| Course | OML-6100 Organizational Management and Leadership I |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Module 3 written assignment: organizational leadership |
| Length | About 606 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | M.S. in Management in Organizational Leadership |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for OML 6100 Module 3
Service in the Mission, Cost in the Budget: Culture and Strategic Leadership at an Insurer
Student Name
M.S. in Management in Organizational Leadership, Thomas Edison State University
OML-6100: Organizational Management and Leadership I
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Service in the Mission, Cost in the Budget: Culture and Strategic Leadership at an Insurer
The Organization and Its Strategy
The company sells commercial insurance through 1,400 independent agents. Last year the executive team announced a strategy to grow small business policies by 25 percent in three years, chiefly by making the company the easiest carrier for agents to work with. Lussier and Achua (2022) describe strategic leadership as a leader's ability to anticipate, envision and maintain flexibility, and to empower others to create a viable future. The strategy is clear. Whether the culture will support it is less so.
Three Levels of Culture
Schein and Schein (2017) describe culture in three layers: artifacts, what can be seen and heard; espoused values, what people say they believe; and underlying assumptions, the unspoken beliefs that actually steer behavior.
The artifacts tell two stories. The posters match the espoused value, but the budgets and the basement match a different assumption. When an agent's problem requires a policy exception, analysts must route it through underwriting, which takes days; executives describe this as protecting margins.
| Level | What I observe |
|---|---|
| Artifacts | "Agents First" posters; a support center in the basement; support budgets cut in each of the last three years |
| Espoused values | The mission statement promises "service that makes agents' work easier" |
| Underlying assumptions | Support is a cost center; the best support is the least support; underwriting and sales create value |
Subcultures
The support center also has its own subculture, which complicates the picture. Schein and Schein note that large organizations contain occupational subcultures with their own assumptions. Support analysts assume the agent is a partner whose problem is theirs to solve; underwriters assume the agent is a source of risk to be screened. When analysts route exceptions to underwriting, the two subcultures meet, and agents feel the friction as delay. A growth strategy built on ease for agents will have to bridge these subcultures, not only change the culture at the top.
Culture and Performance
Denison and Mishra (1995) linked four cultural traits, involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission, to organizational effectiveness, with involvement and adaptability tied to growth. Our culture is strong on consistency, rules followed reliably, but weak on involvement and adaptability: support analysts have no voice in how processes are designed, and exceptions are resisted. The growth strategy depends exactly on the traits the culture lacks.
The Role of Top Leaders
Hambrick and Mason (1984) proposed that organizations reflect their top managers, whose backgrounds and values shape strategic choices. Our executive team is drawn almost entirely from underwriting and finance; no executive has led a service operation. That may explain why support is seen as cost. Schein and Schein argue that leaders build culture mainly through what they notice, measure and control, where they put resources and how they respond in a crisis.
Recommendations
To align culture with strategy, executives should change what they attend to, measure and fund. First, report agent effort, the time agents spend getting answers, at every executive meeting, alongside premiums. Second, give support a seat in process design, such as a standing role on the underwriting exceptions committee. Third, fund support for the growth strategy rather than cutting it, and say why. Changing posters will not change assumptions; changing what leaders measure and reward will, over time. None of these steps is expensive. The support budget cuts of the last three years total about $600,000, a small sum beside the premium growth the strategy targets.
Conclusion
The company's culture professes service but assumes support is a cost. The growth strategy will succeed only if top leaders change the signals that create that assumption.
References
Denison, D. R., & Mishra, A. K. (1995). Toward a theory of organizational culture and effectiveness. Organization Science, 6(2), 204-223. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.6.2.204
Hambrick, D. C., & Mason, P. A. (1984). Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review, 9(2), 193-206. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1984.4277628
Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2022). Leadership: Theory, application, and skill development (7th ed.). Sage.
Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. (2017). Organizational culture and leadership (5th ed.). Wiley.
Reading the OML 6100 Module 3 assignment instructions
This written assignment covers organizational leadership. Expect to analyze an organization you know, its strategy, culture and leadership, using the textbook's treatment of strategic leadership and culture together with research. Show evidence for each claim about culture, such as specific artifacts and behaviors, and explain how culture affects the organization's ability to carry out its strategy. End with recommendations for what leaders should do. Keep your analysis at the organizational level rather than describing your own team. Look for subcultures as well, since departments or occupations often hold assumptions different from the company's. Consider what your recommendations would cost and who would need to approve them. Ground every claim about culture in something you have observed directly.
How the OML 6100 Module 3 example is put together
The paper opens with the organization's strategy and the textbook's definition of strategic leadership. A table analyzes culture at three levels and the text shows how artifacts reveal a conflict between espoused values and assumptions. A section applies research on culture traits and effectiveness to the strategy. A section uses research on top managers and how leaders embed culture. Three recommendations and a conclusion follow. A section on subcultures shows how support analysts and underwriters hold opposite assumptions about agents, and how agents feel the friction as delay. The recommendations note how little they would cost compared with the growth the strategy targets. The conclusion names the single change that matters most.
Reading the OML 6100 Module 3 grading rubric
Expect marks for accurate use of culture and strategic leadership concepts, evidence for claims, analysis of the link between culture and strategy, practical recommendations and clear writing. Papers that uncover a gap between espoused values and underlying assumptions show depth. Using research on culture and on top leaders strengthens the analysis. Recommendations that change what leaders measure and fund, rather than what they say, demonstrate understanding of how culture is embedded. Recognizing subcultures, and showing where they meet in the work, adds depth to a culture analysis. Recommendations with a sense of cost and feasibility show managerial judgment, and clear evidence at each level of culture makes every claim checkable.
Common OML 6100 Module 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Students lose points by describing culture with slogans, by confusing espoused values with assumptions or by recommending communication campaigns to change culture. Others stay at the team level. Gather evidence at each level of culture. Ask what behavior actually reveals. Link culture to strategy. Recommend changes in what leaders attend to, measure and reward. Look for subcultures where departments meet, and estimate what your recommendations would cost so leaders can weigh them. Use what people do, not what posters say, as your main evidence for assumptions, and quote a real artifact for each level. A free first sample on your own OML-6100 organizational leadership assignment is available on request.
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OML 6100 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free OML 6100 Module 3 sample paper?
A three-level culture analysis of an insurance company and its strategy is the assignment above.
What are Schein's three levels of culture?
Visible artifacts, the values an organization espouses, and the underlying assumptions people take for granted.
How does culture relate to performance?
Research links traits such as involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission to organizational effectiveness.
How do leaders embed culture?
Mostly through what they notice and reward, where resources go and how they behave when a crisis hits.
What is strategic leadership?
A leader's ability to anticipate, envision and maintain flexibility, and to empower others to create a viable future.