on the "Conflict resolution learning challenge. If you completed the challenge during the online course, you are free to adapt and improve your original answer for submission. For the purposes of the assessment, you are not required to publish a blog post but you should include the text of your answer in the assessment submission.

Your answer should be about 600 words maximum.

Instructions

1. Complete the Conflict resolution learning challenge:
   • Learning challenge summary
   • Learning challenge tasks
   • Learning challenge outputs for submission, specifically:
     1. Give an example of a conflict you were involved in respecting privacy of individuals and organisations. (Alternatively search for "examples of conflicts in the work place and choose a suitable example.)
     2. Was the conflict resolved in one of the ways described in the reading? (Alternatively, recommend an appropriate resolution approach.)
     3. What is your conflict-handling style? List the advantages and disadvantages in the context of your example.
     4. Based on your experience, how can conflict be positive?
2. In addition, conclude your answer with a concise paragraph on the implications of your findings for leadership and management.

Submission: Attach your submission to an email with the subject line PMAN102 Assessment Submission and addressed to Be Filled In To Be Filled