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Management Engineering - Leadership & Innovation
Full exam
LI 2022 – First call ‐ Leadership Q1 What we want to test: recognize situational leadership styles according to follower readiness As the most successful coach in NBA history, Phil Jackson has won 11 championships. The successful teams he led included international superstars as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant. When dealing with high‐level talent, a different leadership approach gives team members the latitude they need while still making the decisions that drive success. To do this, Jackson needed to be supportive of players while still giving them clear direction. Jackson’s leadership skills are evident when looking at his approach to coaching some of his greatest stars. Michael Jordan was known to be a player gifted with offensive technique, adept at crossover with both hands and playing behind the basket, he possessed a quick first step and acrobatic skills. Even in the final stage of his career, when his athleticism had declined due to age, he greatly mastered his games thanks to a great experience. When he joined the Chicago Bulls, as the final act of his career, he did it only for Jackson’s presence as a coach. Jordan remembers how Jackson was a friend out of the court and a “zen master” during the match, not caring of him directly but enabling him to focus on the game and manage his emotions. Different than Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal was already an established star, considered one of the most dominant players in NBA, with an impulsive and sometimes irrational behavior. When he joined the Lakers, Jackson spent a lot of time with him discussing the reasons of his behavior. Shaq improved a lot reducing the number of his hasty decisions and identifying the most propitious moment to speak and act. Which leadership styles best describes Jackson’s behavior: A) He is delegating with Michael Jordan and participating with Shaquille O’Neal B) He is selling with Shaquille O’Neal and participating with Michael Jordan C) He is delegating with Michael Jordan and selling with Shaquille O’Neal D) He is telling with Shaquille O’Neal and participating with Michael Jordan Justification: Jordan’s level of readiness is very high. He is competent and confident (Michael Jordan was known to be a player gifted with offensive technique, adept at crossover with both hands and playing behind the basket, he possessed a quick first step and acrobatic skills. Even in the final stage of his career, when his athleticism had declined due to age, he greatly mastered his game thanks to the great experience). Therefore, Delegating approach is the most appropriate one. No guidance on task is needed, and also supportive behaviors can be low. Shaquille O’Neal is competent (an established star, considered one of the most dominant players in NBA), however his level of readiness is not equal to the Jordan’s one. The style adoped by Jackson with him is Participating. This is clear from Jackson behavior, as Jackson “taught him not to make hasty decisions but to wait and identify the most propitious moment”. No guidance on task is needed, but instead supportive behaviors are high. Q2 Angela is the CEO of a company of 50 employees. She decided to launch a project for renovating the company ICT system. She believes many people in the company will be upset by this change because they will have to learn from scratch how to use the new software and a whole set of new procedures. To make the situation even more complicated, the project is on a tight schedule. There is no more time to lose and this decision was already taken a bit too late. Angela is in doubt on who should be the manager responsible of this project between Bob and Sara. Sara is very expert in the ICT field and knows all the company requirements very well. She is very good at setting and respecting deadlines and deliverables. Bob instead is very good in engaging people, he knows everybody in the company and he always check that people are satisfied with the work environment. In the end, Angela decided that Bob should be the project manager. Based on the information above and according the managerial grid model, did Angela take the right decision? A. Yes, because Bob will probably be effective in motivating the people to face this type of change B. No, because Bob shows leadership behaviors that may not be effective in that particular context C. Yes, because Sara does not show leadership behaviors that may be effective in that particular situation D. No, because Sara would have been probably more effective in understanding people needs Answer No, because Bob shows leadership behaviors that may not be effective in that particular context. Bob is characterized by high people orientation; Sara by high task orientation. Information indicates that changing ICT system may be an unpopular decision and that time is a serious issue here. Working on increasing the level of consensus would be nice but pretty unfeasible. High task orientation would work better than high people orientation. Sara should have been the project manager Q3 Rectangle is a small, highly dynamic and innovative consulting firm. The company employs approximately 60 people mainly in Italy (Milan and Rome) but also in the US (New York City) and China (Shanghai). They employ people from more than 15 countries and speak 20+ languages. The hiring and compensation process of the company is very clear. The company hardly looks for highly experienced resources because they want to provide their people with the company precise imprinting. The company invests a lot on the development of both technical and behavioral skills supporting the development thorough an intense and sometimes even painful coaching program. Everyone