Please read the following instructions carefully.
Please refer to the assessment criteria provided on page 3 of this document prior to undertaking the
assignment. Please take time to think about and read around your topic, both in terms of theory and in
practice before trying to write your answer.
This assignment is in the form of an essay.
– Essay is 2,000 words +/-10% and excludes references and appendices.
Penalties of 5% of your marks will apply if you go above or below the 10% deviation
The Case Study – Leadership – Steve Jobs
This case-study is based on Steve Jobs. Jobs became known as a controversial leader who sometimes used
emotional and psychological bullying to push forward his vision of product development and innovation.
Jobs was a chief partner in the formation of the Apple Computer Corporation and the driving visionary
force behind innovations such as the first graphical user interface computer, digital animation, digital music
devices, tablet computers, and large screen portable phones. In this case, the authors use the development
of Apple and other innovations to provide background information.
Please read the case study carefully

YOUR ESSAY
Using the case-study only, you will provide a critical theoretical evaluation of the leadership of Steve
Jobs.
Overall comments on the written essay:
This assignment provides you with the opportunity to evaluate leadership in several ways. You may wish to
consider leaderships styles and characteristics, how Jobs used his power and the impact he had on his
followers. Whatever areas you cover, you will need to use examples from the case-study and theory to
justify your discussion.
Sources of Information:
Your lectures will not have captured everything and you can use material from other academic sources e.g.
your reading lists. But do not overwhelm yourself, be practical and try to focus your search and your
reading. And be critical in your writing.
Structure of Essay:
You may use the following sequence:
• Introduction
• Body (main discussion area based on thematic areas/arguments)
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendices
Assessment Criteria for Written Assignment
• This IS AN ACADEMIC PIECE OF WORK and must be written accordingly.
• Your written work will be done as an essay. You do not need a Table of Contents, Section headings
etc.
• The assignment has been designed to encourage theoretical, ethical and practical thinking around core
concepts studied on the module. Marks are awarded according to Assessment criteria (see page 3).
• Be very, very careful not to copy texts, even single sentences. Plagiarism is absolutely forbidden. To
make sure that you are not accused of plagiarism, ensure that essays are fully referenced and have a
bibliography. Keep direct quotes to a minimum and always attribute their source with full referencing
(name of author, date of publication, page number of original text. You should use the Cardiff Harvard
system of referencing which is summarized on the student intranet as well as the library web pages.
Here are two links that may guide you:
• https://xerte.cardiff.ac.uk/play_4191#page1
• https://intranet.cardiff.ac.uk/students/study/study-skills/academic-writingcommunication-and-referencing/citing-and-referencing-support
Collusion
Your essay needs to be an independent piece of work. So you are not allowed to replicate from another
student. This constitutes academic misconduct and will be referred to Academic Misconduct team for
investigation and action.
Please take all these points above into consideration before starting any written work.