Part A: (6 points)
1.
You are to create a brief integrated summary of the articles focused on crisis management included on BlackBoard or MSTeams to create a strategy to help address the disaster. Some may not be that relevant. You discern.
You can create this in point form, a decision map, or chart or otherwise. It is your project. (PowerPoints are fine)
- Briefly summarize the BIG issue. (Consider the implication of a leader cheating and being caught.)
CASE SYNOPSIS
In March 2018, Steven Smith, the 28-year-old captain of the Australian cricket team, finds himself facing a controversy termed the Australian ball-tampering scandal, which threatens to ruin his professional career and casts doubts over his capacity to assume future leadership positions in the sport. Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, has found Smith guilty of “planned” foul play involving a deliberate and premeditated attempt of ball tampering with two of his colleagues in a test match against South Africa in Cape Town. As penalty for breaching article 2.3.5 of CA’s Code of Conduct,1 CA has suspended Smith from all international and domestic cricket for 12 months and banned him from any leadership position in the sport for at least a year thereafter. Even later, however, he is only eligible for such leadership positions if he is accepted by fans and the public.2 Reacting to CA’s decision to send him home, a tearful Smith has admitted to a “failure of leadership” and attributed his actions to an “error of judgement.”3
However, as Smith plans to enter this phase of “involuntary” retirement from the sport, he needs to reflect on his own leadership qualities and how leadership in crisis situations should differ from leadership during normal times. In particular, he must consider what constitutes leader character and what leadership qualities he needs to acquire. He must also consider how he can recover from this huge reputational loss and major professional setback.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This case helps in understanding questions pertaining to leadership, especially during crisis situations. Such questions include the following: What are the dimensions of leader character and what is their relevance for effective leadership? What explains “error of judgement” and “failure of leadership” in a crisis situation? What are the lessons in leadership that can be drawn from crisis situations? How can leaders/managers recover from professional setbacks, and what are the barriers to the recovery process? After going through the case and assignment questions, you will be able to
• understand leader character and the qualities required of a leader;
• identify leadership behaviour in crisis situations;
• describe the barriers to recovery after a career disaster; and
• understand how to successfully navigate career disasters by overcoming barriers to recovery.
Sample Solution
