Classical Leadership Theory In Action (6-8 Pages)

(Per Assignment II  – apply the guidelines and conventions from the APA Guidelines.  Submit your work via Safe Assign in editable Microsoft Word format. Be sure to use Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, double-space throughout, number pages in the lower right-hand corner, and provide supporting evidence/citations from the texts listed on the course syllabus (other cited sources are not acceptable). Use dispassionate, third person voice instead of first or second person.  Please refer attached power point slides.

Note the focus of the assignment is to explain your recommended leadership approach “fix”, why it is recommended, and how it is aligned with specific classical leadership notions. Be sure to provide citations/evidence to support your objective analysis and assertions.)

Assignment II. (Select one of the following scenarios):

 

Classical Leadership Theory in Action: Assignment III will count as 70 percent of your grade. Classical Leadership Theory in Action:  6-8 pages of text, 12 point font, Times New Roman font. Subheadings are encouraged (but not required) and citations to the course readings and lectures are required in APA format. No other outside sources or information is allowed to be used. Papers drawing from outside sources will receive an automatic C.

 

Please note: While the details of how you “fix” these scenarios are important (e.g. they have to make sense, reflect a degree of practical accuracy, and be applicable to the situation), what this paper is concerned about primarily is how you apply the principles of classical leadership theory.  Therefore, you must clearly explain the ideas you apply and how and why you apply those ideas or leadership approaches i.e., show how and why the ideas/leadership approach you select line up with classical leadership notions.

 

 

Scenario 1: Over the past seven years, K-12 District has gone from one of the best districts to the  worst. Test scores, which at one time were the highest in the state, are now the lowest, and there seems to be no movement upwards.  Parent involvement remains high, but most parents now feel powerless. The district has ten schools: five elementary, three middle, and two high schools. There are a total of 540 teachers, ten principals, 20 vice principals, and ten guidance counselors. Teacher morale is extremely low, with seasoned teachers quitting or retiring at high rates; the school board is rife with internal factionalism and power struggles as nepotism, politically motivated personnel decisions, and a spoils system are now common practice.  The superintendent has sided with the faction he believes is more concerned with improvement of the schools. He has tried to break the log-jam by exerting absolute control over all hiring/firings, ordered increased PD for teachers, has hired more teacher aides, slashed spending in all other budget areas, and has hired several of his extended family members in the district.  These efforts have been met with threats of being removed from office for attempting to circumvent the authority of the school board, district hiring policies, and the school-level leadership.

 

Scenario 2:  A 150 year old private Christian (mostly liberal arts) university is on the verge of closing its doors.  XYZ University’s President, Dr. Smith, has served for seven years and is a beloved alum of the university.  Under his leadership, the institution has taken on massive debt and has withdrawn funds from its endowment at unsustainable levels to supplement the operating budget.  President Smith has fostered a climate of unhealthy competition among his leadership team of six vice presidents  – fierce hatred and competition existing among those officers.

 

Each administrative department within the university is self-contained, with practically no interaction with the other departments.  It has an endowment of 150 million dollars and an annual operating cost of 60 million dollars.   It has a student enrollment of 2,000 undergrads and 1,500 graduate students, but enrollment has shown signs of stagnation and pockets of small declines over the past five  years.  Additionally, institutional markers for success have continued to decline which include, average ACT scores, average high school GPA, and university retention rates.  The lack of growth has resulted in an increasing number of students who need developmental education courses.  However, the Vice President for Academic Affairs has resisted the need to create a new developmental education program and instead, has asked each academic department to absorb this responsibility.

 

Over the past six years, President Smith has embarked on a building campaign that has added seven new buildings, three of which are residence halls, three are math, science, and technical training buildings (STEM) with state of the art technology, and one is a new athletic facility.  The residence halls are not at capacity and the enrollment of STEM majors has been slow to grow even with the new facilities and added faculty.

 

Faculty morale in STEM related departments is high, but low among the rest of the faculty. Only the STEM faculty have received pay raises in the past five years.  Older faculty and administrative staff members are upset at the starting pay for new hires as well as the number of adjuncts needed to teach the growing number of technical training classes.

 

The Board of Trustees is split regarding the future of the institution.

• A group within the Board of Trustees is wishing to close the doors of the school and turn the campus into an auxiliary of larger, nearby state school.  • Another faction is fighting the president over his plans to build more and is pushing for fiscal responsibility.  • A third faction wants to keep the doors open by doubling the enrollment and increasing the power of the school’s vice president to serve as a check against the president.

 

Scenario 3: A local business, ATR, which employees over 2,000 people and generates nearly 50 million dollars in profit each year, recently acquired a new business, that of a former competitor, Beta inc. The annual profit of the recently acquired Beta was 35 million dollars, but profits have been declining in recent years.

 

Both businesses make and sell similar products. The purchase price was 10 million dollars. Beta employees over 1,000 people. It had just filed for bankruptcy after it was discovered that Beta’s CEO and Board had embezzled funds. The Board of the larger ATR was hesitant to acquire Beta, with the idea of purchasing the company passing by only 1 vote.  Morale at ATR is high, but many of those employees are fearful that acquiring the Beta will result in lost jobs, potential economic troubles for the company, and more competition for promotions. Morale at the newly acquired Beta is very low, and many are expecting to lose their jobs in the acquisition, and most expect that favoritism will be shown to the employees of the larger ATR.  Upon further inspection, it has been determined that much of the technology and machinery used at Beta is outdated and in desperate need of repair.