The impact of leadership on workplace conflicts Free Essay Answer

Question Synopsis

The following assignment is an individual reflective essay for one of the university courses as Organization Communication. Among the things students are expected to do is to write a 2000-word essay arguing how leadership communication can either enhance or harm organizational culture with reference to conflict management during a volatile business environment. In writing the essay, the writer should be able to show that they understand the concept of communication theory and its relevance in organisations. Students have to utilize at least 6-8 scholarly sources of the type of textbooks and journal articles where the emphasis is made on journal articles to demonstrate a greater level of theoretical analysis. An essay should also reveal multiple analysis of concern from academic sources and make a conclusion and argument. These are the major areas of focus when developing this communication plan: Leadership Communication, Organizational Culture and Conflict Management.

Subject Name : Management

Synopsis

Answer Synopsis

The essay focuses on the effects of leadership communication on the culture of organization in regard to conflict resolution with special emphasis on risky business periods. It examines features of leadership communication such as listening, coaching, teaching, directing, advising, motivating and their application in conflicts. The ‘substance will focus on how ‘management’ and ‘supervisors’ have a crucial role in maintaining good interpersonal relations by limiting conflicts that constitute corporate culture. What it does also outline well is the relationship between leadership and culture and how the authors observed that leaders are key in sustaining and influencing the culture of an organisation.

It also discusses how the process of the development of conflicts involves communication where the leaders get to intercede in the process to open up dialogues that help in coming up with a common understanding. The author asserts that leadership management communication models are significant in managing conflicts; through communication, leaders can handle conflicts in a timely and constructive approach that fosters mutual understanding, empathy, and cooperation among members.

Introduction

The field of online education has expanded rapidly, with platforms providing a wide range of courses to students all around the world. Nonetheless, the ongoing problem of low course completion rates and user engagement has turned into a main focus for these platforms' ongoing development. In light of this, this research examines the critical elements affecting user happiness and course completion and suggests tactics to improve the online learning environment. This includes creating a product backlog, evaluating needs, designing pathways, creating a system for recommending course material, and much more. This paper also examines several KPIs that will improve course performance. This study also identifies risks related to the suggested upgrade.

Define User Cases and User Stories

An explanation of a system's interaction with an external entity—which may be a user or another system—is what a use case is. It describes the actions required to accomplish a particular objective. The use cases offer a comprehensive perspective on how users engage with a technology. They aid in the comprehension of the many possibilities that must be taken into account as well as the sequence of events by developers and stakeholders(Taoet al.., 2019). It is also a useful source of documentation for system specifications. They serve as a point of reference for the duration of the development process, guaranteeing that the final product has the desired functionality(Berg and Vance, 2017). A user narrative, on the other hand, is a condensed explanation of a feature that is given from the viewpoint of the person who wants the new capacity (typically the end-user). The end user remains at the center of user stories. They assist the development team in keeping in line with the objectives and driving forces of the user by clearly stating what the user needs and why.

The user cases and user stories associated with the online learning platform are as follows-

Use case: Progress Tracking

User story: I want a visual depiction of my course progress as a learner so that I can keep track of my accomplishments and remain inspired to finish the course. This includes completed modules and future assignments.

Use case: Interactive assessments

User story: To enhance my learning experience and guarantee active participation, interactive quizzes, and evaluations should be incorporated into every module. This will raise the chances of my passing the course and reiterating the material.

Use case:Personalised learning paths

User story: I want the platform to assess my learning styles and provide a customised learning route that includes pertinent elective courses or other resources, so that I may customise my educational experience to fit my unique requirements and interests.

Use case: Peer interaction

User story: As a learner, I want to be able to communicate with other learners enrolled in the same course so that we may establish study groups, talk about subjects, and exchange insights—all of which will promote a sense of support and community.

Use case: Reward and recognition

User story: After finishing important milestones or courses, I, as a learner, want to receive badges, diplomas, or other material incentives. This gives me a sense of accomplishment and acknowledgment, which inspires me to keep studying and finish other courses.

