MBA401 People Culture and Contemporary Leadership Assignment

Assignment Brief 

1,500 Words (+/-10%)
Weighting: 30 %

Students will complete an individual essay which will explore and analyse the leadership of a contemporary leader.

Task 

Students will research and analyse ONE contemporary leader drawn from a list provided by the MBA401 Workshop Facilitator. Students may not use any other leader, apart from those shown on the list provided for the purposes of this assessment. Students will select a leader they consider as being influential to them in their day to day living or career. Students will apply theoretical concepts covered in the subject to assist them to interpret the actions of the leader they have chosen.

The following elements should be included in the essay:

• The effect of the leader on the top management team of the organisations they have led.
• The effect of their strategic leadership in developing the human resources of the organisations they have led.
• The effect of the leader on the development of ethical practices within the organisations they have led.

Please refer to the assessment marking guide to assist in completing the assessment criteria

The essay will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Evidence of good academic practice in relation research, appropriate sourcing and referencing (see here for further details);
• Evidence of a development of a body of knowledge in the field of contemporary leadership and people;
• Level of analysis;
• Clarity of argument;
• Appropriate use of theory and relevant literature

List of CEOs to be explored for the assessment.

Choose one leader from the following list to explore for the MBA401 Assessment 1. Students may not choose any other leader for this assessment.

• Leaders
• Georgie Harman Beyond Blue
• Shemara Wikramanayake Macquarie Bank
• Oliver Morton-Evans Neuromersiv
• Tarun Gupta Stockland
• Matthew Halliday Ampol Ltd
• Alison Deans Cochlear Ltd
• Paul Perreault CSL
• Melanie Perkins Canva

Solution 

Introduction 

Leadership positions are changing. Leaders were viewed as managers or bosses who implemented a system of rewards and penalties. However, they are now seen as the agents of change in teams and organisations. They apply their instinct, analytical prowess, and other skills to innovate business procedures and the work that employees do, to ease the monotony, and to adapt to the most recent market trends in line with organisational goals and objectives. a generous person who sparks imagination. Additionally, they think that good leadership forges relationships with colleagues and establishes goals or objectives that benefit both the organization's and the employee's needs. They encourage and inspire the team to meet business objectives while using minimal resources. This essay focuses on evaluating the role of leader on the top management team and human resource management. For this purpose, Matthew Halliday has selected as the leader.  

Effect of the leader on the top management team

The retention and productivity of employees, as well as employee development and engagement, can all be impacted by a team leader's capacity to inspire, lead, and mentor their team. Furthermore, research demonstrates that team leaders have the most immediate and significant influence on team members' experiences (Mbogo, 2020). How quickly team members pick up new skills, whether team members feel included and supported, and how quickly they pick up new skills are all indicators of the appropriate skills and behaviours in leadership roles.

Matthew Halliday has always focused to supervise cooperation within the organization (bloomberg, 2022). Plan, organise, assign, and verify that team tasks are done by him while coordinating resources. Teams look to their leaders for guidance when they are unsure of what to do or what is most crucial. The leader must be able to see the team as a whole and foresee what will be necessary to achieve the team's objectives. For instance, if a deadline is extended, Matthew Halliday took the initiative to make decision regarding which tasks should be delayed and whether team members' priorities should be adjusted. As coaches and advisors, Matthew Halliday sit next to team members as they solve problems, listen, collaborate, or learn specialised hard skills. He also give input on how to be more effective to his team members. It demonstrate abilities like" as the work is progressing of Matthew Halliday. A team can connect members who want to learn a certain skill with certification programmes or contacts colleagues who are already learning it within the company (Cortellazzo, Bruni, and Zampieri, 2019). Through daily actions, Matthew Halliday has set an example for team members' attitudes and abilities. For instance, some businesses could use more sympathetic or open-minded employees. 

