Future of Leadership in The Digital Age

Assessment Brief Overview You are required to interview a leader of your choice—someone you personally perceive as a leader within a workplace or organisational setting and explore their perceptions of the future of work and leadership in the digital era. The interview will form the basis of a report where you will compare the insights from your interviewed leader with the course materials covered thus far. In the report you will: • provide a critique of the literature drawing on the data you collected in your interview • compare and contrast the interviewee’s thoughts and ideas with the literature • use key supporting quotes from your interview to support your critique This assessment provides you with an opportunity to expand your professional network by requiring you to personally connect with a leader in your workplace, or that you are familiar with, and to learn from their experiences. Purpose The purpose of this assessment is to explore the perceptions of a leader in a workplace or a person you perceive to be a leader in the digital age. Through conducting an interview and comparing the insights gained from the interview with course materials covered so far, you will have an opportunity to critically analyse and provide a critique of the literature. This assessment will also provide you with an opportunity to expand your professional network by connecting with a leader and learning from their experiences. By using key ideas/illustrative quotes from the interview, you will be able to effectively support your critique and compare and contrast the interviewee's thoughts and ideas with the literature. What do you need to deliver? A Report Tools Microsoft Word Learning Outcomes The targeted Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this assessment are: • CLO1: Critique the literature discussing key leadership issues in the digital age. RMIT Capabilities • #AoL1a Ethical Global Citizens

• Employ globally inclusive perspectives and a commitment to diversity, inclusion and respect. • #AoL1b Ethical Global Citizens
• Actively engage with Indigenous perspectives and participate in action towards reconciliation and self-determination of First Nations. • #AoL1c Ethical Global Citizen - Contribute to a more sustainable world through engagement with the sustainable development goals.

• #AoL2a Connected - Actively establish meaningful connection with professional, peer, government, industry and/or community networks. • #AoL2b Connected - Collaborate with diverse, multidisciplinary and cross-functional teams to solve complex problems • #AoL3a Adaptive - Employ intellectual agility, knowledge and skills to develop solutions in a fast-changing world. • #AoL3b Adaptive

• Utilise self-awareness to reflect on learning and experiences to build transferable skills and grow personally and professionally. • #AoL4 - Digitally Adept - Create and utilise a blend of digital and human skills, tools and emerging technologies to learn, solve problems, innovate, communicate and collaborate.

• #AoL5 Expert

• Establish and continue to grow and apply disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary knowledge and expertise in real life contexts and as life-long learners. • #AoL 6 Critically Engaged
• Employ intellectual independence and judgment to engage critically with information, make sound evidence-based decisions, actively challenge assumptions and undertake research. Marking Criteria This assessment will measure your ability to: • Synthesise evidence from a wide variety of sources to create a persuasive analysis of your interview • Evaluate and select interview data to support an effective analysis and critique of the information literature

• Formulate a comprehensive, well-structured concise and convincing argument in line with academic writing requirements • Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the interviewee's perceptions of leadership in the age of digital disruption, and compare them to the literature • Demonstrate reflection and critical thinking skills by identifying at least one specific example of how the insights gained from the interview could be applied to your own professional or career context

Assessment Details In this assessment you will gather real-world data on leadership in the digital age through an interview with a leader of your choice. You will then create a report that uses the interview data to enrich your learnings from the literature and core ideas covered in the early weeks of the course and allows you to outline your insights into the key issues that you may face as a leader in the age of digital disruption. Interview Conduct an interview with a leader of your choice (preferably your leader in your workplace or someone who you have a professional connection to) to contrast and critique the relevant literature about the changing nature of leadership in the age of digital disruption to a real-world leadership experience. The interview questions should be based on the topics and literature explored in the early weeks of the course and constructed to gather key insights into the interviewee’s professional experience in relation to these topics and literature as well as explore your own areas of professional interest. Guidelines Keep the length of the interview to between 10 and 15 minutes, with additional time for setting up, to keep the data analysis manageable. It is recommended that you send your interview questions to the interviewee prior to the interview. You will also need to gain your subject’s permission to record the interview. It is not necessary to transcribe your interview. However, it is expected that you will make several direct quotes of what was said to support your arguments. (If you want to transcribe the interview you can use Otter AILinks to an external site., as it is reliable, free, and mostly accurate transcription service.) Information on how to conduct an effective interview and construct your interview questions is included in the content of Assessment 1 toolkit provided in the course Canvas. The toolkit also contains useful tips and examples for conducting the interview. Ethical considerations: To ensure ethical conduct during the interview process, obtain informed consent from your interviewee prior to commencing the interview. Explain the purpose of the interview, the potential risks and benefits, and the participant's right to withdraw at any time. Inform the interviewee that their participation is voluntary and that their responses will be treated with strict confidentiality. All data collected during the interview will be kept private and used solely for the purposes of this assignment. Use of AI: Restricted - Use of generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) is restricted. You may use AI-powered tools only for basic brainstorming of ideas and for refining presentation materials (e.g., grammar checks, slide layout suggestions). Generative AI must not be used to develop your substantive analysis or create core presentation content. Report Create a report that utilises your interview data and a comprehensive analysis of relevant literature to compare the insights from your interviewed leader with the course materials covered in the early weeks. You will do this by: • critiquing the relevant literature and key ideas covered in the early weeks of the course by drawing on the data you collected in your interview and comparing and contrasting the interviewee’s thoughts and ideas with the literature. • using key quotes from your interview to support your critique. The report must include a critical review of relevant literature for you to actively compare and critique current research perspectives on the implications for work and leadership in the digital age with those contained in your interview data. This critique and comparison should comprise the bulk of the report. You are expected to integrate evidence from various sources, including core references from the early weeks of the course and at least four references from additional research (refereed journals, quality news media if relevant, trade/industry journals). Length and Structure Your report should be 2,000 words (+/- 10%) and include an introduction, body (where your main argument is explored) and conclusion. How you structure the body of the report is at your discretion. Determine a structure that will help to make your report persuasive and engaging. The below is only a suggestion of how to structure your report: • Introduction (300 words, suggestion only) • Implications of digital age/Industry 4.0 (500 words, suggestion only) • Opportunities and challenges associated with leading in the digital age (500 words, suggestion only) • Leadership capabilities and skills using examples (500 words, suggestion only) • Conclusion (150-200 words) • References (Minimum 10) Budget: AUD 250–750 Skills: Project Management, Research, Report Writing, Time Management, Academic Writing, Data Analysis, Interviewing, Change Management, Strategic Planning