Take-home Exam Ajnesh.docx

Please find below the exam instructions and the exam questions. TAKE-HOME EXAM INSTRUCTIONS Format: The exam will consist of three substantive questions. You will be required to choose two questions and answer them in essay format. You should seek to present your answers in the style of traditional essays. As such, in each response you will be required to move beyond descriptive analysis and develop a succinct argument (there should be a thesis statement presented and supported in the essay). Length: Each question should be answered in approximately 1,000 words. Your essays for each question can range between 900-1,100 words (not including references). Presentation: Each essay should be double spaced, in Times New Roman size 12 font, and should include the number of the question that you are answering (i.e., Question 1, 2, or 3). After you have answered each question, you should provide a word count of your essay response (i.e. 922 words). A title page that includes your pertinent details should accompany the exam (i.e., your name, stuszss dent no., name of the course, name of the professor, date submitted). ** Where ever possible, please submit your responses and the title page in a SINGLE Microsoft Word file (i.e. .doc). References: You should minimally consult the course readings to substantiate your arguments and assertions. Please be sure to cite your sources appropriately. You may also elect to refer to lecture discussions when responding to the questions. Date: You will have access to the exam via Blackboard at some point before 6:00pm on Monday (18 March 2019). You will be required to submit the exam by e-mail to the professor ([email protected]) by 11:59pm on Sunday (24 March 2019). The title of your e-mail should be: ‘EGADE 2019 – Take-Home Exam’. An acknowledgment note upon receipt will be sent to you by the professor. Exams submitted late will be assessed a penalty (see below for additional details on the penalties for late submissions).

EVALUATION: Value: This take-home exam will be worth 30% of your overall grade. Assessment of Essays: Each essay will be assessed using the following criteria: Quality of the paper (70%) - Does the paper present a novel, clear, and interesting thesis-claim? - IMPORTANT: Does the paper substantiate its asserted thesis? That is, will I be convinced of (or at least sympathize with) your case after I finish reading your paper? - Does the paper engage sufficiently and appropriately with the course content (the relevant articles we have read and the discussions we have had)? - Is the supporting arguments well articulated? ** Providing a description/summary of the readings, while important, is not sufficient to receive a satisfactory grade on the essays. You must be

able to critically appraise the questions and develop a cogent argument/response. Organization (20%): - Is the paper easy to read? - Does the paper have good flow (be mindful of providing transition sentences when moving from one idea/section to another)? - Are there many punctuation/grammar/spelling mistakes? Awkward sentences? Format (10%) - Is the paper well structured? Does it have the necessary elements of good quality paper? - Is the paper presented in a professional manner (i.e. title page)? - Is the paper appropriately cited? Are the references properly documented in the back? - Is the paper of the prescribed length (900-1,100 words, exclusive of references)?

PENALTIES: Late Submissions: Should the exam be submitted after 11:59pm on Sunday (24 March) but before 11:59pm on Monday (25 March) the exam will incur a penalty of 10%. For each additional day the exam is submitted late, it will incur additional penalties at the rate of 10% (i.e., submitting the exam sometime on Tuesday will incur an accumulative penalty of 20%).

OTHER NOTES: Academic Honesty: This is an independent take-home exam. Accordingly, you are not to consult with other students in the class or anyone else regarding any aspect of the exam. Should you have any queries or require further clarification, you should only consult the professor (see contact details below).

1) You are the chief operating officer (COO) of a firm that has experienced a significant corruption scandal as a result of several executives engaging in financial theft from the company. The executives who committed the financial theft have since been fired. As COO, which three steps would you take to ensure that corruption in the firm will be avoided in the future? Provide an explanation for why these three steps are particularly important for guaranteeing that corruption does not occur again. Finally, consider what single action as COO you would take to attempt to fix the reputation of your firm in the wider community.

1. FIRST PARAGRAPH: Introduction a. Problem Statement (case specific) b. Elaborate the issue (briefly) c. Thesis statement (In this essay I will argue that the sources of the problem is the following) 2. SECOND PARAGRAPH: discuss each of the causes asked in one paragraph 3. THIRD AND FORTH PARAGRAPH: argumentation 4. THIRD PARAGRAPH: RESTATE THE PROBLEM and conclusion with a practical solution

REPUTATION FIXING

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Image Repair Theory - Benoit (1995a, 1997, 2015)

o Image repair discourse is a response to actual or anticipated threats to face. Such threats consist of two elements: (a) an offensive act that is (b) attributed to the target (see Pomerantz’s, 1978, analysis of complaints or Benoit, 2017; Benoit & Glantz, 2017) o Image repair theory identifies 5 general strategies and a total of 14 strategies (see Benoit, 2015; see Table 1).

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What, if anything, will be done in order to prevent the tragedu again? Case studies indicate some of the conditions that influence the persuasiveness of corrective action. The defense should actually fix (and/or prevent future occurrences of) the problem. To have the best chance of success, the person or organization employing corrective action should do so in a timely fashion (note that in the contemporary environment of social media, corrective action should be used very quickly indeed). The defense should be internally consistent (e.g., do not deny the existence of a problem and propose corrective action). – (Benoit 2018) The “phases” of image repair have become highly compressed with the advent of social media (consider the time it took for the phases of President Reagan’s Iran– Contra defense to develop) – benoit 2018 the ability of the Internet and social media to provide almost instantaneous distribution of incriminating pictures, videos, and other accusatory messages has forever altered crisis communication (see, e.g., Glantz & Benoit, 2017) It is vital for corporations, organizations, and individuals to understand the nature of our current media environment. Another implication of this case study is the idea that it is not enough to apologize for something—one must apologize for the perceived offense.

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LEADING CHANGE: WHY TRANSFORMATIO EFFORTS FAIL (Kotter, 1995)

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The most general lesson to be learned from the more successful cases is that the change process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length of time. Skipping steps creates only the illusion of speed and never produces a satisfying result. Sometimes executives underestimate how hard it can be to drive people out of their comfort zone. Sometimes the grossly overestimate how successful the have already been in increasing urgency. Sometimes they lack patience. If change is needed, the division general manager is key. If such managers are not leaders, it can be a huge challenge. Eight steps to transforming your organization Estalishing a sense of urgency Forming a powerful guiding coalition Creating a vision Communicating the vision  If you can’t communicate the vision to someone in five minutes or less and get a reaction that signifies both understanding and interest, you are not yet done with this phase of the transformation process  Successful visions usually include new growth possibilities and the commitment to treat fairly anyone who is laid off Empower others to act on the vision  LEADERS NEED TO WALK THE TALK

6. Planning for and creating short-term wins 7. Consolidating improvements and producing still more change 8. Insitutionalizing new approaches  When the change operator is substituted or retres, the work done over decades can be undone if the substitute is either a change opposer or if it just isn’t a change champion

THE HARD SIDE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT

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Still, studies show that in most organizations, two out of three transformation initiatives fail. Different managers view change in different ways o SUCCESS FACTORS ARE FUNDAMENTAL o BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE The Four Factors of Change: These factors determine the outcome of any transformation initiative. o D. The duration of time until the change program is completed if it has a short life span; if not short, the amount of time between reviews of

milestones. o I. The project team’s performance integrity; that is, its ability to complete the initiative on time. That depends on members’ skills and traits relative to the project’s requirements. o C. The commitment to change that top management (C1) and employees affected by the change (C2) display. o E. The effort over and above the usual work that the change initiative demands of employees.