It is expected of team leaders to communicate with their group clearly and efficiently. The leader must provide information, provide updates, and outline the objectives and expectations. In fact, a lot of businesses rely on managers to inform their workers of crucial information and updates and to set regular expectations for them. Organizations are subject to ongoing change, which can bring numerous difficulties. Team leader is required to serve as Change  agent due to the effect on the team. It is required to promote change and demonstrate to workers how they will profit from it. Matthew Halliday has emphasized on assisting the team by explaining how new roles and responsibilities will help the team develop, for instance, if the organisation is restructuring. This aspect reflects the potential of Matthew Halliday as a leader. 

Effect of strategic leadership in developing the human resources

An individual who has a defined vision, mission, purpose, and policies to lead a company to performance is referred to be a strategic leader. By coordinating strategy and exchanging ideas with individuals within the firm, strategic leaders are able to accomplish these objectives. Matthew Halliday, as a Strategic leader, motivate their staff to raise their performance in this way (Calabrò et al., 2021). In order to enhance organisational performance and gain a competitive edge, he evaluates the dynamic external environment and create clear management policies. Matthew Halliday develops plans to improve organisational performance, which sets them apart from traditional leadership theories, charisma, transaction, etc (ampol, 2022).  This reflects his potential as a strategic leader. Therefore, in organisational contexts, particularly in for-profit firms, this form of leadership is primarily characterised by submission. Addressing challenges that are generally handled by a company's top management team entails strategic leadership MBA assignment expert.

The new regulatory skills and the new core process leader remain distinct from the new SL skills. These skills have been lacking in Matthew Halliday as a strategic leader. The modest abilities of crucial employees and operations are nevertheless significant, but insufficient for Sl (Jafari, Aminbeidokhti and Ghasemian Dastjerdi, 2019). Creative thinking and imagination are needed for strategic planning. Making decisions at the strategic level necessitates the capacity to handle new pressures and challenges. Leaders at the strategic level need to acquire perspectives and knowledge, be able to think creatively, network, and generate ideas. Strategic leaders need to be able to perceive events that are cognitively distant. 

Given that it is created in consideration of the demands of its implementation, human resources planning is a strategic measurement issue for all firms with a direct relationship to their strategic plans. This responsibility has been fulfilled by Matthew Halliday in an appropriate manner. Therefore, through which Organization's future goals for the human resources necessary to implement its strategic plan are evaluated and decided, to ensure its operational continuity and achievement of the desired aims. Human resources planning aims to achieve a balance between the company's strategic plan's requirements and its future overall performance regarding its various types of human resources and what will be possible from those resources in the future. To do this, it compares the amount of work necessary to complete the strategic plan's tasks to the exertion pressure that represents the potential of those resources in the future. 

Planning for human resources is ongoing and sustained as long as the business is operating in a risky environment. This necessitates the organisation of human resources between now and then. If there are periods of regular employment and brushing off within the business, there may be a work rotation rate as a result of these periods because the external and internal environmental factors surrounding it do not change (Calabrò et al., 2021). While assessing and determining the needs of businesses' enterprises of human resources falls under the purview of human resource planning.  Therefore, as long as the company's methods are already in place and operating in a constantly changing environment, they are still a work in progress. 

Effect of the leader on the development of ethical practices

Leaders can encourage moral behaviour in those around them from a group perspective. By setting an exemplary example and demonstrating the right course of action, Matthew Halliday motivate others to follow suit. By outlining a course of action that can be adopted for the larger good, Matthew Halliday in this way has a positive impact on a large number of other people (crunchbase, 2022). Matthew Halliday needs to be a good leader if the leader want to be taken seriously. It takes time to establish them as the leader. Unethical behaviour has the power to permanently remove a leader from A-League and seriously harm their reputation. Furthermore, unethical behaviour frequently lowers self-esteem, which leads to less than ideal outcomes and missed chances to realise one's full potential.

