Assessment Brief: Critical Analysis of Leadership

1. Assessment Details

• Course Code: MGT536
• Course Name: Leadership and Management
• Assessment Item: 3 – Critical Analysis of Leadership
• Type: Individual Research Report
• Length: 3000–3500 words
• Weighting: 40%
• Submission Method: Turnitin (via Interact 2)

2. Rationale

This assessment connects theoretical knowledge with real-world application. It is designed to allow you to demonstrate the skills needed to analyse leadership effectiveness within specific organizational contexts. By evaluating actual biographical accounts, you will move beyond abstract concepts to critique how leadership is constructed, conceptualised, and practiced in the Australian business or third sector. Furthermore, this task requires you to synthesise current research to provide actionable recommendations for organizational issues, thereby bridging the gap between academic theory and management practice.

3. Task Description

You are required to conduct a comparative critical analysis of three Australian leaders and provide evidence-based recommendations for leadership improvement. This project assesses leaders in a work-related environment, focusing on their approaches to leadership and the resulting impact on organizational success.

Part A: Selection of Leaders

Identify three ‘interviews’ or biographical accounts of Australian CEOs, business leaders, or third-sector leaders. These must be sourced from Australian news media, professional management journals, or management-related magazines.

Note: Political leaders are not permitted. You must justify your selection of these specific individuals.

Part B: Comparative Analysis

Analyse your chosen cases. From a critical perspective, compare and contrast the following elements across all three leaders:

1. Construction of the Leader: How is each leader portrayed or ‘constructed’ by the media accounts?
2. Conceptualisation of Leadership: How do the leaders describe their own understanding or philosophy of leadership?
3. Conceptualisation of Success: How does each leader define success through their leadership lens?

Critically evaluate how each leader’s practice impacts their organisation’s success, applying relevant theoretical perspectives covered in MGT536.

Part C: Problem Solving and Advisory

Select ONE of the three leaders who is facing specific organizational issues.

• Identify the organizational issues clearly.
• Drawing on current leadership research (published within the last five years), formulate specific advice to assist this leader in addressing these issues.

Part D: Conclusions and Recommendations

Draw conclusions from your entire critical analysis. Make broader recommendations on how relevant theories and research can assist leaders in fulfilling their roles effectively.

4. Report Structure and Formatting

This assignment must be presented as a formal academic report. Adherence to the following structure is mandatory:

1. Cover Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Introduction (Overview of the report’s purpose and scope)
4. Discussion of 3 Leaders (Structure this section carefully; do not combine them into a single narrative block without separation).
   • Leader 1
     • Biography and Role
     • Analysis of Leadership Construction, Conceptualisation, and Success
     • Impact on Organisation
   • Leader 2 (Repeat structure)
   • Leader 3 (Repeat structure)
5. Advisory Section (Focus on the one leader facing issues + research-based advice)
6. General Recommendations (Broader application of theory)
7. Conclusion
8. Reference List (Minimum 10 citations)

Formatting Requirements

• Font: Standard 12pt font (e.g., Times New Roman, Arial).
• Spacing: 1.5 line spacing.
• Referencing: APA 6th Style. A minimum of 10 credible academic citations is required.
• Mechanics: Ensure professional literacy. Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation rigorously.

5. Marking Rubric

When analyzing the leadership construction of prominent figures such as Shemara Wikramanayake or Mike Cannon-Brookes, it is essential to distinguish between the media narrative and the leader’s self-concept. For instance, while external accounts may construct a leader as a transformative visionary driving disruptive change, the leader’s own conceptualization of success often hinges on more grounded metrics like sustainable stakeholder engagement or ethical governance. A critical evaluation using Transformational Leadership Theory suggests that while charisma drives public perception, the transactional elements of their role—such as resource allocation during crisis management—are often what stabilize the organization. Furthermore, recent research by Iszatt-White and Saunders (2020) highlights that effective leadership in the current volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) environment requires a shift from hierarchical decision-making to distributed leadership models. Therefore, when advising a leader facing high staff turnover, one must look beyond retention bonuses and recommend structural changes that empower middle management, aligning with contemporary findings on psychological safety in the workplace.

 Resources

• Iszatt-White, M. and Saunders, C. (2020) Leadership. 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Jackson, B. and Parry, K. (2018) A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Studying Leadership. 3rd edn. London: SAGE Publications.
• Northouse, P.G. (2021) Leadership: Theory and Practice. 9th edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
• Sustainable leadership: A systematic review of the literature. (2024) Journal of Cleaner Production, 380, p. 135000. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.135000.
• Evaluating the impact of distributed leadership on organizational resilience in Australian firms. (2023) Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 40(2), pp. 450–475.

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