Building a Product Backlog

Priority	User Story	Task	Acceptance Criteria	Dependencies	Estimate
1	Interactive Assessments	Quiz Module Development	● Quizzes are seamlessly integrated into each module. ● Encourage a variety of question formats (MCQs, short answers).	Module structure redesign.	10 story points
		Real-time Feedback	● Students get prompt feedback on their performance on quizzes.	Integration with the assessment engine.	6-story points
		Gamified Assessments	● Incorporate gamification elements within quizzes (e.g., timed challenges, point scoring).	Gamification framework integration.	8 story points
2	Personalized Learning Paths	Learning Preference Analysis	● Algorithms analyze user preferences based on course history. ● Identify preferred learning styles (e.g., videos, quizzes).	Data analytics system integration.	12 story points
		Recommendation Engine	● Build a recommendation system that offers individualised course recommendations. ● Consider elective courses and supplementary materials.	Integration with the course database.	10 story points
		User Feedback Loop	● Establish a feedback loop so users may offer suggestions for courses. ● Refine recommendations based on user feedback.	User feedback system integration.	8 story points
3	Progress Tracking	Progress Dashboard	● The progress dashboard displays completed modules, current modules, and upcoming tasks. Progress is represented visually with completion percentages.	Course content tracking system integration.	8 story points
		Mobile Compatibility	● Mobile devices make progress monitoring accessible and easy to use.	Mobile responsiveness framework implementation.	5 story points
		Notification Integration	● Notifications regarding new assignments and accomplished milestones are sent to learners.	Notification system integration.	7 story points
4	Peer Interaction	Discussion Forum Integration	● Integrated discussion forums within each course. ● Threaded discussions for better organization.	Forum software integration.	9 story points
		Direct Messaging	● Users can send direct messages to each other. ● Group messaging functionality for study groups.	Messaging system integration.	7 story points
		User Profiles	● User profiles display course progress and discussion activity.	User profile system integration.	5 story points
5	Reward and Recognition	Badge System	● Create and put into place a system that awards badges for finishing courses or modules.	Integration with user profiles.	6 story points
5	Reward and Recognition	Certificate Generation	● Automatically generate certificates upon course completion. ● Customizable certificates with the learner's name and course details.	Integration with the course completion tracking system.	8 story points

Table 1: Product backlog

Source: (Self-developed)

Requirements Analysis

One of the user stories that have been selected for conducting a detailed requirement analysis is “Progress tracking- Notification integration”. In this case, the functional requirement involves-

Notification system integration: For learners to receive timely updates, the system has to be integrated with a notification system. Notifications must provide details about recently made assignments, approaching due dates, and course objectives(Taoet al.., 2019).
Customisable notification preferences: The ability to alter notification choices should be provided to users, allowing them to select the kinds of updates they wish to receive and how often.
Real-time updates: For students to be instantly notified of any modifications or new tasks, notifications should be given in real-time.
Task-specific notification: Task-specific notifications should include information on the task's requirements, due dates, and connections to pertinent course materials.

The non-functional requirements include:

Performance: Notifications must be sent out five seconds after the triggering event (such as the availability of a new job) occurs. Without experiencing any performance reduction, the notification system must be able to manage a high number of simultaneous notifications(Zhenget al.., 2018).
Scalability: A rising user base and more sophisticated courses should be supported by a scalable notification system.
Reliability: This involves ensuring the notification distribution mechanism is dependable to avoid delays or missing messages(Albertand Tullis, 2022).
User interface responsiveness: The platform should be easy to use and responsive on a range of devices to manage notification options.

Based on the above functional and non-functional requirements, the assumptions and constraints include-

Assumptions	Constraints
User engagement: The platform may assume that when learners receive timely alerts, they are more likely to interact with the course material and do activities quickly.	Notification system compatibility: Compatibility with the current online learning platform's notification system must be guaranteed during the creation of the new platform.
User consent: The platform operates on the assumption that users have chosen their desired notification settings and given their agreement to receive alerts.	Regulations associated with user privacy: Before sending out alerts, the notification system has to have user authorization and abide by privacy standards.

