Leader Interview Assignment Guidelines and Grading Guide

Overview

The leader interview assignment is assigned in Module One and is due in Module Three. The purpose is to give you a better understanding of the role executive management plays in the strategic management process.

The leader interview assignment requires you to use concepts from Modules One, Two, and Three. You will reflect on and analyze the responses from your interviewed leader and incorporate your own research on strategy topics into your analysis.

Select a leader in an organization of your choice. This leader must be a decision-making manager; an executive or CEO is preferred. This must be a manager who understands the company's strategy and has a level of authority and responsibility to answer questions on macro-environment factors that impact his or her organization as well as on assessing, to some degree, how well the company is performing to its stated strategy.

While an executive or CEO is ideal, most decision-making managers will implement the organization's strategy, for example, through the allocation of resources, assignment of tasks, or appraisal of employees in meeting company objectives.

You will have some predetermined interview questions to pose to your interviewee/leader, but you must also add three to five of your own strategy-related interview questions that pertain to material in Modules One through Three and are relevant to this leader or his or her organization. When you create your questions, be sensitive to the leader's need for confidentiality on some aspects of the organization's internal information.

The best back-and-forth interview exchange is through face-to-face meeting with your interviewee/leader. Other methods for the interview can include phone or web conferencing or interview by email.

Main Components

This interview consists of a series of interview questions, some of which are listed on the Interview Questionnaire located at the end this document. You must also add three to five of your own strategy-related interview questions that pertain to material in Modules One through Three and that are relevant to this leader or his or her organization. You will reflect on the interviewee/leader's responses and incorporate your own research about strategy topics in an analysis paper about the role of leadership in the creation and execution of strategy.

Format

You will need to interview your leader and then reflect on and analyze his or her responses in a paper that also incorporates your own research about strategy topics.

TIPS:

1. Prepare your own three to five questions relevant to this interviewee/leader to add to the list of predefined questions in the Interview Questionnaire at the end of these guidelines. Be sensitive to the interviewee/leader's position and a need for confidentiality on some aspects of internal information when you create your questions.

2. Be prepared to provide your interviewee/leader with the list of questions prior to the actual interview so he or she is not caught off-guard.

3. Arrange to hold your interview as early as possible, in Module One, as schedule changes and postponements can happen.

4. The interviewee does not need to reveal any confidential company information.

5. Be sure to send a thank-you note to your interviewee after the interview.

Reflect on what you have learned about the role of leadership and strategy from your interview. Analyze the importance of leadership in crafting and executing strategy. Incorporate meaningful research in your analysis; your research into strategy creation and execution topics could and should begin before the interview.

Include your entire interview questionnaire, including the interview questions you created, and your leader's responses in an appendix. The appendix does not count in the page requirements for your analysis. Your own analysis should be between 4 to 6 pages and incorporate research on strategy topics.

Interview Questionnaire

Predefined Interview Questions:

Part 1: Introduction (If you cannot find this information ahead of time, you will need to ask during the interview):

What is the name of your organization?

What are your organization's primary products and/or services?

Please provide a brief description of your organization's current mission/purpose and its vision for the future.

Does your organization have a stated strategy that it shares with stakeholders? If so, what is that strategy?

What are your responsibilities, and what is your title?

Part 2: Crafting Strategy

Are there forces outside your organization that put pressure on how your business is run? Briefly describe them.

How has your organization changed its strategy in response to outside forces?

How do your biggest rivals compete to try to gain an advantage with customers in your markets?

What do you believe is your organization's competitive advantage over rivals?

Describe how your organization involves the leadership team in developing strategies during challenging economic times.

Describe how your organization involves other employees in developing strategies.

Part 3: Executing Strategy

How does your organization communicate its vision and strategy to employees?

Briefly describe how your organization builds internal capabilities.

Describe how you organization determines and communicates objectives.

Describe how you and your organization evaluate performance towards stated objectives.