Assignment Task
Overview
Write a report simulating the role of a senior innovation manager whose main purpose is to lead an organisation to achieve social impact. You are tasked with responding to five scenario-based questions which incorporate key leadership and management theories from Weeks 4–6 of this course.
Purpose
This assessment will provide you with the opportunity to practice gaining credibility within an organisation by applying key leadership and management concepts and using appropriate professional language. As a future leader and/or manager, it is important to be able to recognise challenges within organisations and identify suitable strategies to overcome and improve vital operations.
Assessment criteria
This assessment will measure your ability to:
- Apply comprehensive knowledge of course content to professional practice
- Construct rich responses that are supported by well-integrated theories and concepts
- Integrate highly relevant examples to support your responses
- Incorporate high-quality academic writing that integrates referencing according to RMIT Harvard style
Course learning outcomes
This assessment is relevant to the following course learning outcomes:
CLO1 Recognise the appropriateness of different types of leadership styles in a range of organisational settings.
CLO2 Accurately assess your personal strengths and areas of challenge and effectively selfmanage these towards improved practice.
CLO3 Explain how effective managerial leaders are able to diagnose and ethically improve the key areas of organisational functioning.
CLO4 Motivate and influence others in ways that contribute to sustainable organisational performance.
Assessment details
This assessment task comprises five questions that you are required to answer in a written format in line with the provided scenario.
Context
About a year ago, the company recruited a new chief executive officer (CEO) who had previously worked with one of the leading competitors within our industry. Upon their arrival, they worked closely with senior executives and shareholders to design and develop a five-year competitive strategy for the organisation. The core objective of this strategy was to ensure business growth with the view to expand the operations globally. To achieve this, the CEO has commissioned a new department that will lead in key areas of innovation and change and ensure that the products designed by this new department will appeal to an international audience.
In your simulated role of the new senior innovation manager, there are numerous challenges ahead of you, such as motivating the current team, developing effective communication, responding appropriately to leadership styles and overcoming cultural barriers within the team and with key external stakeholders. You have been recruited to join this organisation with the sole purpose of leading to achieve social impact.
Scenario-based questions
Write a response to each of the following questions (approximately 550 words per question).
- The new role of senior innovation manager entails you to be working in a high-performance employment setting where you must deal with setbacks and roadblocks to achieving desired business outcomes. Often, this means the CEO may adopt an authoritative and pacesetting style to influence decisions. Reflecting on your own personal strengths and areas of challenges, how would you manage this situation in order to achieve social impact?
- The organisation is in the process of expanding the innovation department from Australia to China as part of the long-term expansion strategy. How might national culture prove to be a communication barrier for the company’s Melbourne-based representatives? What could you do to overcome the cross-cultural communication barriers as the senior innovation manager?
- Effective communication is essential to positively influence others within the innovation department. As the senior innovation officer, explain an approach you could implement to influence the CEO to ensure that your recommendations for improvement organisational performance are employed.
- The organisation has been struggling to motivate a group of employees who work in the research and innovation department, despite giving them a 10% salary increase. As a senior manager, what could you do to improve their level of motivation, and why do you think this approach will make a sustainable difference?
- Innovation is critical to overall business growth and success, but the organisation is behind their competitors in this area. As the senior innovation manager, what do you suggest to improve creativity and innovation in the organisation?