Sustainability Leader Project (200 Points Total)
For this project, you will be responsible for doing in-depth research on someone who has demonstrated exemplary leadership for sustainability using credible business sources and the frameworks learned in this class on their handling of organizational situations and analyzing their effectiveness. Such leaders demonstrate mindful actions and behaviors, embrace a global worldview, recognize the connection between the planet and humanity, and, through personal and organizational choices, effect positive environmental and social change, commonly referred to as the triple bottom line.
Your chosen leader should be someone who you believe has developed into an effective leader for sustainability and who has demonstrated positive leadership skills and behaviors; someone you consider a role model in terms of leadership for sustainability. In addition, their work should easily be recognized as being focused on one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Be sure and include a discussion of this as part of this assignment.
Preparation for Project throughout Course:
As you proceed through the course chapters, there will be several assignments and supplemental readings/videos that provide you with the background to be successful in this project.
In Module 5, you will begin by reading/viewing the resources in the “Introduction to Sustainability” portion of the course website.
In Module 6, the weekly chapter on Strategic Leadership will include a portion on Sustainability and a “Sustainability Resource” supplement in the course will offer numerous links to begin exploring which sustainability leader you might wish to profile for your project. The Module 6 Video Lecture will offer tips on getting a good start on the project. In addition, Ms. Michelle Shea, Management Librarian, will be preparing a video of the best library databases to use for your research on your chosen sustainability leader.
In Module 7, you will prepare a “Leader Choices Memo” with two choices for your project. For each of the two leaders, you propose you must identify why you chose these leaders, along with two credible business press articles from the library databases and how these articles will help you complete the final project. See the Leader choices memo assignment on the Canvas website for more detail; this assignment will be worth 20 grading points.
During Module 8 you will receive feedback from your professor about your choices memo and one of your choices will be approved for you to proceed with the project. You will be on your own to continue to do research for Parts 1 & Part 2 of the paper through the rest of the semester, each of which is worth 80 points of your grade so you will want to devote quite a bit of time to its development. You arealso encouraged to consult the University Writing Center resources if you believe you need help with the writing of the paper. Ms. Shea is available for consultative appointments if you need help finding research articles.
Sustainability Leader Choice Memo (40 Points)
You must submit a detailed memo with two choices for your project. For each of the two leaders you propose you must identify why you chose these leaders, along with two credible business press articles from the library databases and how these articles will help you complete the final project. Your “choice memo” is worth 20 grading points based on initial research and thoughtful rationale for choosing that leader.
Part 1 Submission (80 Points)
Section 1 (20 Points): Summary of the sustainability leader’s current and previous positions and career highlights.
Based on your research/sources, write a description of your leader’s career highlights and current position. Length and depth guideline is 3-4 well developed paragraphs. Include citations where necessary (see APA Resources Module).
Section 2 (30 Points): Summary of the leader’s traits, behaviors and style.
Using examples from your background sources and articles, and theories and models from your text, describe and analyze your leader. What leadership characteristics and style does your leader demonstrate? This section should also be 4-6 well developed paragraphs. Be sure to use at least 2 different theories/frameworks drawn from chapters 5,6,8,9 or 10 of your text in this section. Include citations where necessary.
Section 3 (30 Points): Summary of the organizational circumstances that led this leader to be a sustainability leader.
Compile a timeline of the organizational circumstances that led to your leader becoming passionate about sustainability. Try not to quote the actual articles but paraphrase in your own words what the dynamics of the situation were. Be sure to include enough description so that the organizational stakeholders, context and your leader’s actions are well described. This section can either be a bulleted list of events or in paragraph form. Length and depth guideline is 2-3 well developed paragraphs or 6-9 bullet points. Include citations where necessary.
Part 2 Submission (80 Points)
As part of your Part 2 submission, you must, also include your Part 1 submission, which should be revised based on my comments. I will assess a 1 point penalty for each comment not addressed.
Section 4 (60 Points): Apply Strategic Leadership Concepts from Chapter 12.
In this section you are to analyze the dynamics of the situation or situations you described in Section 3 through an in-depth application of one of the Strategy-Making, Strategy-Execution Process (pages 507-518) phases from chapter 12 (e.g., Phase 1-Crafting a Mission, Vision, and Core Values Statement). In doing so, be sure to fully analyze the leader actions your chosen leader took and how it furthered sustainability and sustainable development (the Introduction to Sustainability and Sustainability Resources Module should be especially useful here). This section should be 4-6 well developed paragraphs. ALL aspects of the phase should be fully explored fully; you will want to demonstrate your complete understanding of the phase. Include citations where necessary
Section 5 (20 points): Advice for the Leader
In this section offer your analysis of the actions the leader took and your expert recommendation for actions they might have done differently (and why). You will want in this section to not only use the theories you have learned but some of the reflection exercises to think through how this leader could improve on their skills. It is not enough in this section to say “they are doing a great job”, leaders can always improve! After you have identified things they might have done differently, offer them advice for going forward – what can they do to improve their leadership?
Use of Sources:
Your paper should be single-spaced with 8 pt spacing between paragraphs, 1-inch margins, 12 pitch Times New Roman Font. In addition, the paper should have a beginning cover sheet ending bibliography. The reference page and in-paper citations should be in APA 7th edition format. See the Assignment Link in Canvas for full instructions.
Use at least 10 references with citations, 5 of which must be references other than web pages. Also make sure that every citation in your references are cited in the body of your paper. Multiple citations from the same website only count as one citation toward the 10 reference requirement. See the Assignments course link for the due date.
Grading Criteria within each Section:
- Fully proofread and clear writing
- Full application of text frameworks used
- Insightful and accurate analysis
- Proper citations with strong sources given where necessary, citations and reference list all in APA format.
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