Purpose:

The purpose of this project is to gain an understanding of what it means to be a leader within an organization and to use characteristics and skills required of a leader in a real- world application.

Skill Building: 

You are also completing this project to help you develop the skills of research, critical thinking, teamwork, writing and developing a job announcement. Writing is critical because in business it is important to convey information clearly and concisely and to develop a personal brand.  Developing a personal brand is important because it is the ongoing process of establishing an image or impression in the minds of others especially those in positions above you.  Having a strong personal brand can lead to opportunities that include promotions. 

Skills: Research, Writing, Critical Thinking, Developing a Personal Brand, Job Announcement

Outcomes Met With This Project: 

• use leadership theories, assessment tools, and an understanding of the role of ethics, values, and attitudes to evaluate and enhance personal leadership skills
• assess the interactions between the external environment and the organization to foster responsible and effective leadership and organizational practices
• Collaborate in teams utilizing effective communication techniques
• Develop individual awareness, style, and communication skills that enhances leadership skills
• Integrate and apply analytical principles and skills to make strategic decision

This project is the first of three group projects. Members of the team will collaborate acting as a self-managed team.  As a self-managed team, members take a collective responsibility for ensuring the team operates effectively, sets team goals, manages time, makes decisions and solve problems, communicates frequently and clearly, and meets the deadline.  You may have team members that are located all over the world. Working in a virtual environment should not stop the self-managed team from being successful in reaching the final goal.  All work must appear in the Group area.  If you work outside of the group area, you will not receive credit for the collaborative work.

As a self-managed team, the following is the work for which team members are responsible: 

• setting goals
• determining roles and responsibilities for each team member
• actively participating and communicating in the Group area of the classroom
• completing the agreed upon work prior to the deadline
• resolving problems and issues among the team members
• agreeing on a final product as a group (consensus decision making)
• submitting the final product into the Assignment Folder (all students will submit into the Assignment Folder)

Collaboration starts by having one member of the team go into the Group area and create two new threads: 

• Team Responsibilities
• Post Your Memo Here

Under the first thread, your team will set goals, determine the roles and responsibilities of each team member, determine a schedule for communication, set deadlines (do not set the deadline for the last day), and any other needed schedule to complete the task. 

Post your Memo from Week 1 into the second thread. You will discuss the critical information in the memos and along with the instructions below, will write a job announcement in narrative format.

All students on the team will receive the same grade unless a member fails to participate or does not carry his or her weight in completing the project.  These students will receive a zero or a reduced grade depending on the level of participation and contribution to the team project.  It is each team member’s responsibility to post throughout the week.  Even if students in the group do not post, you will continue to post throughout the week continuing the work and supporting the ideas presented.

Teams can consist of 2, 3 or 4 students but should not consists of more than four students. The project can be easily done by two students.  Team members are responsible for completing the project even if a team member does not fulfill his or her obligation of submitting the agreed upon work.  The project cannot be completed individually and students cannot choose to create teams other than those created by the instructor. 

If the project is submitted after the due date, the Late Assignment policy is applicable. No extensions beyond the due date is given to teams as the expectation is that student on the team pick up the slack.

Instructions: 

Step 1: Course Materials

For this project, you are required to use the case scenario facts and the course materials.  External sources are not permitted.  You are not researching on the Internet or using resources from outside the course.  You are expected to answer the requirements identified below showing the connection between the case scenario facts and the course materials.   Using course materials goes beyond defining terms and are used to explain the ‘why and how’ of a situation.  Avoid merely making statements but close the loop of the discussion by explaining how something happens or why something happens, which focuses on importance and impact.  In closing the loop, you will demonstrate the ability to think clearly and rationally showing an understanding of the logical connections between the ideas presented in a case scenario, the course materials and the question(s) being asked.  Using one or two in-text citations from the course material throughout the entire paper will not earn many points on an assignment.  The use of a variety of course materials is expected consistently supporting what is presented.  The support must be relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed.  Points are not earned for mentioning a term or concept but by clearly and thoroughly explaining or discussing the question at hand.

Step 2:  Your Role

Your group will act as Jennifer Dion, Human Resources Director at Biotech Health and Life Products (Biotech). 

You received an email from the Vice-President. There are two immediate openings that must be filled: Warehouse Operations in Detroit and in Brisbane. The email describes the specifications for a job announcement for these two positions.  You will create a job announcement that can be placed on Indeed.com by incorporating the memorandum details from each group member’s memo from week 1, from the course materials from week 1 and week 2, and the Company Profile.  You must use a mix of the course materials and not be dependent on the company profile or the memos.  You are not lifting chunks of information directly from the company profile but taking key concepts and turning them into aspects of the job announcement. 

The group should seek to comply with the requirements of the Indeed website.  [Note: Your team is not actually submitting on Indeed.com but the quality has to be good enough for submission.  At the same time, do not copy anything from Indeed.com, as this group assignment has to be your original work]  

Step 3: Complete the Biotech Leadership Competencies Table 

The Biotech Leadership Competencies Table will help your group determine the leadership competencies important for leadership at Biotech that are critical for the Job Announcement. See the directions for completing that table in the attached document Biotech Leadership Competencies Table.

The identified competencies are required to appear in the job announcement and explanatory document.

Step 4: Completing the Job Announcement

To complete the job announcement: 

• Define the term ‘leader’ that fits Biotech. You are not taking an existing definition and applying it to Biotech. You must create an original definition.
• Identify the leadership competencies the new leaders at Biotech will possess to accomplish its vision.
• Identify the leadership style(s) encouraged by Biotech’s definition.

The job announcement must have a narrative and is not a compilation of bullets for the leadership aspect of the project.  The job announcement must comply with the requirements set out by Indeed.com. Remember that this job announcement relates to leadership.

Step 5: Explanatory Document 

• In the same document, create a title page with the course name and number, project name and team member names.  Below the Job Announcement:
• Write the explanatory document using Times New Roman, 12” font, double-spaced with headings that explains: 
  • How and why the job announcement reflects the themes and specific readings from week 1 and week 2.
  • The reasoning for the choice of language used in the job announcement.  Be specific.
  • Make sure the responses to these requirements provide support for the reasoning and conclusions from the course material.  When using source material, in-text citations and associated references in a reference list must exist.

Step 6: Review the Project 

• Read the grading rubric for the project. Use the grading rubric while completing the project to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.
• Third person writing is required. Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this link: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third- person.
• Contractions are not used in job announcements, so do not use them.
• Paraphrase and do not use direct quotation marks. This means you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, but put a passage from a source document into your own words and attribute the passage to the source document. Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa.  
• Provide the page or paragraph number.
• You may only use the course material to complete this project.   If external source material is used, that material will not be included in the grading.

Step 7: Submit Project in the Assignment Folder 

You will submit two documents in the Assignment Folder: 

• Job Announcement labeled, Group #, – Job Announcement.  This document contains: 
  • the job announcement
  •  the 2 – 3  page explanatory element of the project