in the company is subjected to constant radical feedback about their performances but even more importantly about the decision they make, the reasons behind them and the meaning associated to them. The company salary policy is clear as well. At least at the beginning, the salary is low because part of the employee gain is given by the personal growth which in some cases can last several years. The company never fired anyone for poor performances, they push every employee to give more and find their way to be performant. Nevertheless, more than 80% of the new employees quit the company in the first months of their job because they do not recognize the deal as fair. Few of them get through the initial period and normally remain in the company for several years (decades) contributing to reaffirm a strong and highly recognizable organizational culture which is often recognized by the new employers once they leave Rectangle. Considering the theories of motivation select the sentence that b e t t e r p l y t o t h e d e sc r i b e d si t u a t i o n . a) The company directly appeals to the extrinsic motivation because the employee self‐growth will be then recognized and positively evaluated by the market. b) The company deals with money as a hygienic factor. The money issue must be off the table but is not used as a motivator. c) The company leverages the intrinsic motivational impulses to make employees not aligned with the main value to opt out d) The company applies the Adam’s equity theory as they pay the same low salary to all the new hired and do not fire anyone for bad performances. The company creates a situation that can motivate only people strongly motivated by intrinsic factors such as self‐growth. The money variable is NOT managed as an hygienic factor (b wrong), indeed 80% of the people consider it too low. The company doesn’t appeal to extrinsic motivational factors (A wrong) because even if new employers normally recognize the value, this is happening after many years (decades) in which the employees do not leave the company. Finally the Adam’s theory doesn’t say that the treatment must be equal for everybody but that the ration Output/input must be equal (D wrong) Q What we test: understanding the behaviors of a servant leader John entered the scrum JurFix team meeting and was very worried. He saw that this was the third team in the week which was having trouble in focusing on the project. Topisfy is a company active in the music industry, and has the fame of being a “Great place to work”. And yet, it doesn’t look like it. Managers are stressed, and this has a toxic impact on all the teams throughout the company. John decides to adopt a new approach and opens the weekly JurFix meeting with the following words: “Dear team, I understand that there are lots of pressures coming from our customer and also from within the company. My only question is the following: How may I help you providing the best musical service?” Which of the following best describes the behaviour that John is adopting in the weekly JurFix meeting? A. External coaching behaviour B. Servant leadership behaviour C. Passive management by exception D. Inspirational motivation Justification: A. False: coaching enables shared leadership behaviours. John is no t h e l p i n g t h e t e a m s t o u s e t h e i r resources, he puts himself at their disposal. B. True: Part of the servant leadership model. A servant leader is co n c e r n e d w i t h m a k i n g f o l l o w e r s grow; his concern is towards serving first of all, not putting himself at the center and enable performance and growth of the “followers” C. False: Complexity leadership model. John could be considered enabling leadership, as he facilitates the achievement of results; He is not adapting to any changing conditions D. False: Transformational leadership model. John is not inspiring or motivating, he could at most demonstrate some individualized consideration for the people. Q5 Red and Blue are two different companies in the real estate sector that just merged, becoming one single company named Purple. Red and Blue were small and very flat, while Purple has several hierarchical levels due to its size. After the merger, people are showing decreased levels of engagement and commitment to work. A research team was called to understand the reasons of such discontentment. These are some of the quotes that the researchers collected in the interviews with the employees: “I was very lucky because before the merger, the old CEO knew me, for a project I worked with him and I felt guided and appreciated, even if I was just a very young employee. He was always interested in how I was doing. After the merger, the new CEO does not even know who I am”. “What I always liked of my job before the merger was the challenges that the CEO was posing to us everyday. Now, many formal procedures have been introduced and I just have to follow them. It’s way easier, but less motivating for me”. Based on the above information and quotes, how would you explain employees’ discontentment? A. Before the merger, employees were used to transformational leadership approach, but the new CEO is probably adopting a different approach B. Before the merger, employees were used to transactional leadership approach, but the new CEO is probably adopting a different approach C. After the merger, the new CEO is probably leveraging on intrinsic motivation D. After the merger, the new CEO is probably leveraging on active management by exception Answer Before the merger, employees were used to transformational leadership approach: First quote in the text is about Individualized consideration; the second quote is about Intellectual stimulation. No info about the new CEO’s behaviors is provided in the text to understand which specific approach he is using.