Please find below the exam instructions and the exam questions.

TAKE-HOME EXAM INSTRUCTIONS

Format:
The exam will consist of three substantive questions. You will be required to choose two
questions and answer them in essay format. You should seek to present your answers in the
style of traditional essays. As such, in each response you will be required to move beyond
descriptive analysis and develop a succinct argument (there should be a thesis statement
presented and supported in the essay).

Length: Each question should be answered in approximately 1,000 words. Your essays for
each question can range between 900-1,100 words (not including references).

Presentation: Each essay should be double spaced, in Times New Roman size 12 font, and
should include the number of the question that you are answering (i.e., Question 1, 2, or
3). After you have answered each question, you should provide a word count of your essay
response (i.e. 922 words). A title page that includes your pertinent details should accompany
the exam (i.e., your name, stuszss dent no., name of the course, name of the professor, date
submitted).
** Where ever possible, please submit your responses and the title page in a SINGLE
Microsoft Word file (i.e. .doc).

References: You should minimally consult the course readings to substantiate your
arguments and assertions. Please be sure to cite your sources appropriately. You may also
elect to refer to lecture discussions when responding to the questions.

Date: You will have access to the exam via Blackboard at some point before 6:00pm on
Monday (18 March 2019). You will be required to submit the exam by e-mail to the professor
(ajnesh_prasad@yahoo.ca) by 11:59pm on Sunday (24 March 2019). The title of your e-mail
should be: ‘EGADE 2019 – Take-Home Exam’. An acknowledgment note upon receipt will
be sent to you by the professor. Exams submitted late will be assessed a penalty (see below
for additional details on the penalties for late submissions).

EVALUATION:
Value:
This take-home exam will be worth 30% of your overall grade.

Assessment of Essays: Each essay will be assessed using the following criteria:

Quality of the paper (70%)

- Does the paper present a novel, clear, and interesting thesis-claim?
- IMPORTANT: Does the paper substantiate its asserted thesis? That is, will I
be convinced of (or at least sympathize with) your case after I finish reading
your paper?
- Does the paper engage sufficiently and appropriately with the course
content (the relevant articles we have read and the discussions we have had)?
- Is the supporting arguments well articulated?
** Providing a description/summary of the readings, while important, is not
sufficient to receive a satisfactory grade on the essays. You must be
 able to critically appraise the questions and develop a cogent
argument/response.

Organization (20%):
- Is the paper easy to read?
- Does the paper have good flow (be mindful of providing transition
sentences when moving from one idea/section to another)?
- Are there many punctuation/grammar/spelling mistakes?
Awkward sentences?

Format (10%)
- Is the paper well structured? Does it have the necessary elements of good
quality paper?
- Is the paper presented in a professional manner (i.e. title page)?
- Is the paper appropriately cited? Are the references properly documented in
the back?
- Is the paper of the prescribed length (900-1,100 words, exclusive of
references)?

PENALTIES:
Late Submissions: Should the exam be submitted after 11:59pm on Sunday (24 March)
but before 11:59pm on Monday (25 March) the exam will incur a penalty of 10%. For each
additional day the exam is submitted late, it will incur additional penalties at the rate of 10%
(i.e., submitting the exam sometime on Tuesday will incur an accumulative penalty of 20%).

OTHER NOTES:
Academic Honesty: This is an independent take-home exam. Accordingly, you are not to
consult with other students in the class or anyone else regarding any aspect of the
exam. Should you have any queries or require further clarification, you should only consult
the professor (see contact details below).
1) You are the chief operating officer (COO) of a firm that has experienced a significant
corruption scandal as a result of several executives engaging in financial theft from the
company. The executives who committed the financial theft have since been fired. As COO,
which three steps would you take to ensure that corruption in the firm will be avoided in the
future? Provide an explanation for why these three steps are particularly important for
guaranteeing that corruption does not occur again. Finally, consider what single action as
COO you would take to attempt to fix the reputation of your firm in the wider community.

