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Article I.
Invigilator’s Signature Candidate’s Examination Roll
No/Registration No.

THE UNIVERSITY OF LAHORE

Faculty of Management Sciences
Lahore Business School
Spring 2020 – End Term
Subjective

Instructor’s Name: Dr. Farah Samreen Paper: Leadership and Team Building

Program / Date: MS Subject Code: MS02193, MS02201

Time Allowed: 2 hours & 30 minutes. Total Marks: 30

Reviewed By: Approved By:

Instructions for Candidates

i. Attempt all questions.
ii. Any question not attempted will be marked as incorrect
iii. Word limit for each question is 250 words.
iv. Late submission will not be acceptable.

Q: Support your answers with specific information from the case/recommended books/lectures/Web
or any other sources.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

William (Bill) H. Gates, III, was born in 1955 and began programming mainframe computers at age 13.
While attending Harvard University, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for
the first microcomputer—the MITS Altair. In 1975, Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen founded
Microsoft as a partnership, and it was incorporated in 1981. He invented the software industry, master
minded the rise of the PC, and has hung in there as a force on the Internet. Bill Gates is consistently ranked
as one of the richest men in the world, and was ranked by Fortune as the seventh most powerful business
person in the world. He retired from Microsoft in 2008 to devote most of his time to the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation.97

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Bill Gates can be abrasive and is known as a demanding boss who encourages creativity and recognizes
employee achievements. Several of his early employees are now millionaires. Employees are expected to
be well-informed, logical, vocal, and thick-skinned. Teams must present their ideas at “Bill” meetings.
During the meetings, Gates often interrupts presentations to question facts and assumptions. He shouts
criticisms and challenges team members. Team members are expected to stand up to Gates, giving good
logical answers to his questions. Melinda French grew up in Dallas in a hard-working, middle-class family.
Unlike Bill, she graduated from college, earning a BA (double major in computer science and economics)
and an MBA from Duke University. She went to work for Microsoft in 1987; at age 22 she was the
youngest recruit and the only woman among ten MBAs. For nine years she was a hotshot who climbed
the corporate ladder to become general manager of information products, managing 300 employees. Bill
and Melinda got married on January 1, 1994. Melinda stopped working at Microsoft after having the first
of their three children (Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe), but she continued to serve on corporate boards,
including that of Duke University. Melinda’s foremost concern is that the kids lead lives as normal as
possible. But she remains Bill’s greatest business advisor. He continues to consult her on decisions at
Microsoft, and Melinda is credited for helping Bill make better decisions. Now that their youngest child is
in school, Melinda is more active in leadership outside the home, and she was ranked as number 1 of the
Women to Watch, by The Wall Street Journal.98 Malinda Gates is a total systems thinker who constantly
sets and achieves goals. She is known as a strong team builder, who strives for collaboration in decision
making. Melinda is loving and charming; she wins people over by being persuasive. She is compassionate
and not afraid to get involved as she travels the world to help solve its problems. She held AIDS babies
with dirty pants and comforted patients when she visited Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying in India.
She has more influence than Bill when it comes to investing their assets in philanthropic projects.99
Before Bill and Melinda were even married, they talked about giving away 95 percent of their wealth
during their lifetime. That is why they cofounded and co-chair their foundation. They agreed to focus on a
few areas of giving, choosing where to place their money by asking two questions: Which problems affect
the most people? and Which problems have been neglected in the past? They give where they can affect
the greatest change. They have pumped billions into easing the suffering of those plagued by some of the
world’s deadliest diseases (AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis) and revitalized failing public high schools in
the United States with their financial support.100 Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to reduce inequities and improve lives around the world. It has
three Grantmaking Areas: Global Development Program, Global Health Program, and United States

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Program. So far, it has commitment grants of $16.5 billion. The foundation has an asset trust
endowment of $37.3 billion, making it the world’s largest foundation with more than 500 employees.
Personal friend Warren Buffett has also teamed up with the Gates and will contribute billions more.
The Gates Foundation has already given away more than any other foundation. But they don’t use a
go-it-alone approach. They seek partners in their grants to create the best approach to solving world
problems. Bill and Melinda will very likely give away more than $100 billion in their lifetime. Bill and
Melinda are truly world leaders.

1. What do you think Bill and Melinda Gates’s personality traits are for each of the Big Five dimensions?
Compare the two.

2. Which of the nine traits of effective leaders would you say has had the greatest impact on Bill and
Melinda Gates’s success? Compare the two.

3. Which motivation would McClelland say was the major need driving Bill and Melinda Gates to continue
to work so hard despite being worth many billions of dollars?

4. What type of self-concept do Bill and Melinda Gates have, and how does it affect their success?

5. Which leadership managerial role(s) played by Bill and Melinda Gates have an important part in the
success of their foundation?

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