| Course | ORG-5020 Leadership and Management in the Twenty-First Century |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Written assignment 3: transformational, authentic, servant, adaptive and inclusive leadership |
| Length | About 943 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Master of Science in Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for ORG 5020 Module 3
Robots on the Finishing Line: Five Leadership Lenses on One Change
Student Name
Master of Science in Management, Thomas Edison State University
ORG-5020: Leadership and Management in the Twenty-First Century
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Robots on the Finishing Line: Five Leadership Lenses on One Change
Introduction
Module 3 covers five approaches that emphasize values, relationships and change rather than tasks: transformational, authentic, servant, adaptive and inclusive leadership. Northouse (2022) presents each as a distinct theory, but they overlap, and a leader facing a real change must decide what each adds. This assignment applies them to a composite case: the new president of a 600-employee, family-owned furniture maker in North Carolina, recruited from outside the founding family, who must introduce robotic finishing lines that will change or eliminate about 70 jobs over two years while the company competes with imports.
Question 1: Transformational Leadership
Transformational leaders, in the course text's account, lift what followers want and what they value by acting as role models, offering a stirring purpose, challenging people to think and attending to each person's growth. Pooling dozens of studies, Judge and Piccolo (2004) linked transformational leadership closely to satisfied followers and effective leaders, yet straightforward rewards for meeting agreed targets came close behind on several of those measures. For the president, inspirational motivation means explaining why automation protects the company and most jobs against imports; intellectual stimulation means asking finishers to help design the new lines; individualized consideration means attention to each affected worker's path; and contingent reward means following through on promises such as retraining pay. The research suggests the president should not neglect the transactional basics in pursuit of inspiration.
Question 2: Authentic and Servant Leadership
An authentic leader knows their own strengths and blind spots, acts from values rather than pressure, weighs evidence that cuts against their view and is open about what they think and feel. Servant leadership puts followers' growth and well-being first and sees the leader's role as serving them and the wider community. Both fit a change that threatens livelihoods. Relational transparency means saying plainly that some jobs will change or end rather than hiding behind vague language; servant leadership means designing the change around what affected workers need, such as retraining, placement help and adequate notice.
The approaches overlap considerably with transformational leadership. Banks et al. (2016), in a meta-analysis, found authentic and transformational leadership so highly correlated that they questioned whether authentic leadership adds much as a separate construct, although it explained some additional variance for a few outcomes. The practical lesson is to treat these as emphases within one coherent approach rather than as separate programs.
Question 3: Adaptive and Inclusive Leadership
Adaptive leadership treats some problems as technical, fixable by expertise, and others as adaptive, solvable only when the people involved revise their habits, loyalties or beliefs. Installing robots is technical; workers' changing sense of craft and security is adaptive. Northouse (2022) lists what an adaptive leader does: steps back to see the whole plant, keeps anxiety high enough to prompt learning but low enough not to paralyze, and hands the hard choices to the workers who will live with them. Inclusive leadership focuses on making every employee feel they belong and are valued for their uniqueness, which matters here because many finishers are older, long-tenured employees and some speak Spanish as a first language; retraining and communication must reach them all.
Comparing the Approaches
The five approaches emphasize different parts of the same challenge.
| Approach | Emphasis for the automation change | Key practice |
|---|---|---|
| Transformational | Vision and motivation | Explain why, involve finishers in design, keep promises |
| Authentic | Transparency and values | State plainly which jobs change and when |
| Servant | Followers' growth and well-being | Retraining, placement help, adequate notice |
| Adaptive | People's adjustment, not just technology | Regulate distress; let workers shape the new roles |
| Inclusive | Belonging for all employees | Bilingual communication; reach long-tenured workers |
Recommendation
The president should combine the approaches into one plan. Announce the change in person with a clear rationale and a two-year timeline; publish which roles change, which end and what support each affected worker receives; form a design team of experienced finishers to shape the new lines and the jobs around them; offer paid retraining as robot technicians and quality inspectors, with priority for affected workers; and communicate in English and Spanish through supervisors and small meetings as well as formal announcements. Measure progress through retention of affected workers, retraining completion and an engagement pulse every quarter.
