Issue Management and Personal Competence assignment sample

Table of Content

Task 4: Issue Management	4
1. Select one of the issues described above and indicate what issue you have selected to address	4
2. Investigate the issue and write a brief report on your investigation	4
3. Develop an issue resolution strategy that includes	5
Task 5: Personal and professional competence	6
Section 1: Ethical conduct	6
Meaning of conduct in the context of business and the importance of ethical behaviour what is an ethical business culture?	6
What ethical behaviours are important and why?	6
How you can lead by example for your team and encourage them to adopt ethical behaviour?	7
Provide a practical example of a conflict of interest in the workplace that would clash with your values/ethics and describe how you would address it.	8
Section 2: Leadership styles	8
Research different leadership styles and outline	8
What is your leadership style and why?	8
What leadership style you feel you could improve	8
How you could improve your leadership skills?	8
Part 2: Leadership style and circumstances	9
a. You are a new appointed manager and your team displays a negative approach towards you	9
b. Your team is falling behind schedule and you require them to work extra hours for the next two week	9
c. You need the support of another manager in the company to share the resources of his team for a month	9
d. Your company is restructuring and there are several changes ahead	9
Consider any legislation and regulations that may apply to the scenarios	10
For each scenario, describe what style of leadership you would apply and why. Consider any legislation and regulations that may apply to the scenarios	10
Section 3: Development plan	10
Develop a personal and professional development plan to improve your current skills and knowledge	10
Reference List	11

Task 4: Issue Management

1. Select one of the issues described above and indicate what issue you have selected to address

The issue related to gender pay-gap has been selected.

2. Investigate the issue and write a brief report on your investigation

Consider the form of investigation usually undertaken

• Investigate the reason behind it
• Investigate the nature of the organisation
• Record the opinion of the employees (Takey & de Carvalho, 2015)
• Assess the historical practice of the payment procedure
• Examine the existence of other similar claims

Root causes of the problem

• More men in senior role than women
• Women prefer to work in sectors or roles that are low-paid
• Flexibility
• Availability

Regulatory and legislative implication of the issue

In response to the rampant gender discrimination, the government of Australia has implemented legislation such as:

• Act of Sex Discrimination 1984
• Act for Gender equality at workplace 2012(replaced Act for equal opportunity for women 1999) (Equal Opportunity Commission, 2019)

Impact on the image of company

Issues such as gender discrimination and pay gap based on gender can be considered as one of the modern social evils. In the context of an organisation it can severely impact the public image of the company by having the following impact:

• Loss of goodwill
• Tarnished image (Frendika, Sule & Kusman, 2018)
• Suitable employees excluding the place as a potential place for work
• Stock prices hit severely
• Investors may not choose to associate themselves with company anymore

Develop an issue resolution strategy that includes:

Effective addressing to the issue for resolution

An organisation accused of practising gender discrimination can choose the following steps to address the issue:

• Admit the issue instead of trying to defend themselves
• Form a committee if it does not exist already
• Appoint people from all sectors to be a part of the team
• Promote transparency

Recommendations regarding prevention of issue from occurring yet again

• Develop and implement a policy framework to address issues related to gender pay equity
• Conduct a reporting process
• Conduct seminars and provide training for generating awareness
• Promote equality and take serious steps for wilful defaulters

Task 5: Personal and professional competence

Section 1: Ethical conduct

Reflect on:

Meaning of conduct in the context of business and the importance of ethical behaviour what is an ethical business culture?

According to de Vasconcelos, Kimble & Rocha (2016), an ethical business may be defined as a state whereby important elements such as employee rights, equal pay, and fairness is promoted and practised by an organisation.

What ethical behaviours are important and why?

Ethical behaviour is an important aspect of any business which primarily constitutes of the following principles:

• Honesty
• Loyalty
• Integrity
• Fairness
• Law abiding
• Emphaty
• Trust worthiness
• Accountability

These are some of the important elements or principles of ethical behaviour and it’s important since the effects of business ethics reaches far beyond loyalty of the employees or team bonding. The ethical operation of a company is apparently directly associated with profitability

Implementation of the behaviours in the workplace

According to Moltudal et al. (20919), an ethical behaviour in the context of workplace is crucial and can be regarded as an important aspect of business. Thus, while elements of work ethics vary from place-to-place, imbibing the common principles in corporate ethics and compliance policy can help in laying a strong foundation upon which a potent place of work can be built are as follows:

Define a code

Lead by example

Review and course correction

Seek buy-in of the employees

How you can lead by example for your team and encourage them to adopt ethical behaviour?

Leaders are usually aware that their behaviour apparently serves as an example for members to follow. Slack in behaviour is likely to act as precedent for employees to take things easy and laidback.

Provide a practical example of a conflict of interest in the workplace that would clash with your values/ethics and describe how you would address it.

