Leadership challenges and strategies in a post-GFC world

GENERAL PURPOSE OF AN ESSAY:
An essay is a piece of continuous writing that contains an argument to address the topic. An essay requires the writer to argue, defend or justify a point of view about the topic task. Essay writers provide appropriate reference material to support their arguments. Their material presents and discusses any conflicting evidence in order to reach a conclusion. Analysis comprises an assessment of the value of the ideas or information presented in the essay. Students are expected to provide both information and analysis in the essay.
TOPIC & TASKS:
Write an essay on the following topic:
BACKGROUND:
The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) that began in 2008, has had deep and long-lasting effects on economies, nations and communities. Much criticism has been aimed at those who have caused the GFC, and at those who have done little to reduce its effects since then.

These people have been viewed as greedy and morally bankrupt, driven by self-interest at the expense of social responsibility. Many of those who have suffered loss due to this GFC have looked for leadership from those in positions to make decisions that influence lives on so many levels. Sadly, these leaders have often seemed bereft of workable solutions or inspired leadership. Economic crises lead to crises in other areas, so that insecurity in the future dominates the thoughts of those who feel disempowered. History has shown that reactions to this insecurity can be violent, and the response from power-holders has been equally violent in an effort to suppress and restore ‘order’. Desperate victims look for ‘heroes’ who will save them. Perhaps there are none who can rise to a global level – although this has proven in the past to be fraught with danger. However, political and business leaders exist who can seem ‘heroic’ in their entrepreneurial and innovative approaches, while ‘new’ leaders are being formed as the GFC’s impact is causing adaptive and innovative strategies and solutions. Business schools, for instance, are reflecting on how these adaptations and innovations can be fostered and cultivated among tomorrow’s business leaders. The ‘old’ methods are seen as less effective for the future that is being shaped today. Waddock and Lozano (2013, p.265) observe that ‘We face a world in which management education is by many assessments in crisis for too narrowly and analytically orienting future managers who will need to lead in a complex, socially and ecologically fraught world, where simple answers just do not work.’ One of these more complex ‘answers’ is an awareness that ‘”Productivity is now basically a people game”’ (Monahan, cited in CEO Forum Group 2013), although this suggests that at some time before the GFC, the importance of people was forgotten in the let’s-make-lots-of-money-and-forget-our-ethics period! The poet, TS Eliot, has written in The Wasteland: ‘We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’ As such, Monahan’s words may express surprise – that people are in fact important. Perhaps today’s and tomorrow’s business leaders will begin to heed them more.
Leadership challenges and strategies in a post-GFC world MME 101 Assignment – Essay – 201401 Page 1 of 7
MME 101 Business Academic Skills Assignment Research Essay
Write your essay by addressing the three following tasks:
• Describe what various writers / sources – at least THREE (3) – have discussed about business leadership challenges and possible solutions or strategies that could be used in this post-GFC world.
This is the literature review and is a SUMMARY task.
• Discuss (explain and analyse) TWO (2) challenges faced by business leaders in dealing with the effects of the GFC today, AND TWO (2) possible solutions or responses (strategies) to these challenges.
Support your response with reference to relevant sources.
• Compare and contrast how TWO (2) businesses / organisations have been applied innovative leadership approaches in response to the effects of the GFC. Do not rely on one source for each example. Support your response with reference to relevant sources. The businesses might be drawn from the readings provided, but you might then need to explore these example further by looking at other sources. Your Move 3 should reflect on which approach is better; maybe both are best.
Sources:
Sources must include at least six (6) articles for this assignment (maximum of 10). Avoid books; they are often out of date.
You must use the compulsory article.
Sources must have been written since the year 2004. The more current, the better!
These non-academic sources are not to be used; in particular, do not use Wikipedia, Woopido, MySpace, YouTube, Blogs, social media, or any other unverifiable non-academic sources.
Compulsory Source:
This article (found in MME 101 Moodle) MUST be used in your essay:
ARTICLE 1:
Voegtlin, C & Patzer, M 2012, ‘Responsible Leadership in Global Business: A New Approach to Leadership and Its Multi-Level Outcomes’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 105, pp. 1 -16, DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-0952-4, Academic Search Complete
MME 101 Assignment – Essay – 201401 Page 2 of 7
MME 101 Business Academic Skills Assignment Research Essay
Essay formatting (Do the following!):
You must submit an essay not a report. An essay contains no headings or sub-headings. Assignments presented in report format will not be marked.

