MGMT20001

Organisational Behaviour
Semester 1 2024

Group Assignment Case Study – The LEGO Group Leadership Playground

Due: Sunday 12th May 11:59pm midnight.
Submit as one document via the LMS (one team member needs to submit on behalf of the team).
Overall word length: 5,000 words (excluding executive summary and reference list).

Read the LEGO Group Case and prepare a report for The LEGO Group chief executive officer
(CEO) Niels Christiansen and the executive leadership team (ELT).

In the report, you are required to identify and analyse: a) the organisational factors that contributed to
problems within The LEGO Group by the time Niels Christiansen was appointed CEO in 2017; and b) the
approach Niels Christiansen and the executive team, including chief people officer Loren Shuster, took to
address these problems. In your analysis you should focus primarily on issues related to the topic of teams
and leadership in the subject, but you may draw on other topics if you think this is useful. Your analysis
should draw on theories, models and concepts we have covered in the course, the assignment readings list
and your own team research.

Based on your analysis, make a set of recommendations to the CEO Niels Christiansen and the executive
leadership team about how to translate The LEGO Group Leadership Playground manifesto (see exhibit 4)
from a document developed by The Working Group into a new way of leading across the 18,800 employees
within The LEGO Group.

The two main sections of your report will be:

Part A: Identification and analysis (word limit 3,000 words).

Part B: Recommendations (word limit 2,000 words).

Required Readings:

You must include the case study and the following three peer-reviewed academic articles (peer-reviewed
article must be cited and referenced in your report). The case study should be included in your reference list
but should not be cited in-text / in the body of the report. You will need to retrieve some of these articles
from the library databases, as they are not provided in the Canvas reading list.

Weeks, J. (2021). The LEGO Group leadership playground: energising people every day. Institute for
Management Development, Lausanne. Switzerland.

Barry, D. (1991). Managing the bossless team: Lessons in distributed leadership. Organizational Dynamics,
20(1), 31-47

Tuckman, B. W. (2001). Developmental sequence in small groups. Group Facilitation, (3), 66. 65–81.

Burke, C., Stagl, K., Klein, C., Goodwin, G., Salas, E., and Halpin, S. (2006) What type of leadership
behaviours are functional in teams?: A meta-analysis. The Leadership Quarterly, 17, 288-307.
Academic Research: In addition to the three required readings, you must incorporate at least 11
additional references from peer-reviewed journal articles in your report.

This research should be reflected in your description of the concepts/theories, in your critique or limitations
discussion of the concepts/theories, and/or in your recommended actions for the case.

You are expected to use the library search engines and search by topic, i.e., Business Source Complete,
ProQuest and Google Scholar. You could start searching for articles by looking up the references provided
for the case analysis, from the readings and the textbook.

INSTRUCTIONS: Please read and follow carefully

The aim of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to:

• Work with other students to identify and critique various approaches to organisational behaviour.
• Collaboratively develop alternative models of practice.
• Work collaboratively and effectively as a team to answer a case study question on one or more of
the themes covered in the subject.

The group assignment will also provide you with formative feedback on your:
• Understanding of the theories and concepts covered.
• Ability to apply theoretical concepts to identify problems and explain examples from the case
study.
• Ability to apply theoretical concepts to analysing a ‘real’ situation and then make
recommendations about how other organisation might improve/change their functioning.
• Ability to analyse and evaluate theories/models used to analyse the case study.
• Ability to analyse and evaluate recommendations suggested to improve/change the functioning of
other organisations.

Structure/Presentation:

Word limit 5,000 (not including executive summary and references) - 10% either way is acceptable
(penalties apply for exceeding the word limit – refer to subject outline).
• Use double-spacing, and 12 pt font size.
• Arial or Times New Roman font
• Structure as a REPORT, with appropriate use of headings (refer to the Group Case Study Report
Template on how to set out a report). Do not use terms such as ‘Body’ or ‘Paragraph’ as
headings/subheadings. Headings and subheadings should reflect a key idea or theme that is
covered in that section. The following sample is to provide you with the general structure of what
should be completed in the report:

Front Matter

Title page ● Name of your organisation/team

● Titles/names of all team members
● Course subject name & topic of assignment
● Tutor’s Name
● Date of Submission
Contents page ● Includes all section headings and subheadings
● Corresponding page numbers listed

Executive Summary Provides a brief overview of the whole report including:

● Background
● Aims
● Main findings
● Conclusions
● Recommendations

Body

Introduction Provides:
● Aim, scope and limitations
● Background or context
● Outline of report structure

Part A: Analysis ● Identifies and analyses problems

● Is based on evidence from the case and research
● Organised in logical sections, with headings & subheadings
relating to the focus of analysis.