Table 2: Assumption and constraints affecting functional and non-functional requirements

Source: (Self-made)

Learning Pathway Design

Figure 1: Learning pathway design

Source: (Self-made)

The above learning pathway design aims to guide learners to get an overview of the structural journey that they will be going to experience while using this platform. The overall structure consists of 10 phases that describe different steps in the educational journey. The journey starts with profile setup where clients will be able to build their profile by adding preferences. This setting up of a profile will give rise to various course recommendations to the user along with additional support. Further, the platform will encourage users to go through various interactive assessments(Cooper, 2019). Along with this, the performance of the user will be tracked using various KPIs. The record will be shown in a visual format. In between the online platform will also interact with peers that will help them to overcome various challenges. On completion of each assessment, the user will be offered various rewards.

Course Content Recommendation System

To improve the online learning platform, it is essential to implement a robust recommended system that can significantly improve user experience and course completion. The recommended course content system is as follows-

Building user profile: When users register, they are drawn to fill out a detailed user profile. This might be accomplished by gathering information on their interests, specialisations, and favoured learning formats (such as videos and tests).
Initial skills assessment: This means assessing the learner's level of ability in several academic areas through an initial skills evaluation. One way to accomplish this would be to use the assessment findings to determine the learner's present understanding level.
Recognising integration of data analytics and history tracking: Implementing a learning history recording system is necessary to do this since it will monitor every contact a user has with the platform, including how long they spend on and finish tests, modules, and courses(Abrahamssonet al.., 2017).
Collaborative and content-based filtering: One way to use machine learning techniques is to provide individualised course suggestions.
Recommendation updates and real-time feedback: The e learning systems should accommodate the changes needed in learner preferences to achieve the learning objectives. This specific recommendation will aid in initiating the changes based on feedbacks received by the learners side. The use of algorithms will help in automated learning and receiving real time feedback which will help to keep the users specifically satisfied as well as aware of the issues.
Privacy and Consent: This is one of the essential aspects that involves collecting privacy concerns from customers or users. This must involve utilising personal data for customising courses or recommending courses and much more (Micheliet al.., 2019).
Dashboard integration: This stage entails adding the customised course suggestions to the learner's dashboard so that they are visible and easily accessible upon login.

Database Design

The process of creating the framework that will store and organise data in a database system is known as database design. It entails organising and designing a blueprint for the management, access, and storage of data in a database(Abrahamssonet al.., 2017). Ensuring effective data retrieval, integrity, and security is a well-designed database's key purpose. The database design for the above online learning platform is as follows-

6.1 User Table

Column Name	Data Type	Description
user_id	INT(10)	The primary key, is a unique identifier for each user.
username	VARCHAR(50)	User's username for login.
email	VARCHAR(100)	User's email address.
password_hash	VARCHAR(255)	Hashed password for authentication.
created_at	TIMESTAMP	Timestamp for user registration.

6.2 User Preferences Table

Column Name	Data Type	Description
preference_id	INT(10)	Primary key, a unique identifier for preferences.
user_id	INT(10)	Foreign key referencing Users table.
learning_style	VARCHAR(20)	Preferred learning style (e.g., visual, auditory).
interests	TEXT	User's declared interests and topics of interest.
preference_id	INT(10)	Primary key, a unique identifier for preferences.

6.3 User progress table

Column Name	Data Type	Description
progress_id	INT(10)	Primary key, a unique identifier for progress tracking.
user_id	INT(10)	Foreign key referencing Users table.
course_id	INT(10)	Foreign key referencing Courses table.
module_id	INT(10)	Foreign key referencing Modules table.
completed_at	TIMESTAMP	Timestamp indicating when the module or course was completed.
quiz_scores	JSON or ARRAY	Stores scores for quizzes completed by the user within a module.

6.4 Course table

Column Name	Data Type	Description
course_id	INT	Primary key, unique identifier for each course.
course_title	VARCHAR(100)	Title of the course.
description	TEXT	Description or summary of the course content.

