21st Century Leader Memo

Project Three:  21st Century Challenges

Purpose: 

The saga of Global Delivery Direct (GDD) continues in assignment 3.  Students evaluate 21st century leadership challenges and relate them to the issues GDD has been experiencing. 

Outcome Met by Completing This Assignment

• use leadership theories, assessment tools, and an understanding of the role of ethics, values, and attitudes to evaluate and enhance personal leadership skills
• develop and implement methods for establishing a constructive organizational structure and culture that fosters positive employee and employer relationships

• evaluate the culture and policies of an organization to recommend and implement improvements that support its vision, success, and sustainability
• assess the interactions between the external environment and the organization to foster responsible and effective leadership and organizational practices

Instructions

Step 1:  Preparation for Writing the Assignment

Before you begin writing the paper, you will read the following requirements that will help you meet the writing and APA requirements.  Not reading this information will lead to a lower grade:

Review “How to Analyze a Case Study” under Week 8 Content.  You are expected to use the facts from the case scenario focusing on using this information to determine opportunities and to solve problems.

Read the grading rubric for the assignment.  Use the grading rubric while writing the paper to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.

In writing this assignment, you will read and following these tasks:

Task 1:  Third person writing is required.  Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing).  If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this link:  http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person.

Task 2:  Contractions are not used in business writing, so you are expected NOT to use contraction in writing this assignment. 

Task 3:  You are expected to paraphrase and are NOT to use direct quotes.  You are expected to paraphrase, which can be learned by reviewing this link:   https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html.

Task 4:  You are responsible for APA only for in-text citations and a reference list.

Task 5:  You are expected to use the facts from the case scenario paired with the weekly courses readings to develop the analysis and support the reasoning.  No more than three (3) external resources can be used in completing the assignment.  The expectation is that you provide a robust use of the course readings.  If any material is used from a source document, it must be cited and referenced.  A reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa.   View the sample APA paper and the How to Cite and Reference file located under Week 4 content.

Step 2:  How to Set Up the Paper

Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is single-spaced, single-spaced between paragraphs, 12-point font.  The final product will be between 3-5 pages in length excluding the title page and reference page.  You may not exceed five (5) pages so it is important to write clearly and concisely.

Follow a memo format.  

• To:
• From:
• Subject:
• Body

Students will also create a title page with title, your name, the course, the instructor’s name; date.

Note:  Students are not writing an essay paper so the assignment should reflect a memo format that is appropriate for the workplace.

Step 3:  Read and use the Global Delivery Direct (GDD) Company Profile.

Step 4:  Read critically and analyze the following scenario:

An emergency meeting was called in London by John Smythe Heathering, the Executive Director of Corporate Services, when the 2015 numbers came out for the business.  Sales dropped 7% overall in a quarterly downward spiral with the largest portion of decline having been in the American division at 3.8%.  The move to “Business First” in America prevented the loss from being as great as 6.5%.  This change helped but not enough to overcome the full 6.5%. The competition continues to make inroads into the business not just in America but Asia as well.

The purpose of the emergency meeting is to discuss the decline in sales and make whatever decisions necessary to reverse the trend with immediate implementation.  The question before the group is how do we reverse the downward trend?  A competitive edge is necessary.  As 21st century leaders, the Executive Directors realize that five challenges have to be examined if they are to find ways keep the company running at a profit.  Further, they know that as company leaders they will have to lead the change required to make the recommendations work. 

In the emergency meeting, the Directors decided that they needed professional help. They turn to you, a leadership consultant to help them discover ways in which they can improve sales of the company and set the company up for long-term financial health.

Step 5:  Explain each leadership challenge facing the 21st century leader: adaptability, sustainability, innovation, knowledge management, and globalization and the relationship each has to developing a competitive edge in business today.

Task 1:  Read the course readings on leadership challenges in the 21st century. 

Task 2:  Read the course readings on competitive advantage

Task 3:  For each of the identified challenges, discuss the relationship each has to the 21st century businesses competitive edge.

Step 6:  Evaluate GDD’s status regarding each of these challenges.

Task 1:  Analyze GDD’s current business status in terms of each of the leadership challenges.   Note that an analysis goes beyond making statements or regurgitating facts.  

Task 2:  Discuss GDD’s current business status in terms of each of the leadership challenges.  Be specific in evaluating the status against each challenge.  Do not expect that any one response is correct, as what is presented has to be reasonable and fit with GDD's vision, mission and goals.  Support the reasoning with rigorous, focused thinking that demonstrates the analytical skills GDD is looking from you.

Step 7:  Make at least two practical recommendations for each leadership challenge that will put GDD on the path to financial success and sustainability and explain the reasoning for doing so.

Task 1:  Provide a minimum of two practical recommendations for each leadership challenge.  Recommendations should integrate the facts from the scenario and from the company profile and be specific to the GDD business.  Do not take information from outside sources and present as though it fits the scenario.  

Task 2:  Make sure to use the grading rubric to complete this step.

Step 8:  Select one of the challenges for which you made recommendations and explain how the Executive Directors, as change agents, will go about implementing the recommendations.

Task 1:  Select one of the recommendations made for one of the challenges discussed in Step 7.  Explain how the Executive Directors will implement that recommendation.  Make sure the explanation is well thought out and does not present what the Executive Directors should do but how they will do it.  In doing so, be specific and support the reasoning with examples and be sure to use the Company information and the course readings. A robust step-by-step action plan for this recommendation is expected.

Step 9:  Review the Paper

Read the paper to ensure all required elements are present.  Use the grading rubric to ensure that you gain the most points possible for this assignment.

Proofread the paper for spelling and grammatical issues, and third person writing. 

• Read the paper aloud as a first measure;
• Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a second measure;
• Have someone who has excellent English skills to proof the paper;
• Consider submitting the paper to the Effective Writing Center (EWC).  The EWC will provide 4-6 areas that may need improvement.

Step 10:  Submit the paper in the Assignment Folder.