Description
IOP3707 Assignment 1 Semester 1 | Due 7 April 2025. All questions answered. Read the following case study carefully and answer ALL the questions that follow.
CASE STUDY: XYZ Home Loans (Please note the case study is not a real company
situation.)
Mr Superhero has been appointed at ABC Banking and will soon start in his new job as HR
Director. At his previous company, XYZ Home Loans, where he held the same position, he
had to work a notice period of two months to ensure a proper handover and the upskilling of
his six direct reports. During his notice period, Mr Superhero took two weeks’ leave although
company policy does not permit it. Furthermore, he decided to go for extremely expensive
training in leadership and executive coaching with money from the training budget which was
earmarked for his subordinates’ training. His leadership and executive coach training lasted
two weeks and he never used his new coaching skills at XYZ Home Loans. To tell the truth,
he planned to set up his own coaching practice. After his leave and coach training, he had one
month left to hand over and upskill his staff.
The CEO was quite upset when she heard about his leave and training. When she confronted
him about it, Mr Superhero replied that he was unaware of the leave policy despite his position
as HR Director. In addition, he believed that he was entitled to spend money on his own
training and that it wasn’t wrong of him to use the training budget meant for his subordinates.
Back in his office, Mr Superhero worked behind closed doors when his staff needed him to
hand over. He made vague promises that he would make himself available on his last day. It
seemed that Mr Superhero did not provide any direction to his team. His direct reports were
confused about their roles and responsibilities. As a result, everyone went in his or her own
direction. There was no team cohesion and no purpose. During his tenure at XYZ Home
Loans, Mr Superhero had a dislike in one of his direct reports and he made sure that he was
demoted before he left. He felt that, as HR Director, he had the right to punish people as and
when he pleased. Lastly, Mr Superhero asked his six direct reports to each write an impressive
reference letter before his last day at XYZ Home Loans and to arrange a farewell gift of
R20 000. Mr Superhero was quite pleased with himself.
QUESTIONS
1.1 Discuss moral leadership and explain what it is to act like a moral leader. Support your
answers with suitable examples from the case study. (14)
1.2 In becoming a moral leader, there are three levels of personal moral development.
Discuss them and use examples from the case study to support your discussion. (6)
1.3 Identify and discuss the elements of leading a team to a point of high performance and
support your answer with suitable examples from the case study. (10)
GRAND TOTAL: [30]
Zauz –
Good