6.5 Module table

Column Name	Data Type	Description
module_id	INT	Primary key, a unique identifier for each module.
course_id	INT	Foreign key referencing Courses table.
module_title	VARCHAR(100)	Title of the module.
content	TEXT	Content of the module (e.g., text, videos, quizzes).
module_id	INT	Primary key, a unique identifier for each module.

Key performance indicators associated with the project

Key performance indicators or KPIs are essential for measuring the performance of the online learning platform. This not only helps in identifying the effectiveness of the platform but also helps in analysing the problem affecting the system. Several KPIs can help in improving the overall system. These include-

Components	KPI	Target	Rationale	Strategy
Course completion rate	Increasing course completion rates from 60% to 80%.	Within 1 year	A greater percentage of courses completed shows that students are making progress through the material and show how well the platform works to offer interesting and pertinent courses(Schreppet al.., 2017). Attaining an 80% completion rate signifies enhanced user happiness and engagement.	Implementation of customised learning paths, offering targeted support against challenging modules, and enhancing content as per learners' feedback.
User satisfaction scores	Achieving higher learner satisfaction scores.	Within 6 months	One important indicator that shows the platform's performance is user happiness(Micheli et al.., 2019). Improved retention and a favourable brand image result from higher satisfaction ratings, which show that students find value in the educational process.	Conducting surveys associated with User satisfaction and implementing improvements accordingly.
Interactive assessment participation	Increasing the average number of quiz attempts per user by 20%.	Within 6 months	Increased interaction with interactive tests indicates that students are taking an active role in their education(Zheng et al.., 2018). More attempts suggest that learners are actively checking their understanding of the course material and developing a deeper comprehension of it.	Introducing gamification elements such as badges, point systems, and leaderboards can be beneficial.
Personalised learning paths adoption	Achieved a 20% increase in the number of learners customising their learning paths.	Within 6 months	An experience of learning that is more efficient and customised is enhanced by personalised learning pathways(Leonidouet al.., 2020). A rise in customisation shows how users interact with the functionalities of the platform, which suggests that students value having the freedom to personalise their educational experience.	By offering communication, tutorial, and success stories, the firm can make learners aware of the benefits of personalised learning paths.
Peer interaction and collaboration	Increased participation by 50% in discussion forums and study groups.	Within 3 months	Through encouraging cooperation, information exchange, and a feeling of community, peer contact improves the educational process(Zhang and Zhu, 2019). A more lively and interesting learning environment is shown by increased involvement in study groups and discussion forums.	Facilitating discussion forums, active participation, recognition can help.
Notification and system engagement	Increased the percentage of users who have opted into the notification by 30%.	Within 3 months	Users are updated about accomplishments, deadlines, and new material using an efficient notification system. Increased awareness and platform engagement are the result of higher opt-in rates, which imply that students value real-time updates(Baldassarre et al.., 2017).	Clear communication and customised notification preferences can be beneficial.

Collaborate with Stakeholders

There are various internal and external stakeholders involved in this online learning platform. The product manager is one of the internal stakeholders who is responsible for monitoring the overall product development process and ensuring the goals are aligned with the needs and demands of the learner. UX/UI designers, the quality assurance team, and the marketing team are also some of the internal stakeholders who are responsible for performing different tasks(Ebneyaminiet al.., 2018). Learners or users as well as other shareholders are the external stakeholders who are responsible for offering feedback on the usability, profits, and learning experiences. The communication plan for maintaining an open dialogue is as follows-

Phase	Activities	Target audience	Channels
Planning	● Defining project goals and objectives. ● Creating deadlines and milestones. ● Gathering project requirements	Product manager, Development team	Various project management tools
Design	● Showcasing wireframes and design concepts. ● Gathering feedback from UX/UI designers and developers. ● Conducting design reviews and iteration.	Team members and UX/UI designers	Documentation, video conferencing
Development	● Offering regular updates on progress and milestones achieved. ● Discussing the technical challenges. ● Sharing prototype.	Product manager, team members, quality assessment team, and UX/UI designers	Prototype tools, progress reports, and collaboration platforms
Testing	● Reporting and fixing bugs by collaborating with others. ● Conducting user acceptance testing.	Product manager, team members, quality assessment team, users, and UX/UI designers	Bug tracking tools
Deployment	● Communicating deployment schedules and potential downtime. ● Offering documentation	Customer support/learner	Email, status updates, and notification
Post-deployment	● Monitoring and gathering feedback. ● Sharing success rates.	Marketing team and leaders.	Marketing channels, social media, and newsletters.

