Assessment Criteria Notes

Learners can use their own workplaces as a base for much of the assessment for this unit, or a detailed investigation of an organisation or the use of suitable case study material.

For 1.1, learners need to explain the link between strategic management and leadership. Learners need to use examples to explain the links between functions, with particular emphasis on meeting strategic objectives.

For 1.2, learners can draw on their own practices as managers/leaders, using examples from their organisations or a suitable case study to analyse the impact of different management and leadership styles on strategic decisions. This can be developed to evaluate how these styles have been adapted to meet challenges in at least two different situations and organisational contexts for 1.3.

For 2.1and 2.2, learners need to apply theory to specific situations and create a realistic leadership strategy. They need to review a range of management and leadership theories and models, with the emphasis on current thinking. Learners do not need to use lots of different theories to demonstrate wide-ranging knowledge, but should draw on two or three relevant theories to illustrate understanding in the context of the selected organisation.

Learning outcomes 3 and 4 relate to the assessment of current and future leadership requirements to meet the challenges for a specific situation. Learners need to plan for the development of leadership skills and report on the usefulness of the planning methods used to meet the requirements of 3.1, 3.2, 4.1 and 4.2.

Unit Content – linked to Assessment Criteria

1 Understand the relationship between strategic management and leadership

Strategic management and leadership: functions of strategic management eg reviewing strategic aims and objectives, improving organisational performance, creating, communicating and implementing change, developing and leading high performance teams, strategic decision making; definitions of leadership eg Mintzberg’s 10 Managerial Roles; followership; direct versus indirect leadership; link between strategic management and leadership eg the skills of the leader to achieve the strategic objectives

Management and leadership style: style eg autocratic, bureaucratic, charismatic, laissez-faire, persuasive, participative; influences on style eg culture of organisation, characteristics of the manager/leader; impact of styles on strategic decisions; adapting management and leadership styles in different situations

2 Be able to apply management and leadership theory to support organisational direction

Theories: universal theories such as Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership (Bennis, Bass), charismatic leadership (Weber, Conger and Kanungo); contingency theory eg Fiedler; situational theories eg Hersey and Blanchard, Vroom and Yetton, tri-dimensional leadership theory (Yukl)

Emotional intelligence: influence on leadership effectiveness, drivers; constrainers and enablers; studies on Emotional Quotient (EQ) eg Goleman, Higgs and Dulewicz

Applicability to support organisational direction: factors eg efficiency, reliability, innovation, adaptation and human resources in sectors, organisations and sub- units; size and stage of development of organisation eg business start-up versus established business; turnaround leadership, cultural issues

3 Be able to assess leadership requirements

Assess leadership requirements: generic challenges eg virtual organisations, diversity, globalisation, economic climate, world threats, ethics and corporate social responsibility; e-leadership, mergers and takeovers, restructuring, integrity leadership, diverse teams, partnerships and alliances, regulatory compliance, changes in reporting and control, new technology, interim leadership

4 Be able to plan the development of leadership skills

Development of leadership skills: different methods of developing leaders through formal learning, self-help and developmental activities eg training courses, job rotation, seminars, executive coaching, mentoring, companies’ own universities, developmental assessment centres, action learning, self-directed learning, reading articles, partnership with key academics; changing methodology in leadership development programmes; benefits of self-help activities eg learning from mistakes, viewing events from multiple perspectives; developing leaders versus recruiting as needed; creating a learning climate; model for assessing future leadership requirements eg Council for Excellence in Leadership and Management diagnostic tools; leadership competencies eg thinking and acting strategically, emotional intelligence, social intelligence, ability to learn, systems thinking

This Assignment is based upon the Pearson Edexcel Strategic Management and Leadership from August 2010 Programme Specification found at http://www.lcbuk.org/pdf/Edexcel_level7_SML.pdf