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The chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Foods, Inc., a food processing company employing 23,000 people in more than 50 locations, has just been advised that a deadly outbreak of Listeriosis has been linked to products shipped from a Maple Leaf Foods plant and that there have been several fatalities and many more severe illnesses linked to this contamination. He must decide what to do immediately, within the next few days, and in the longer term to deal with the problem and the effect that the negative publicity will almost certainly have on the company.

The chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Foods, Inc., a food processing company employing 23,000 people in more than 50 locations, has just been advised that a deadly outbreak of Listeriosis has been linked to products shipped from a Maple Leaf Foods plant and that there have been several fatalities and many more severe illnesses linked to this contamination. He must decide what to do immediately, within the next few days, and in the longer term to deal with the problem and the effect that the negative publicity will almost certainly have on the company.

Spreadsheet for product 9B04N012.

Sara Tsien must decide what performance assessment to give one of her employees who has, uncharacteristically, failed to meet one of her key objectives for the year. The situation is difficult for several reasons; the causes of the unacceptable performance are not clear; the employee has previously received excellent appraisals, including a recent one by the vice-president; and the employee was absent for a good part of the year on maternity leave. The various factors that influence sustained performance (ability, motivation, resources, role clarity, reinforcement) are examined, as well as steps leaders can take in improving performance of those for whom they are responsible.

Sara Tsien must decide what performance assessment to give one of her employees who has, uncharacteristically, failed to meet one of her key objectives for the year. The situation is difficult for several reasons; the causes of the unacceptable performance are not clear; the employee has previously received excellent appraisals, including a recent one by the vice-president; and the employee was absent for a good part of the year on maternity leave. The various factors that influence sustained performance (ability, motivation, resources, role clarity, reinforcement) are examined, as well as steps leaders can take in improving performance of those for whom they are responsible.

A newly promoted assistant deputy minister of business and trade must decide which of two candidates to recommend for her previous role as executive director, business and consumer regulation. One candidate is creative, innovative, client focused and an inspirational and charismatic leader with a history of ruffling some feathers with other departments within the government. The other candidate seems to lack drive and innovativeness but has earned the respect of his team and others within various government departments with whom he has interacted. This appointment is being made at a time of change within the government as it faces severe budgetary pressures and believes that there are opportunities to do many of its traditional functions in new, more cost-effective ways.

A newly promoted assistant deputy minister of business and trade must decide which of two candidates to recommend for her previous role as executive director, business and consumer regulation. One candidate is creative, innovative, client focused and an inspirational and charismatic leader with a history of "ruffling some feathers" with other departments within the government. The other candidate seems to lack drive and innovativeness but has earned the respect of his team and others within various government departments with whom he has interacted. This appointment is being made at a time of change within the government as it faces severe budgetary pressures and believes that there are opportunities to do many of its traditional functions in new, more cost-effective ways.

The "vision thing" is still with us, but while leaders insist in having a compelling vision, the fact is that many - both the leaders and the visions - leave people standing still, unmoved. A leader who engages stakeholders when developing a vision will, in the end, articulate one that resonates strongly and impels people to act.

New metrics have been introduced to a software technical support call center operation. These metrics have revealed a wide range of performance between employees both for time taken to answer customers' questions and the customer's perceived quality of service. The call center manager is wondering how to make use of these metrics. He is inclined to go public with them, whereas the head of human resources believes that this could be damaging to employee morale and will also make it more difficult for the company to recruit in a market experiencing labor shortages.

Visualize a leader with virtues such as courage and integrity, as well as five key types of intelligence, and you've got a clear picture of the cross-enterprise leader. So equipped, such a leader has what it takes to adopt the enterprise-wide perspective that is necessary to make the right decisions for creating and delivering value to all stakeholders. These Ivey professors describe how an organization develops the type of leader to succeed in today's dynamic and complex business environment.

New metrics have been introduced to a software technical support call center operation. These metrics have revealed a wide range of performance between employees both for time taken to answer customers' questions and the customer's perceived quality of service. The call center manager is wondering how to make use of these metrics. He is inclined to "go public" with them, whereas the head of human resources believes that this could be damaging to employee morale and will also make it more difficult for the company to recruit in a market experiencing labor shortages.

This supplement to Employee Engagement at Modern Appliances Inc. (A), product #907C35, looks at a specific problem situation arising from the initiative and discusses how the chief executive officer may respond to it.

The chief executive officer of Modern Appliances wants to change the culture in the company towards one of engagement of people at all levels of the organization. The (A) case describes the ModernIzation initiative and provides a basis for analyzing the reason for the initiative and identifying some of the issues that may arise from it. The (B) case looks at specific problems that arise and the (C) case discusses the process used by the company.

The chief executive officer of Modern Appliances wants to change the culture in the company towards one of engagement of people at all levels of the organization. The (A) case describes the ModernIzation initiative and provides a basis for analyzing the reason for the initiative and identifying some of the issues that may arise from it. The (B) case looks at specific problems that arise and the (C) case discusses the process used by the company.

This supplement to Employee Engagement at Modern Appliances Inc. (A), product # 907C35 features the chief executive officer talking about the need for engagement and the process that Modern Appliances used.

Examines the life, career, and leadership style of John Meredith, the group managing director of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH). Meredith established the company in 1972 based on his vision for more efficient global trade. Under his leadership, the company grew to become the world's largest container port operator. HPH grew from owning and managing a single container port to owning and managing 45 container ports by May 2007. Also looks at the importance of leadership at all levels of organizations. When a company grows quickly and sets up operations around the world, it must constantly train new leaders. However, HPH had difficulty finding and training enough leaders who were willing to lead the company's new port operations in far-off destinations. Reviews HPH's actions thus far and asks what other measures may be appropriate in the future.

This supplement to Employee Engagement at Modern Appliances Inc. (A), product # 9B07C035 features the chief executive officer talking about the need for engagement and the process that Modern Appliances used.

This supplement to Employee Engagement at Modern Appliances Inc. (A), product #9B07C035, looks at a specific problem situation arising from the initiative and discusses how the chief executive officer may respond to it.

This case examines the life, career and leadership style of John Meredith, the group managing director of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH). Meredith established the company in 1972 based on his vision for more efficient global trade. Under his leadership, the company grew to become the world's largest container port operator. The company grew from owning and managing a single container port to owning and managing 45 container ports by May 2007. This case also examines the importance of leadership at all levels of organizations. When a company grows quickly and sets up operations around the world, it must constantly train new leaders. However, HPH had difficulty finding and training enough leaders who were willing to lead the company's new port operations in far-off destinations. The case examines HPH's actions thus far and asks what other measures may be appropriate in the future.

Candor ranks very highly among the characteristics we look for in good leaders. A culture of candor, established and reinforced by leaders who value and model it in their own behaviors, can be a source of competitive advantage for organizations. It ensures that good news travels fast and bad news travels faster, allowing mistakes to be recognized quickly and fixed promptly; people own their actions and own up to their errors so that they can learn from them; people know where they stand, know what's expected of them, and know what it takes to get promoted and fired. Candor is at the heart of aligning people with strategy, and is essential to effective execution, performance management and people development.