Assignment Module 1 – Leadership

Due Date: by Friday of Week 6 Weight: 20% of final grade Penalty: 10% for work submitted up to one week late and 25% for work submitted up to two weeks late (work submitted after two weeks will receive a 0%, but must be submitted in order for the course to be completed).
The submission to your instructor must be your own analysis. You will be marked on the logic of your written analysis and the application of material covered in the course readings and discussed in the discussion forums | A. Read the Assignment #1 scenario B. Answer each of the following questions ensuring that your response reflects a clear analysis and thorough application of relevant course material. |
Feel free to make assumptions about the sub-section in the scenario and attributes of its members in your answers. Each question has a weight of [5] marks. Length of the whole assignment is to be 8 to 10 pages (excluding Title Page).
Answer the following: 1. Groups and Teams. Drawing from your knowledge of group dynamics and performance, explain why this sub-section may be ineffective. 2. Decision-making. Select a decision-making approach and explain how you could use it to identify possible problems and potential solutions for this sub-section’s ineffectiveness. 3. Motivation. Select one of the members of the sub-section, and using a theory of motivation, explain why their performance might be low, and how you could help improve it. 4. Leadership. Using a situational or contingency theory of leadership, explain how you could help Mr. Dalicaster become a more effective supervisor.
Assignment #1 Scenario

[Lieutenant-Colonel Ron A. Dickenson (Retd) (2010). Assignment #1 Scenario. Prepared for PSE 402 Leadership and Ethics course. Kingston: Royal Military College of Canada].
You have been a Section Head in a directorate within National Defence Headquarters for one month. The section has a mixture of twelve military and civilian personnel, grouped into two sub-sections. You believe you have good relations with all section members, but have noticed that one of the sub-sections is not working effectively together.
Following are the members of that section, and your observations of them: a. Miss Fiona Cookster works as an administrative assistant. Intelligent and ambitious, she wants to advance as quickly as possible in the public service and takes training courses as often as she can. She is always looking for more responsibility, but does not feel valued by her supervisor. Engaged for six months, she and her fiancé have just bought a house together; b. Corporal James Cockingham is an Infantryman who works here as a clerk, but would rather be back with his regiment than in NDHQ. He is a dependable worker, but does not interact much with others in the sub-section. Single, he can be found most evenings and week-ends playing hockey or ultimate Frisbee, depending on the season; c. Mrs. Rhea Nordheimer is a computer programmer who has been the “go-to” person for all computer issues in the section for ten years. She is very technically proficient and skilled, but is not a warm or approachable person by nature, unless she likes you. She does not like Miss Cookster or Cpl Cockingham. Married, she and her husband have three schnauzer dogs; d. Private Jasmine Sangrina is a newly-qualified RMS Clerk and this is her first posting. She works very hard but finds herself overwhelmed at times with the pace and volume of the workload. She is reluctant to ask for help, and Cpl Cockingham only helps her if asked by someone else. Single, Private Sangrina works out three times a week and is taking academic upgrading; e. With thirty years of service, Mr. Pierre Dalicaster is the sub-section supervisor. Although he is very knowledgeable in his particular field of finance, he has just recently become a supervisor and has not had much training in this role. Although he could retire, he feels he needs to keep working for another five years to support his wife and three step-children, who are in university.
You are regularly required to deal with interpersonal conflicts in this sub-section, and note that tasking and project deadlines are often missed. The other sub-section is also complaining to you about lack of co-operation and support from it. You realize you must act to identify and resolve the problems in this sub-section.