Risk Analysis and mitigation

Risks are common while developing a project. However, frequent risks can affect the project and can give rise to severe consequences(Zhang and Zhu, 2019). Therefore, it is essential to develop a risk register that can help to explore various risks that might affect the project.

Type of risks	Likelihood	Severity	Mitigation strategies
Low engagement and adoption	Moderate	Moderate	● Conducting comprehensive user onboarding using new features. ● Involving in effective communication by developing a plan. ● Offering training through tutorials, webinars, and documentation.
Technical issues	Moderate	High	● Conducting rigorous testing at a user and unit level. ● Developing a backup plan during unexpected issues during deployment. ● Ensuring continuous monitoring to address potential issues.
Budget scarcity	High	High	● Developing a proper budget plan. ● Maintaining thorough cash flows. ● Keeping track of expenses.
Difficulty in integrating new features	Low	Moderate	● Developing and maintaining comprehensive API documentation. ● Effectively collaborating with vendors.
Privacy and security risks	High	High	● Conducting regular security audits to address potential issues. ● Implementing user authentication code to protect data. ● Implementing encryption to safeguard user information from getting exposed.
Resistance to change	High	High	● Implementing change management practices as well as team building activities. ● Involving users to enhance the feedback process.

Table 3: Risk register

Source: (Self-made)

Reference list

Abrahamsson, P., Salo, O., Ronkainen, J. and Warsta, J., 2017. Agile software development methods: Review and analysis. arXiv preprint arXiv:1709.08439.

Albert, B. and Tullis, T., 2022. Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting UX Metrics. Morgan Kaufmann.

Baldassarre, B., Calabretta, G., Bocken, N.M.P. and Jaskiewicz, T., 2017. Bridging sustainable business model innovation and user-driven innovation: A process for sustainable value proposition design. Journal of cleaner production, 147, pp.175-186.

Berg, L.P. and Vance, J.M., 2017. Industry use of virtual reality in product design and manufacturing: a survey. Virtual reality, 21, pp.1-17.

Cooper, R.G., 2019. The drivers of success in new-product development. Industrial marketing management, 76, pp.36-47.

Ebneyamini, S. and Sadeghi Moghadam, M.R., 2018. Toward developing a framework for conducting case study research. International journal of qualitative methods, 17(1), p.1609406918817954.

Leonidou, E., Christofi, M., Vrontis, D. and Thrassou, A., 2020. An integrative framework of stakeholder engagement for innovation management and entrepreneurship development. Journal of Business Research, 119, pp.245-258.

Micheli, P., Wilner, S.J., Bhatti, S.H., Mura, M. and Beverland, M.B., 2019. Doing design thinking: Conceptual review, synthesis, and research agenda. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 36(2), pp.124-148.

Schrepp, M., Hinderks, A. and Thomaschewski, J., 2017. Design and evaluation of a short version of the user experience questionnaire (UEQ-S). International Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Artificial Intelligence, 4 (6), 103-108.

Tao, F., Sui, F., Liu, A., Qi, Q., Zhang, M., Song, B., Guo, Z., Lu, S.C.Y. and Nee, A.Y., 2019. Digital twin-driven product design framework. International Journal of Production Research, 57(12), pp.3935-3953.

Zhang, F. and Zhu, L., 2019. Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Stakeholder pressures, organizational learning, and green innovation. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(6), pp.1012-1026.

Zheng, P., Lin, T.J., Chen, C.H. and Xu, X., 2018. A systematic design approach for service innovation of smart product-service systems. Journal of cleaner production, 201, pp.657-667.

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