Part B: ● Suggests specific actions based on the problems identified

Recommendations ● Supported by evidence

Conclusion ● Restates position/key message

Back matter
References ● All sources used are cited in text and included in the reference list (APA)

Presentation

Headings ● Headings are consistent throughout

● Main headings are centred on the page & capitalised
● Sub-headings clearly different to headings

Formatting ● Executive Summary spacing: single spaced.

● Main document spacing: double space
● Font: Times New Roman or Arial , Font size 12 pt
● Margins: 2.5cm (1”) on every side

Language ● Language is clear, concise and direct.

● Key terms from the theory and case are used
● Paragraphs contain one clear point, supported with evidence and
examples.
● There are no spelling and grammar errors
 Assessment criteria:

Refer to the Group Case Study Report Rubric for detailed information about the assessment criteria
and weighting:

Cover page:

Include a front page on your assignment as the first page of your assignment and fill in the relevant details:
full names, student numbers, subject code and name, due date and assignment name. If you do not include
these details, we cannot mark your assignment.

The Assignment Cover Template is available on the OB Canvas page via:

Subject Overview > Assessment Information > Group Case Study Report > TA Coversheet

Referencing:

All material used must be correctly cited and referenced, using the APA Referencing System which
includes:
• In-text citations in the body of your short answer questions
• A reference list as the last page of your assignment (listing only references you have cited).
• Material that has not been referenced correctly may be considered to be plagiarised, and as such
may be penalised. We will also look for evidence that material included in the reference list has
been used in the assignment. Including references that have not been used may also result in your
assignment being penalised.

There is a link to the APA Referencing System Guideline on OB Canvas page via

Subject Overview > Assessment Information > Assessment Guides

If you would like to find out more about Academic Integrity, take a look at the Academic Honesty page
available under Assessment Information.

Plagiarism and collusion:

Please note: Your assignment will also be screened for plagiarism using the Turnitin software program.
More information about the university’s policy and the Turnitin program is available from the following
website: https://academicintegrity.unimelb.edu.au/

• Presenting material from other sources without full acknowledgement (referred to as plagiarism) is
heavily penalised. Penalties for plagiarism can include a mark of zero for the piece of assessment
or a fail grade for the subject.
• Plagiarism is the presentation by a student of an assignment identified as his or her own work even
though it has been copied in whole or in part from another student’s work, or from any other
source (e.g. published books, web-based materials or periodicals), without due acknowledgement
in the text.
• Collusion is the presentation by a student of an assignment as his or her own work when it is, in
fact, the result (in whole or in part) of unauthorised collaboration with another person or persons.
Both the student presenting the assignment and the student(s) willingly supplying unauthorised
material are considered participants in the act of academic misconduct.
• The Academic Skills unit has prepared a help sheet on avoiding plagiarism
Word count:

• Total word limit 5,000 - 10% either way is acceptable (penalties apply for exceeding the word
limit – refer to course outline).
• Please note: Executive Summary, In-text Citations and Reference list are NOT counted in the word
count.

Assignment extensions and penalties for late submissions:

Late submission of an assignment is permitted only where an extension has been granted. Requests for an

extension can be made through the OB Canvas page via

Subject Overview > Assessment Information > Assessment Extensions (or Special
Consideration)

All requests for an extension must be made prior to the assessment due date.

• Unless an extension has been granted, penalties to the assessment will be applied.
• To ensure equality for all students, assignments must be completed within specified time limits.
• Late submissions will attract a marking penalty where approval for late submission has not been
given.
• Penalties for late submission: The mark a student group is awarded for their work will be reduced
by 5% for each day the work is late.
• Assignments that exceed the word limit by more than 10% may attract a marking penalty of 10%
of the marks that would otherwise have been awarded.
• Assignments that exceed the word limit by 25% or more may attract a higher penalty, including a
cap on the maximum grade awarded, unless a student gains an exemption (For example, an
assignment with a limit of 2000 words will be marked down by 10% if there are more than 2200
words. If there are 2500 words or more, the maximum result that may be awarded is an H2B.)

Special consideration:

• Students who have been significantly affected by illness or other serious circumstances during the
semester may be eligible to apply for Special Consideration.
• Requests for a special consideration can be made through the OB Canvas page via Subject
Overview > Assessment Information > Assessment Extensions (or Special Consideration)
• You must submit your online application no later than 4 working days after due date for
submission or examination of the particular component of assessment, to which your application
refers.

Submission Instructions:

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY

The LMS allows you to submit your assignment online from home or from any of the student labs on
campus.
You can access the Assignment Submission function by clicking on the Assignments link on the left-
hand pane on the OB Canvas page.

Please note that you are required to keep a copy of your assignment after it has been submitted, as you
must be able to produce a copy of your assignment at the request of your tutor or lecturer at any time after
the submission due date.

Assignment submission guidelines can be found on the OB Canvas page via Subject
Overview > Assessment Information > Assessment Policies