1. FIRST PARAGRAPH: Introduction

a. Problem Statement (case specific)
b. Elaborate the issue (briefly)
c. Thesis statement (In this essay I will argue that the sources of the problem is
the following)
2. SECOND PARAGRAPH: discuss each of the causes asked in one paragraph
3. THIRD AND FORTH PARAGRAPH: argumentation
4. THIRD PARAGRAPH: RESTATE THE PROBLEM and conclusion with a practical
solution
REPUTATION FIXING

- Image Repair Theory - Benoit (1995a, 1997, 2015)

o Image repair discourse is a response to actual or anticipated threats to
face. Such threats consist of two elements: (a) an offensive act that is (b)
attributed to the target (see Pomerantz’s, 1978, analysis of complaints or
Benoit, 2017; Benoit & Glantz, 2017)
o Image repair theory identifies 5 general strategies and a total of 14
strategies (see Benoit, 2015; see Table 1).
 - What, if anything, will be done in order to prevent the tragedu again?
- Case studies indicate some of the conditions that influence the persuasiveness of
corrective action. The defense should actually fix (and/or prevent future occurrences
of) the problem. To have the best chance of success, the person or organization
employing corrective action should do so in a timely fashion (note that in the
contemporary environment of social media, corrective action should be used
very quickly indeed). The defense should be internally consistent (e.g., do not
deny the existence of a problem and propose corrective action). – (Benoit 2018)
- The “phases” of image repair have become highly compressed with the advent of
social media (consider the time it took for the phases of President Reagan’s Iran–
Contra defense to develop) – benoit 2018
- the ability of the Internet and social media to provide almost instantaneous
distribution of incriminating pictures, videos, and other accusatory messages has
forever altered crisis communication (see, e.g., Glantz & Benoit, 2017)
- It is vital for corporations, organizations, and individuals to understand the nature of
our current media environment.
- Another implication of this case study is the idea that it is not enough to apologize
for something—one must apologize for the perceived offense.
-

LEADING CHANGE: WHY TRANSFORMATIO EFFORTS FAIL (Kotter, 1995)

 The most general lesson to be learned from the more successful cases is that the
change process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a
considerable length of time. Skipping steps creates only the illusion of speed and
never produces a satisfying result.
 Sometimes executives underestimate how hard it can be to drive people out of their
comfort zone. Sometimes the grossly overestimate how successful the have already
been in increasing urgency. Sometimes they lack patience.
 If change is needed, the division general manager is key. If such managers are not
leaders, it can be a huge challenge.
 Eight steps to transforming your organization
1. Estalishing a sense of urgency
2. Forming a powerful guiding coalition
3. Creating a vision
4. Communicating the vision
 If you can’t communicate the vision to someone in five minutes or less
and get a reaction that signifies both understanding and interest, you are
not yet done with this phase of the transformation process
 Successful visions usually include new growth possibilities and the
commitment to treat fairly anyone who is laid off
5. Empower others to act on the vision
 LEADERS NEED TO WALK THE TALK
 6. Planning for and creating short-term wins
7. Consolidating improvements and producing still more change
8. Insitutionalizing new approaches
 When the change operator is substituted or retres, the work done over
decades can be undone if the substitute is either a change opposer or if
it just isn’t a change champion

THE HARD SIDE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT

 Still, studies show that in most organizations, two out of three transformation
initiatives fail.
 Different managers view change in different ways
o SUCCESS FACTORS ARE FUNDAMENTAL
o BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
 The Four Factors of Change: These factors determine the outcome of any
transformation initiative.
o D. The duration of time until the change program is completed if it has a short
life span; if not short, the amount of time between reviews of
milestones.
o I. The project team’s performance integrity; that is, its ability to
complete the initiative on time. That depends on members’ skills and
traits relative to the project’s requirements.
o C. The commitment to change that top management (C1) and
employees affected by the change (C2) display.
o E. The effort over and above the usual work that the change
initiative demands of employees.