Example - An employee reporting to a supervisor who is also a close friend or relative and controls the salary, promotions and job responsibilities.

Section 2: Leadership styles

Research different leadership styles and outline:

What is your leadership style and why?

All leadership styles are important and required in various situations but as per personal preference Strategic leadership is the most suitable. The reason behind choosing this particular style is as follows:

• Inquisitive
• Resourceful (Hylli et al. 2015)
• Compassionate
• Influential

What leadership style you feel you could improve

Each and every leadership has its advantages and disadvantages but among them autocratic style of leadership has the maximum potential to improve upon. This particular style of work can be improved by collecting feedback and having an improved communication process.

How you could improve your leadership skills?

Any style of management can be improved upon by collecting feedback, a good communication process and having compassion towards the employees.

Part 2: Leadership style and circumstances

a. You are a new appointed manager and your team displays a negative approach towards you

In order to handle the situation a democratic style of leadership can be adopted since it empowers each and every employee and makes them valued.

b. Your team is falling behind schedule and you require them to work extra hours for the next two weeks

In order to finish the job in time by implementing a transactional leadership since managers under this approach reward their employees for the work to be done. In the context of the study, Work Health and Safety Act 2011 is applicable since it outlines the framework to protect the safety, health, and worker’s welfare (Workplace Health and Safety Electrical Safety Office Workers' Compensation Regulator, 2019).

c. You need the support of another manager in the company to share the resources of his team for a month

In the above-stated situation a strategic relationship can be followed since the purpose of this particular type of style involves making an organisational structure which is sufficiently prepared to achieve the goals of the organisation.

d. Your company is restructuring and there are several changes ahead

Similar to the above-stated instance, strategic relationship can be followed since the purpose of this particular type of style involves making an organisational structure which is sufficiently prepared to achieve the goals of the organisation.

For each scenario, describe what style of leadership you would apply and why. Consider any legislation and regulations that may apply to the scenarios.

Section 3: Development plan

Develop a personal and professional development plan to improve your current skills and knowledge

Professional goals	Steps to be taken	Potential outcome
Speaking in public	Know the audience Organise the material in an effective manner Integrate humour and stories Use audiovisual aids	Improvement in the public speaking activity
Job performance	Set milestones plan ,prioritise and organise Communicate effectively Work on the weak areas	Implementation of the steps mentioned is expected to enhance the performance of the job
Physical vitality	Regular exercises Get active physically Practice yoga	Following earlier stated steps can help in improving the physical and mental condition
Technical skills	Remain updated regarding the profession Read regularly Attend seminars and practice regularly	Technical skills will improve gradually and continue to grow

Table 1: Professional and personal development plan

Reference List

de Vasconcelos, J. B., Kimble, C., & Rocha, Á. (2016). A special issue on knowledge and competence management: Developing Enterprise solutions. Information Systems Frontiers, 18(6), 1035-1039. Retrieved on 20 November 2019, from: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10796-016-9717-z.pdf

Equal Opportunity Commission, 2019.Workplace Gender Equality Act, Equal Opportunity Commission. Retrieved on 20 November 2019, from: https://eoc.sa.gov.au/resources/discrimination-laws/australian-laws/workplace-gender-equality-act

Frendika, R., Sule, E. T., & Kusman, M. (2018). The Power of Personal Values and Cultural Competence towards Personal Branding of Employees. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 17(1), 1-10. Retrieved on 20 November 2019, from: https://www.abacademies.org/articles/The-power-of-personal-values-and-cultural-competence-1939-6104-17-1-178.pdf

Hylli, O., Mattila, A. L., & Systä, K. (2015). Collecting issue management data for analysis with a unified model and API descriptions. In SPLST (pp. 251-265). Retrieved on 20 November 2019, from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/36e3/67c7c78bd49b04b7f0c619ec74ff25e9d73f.pdf

Moltudal, S., Krumsvik, R., Jones, L., Eikeland, O. J., & Johnson, B. (2019). The Relationship Between Teachers’ Perceived Classroom Management Abilities and Their Professional Digital Competence. Designs for Learning, 11(1). Retrieved on 20 November 2019, from: https://www.designsforlearning.nu/article/10.16993/dfl.128/

Takey, S. M., & de Carvalho, M. M. (2015). Competency mapping in project management: An action research study in an engineering company. International Journal of Project Management, 33(4), 784-796. Retrieved on 20 November 2019, from: https:/pwww.semanticscholar.org/paper/Competency-mapping-in-project-management%3A-An-action-Takey-Carvalho/fd9d09536b0c289889f8b4a6c4882330cacacd29

Workplace Health and Safety Electrical Safety Office Workers' Compensation Regulator, (2019). Work health and safety act, 2011. Retrieved on 20 November 2019, from: https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/laws-and-compliance/workplace-health-and-safety-laws/laws-and-legislation/work-health-and-safety-act-2011