1. (Mt) – Crisis Leadership Report
Read the Case Scenario that follows and answer Mr. Barney’s questions in the form of a
report. Address the report to Mr. Barney.You walk into your office one morning and see an
article on your desk. You pick it up and realize that Mr. Barney, the CEO, placed it there! He
also has some questions on a post-it note and a request for recommendations. Max Barney
was exhausted. He had just finished a long meeting with his current VP of Headquarter
Operations, Michael Brown. Michael, who was himself getting ready for retirement, was
giving Barney a rundown of a recent crisis that impacted the company. While the dust
seemed to be settling, Barney recognized that this was one of the worst things to ever
happen to his company.Michael recalls the crisis in the following way: “On the morning of
January 19th, I got a call from Joanne Edwards, my contact at our major distributor, Happy
and Healthy Foodmart. She told me that three of her customers had complained that
Biotech’s echinacea had made them ill. I called our legal department immediately to put
them on alert. By noon that day, the number of reported illnesses had risen to seven. By
January 22nd, the worst possible news came in – one of those people had actually died. I
called my team together immediately to come up with a plan for an immediate Recall. We
needed to manage this crisis with our employees, our distributors, and most of all our
customers. Controlling the message to the public and the media was critical. We’d had
Recalls before, but never in reaction to a customer death. This was a whole new ball game
for us. Once the Recall had been put in place, we needed to get to the bottom of the
echinacea problem. We started looking at the suppliers and ended up in the Purchasing
Department. When we discovered that Henrietta Higgins, the Assistant Director of
Purchasing, had cut a deal with a new supplier I became furious, Max. I mean, it was not one
of my proudest moments.” “That’s understandable,” replied Max, “go on. Tell me
more.” “Well, Higgins received an offer from a new supplier to buy genetically modified
echinacea. She explained that she thought it was a good move because it would save the
company over 20% on the wholesale price. She made the decision unilaterally, Max,
without every going to her supervisor or to me to discuss it.” “What did you do when you
found this out?” asked Max. “I fired her, of course. We had no other choice, Max. It’s because
of her we have this crisis. And on top of that, we’ve decided to halt all sales of all echinacea
in the foreseeable future.” “Who’s we?” Max asked, with concern in his voice now. “My team,
of course. I told my managers about my decision and they’re all behind me 100%. We all
know how important it is to act quickly in this situation, Max. You can trust me to turn this
situation around.” Max left the meeting sure about two things. First, he was secretly relieved

2. that Michael was nearing retirement. The new VP of Headquarter Operations could start
fresh. Second, he had just finished reading an article about a “Crisis Ready Culture”. He
knew that it was time for Biotech to start developing a crisis-ready culture. Max drops by
your office with a copy of that article. He has a post-it note on the article, with the following
questions and a request for recommendations: What Leadership Styles were used in the
recent echinacea crisis? Discuss the leadership style of every person involved. What
Leadership Styles would be most beneficial in a crisis-ready culture?What leadership
competencies were evident in the recent echinacea crisis? Discuss the leadership
competencies of every person involved.What leadership competencies would be most
needed in a crisis-ready culture?What role did Emotional Intelligence (or lack of Emotional
Intelligence) play in the echinacea crisis?What role would Emotional Intelligence play in a
crisis-ready culture?What role did Authentic Leadership (or lack of it) play in the Echinacea
crisis?What role would Authentic Leadership play in a crisis-ready culture?What role (if
any) did Biotech’s current culture play in the Echinacea crisis?How can Biotech align its
current strategy, culture and organizational structure to develop a crisis-ready culture?Give
three specific and actionable recommendations that could be implemented to develop
acrisis-ready culture for Biotech. (Each recommendation should be supported by course
materials).Step 1: Course MaterialFor this project, you are required to use the case scenario
facts and the course material. External sources are not permitted. You are not researching
on the Internet or using resources from outside the course. You are expected to answer the
requirements identified below showing the connection between the case scenario facts and
the course material. Using course material goes beyond defining terms and are used to
explain the ‘why and how’ of a situation. Avoid merely making statements but close the
loop of the discussion by explaining how something happens or why something happens,
which focuses on importance and impact. In closing the loop, you will demonstrate the
ability to think clearly and rationally showing an understanding of the logical connections
between the ideas presented in a case scenario, the course material and the question(s)
being asked. Using one or two in-text citations from the course material throughout the
entire paper will not earn many points on an assignment. The use of a variety of course
material is expected consistently supporting what is presented. The support must be
relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed. Points are not earned for mentioning a
term or concept but by clearly and thoroughly explaining or discussing the question at
hand.Step 2: The Questions to AnswerYou will answer the 11 questions above provided in
Step 1. Step 3: Write the Report. Report Format: Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF)
report should be no more than seven (7) pages double-spaced. Those five pages do not
include the required Title Page, Reference Page and Appendix. You will use the following
format.The report should use Roman Numeral numbering for each section and answer each
of Mr. Barney’s questions, as follows:The Leadership Styles demonstrated in the recent
echinacea crisis. Provide evidence for your claims from the case scenario and support your
claim with course material.The Leadership Styles that would be most beneficial in a crisis-
ready culture. Support your reasoning with course materials.The leadership competencies
that were evident in the recent echinacea crisis. Provide evidence for your claims from the
case scenario and support your claim with course materials.The leadership competencies

3. that would be most needed in a crisis-ready culture. Support your reasoning and
conclusions with course materials.The role that Emotional Intelligence (or lack of Emotional
Intelligence) played in the echinacea crisis. Provide evidence for your claims from the case
scenario and support your claim with course materials.The role that E.Q. would play in a
crisis-ready culture. Support your reasoning and conclusions with course materials.The
role that Authentic Leadership (or lack of it ) played in the Echinacea crisis. Provide
evidence for your claims from the case scenario and support your claim with course
materials.The role that Authentic Leadership would play in a crisis-ready culture. Support
your reasoning and conclusions with course materials.The role (if any) that Biotech’s
current culture played in the Echinacea crisis. Provide evidence for your claims from the
case scenario and Biotech Company Profile and support your claim with course
materials.How Biotech can align its current strategy, culture and organizational structure to
develop this crisis-ready culture. Support your analysis with course materials.Three
specific and actionable recommendations that Biotech leadership could implement to
develop this crisis-ready culture.