Risks of Getting the Balance Wrong
Each approach carries a risk when used alone. Inspirational messages without transparent detail can sound like spin to workers who know their jobs are at stake, and trust lost early is hard to rebuild. Transparency without care can feel cold, a list of eliminated roles delivered without support. Servant leadership without a clear business rationale can leave the board and the family owners unsure that the investment will pay off. Adaptive leadership's instruction to give the work back to people can become an excuse for leaders to avoid hard decisions if it is not paired with a firm timeline. The combination recommended below is meant to guard against each of these failures.
The President's Own Credibility
As an outsider following a family line, the president has less inherited trust than a family successor would. Authentic and servant leadership both suggest earning it through behavior: spending time on the finishing floor before announcing the change, admitting what is not yet known, and keeping each commitment made in the first meetings. Small, visible promises kept early make the larger promises of retraining and placement believable.
Conclusion
Each approach highlights something the automation change requires: a compelling reason, honesty, care for those affected, attention to people's adjustment and inclusion of every group. Research suggesting the approaches overlap supports combining them into one consistent way of leading the change rather than choosing among them.
References
Banks, G. C., McCauley, K. D., Gardner, W. L., & Guler, C. E. (2016). A meta-analytic review of authentic and transformational leadership: A test for redundancy. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(4), 634-652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.02.006
Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 755-768. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.5.755
Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). SAGE.
What the ORG 5020 Module 3 instructions ask for
The third ORG-5020 written assignment covers the values-based and change-oriented approaches in Northouse's later chapters. Describe each approach in your own words, show what it would have one leader do about one concrete change, and weigh the research behind it, noting where two approaches recommend the same behavior. A comparison table helps show what each adds. End with a recommendation that combines what is useful and with measures of success. Organize by question and cite the textbook and at least one research study in APA style. Apply every approach to the same leader and situation so that the comparison is fair and the differences between the approaches stand out clearly. Cite each study.
Inside the ORG 5020 Module 3 example
The paper sets a single demanding case, an automation change in a family firm, so every approach is tested against the same situation. Each question pairs a definition with concrete practices for the president, and two meta-analyses keep the discussion grounded in evidence, one showing that transactional basics still matter and one questioning whether authentic leadership adds much beyond transformational. Adaptive leadership's distinction between technical and adaptive work clarifies what the robots cannot solve. A table compares the five lenses before a combined recommendation with measures. Read it for how evidence on overlap shapes the final recommendation, which combines the approaches rather than choosing one. Note the comparison table. Read it closely.
Reading the ORG 5020 Module 3 grading rubric
Mentors grade the third assignment out of a hundred. They reward accurate explanations of each approach, concrete application to a leader and situation, and critical evaluation of the evidence, including overlap among theories. A synthesis that shows how the approaches fit together demonstrates mastery of the module. Recommendations should be practical and measurable. Own-words writing, clear organization and APA citations are expected. Papers that praise each approach in turn without critique, or treat them as interchangeable, usually earn less. Critical evaluation of where theories overlap, supported by a study, earns particular credit, as does a recommendation that a leader could actually carry out with measures attached. Own-words writing is expected. Clarity helps.
ORG 5020 Module 3 help from the desk
Students often write a paragraph praising each approach without showing what it would make a leader do differently. Our writers can prepare ORG 5020 assignments applying these approaches to a leader and challenge you choose. Pick a situation with real stakes, such as a reorganization or new technology. For each approach, write two specific practices it implies, then check research on whether the approach adds anything distinct. Combine the useful practices into one plan with measures of success. Then check that the final plan uses something from each approach and names how success will be measured over time. Revise for clarity and proofread. Then submit with confidence.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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ORG 5020 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free ORG 5020 Module 3 sample paper?
The third Leadership and Management in the Twenty-First Century written assignment appears above, applying five leadership approaches to an automation change at a composite furniture maker.
What are the four factors of transformational leadership?
Being a model worth copying, giving people a purpose that moves them, pushing them to question assumptions and paying attention to each person's development.
Is authentic leadership different from transformational leadership?
A meta-analysis by Banks and colleagues found them so highly correlated that authentic leadership may add little as a separate construct, though it explained some extra variance for a few outcomes.
What is an adaptive challenge?
A problem that requires people to change their values, beliefs or behaviors, as opposed to a technical problem experts can solve.
Does transactional leadership still matter?
Yes. Judge and Piccolo's pooled data showed plain goal-and-reward exchanges tracking follower satisfaction and leader effectiveness nearly as closely as the inspirational style.