Challenges of Leadership Term Paper (Wells Fargo & Co.)
Wells Fargo was founded in 1852. Its founders, Henry Wells and Williams Fargo, intended to serve Western society through banking and delivery of gold and other valuable items. As the economy continued to grow in the 19th century, Wells Fargo opened up offices in different cities to facilitate trade. The company gained trust from its clients, leading to a good reputation. By the late 19th century, the company had earned the fame that made it a corporate symbol. The reputation emanated from Wells Fargo’s efficiency while delivering goods and other valuables. The company used the swiftest means of transport once the railroad was constructed and often used it to conduct business (Wells Fargo). The remarkable success continues to manifest to date as the company’s presence and operations spread globally.
Wells Fargo is well known for its reliability and seeks to operate ethically. However, in the recent past, Wells Fargo has been involved in scandals that involve fraud. These fraudulent activities were motivated by the need to meet employee targets. Two million illegitimate banks and credit cards lacked authorization from the owners. However, the accounts were used to charge legitimate fees (Ochs).
The act highlighted the company’s management decision to set targets without thinking about achievement strategies that would adhere to its code of ethics. The lack of value-based leadership at the company may have led to the employees’ actions (Jordan). Employees have repeatedly alleged the use of intimidation by managers, which has created a feat culture. Wells Fargo is under investigation as a financial institution, and some of its relationships with other banks have been suspended. Studying Wells Fargo will highlight some of the leadership ills that are likely to result in unethical and illegal activities, leading to such institutions’ downfall.
Works Cited
Jordan, Jennifer. Wells Fargo was lacking values-based leadership. 2016. <https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/articles/wells-fargo-was-lacking-values-based-leadership/>.
Ochs, Susan M. The Leadership Blind Spots at Wells Fargo. 2016.
Wells Fargo. History of Wells Fargo. 2021. <https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate/history/>.
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Question 
Challenges of Leadership Term Paper (Company Choice)
You may submit your company choice here throughout weeks 1-2. You must choose a company and it must be approved by the end of week 2. You only need to post the company name and a short 1-paragraph summary of your plans for your term paper in the submission box – this is all that is required for this component of the assignment. If you receive a grade for this assignment, this means your project has been approved. The instructor will ask you to resubmit if not approved. Be sure to fully review the syllabus term paper instructions before submitting your company selection and summary. This is worth 20% of your term paper grade so be sure you complete this assignment on time. Late submissions are not accepted for any reason.
Term Paper Instructions
You will be responsible for a research Term Paper, which focuses on a company of your choice examining the challenges of leadership within this organization. This assignment requires you to demonstrate your learning and to highlight the leadership challenges in which you describe how your chosen organization has orchestrated their leadership and followership culture and applied transactional versus transformation leadership theory. Emphasis will be on the understanding of the problems, critical evaluation as well as the ability to clearly communicate proposed solutions. Your final project is your major contribution, where you will exhibit your learning.
You will write an analysis of the organizational culture, leadership, ethical practices, and the use of power and political behavior in your chosen company. This will require you to research as much as you can through the company’s own website, articles written on your company, our textbook, and scholarly articles about your company.
Challenges of Leadership Term Paper (Wells Fargo & Co.)
In your analysis, discuss the following areas:
- The organizational culture and the unique characteristics of the firm’s work environment.
- Leadership and how the various concepts and leadership models discussed in the text are utilized in your firm’s CEO and management team.
- The organizational design and structure of the firm.
- How the firm manages ethical issues, conflict and managerial challenges.
- Whether the firm uses either or both the characteristics of transactional and transformational leaders.
- Your recommendations for the future of the company.How can key leaders of this firm improve in the next 2-3 years? Please do not make recommendations on products or services you want the firm to produce. Rather focus on how the company’s organizational climate, leadership, ethics, leadership development and overall leadership environment should improve.
When discussing these concepts, be specific and use examples that detail how your analysis of the organization fits with the theories (especially transformational and transactional leadership) that were covered in this class. The focus of this paper should be on the leadership of the company and should incorporate what you’ve learned in this course.
Parameters and guidelines for the term paper are as follows:
- The term paper should be at least 1,500 words with at least 3 scholarly references in addition to your eText for a minimum of 4 total references. Please keep in mind that the word count requirements point out the minimum amount of effort that should be put into the paper. Word count isn’t everything because quality of writing and research matters as well, but it is an indication of the quantity of effort put into the assignment. Note that word count does not include title, abstract, or reference pages. Not following this requirement will significantly impact the grade.
Challenges of Leadership Term Paper (Wells Fargo & Co.)
- Use scholarly peer-reviewed references rather than websites. Scholarly references are generally more credible and make a more persuasive argument. Non-academic websites are not typically recommended for academic writing. While most of the information generally is correct, it is not always reliable because anyone can change the content, bias is often present, and it is not peer-reviewed. For example, it’s best not to use news websites, Wikipedia, investopedia.com, about.com, smallbusiness.chron.com, huffingtonpost.com, ehow.com, forbes.com, cnn.com, online encyclopedias, or similar non-academic websites. Articles in these types of websites are written by reporters or individuals who may or may not be experts in the field, and consequently may have incorrect or biased information. Instead, it adds much more credibility to use the class eText, other related textbooks, and peer-reviewed articles, i.e. scholars have analyzed and evaluated the content for accuracy, quality, and reliability. Be sure to use the university library to help you find these types of scholarly references. The library has a setting in database searches that allow you to search for peer-reviewed articles only.
- It is acceptable to use a company website for research, say for example if you are researching Apple, it’s ok to use www.apple.com to describe their mission, strategy, financials, etc.
- The Term Paper should be well organized and encompass the above subject and content guidelines, and an electronic copy of the project should be submitted via Turnitin.