Case Study #3 (50 Points) ISE544 – Spring2017 (NOWROOZI)

Name: Sumukh Prakash Kane

ISE 544 Case Study #3
Prof Ali Nowroozi
Spring 2017
USC ID: 2733952034
Due Date: 4th April, 2017
Case Study #3 (50 Points) ISE544 – Spring2017 (NOWROOZI)

Case #3:

a. Watch this clip on YouTube. Relate your observations to “Leadership” and

“cohesion/conflict” discussions in the class. Explain how you assess nature and
amount of conflict/cohesion and your reasons. Also explain if you find signs of an
effective (level 5) leader and provide specific reasons. Make appropriate citations
and then follow through with your own explanation. (ONE PAGE TOATAL, ½
page for each topic)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNeXlJW70KQ

Ans) Steve Jobs was a phenomenal entrepreneur with a unique style and charisma of his own. At
the mere age of 22 he founded apple computers which went on to become a $2 billion business.
The personality, attitude, charm and charisma shown by Steve Jobs over the years has cemented
his legacy as an exceptional leader who can motivate and inspire people to achieve the
extraordinary. As after parting ways with Apple in 1985 Steve proceeded to build a startup called
neXT with his own money with a vision to build a product that shall teach and inspire people and
at the same time revolutionize the education sector. Most of the Engineers and Designers in the
neXT team were past apple employees who had quit there comfortable and high paying jobs to
be a part of Steve’s vision, this shows that Steve had attained level 5 leadership status as per
John Maxwell’s leadership levels as he is willing to invest his life into the life of others for the
long term. He has also established himself to be a Guru who is automatically followed by people.

The neXT team also showed significant amount of positive conflict in there brainstorming
sessions. Steve Job’s came up with a brilliant idea of having company retreats at a periodic
interval of time so as to rejuvenate his stressed out team by ensuring a change of setting and
following that with an intense brainstorming session which involved talks like ‘Chairman Job’s
Vision’. Jobs showcased his leadership abilities by extensively using the retreats to build his
company and to motivate his workforce. He emphasized on the fact that it’s more important to be
an architect in the process of company building rather than just building a specific marketable
product for the company. The neXT team face significant amount of challenges as they have to
get a high quality product out within a limited time frame that too without having proper
guidelines about what is to be done. The team discussed the possibilities and challenges
associated with the task reminding them of similar tasks that had resulted into excessive delays
due to the very enormity of the job itself. Job’s at this point reminds the team that the passion for
their work shall drive and inspire them to achieve the impossible. The team is still lagging
behind schedule about six months after their launch and the team members are thus having
conflicts regarding possible pay cuts they should be undertaking but Steve again reminds them
that it’s ok to lose a battle to win the war, thus reminding them of the bigger picture and making
sure they focus on the job at hand rather than worrying about the financial issues faced by the
company.
Case Study #3 (50 Points) ISE544 – Spring2017 (NOWROOZI)

b. Watch John Maxwell’s 5 levels of leadership and explain how you relate it to our
leadership discussion; paradoxes, feedbacks, definition of power, empowerment,
Level 5 leadership of Jim Collins, etc.. (1/2 PAGE TO ONE PAGE)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPwXeg8ThWI&spfreload=5

Ans) The video talks about John Maxwell’s 5 levels of leadership which can be broken down as
follows

Level 1: Position of leadership (A simple managerial role)

Individuals in this role are not followed or admired because of their charisma or stature but
because of the mere fact that they hold a managerial position. This is like the lowest level or the
‘Entry Level’ of Leadership as any individual can be appointed to that position even when he/she
lacks the human aspect of the organization. A leader in this level is typically followed because
people have to and thus this type of a leader hardly influences his team. This position can still be
considered to be the one that helps a new leader develop and grow.

Level 2: Observe, Listen and Learn

Level 2 is based on relationships, at this stage people choose their leader as they follow someone
not because they have to but because they want to. To excel in this position the Leader must
appreciate the human resources at his disposal as he must understand the people he is working
with. When you like people and treat them as individuals who have value, you begin to develop
positive influence with them. Trust grows, which usually leads to respect and the environment
becomes more positive. This level basically lays the foundation for the next level of Leadership.

Level 3: Be Effective, Bring Results.

A leader at this stage is someone who can inspire and motivate someone to get things done.
There is a significant level of trust between the leader and his team and this results as the team is
greatly influenced by the leader. The Production level is where leaders can become change
agents. Work gets done, morale improves, profits go up, turnover goes down, and goals are
achieved. The more you produce, the more you’re able to tackle tough problems and face thorny
issues. Leading and influencing others becomes fun, because when everyone is moving forward
together, the team rises to another level of effectiveness.

Level 4: Put other people in right positions.

An individual at this level aims at reproducing leaders like him as he tries to put the right people
in the right places. The Leader thus invests in people so as to improve the productivity of the
organization. The leader shall also be responsible to help the budding leaders of tomorrow grow
and he/she should thus provide suitable infrastructure for that.

Level 5: Ultimate Leader (GURU)

The highest level of leadership is also the most challenging to attain. It requires longevity as well
as intentionality. The commitment to becoming a Pinnacle leader is sizeable, but so are the
payoffs. Level 5 leaders develop Level 5 organizations. They create opportunities other leaders
don’t. They create a legacy in what they do. People follow them because of who they are and
what they represent. In other words, their leadership gains a positive reputation.
Case Study #3 (50 Points) ISE544 – Spring2017 (NOWROOZI)

c. Watch this clip and explain what more you learn about emotional intelligence and
how you can relate it to what you have learned in this course. Laso other topics
such as TMS, knowledge management, etc. (1/2 PAGE TO ONE PAGE)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA15YZlF_kM&spfreload=5

Ans) Emotional intelligence is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible as the
speaker says “Emotional Intelligence is a mental state that occurs spontaneously rather than
through conscious effort”. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and
make personal decisions that achieve positive results. Emotional intelligence taps into a
fundamental element of human behavior that is distinct from the intellect. Emotional
intelligence, is a flexible set of skills that can be acquired and improved with practice. Although
some people are naturally more emotionally intelligent than others, you can develop high
emotional intelligence even if you aren’t born with it. Personality is the final piece of the puzzle.
It’s the stable “style” that defines each of us. Personality is the result of hard-wired preferences,
such as the inclination toward introversion or extroversion. However, like IQ, personality can’t
be used to predict emotional intelligence. Also like IQ, personality is stable over a lifetime and
doesn’t change. IQ, emotional intelligence, and personality each cover unique ground and help to
explain what makes a person tick.
“A TMS is a shared system for attending to, encoding, processing, storing, sharing, processing
and retrieving information”(Definition of TMS from making the team by Thompson) . A
fundamental premise of the transactive memory theory is that other people can serve as external
memory aids to improve a group’s benefits and outcomes a team’s accurate and efficient
transactive memory helps in quality knowledge sharing, which leads to superior team
performance. Thus, Transactive memory is positively related to team performance via the full
mediation of knowledge sharing. In addition to knowledge sharing, team performance is also
directly affected by emotional regulation. Team performance can increase due to high levels of
emotional regulation. Emotional regulation represents a team’s non-cognitive capabilities and
skills that influence its ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures.
Thus, Emotional regulation predicts a team’s performance at both the initial and later stages