Option #1: Modern Leadership in a Professional Association

For this project, you are an organizational development (OD) professional with expertise on Leaderless groups and movements. You belong to a multi-national professional association (ODPA) whose membership has declined steadily for the past five years. ODPA’s board of directors (Board) conducted a member satisfaction survey last month and the results were startling:

· More than half of OPDA members question the relevance of ODPA in light of the current environment.

· Sixty-five percent of OPDA members are independent contractors or work for companies with fewer than 10 people.

· More than 30% of members received advanced degrees 30 years ago or longer, more than 50% between 10 years and 29 years ago, and fewer than 10% graduated within the last nine years.

· Fewer than 5% of the members could name one OPDA Board member.

In light of the survey data results, the OPDA executive director (Director) has called to ask If you can help. The Director, located in Toronto, Canada, is concerned that the Board is out of touch with current organizational environments, OD trends, and escalating challenges for organizational development professionals. The current seven Board members are geographically distributed in Australia, England, Germany, Japan, and the United States. The Board holds an annual meeting in Toronto and quarterly web-based conference meetings.

The Director wants to “educate” the Board as a necessary step to raise a sense of urgency about the organization. Otherwise, the Director fears ODPA may not be sustainable. The Director’s assessment is that the Board:

· Does not fully appreciate its leadership role

· Has not embraced workforce demographic changes that impact membership

· Cannot make sense of classical versus autonomist leadership or traditional versus evolved leadership theory

· Does not understand leadership discourses of modern times

The Director wants you to facilitate a Board discussion, using the survey results as catalyst to discuss organizational risks. The director is asking you to develop a draft of the meeting plan including:

· Purpose of the meeting (remember your audience)

· Attendees and roles (assess the leader/follower roles of all of those in attendance, including you. Make and record assumptions as needed. Support your assessment with scholarly sources).

· Schedule, location, and setting (provide reasoned choices with support).

· Pre-reading material (Identify material that attendees should review ahead of the meeting; make and record assumptions as needed).

· Historical overview of the leadership field of study from 1920 to present (two to three pages)

· Include an original graphic element (less than ½ page within body of the report; unlimited space in appendices).

· Explanation of modern leadership with relevance to the situation (three to four pages)

· Include an original graphic element (less than ½ page within body of the report; unlimited space in Appendices).

· Critical analysis of a current leadership book and specific relevance to the situation

· Facilitation questions (design inquiry to draw attendees into a relevant discussion).

Option #2: Modern Leadership in a Mid-Sized Company

For this project, you are an organizational development (OD) professional for ABC Company, in the role of human resource strategist working across several lines of business. You are responsible to three business unit vice presidents as well as to the director of human resources in this matrixed organization.

ABC is a mid-sized global company headquartered in the United States that outsources product manufacturing to facilities in Mexico and Vietnam.

The company’s Board is composed of seven members, all located within the United States. The leadership team includes the chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CF0), and chief operating officer (COO). Both the director of technology and director of human resources report to the COO and are considered members of the leadership team but not in the executive ranks. Vice presidents lead the three primary business units and a director of shared services reports to the COO.

Industry analysts recently released data on the top 10 competitors. ABC was listed at #10 overall but #50 on diversity and culture. You know that the industry leader has publicly stated a commitment to diversity and worked to build a company-wide culture of leadership.

Pertinent data related to the low rating included:

· Board make-up: six men and one woman; all American citizens residing in the United States

· Leadership team make-up: four men and one woman; one ethnic minority, all American citizens residing in the United States

· Employee demographics: 60% men/40% women; median age 50; management roles 80% men/20% women; 40% of the workforce not American citizens.

Immediately after the industry data were released, reporters contacted the ABC media relations department to get a statement about the undesirable diversity and culture rating. ABC executives want to better understand how the rating might affect the company’s reputation and impact its market position. The executives contacted the director of human resources to get some answers, so the HR director is bringing you into the discussion.

Instructions:

The HR Director and other members of the leadership team want to have an “educational session” with the main agenda item being the industry study results and current state of diversity and culture at ABC. You will facilitate the leadership team discussion.

You are to draft a meeting plan for the leadership team to review and provide input. You will also facilitate the review and eventual discussion. Following are elements of the draft meeting plan:

· Purpose of the meeting (remember your audience)

· Attendees and roles (assess the leader/follower roles of all of those in attendance, including you. Make and record assumptions as needed. Support your assessment with scholarly sources.

· Schedule, location, and setting (provide reasoned choices with support)

· Pre-reading material (Identify material that attendees should review ahead of the meeting; make and record assumptions as needed)

· Historical overview of the leadership field of study from 1920 to present (two to three pages)

· Include an original graphic element (less than ½ page within body of the report, unlimited space in appendices)

· Explanation of modern leadership with relevance to the situation (three to four pages)

· Include an original graphic element (less than ½ page within body of the report, unlimited space in appendices)

· Facilitation questions (design inquiry to draw attendees into a relevant discussion).

Requirements:

· .

· Review the grading rubric, which can be accessed in the Module 8 folder, to understand how you will be graded on this assignment. Reach out to your instructor if you have questions about the assignment.

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