BABM2004 Ethical and Responsible Leadership Assignment Brief 2026 | DMU

Faculty of Business and Law

BABM2004 Assignment Brief

Module Title: Ethical and Responsible Leadership
Assignment Number: 3

Module Code: BABM2004
Assignment Title: Essay

Module Leader: Dorthe Heide
Assignment Weighting: 40%

Assessment Information – What you need to do

This assignment is an individual assignment.

This assignment requires you to write an essay using the following topic:

Ethical and Responsible Leadership explained through the case of Elon Musk and his role at Tesla.

The essay is 1600 words (excluding the references) and should include the following sections.

Introduction: Briefly introduce the essay and the importance of Ethical and Responsible Leadership. State the purpose of the essay. (150 words)

Main body: The main body should explain and answer the following questions. Provide in-text references of the sources.

Discuss and Analyze Elon Musk Leadership of Tesla by using the following models:
Mark S. Schwartz: Business Ethics (2017) Figure 1, p. 27 (The root system of moral character)
Nicola Pless et al.: Responsible Leadership (2022) Figure 12, p. 210 (Matrix of responsible leadership orientations)

Relate the understanding of the Leadership and Ethics of Elon Musk at Tesla to concepts from theories dealing with Virtuous Leadership.

Conclusion: Sum up the main points about ethical and responsible leadership. End with a thought on why ethical leadership is important in business. (150 words).

Reference list: You must list all the references used using the Harvard style.

Criteria for Assessment – How you will be marked

Please, have a look at the marking rubric for more detailed information (separate document).

Further information on University mark descriptors can be found here.

This assignment is designed to assess the following learning outcomes:

1. Understand the broader historical context in which debates about the responsibility and sustainability of business have emerged. Understand the relationship between responsible leadership and business ethics. (Reflective Essay & Essay)

2. Understand and describe the core principles of responsible leadership and their application in the business context;. Evaluate different perspectives concerning the value of ethical behaviour within business. (Reflective Essay, Case Study Analysis & Essay)

3. Evaluate how companies and managers address ethical issues, and the impact of decisions made on different stakeholders. (Case Study Analysis & Essay)

4. Demonstrate decision making skills in ethical scenarios. (Case Study Analysis & Essay)

Assessment Details

The word count is 1600 words.

There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.

The word limit includes tables, figures, quotations and citations, but excludes the references list and appendices.

How to Submit your Assessment

The assessment must be submitted by 12:00 (noon) (GMT/BST) on the 16/01/26. No paper copies are required. You can access the submission link through the module web.

• Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.

• Please ensure that you have submitted your work using the correct file format, unreadable files will receive a mark of zero. The Faculty accepts Microsoft Office and PDF documents, unless otherwise advised by the module leader.

• All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason will be subject to the University regulations on late submissions.

  • If an assessment is submitted up to 24 hours late the mark for the work will be capped at the pass mark of 40 per cent for undergraduate modules or 50 per cent for postgraduate modules

  • If an assessment is submitted beyond 24 hours late the work will receive a mark of zero per cent

  • The above applies to a student’s first attempt at the assessment. If work submitted as a reassessment of a previously failed assessment task is submitted later than the deadline the work will immediately be given a mark of zero per cent

  • If an assessment which is marked as pass/fail rather than given a percentage mark is submitted later than the deadline, the work will immediately be marked as a fail

• The University wants you to do your best. However, we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict. If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to five working days, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the re-sit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline for your assessment. You will find information about applying for extensions and deferrals here.

• Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.

• Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.

Return of Marked Work

You can expect to have feedback returned to you on 14/02/26. If for any reason there is a delay you will be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online. It is important that you access the feedback you receive as this will help to make improvements to your later work, you can request a meeting with your Module Leader or Personal Tutor to discuss your feedback in more detail.

Marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed their review. More information on assessment and feedback can be found here.

Academic Integrity and Generative AI Use

In submitting a piece of work for assessment it is essential that you understand the University’s requirements for maintaining academic integrity and ensure that the work does not contravene University regulations. Some examples of behaviour that would not be considered acceptable include plagiarism, re-use of previously assessed work, collusion with others and purchasing your assignment from a third party. For more information on academic offences, bad academic practice, and academic penalties, please read chapter four of our academic regulations.

Generative AI tools may be used selectively for this assessment.

Any use of generative AI needs to be appropriately acknowledged. Students should add a statement explaining which technologies were used, how they were used and how this output was then used to complete the assignment. Direct use of outputs should be cited.

Examples of a student acknowledgement statement are shown below:

Statement of acknowledgment 1 – generative AI used when module leader allows it.

I have used (list all AI system(s) used and links e.g., Google’s Bard, https://bard.google.com) to (provide details of how you used generative artificial intelligence e.g., to breakdown some of the concepts taught on the module). The prompt(s) I have used are (include the prompt(s) e.g., you are an enthusiastic tutor who is also an experienced economist, help me understand the concept of game theory with explanations and examples). What was generated from these prompts was used to (explain how they were used in your submission, e.g., develop a section on game theory examples).

Statement of acknowledgment 2 – generative AI not used when module leader allows it.

This assessment has not used any generative-AI.

You can find the library guide on generative AI use here – https://library.dmu.ac.uk/genai

Academic Support and Your Well-being

Referencing is the process of acknowledging other people’s work when you have used it in your assignment or research. It allows the reader to locate your source material as quickly and easily as possible so that they can read these sources themselves and verify the validity of your arguments. Referencing provides the link between what you write and the evidence on which it is based.

You identify the sources that you have used by citing them in the text of your assignment (called citations or in-text citations) and referencing them at the end of your assignment (called the reference list or end-text citations). The reference list only includes the sources cited in your text. The main referencing guide can be found here and includes information on the basics of referencing and achieving good academic practice. It also has tabs for the specific referencing styles depending on whether you require Harvard style used in business or OSCOLA style used by the Law school.

The University has a wealth of support services available to students; further information can be obtained from Student Gateway, the Student Advice Centre, Library and Learning Services and, most importantly, your Personal Tutor. If you are struggling with your assessments and/or deadlines, please do seek help as soon as possible so that appropriate support and guidance can be identified and put in place for you. More information can be found on the Healthy DMU pages.

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