GUIDELINES FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT
The following questions give you the opportunity to demonstrate that you can integrate and apply your learning from this course to four questions directly related to the topics of leadership, change, and culture.
· Be sure to answer all parts of each question. Begin by numbering question parts and/or using each part of the question as a heading.
· Your answer to each of the four major questions should be between 800 and 1000 words (about 3 to 4 typed, double-spaced pages not including the title page or references). No abstract is needed.
· You are expected to use your course texts and readings and to do additional research with a focus on academic sources.
· All answers should be carefully documented with in-text citations and a References list whenever you are not expressing your personal opinion and analysis. Quotes should be kept to a minimum and should constitute no more than 10 percent of any answer. Proper APA format is required.
· Before submitting, edit your work carefully for organization, clarity, sentence structure, and grammar. You will be assessed on your communication skills throughout the assessment.
· Submit each question separately as you complete it within the Comprehensive Assessment section of the course.
QUESTIONS
Question 1
Discuss the impact of leadership on organizational culture and vice versa. Include the following points.
· How does a founder or early and long-term leader influence the culture of an organization? Use at least two specific, documented examples.
· How does an established organizational culture impact an incoming leader’s effectiveness? Use at least two specific, documented examples.
· Why is it valuable for an incoming leader to diagnose the existing organizational culture, and how should he or she go about making this diagnosis?
Question 2
Change management has become an increasingly important leadership skill.
· Identify and describe at least two ethical issues an organizational leader may face in mounting a change initiative. Devote a single paragraph to each issue you identify, and analyze what an ethical leader would do in each instance.
· In your discussion of at least two of these issues, give a specific, documented example.
· Of the leadership theories we have studied in this course, which one do you feel is most aligned with ethical leadership? Defend and support your response.
Question 3
Analyze the trends in leadership research today.
· Knowing what you know about leadership, suggest areas that organizational leadership consultants may be focusing on in the next decade.
· Suggest at least five specific dissertation topics that might be appropriate in the current environment and justify your answers. Be sure your topics are specific and represent a gap in the literature.
Question 4
Throughout the course, you have had the opportunity to assess your own preferences, strengths, and weaknesses regarding leadership, culture, and change.
· Review your self-assessment exercises and summarize your findings.
· Analyze how you can incorporate these findings into understanding your current values and behavior.
· What changes might you make to improve your leadership effectiveness?
Required Text
· Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
ISBN-13: 978-1544397566
· Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. A. (2019). The corporate culture survival guide (3d ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
ISBN-13: 978-1119212287
