This is an individual, written assessment, in the form of an essay.

The purpose of the assignment is to increase your understanding of what constitutes effective management and leadership practice within an organisational context. You will also increase your own level of self-awareness by reflecting on your level of management and leadership capability. You will need to complete three diagnostic tools, at least one related to management and at least one related to leadership, and reflect on the results in the light of the better practices identified in the first part of the assignment. To get the most value from this task, you are expected to use examples from your own practice or observations to illustrate key aspects of effective management and leadership practice. Please attach the results of the diagnostic tools as an appendix.

The required length for this essay is 1,500 - 1,800 words, excluding title page, diagrams, tables, appendices, and reference list. You must use common font (e.g. Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, etc.) with font size 11 or 12, as well as appropriate margins and spacing.

All sources, which you have used in your essay, need to be referenced correctly in the text AND within a reference list at the end of the essay. You are required to use a MINIMUM of 12 suitable, high-quality academic sources. Please note that high-quality academic sources are academic journal articles and - to a lesser extent - published books of reputable publishing houses. A majority of sources you use should be academic journal articles written in English.

As a Masters-level student, you are required to engage in research as per the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered. Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice", and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”. Each unit in your Masters program has a number of required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF. In order to demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals and publications, and as a Masters student, demonstrate an ability to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research. This is an advanced level unit, and accrediting bodies are also looking for evidence of independent research, so the ability to conduct this project without continually relying on your tutors and lecturers is an important part of the learning process for this unit.

You should ensure that you understand the specific research that is required for each assessment piece and recognise that if you merely meet this minimum requirement, you will receive the minimum grade for demonstrated research. Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE. A full list of references must be submitted as part of the assessment. Your assignment will be marked on the following criteria; detailed marking rubrics are available in Moodle:

1. Clear definition and overview of management and leadership (10%)
2. A concise summary of the key theories and concepts related to management, leadership, and self-awareness (20%)
3. The use of a minimum of three diagnostic tools (at least one related to management and at least one related to leadership) (30%)
4. A concise reflection on the results of the tools and how these enhance greater awareness of individual management and leadership practice (20%)
5. Breadth and quality of research, using a minimum of 12 academic sources (10%)
6. Correctly using the APA referencing system to cite an academic source (in-text and in the reference list) (10%)

Late submission and academic misconduct penalties will be applied in accordance with the university policies.

This assignment contains some individual and some group components. It consists of a verbal presentation with PowerPoint slides.

Students are to prepare a presentation addressing specific aspects of leadership practice. Students will be allocated to groups by Week 6 of term. The size and composition of groups will be determined by the class facilitator and will normally not be negotiable.

Each group member will select ONE prominent leader or manager to focus on, so each group will have the same number of leaders/managers as group members. At least half of the chosen leaders/managers must be business leaders. Thus, it is important for the group to make the decision of which leaders/manager to include and group members must not choose leaders/managers independently from the rest of their group.

Each group member will then analyse the behaviour of their allocated leader/manager, citing examples to illustrate and then contrast these against management and leadership models and theories to determine the extent of effective or ineffective practice. Students are expected to refer not only to leadership and management theories, but also specific concepts studied throughout the term including ethics, motivation, delegation, power and influence, etc., and how these leaders and managers use these aspects as part of their practice, and assess the impact on followers.

The group will then come together to compare the behaviour effectiveness of the individual leaders/managers. During the assessed presentation, each group member will present their own analysis, which will then be followed by a presentation of the comparison that the group has developed. One group member will be selected to present said comparison. Following the group’s presentation, the tutor will lead a discussion/Q&A session with the group; each student should expect to answer questions about their own allocated leader/manager, as well as the group’s comparison.  

The PowerPoint slides should be designed in a manner effective for a presentation to an audience, but they need to be relatively self-explanatory. This means, the slides should not be crammed full of text, but also not too sparse. Every claim needs to be supported by a reference on the individual slides and a reference list at the end of the slides. Every student must submit the slides in Moodle by the given deadline.

Although there is a large individual component to this assignment, the group component is  a pass-fail activity and students must be in a group; students cannot undertake this task individually.

The presentation duration will depend on the size of the group, but it is expected that each student presents for approximately 7-8 minutes and the group summary will be another 5-7 minutes. There is no minimum or maximum number of slides or words on the slides. Each student is expected to use a minimum of 5 academic journal articles as reference material for their component.

The discussion/Q&A session that follows the group’s presentation will be led by the tutor, but other participants may be invited to ask questions. You are expected to be able to answer questions about your allocated leader/manager, as well as the group’s comparison. Your ability to answer these questions is part of the marking criteria; the discussion/Q&A is not a test of your knowledge of all aspects of the unit, but to be able to do well here, you need to be very familiar with your presentation and the group’s comparison.

As a Masters-level student, you are required to engage in research as per the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered. Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice", and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”. Each unit in your Masters program has a number of required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF. In order to demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals and publications, and as a Masters student, demonstrate an ability to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research. This is an advanced level unit, and accrediting bodies are also looking for evidence of independent research, so the ability to conduct this project without continually relying on your tutors and lecturers is an important part of the learning process for this unit. You should ensure that you understand the specific research that is required for each assessment piece and recognise that if you merely meet this minimum requirement, you will receive the minimum grade for demonstrated research. Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE. A full list of references must be submitted as part of the assessment. Your assignment will be marked on the following criteria; detailed marking rubrics are available in Moodle.

1. Application of theory – Ability to accurately use and apply relevant key leadership and management terms, theories, models, and concepts to the allocated leader/manager. (25%) 
2. Ability to use specific examples of leader and manager behaviours to illustrate effective or ineffective practice. (25%) 
3. Quality and appropriateness of references, and accuracy of referencing – Accurate use of APA style referencing system in the text and the reference list, by using a minimum of 5 quality sources. (10%) 
4. Individual presentation structure and delivery - Concise and structured presentation using audio visuals and verbal communication with an introduction, main presentation, and conclusion. (10%) 
5. Individual ability to respond to questions from the audience (20%)
6. Group summary - Ability to work in a collaborative and effective manner as a team to prepare a coherent comparison of individual leaders’/managers’ behaviour effectiveness. (10%) (note: all students in the group receive the same mark here)

Late submission and academic misconduct penalties will be applied in accordance with the university policies.

Specific to the questions (which will be provided 10 minutes before the submission opens), you will need to demonstrate the following in your answers:

• Correct use of leadership and management theories and content
• Ability to analyse management and leadership practice
• Ability to apply management and leadership theories and content to the given case
• Ability to construct a report style paper in limited time to simulate business pressure