• Font size 11-12pt, in Arial OR Calibri only
• 1.5 line spacing,
• 3 cm left and right hand margins,
• NO headings
• all pages are numbered correctly
Title page
It should look like this:
Full Title here
(in 14 – 16 pt size)
Your full name Your ID no.
Unit code and name Lecturer name Assignment #
Due Date
This, in 11 – 12 pt size No page number.
Guide:
You must apply the Author-Date (Harvard) system of in-text citations and referencing provided in:
Gaspar, M & Shepherd, M 2011, Guide to Assignment Writing and Referencing, 4th edn, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic. (NOTE: Deakin no longer publishes this booklet).
Also available electronically at < http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-support/referencing/harvard >
MME 101 Assignment – Essay – 201401 Page 3 of 7
MME 101 Business Academic Skills Assignment Research Essay
ACADEMIC WRITING AND REFERENCING RESOURCES
Written assessment tasks can vary from unit to unit and even within one unit. It is important that you understand what is required of a particular writing style to maximise your chances of academic success. Examples of writing styles used for assessment in the Faculty of Business and Law include assignments, essays, case studies and reports.
All words and ideas from your sources must be correctly cited. Uncited content will be considered as plagiarism and assessed accordingly. This can result in a zero mark and possible academic misconduct penalties being imposed.
ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS (FOLLOW THEM!):
ON-LINE COPY (NO printed copies allowed):
Using the link provided under Week 9 of Moodle, upload your assignment. You will NOT need to include the MIBT Assignment Cover Sheet – only the title page, essay and reference list.
You MUST ONLY use .doc, .docx or .pdf file formats. No Other file format will be accepted! You must name your file as follows:
MME 101 Assignment
It could end up looking like this: MME 101 Assignment.docx
Please follow all of the above directions CAREFULLY! MME 101 Assignment – Essay – 201401 Page 4 of 7
MME 101 Business Academic Skills Assignment Research Essay
RESEARCH ESSAY LAYOUT / PLAN:
Title page (title of essay, student name and ID, your lecturer’s name, the date the essay was completed).
No headings or sub-headings are to be included in the essay.
Introduction
In three moves:
• Move 1 – Opening generalization that establishes the major topic and sub-topic
• Move 2 – A brief reiteration/explanation of the essay topic. Briefly define key terms.
• Move 3 – A statement of the writer’s intention in the essay. This will outline the plan. Use a clear signal. Use THIS one: The intention of this discussion is to…
Move 3 will come from the task statements and then form the basis of each Move 1 in the Body paragraphs.
Body (3 paragraphs minimum – it might be necessary to create two paragraphs for the 2nd task; each paragraph written in three moves. Use the wording of each task to form the structure of each Move 1):
• Describe what various writers / sources – at least THREE (3) – have discussed about business leadership challenges and possible solutions or strategies that could be used in this post-GFC world. Your Move 3 should reflect on the commonness or variety of views and whether this is helpful for the reader.
This is the literature review and is a SUMMARY task. There should be no quoting.

• Discuss (explain and analyse) TWO (2) challenges faced by business leaders in dealing with the effects of the GFC today, AND TWO (2) possible solutions or responses (strategies) to these challenges. Support your response with reference to relevant sources. This could be written as two linked paragraphs. Your Move 3 should reflect on the value that challenges and these solutions can have for an organization.
• Compare and contrast how TWO (2) businesses / organisations have been applied innovative leadership approaches in response to the effects of the GFC. Do not rely on one source for each example. Support your response with reference to relevant sources. The businesses might be drawn from the readings provided, but you might then need to explore these example further by looking at other sources. Your Move 3 should reflect on which approach is better; maybe both are best.
Conclusion
In two moves (but as one paragraph):
• Move 1 – Summary of your main findings in the essay.
This summary should be based on your Move 3s from the body discussion. What have you FOUND / DISCOVERED / UNDERSTOOD?
Start with THIS signal, eg: In conclusion,…
• Move 2 – Concluding generalisation/writer’s opinion.
Start with THIS signal, eg: In this writer’s opinion,…
References
• Separate page, with a heading ‘References’ or ‘Reference List’.
• Include only sources actually cited.
• Listed according to the author-date Harvard system, in alphabetical order of first named author family name.
MME 101