Sample Case Study Paper on A Day in The Life of Alex Sander

1. What behaviors by Alex are having the greatest impact on the 360-degree data provided by
co-workers? Which of these behaviors are positive, and which are negative?
In just one year into the Toilet Division of Landon Care Products Company, Sanders has
successfully rebranded two national skin care products, which has added up to the long list of
achievement in his vitae. However, the manager has both positive and negative leadership and
personality qualities. For instance, on the positive side, Sander is a very hardworking person who
acts as a role model to the rest of the worker in the company, where he wakes up early and works
till late hours into the night. Alex poses a confident character, in that he is satisfied with the
current position and worries less about the outcome of the 360 degrees review by teammates.
Further, Sander continuously multitasks to see that he achieves every task set for him. For
instance, he launched two products at once and keeps on pushing the team to see things happen,
and deadlines met (Greiner & Collins, 2008). On the other hand, Alex takes all the glory into
achieved tasks by ensuring that he receives recognition, particularly he takes the lion's share of
credit personally. Also, as a team leader, Sander is too quick to react, without giving time to
explain oneself. The control makes the subordinates feel belittled, where he hardly trust on the
ability of others to perform tasks they are already into for a while, hence demotivates the team.
Similarly, Sander has an arrogant attitude that puts much pressure on the staff. As a result, he
stresses the system having ruffled feelings of people.

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2. What does the 360 data tell us about Alex’s likely career success? If you were Sam Glass, would
you invest more time in helping Sander progress at Landon?
Additionally, Alex Sander is a committed, outgoing person who works tirelessly. For
example, he sends emails to the four Connecticut-based US members of the Nourish team as
early as 3 am, or 4 am before walking into the gym to have his workout. Also, he has his day
well planned from the moment; such as attending the gym for a workout, goes into the office to
have his meeting, sets out to the gym for the evening exercise, and again works late into the
night. Similarly, the product manager assigns a daunting list to the four members, where he
challenges them to pull their weight to see that all tasks are performed. Besides, the young
product manager is an example of self-confidence, in that he believes in himself as a leader and
his potential to perform better each day. He believes that everything is possible by not giving an
ear to naysayers around (Greiner & Collins, 2008). For example, Sander is ready to start a new
company where he can make decisions, unlike when working under supervision with the
opposing perspectives from his seniors. In the case of the 360 degree review about his
performance, Alex is encouraged to opt for a different method, but he keeps his head fixed to the
review, hence the manager does not look into the feedback. Sander argues that he is not after
promotion since he has always been promoted and already has a plotted plan into his next step in
the company. However, Alex proves to be arrogant and hardly takes opinions from other people,
hence can breed hostility. For instance, Sander always has the right answers without involving
the team, thus undermining workers and teammates. In this case, Sam Glass should invest time to
help Sander identify these shortcomings, which would fail him in drastically into his career. The
project manager usually has most of the time to himself, thus classified as a lone ranger who
must learn how to delegate and motivate his workers.

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3. If Alex were to stay on at Landon Products, how would you provide the adequate
leadership training in order to ensure Alex is motivated and all contributions reflect
positively on the company?
To start with, communication is essential between the team members and the project
manager. Sander will allow the members to explain themselves, or in a case with the seniors,
listen and consider some of the recommendations into different matters of the company. Also,
Alex should allow decision making by other team members, thus bringing diverse perspectives
into the matter. A leader should think long and hard before deciding by consulting other
stakeholders before making the final act (Schleu, & Hüffmeier, 2020). A good leader takes little
more than his share of the blame and less than his share of credit, to mean that he should
appreciate the ability of others to perform different tasks and share the glory into an achieved
goal. Similarly, the project manager should delegate and empower by allocating different duties
to others, while he supervises. To support them, the leader should provide the resources needed
to achieve the goal, thus giving a chance to bear responsibility. Sanders should be empathetic to
the subordinates, instead of using dictatorial style and negligence as a leader. Humility is
important for a leader to enhance a good working relationship with other staff. In this case,
sanders humility will enhance a good relationship with the subordinates, thus promoting
teamwork.

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References

Greiner, L. E., & Collins, E. (2008). A Day in the Life of Alex Sander: Driving in the Fast Lanat
LanCare Products.
Schleu, J. E., & Hüffmeier, J. (2020). Simply the best? A systematic literature review on the
predictive validity of employee performance for leader performance.