Matthew Halliday is aware that repetition is the foundation of reputation of his company. No matter how effectively a leader has performed in the past, if they act irresponsibly, they risk losing that credibility rapidly. Due to this reason, Matthew Halliday has constantly convey that they are still trustworthy. When a member of the group violates the code of behaviour while the leader does not, it may be a sign that the code is meaningless. No exceptions are made in this regard, and ethical leaders swiftly report improper behaviour (Cortellazzo, Bruni and Zampieri, 2019). By doing this, they establish consistency and credibility while avoiding doubt and misunderstanding about proper conduct. Moral leaders are aware that omitting crucial information can have detrimental effects. They keep a close eye on the situation to spot any potential issues. When faced with doubts and dilemmas, ethical leaders raise concerns. 

An organization's lack of accountability causes inefficiency, confusion, sloth, and the waste of time and resources. Ethical leaders assume accountability, accept accountability, and use their words and deeds to influence the present and the future. Instead, they own their errors, express regret, seek solutions, and communicate potential recovery strategies to their stakeholders (Mbogo, 2020). This demonstrates their concern and their efforts to improve a bad situation. In both good and bad times, ethical leaders are present to develop their teams and to stand up for others when necessary. They provide guidance, weather the storm, and assist the team in overcoming obstacles. They are aware that their team or organization's interests come before their own.

Conclusion 

Matthew Halliday has focused on supervise cooperation. He organise tasks, allocate responsibilities, plan, coordinate resources, and ensure that the team's tasks are performed. The team looks to the leader for guidance when unclear on what to do or what is most crucial. In fact, a lot of companies rely on managers to give important updates and information to their staff as well as to set regular expectations. Matthew Halliday has achieved these goals by coordinating strategy and exchanging ideas with people inside the company. This is how strategic leaders inspire their team members to improve performance.
 
References 

Ampol (2022). Leadership Team. [online] Ampol. Available at: https://www.ampol.com.au/about-ampol/who-we-are/leadership-team.
bloomberg (2022). Matthew Halliday, Ampol Ltd: Profile and Biography. [online] Bloomberg.com. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/20927147 [Accessed 6 Dec. 2022].

Calabrò, A., Torchia, M., Jimenez, D.G. and Kraus, S., 2021. The role of human capital on family firm innovativeness: the strategic leadership role of family board members. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 17(1), pp.261-287.

Cortellazzo, L., Bruni, E. and Zampieri, R., 2019. The role of leadership in a digitalized world: A review. Frontiers in psychology, 10, p.1938.
crunchbase (2022). Matthew Halliday - Managing Director and CEO @ Ampol - Crunchbase Person Profile. [online] Crunchbase. Available at: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/matthew-halliday-97be [Accessed 6 Dec. 2022].

Ghanbari, S. and Soltangholi, F., 2020. The role of managers’ spiritual leadership in teachers’ work engagement with mediation of social capital. Journal of School Administration, 8(3), pp.238-215.

Jafari, S., Aminbeidokhti, A. and Ghasemian Dastjerdi, Z., 2019. The role of managers’ professional leadership in students’ competency development by mediating trust and collaboration between teachers and professionalization of teachers. Journal of Educational Scinces, 26(1), pp.77-96.

Mbogo, R.W., 2020. Leadership roles in managing education in crises: The case of Kenya during COVID-19 pandemic. European Journal of Education Studies, 7(9).

Mihardjo, L., Sasmoko, S., Alamsjah, F. and Elidjen, E., 2019. Digital leadership role in developing business model innovation and customer experience orientation in industry 4.0. Management Science Letters, 9(11), pp.1749-1762.

Oreg, S. and Berson, Y., 2019. Leaders’ impact on organizational change: Bridging theoretical and methodological chasms. Academy of Management Annals, 13(1), pp.272-307.

Silva, C.S., Magano, J., Matos, A. and Nogueira, T., 2021. Sustainable Quality Management Systems in the Current Paradigm: The Role of Leadership. Sustainability, 13(4), p.2056.