| Course | BU 530 Business Leadership Foundations |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 7 |
| Paper type | Feedback analysis |
| Length | About 790 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BU 530 Unit 7
Six Sources, Three Questions and the Pattern Behind Two Opposite Complaints: A Feedback Analysis Set Against a Composite Roofing Superintendent's Own Self-Assessment
Student Name
Business, Herzing University
BU 530: Business Leadership Foundations
Instructor Name
February 23, 2026
Six Sources, Three Questions and the Pattern Behind Two Opposite Complaints: A Feedback Analysis Set Against a Composite Roofing Superintendent's Own Self-Assessment
Where the Feedback Came From
This paper analyzes what other people reported about my leadership and sets it beside the self-assessment in Unit 4. I asked six people the same three questions in person during the first two weeks of February: what should I keep doing, what should I start doing and what should I stop doing. I took notes as they spoke, read each person's points back to them for accuracy and told each that their answers would appear in a course paper without their name. No one is identified here, and roles are described only as broadly as needed to weigh what each person could see.
Ashford and Cummings (1983) describe asking for feedback directly as one of two ways people gather information about their own performance, the other being watching for cues. Direct inquiry gives clearer information but invites polite answers, especially from people who report to the one asking. The two foremen's answers should be read with that in mind.
| Source | Relationship to my work | How often they see me | What they have reason to notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreman 1 | Reports to me, crew leader | Daily | How I direct crews and handle problems on site |
| Foreman 2 | Reports to me, crew leader | Daily | The same, on different jobs |
| Project manager | Peer, runs the contract with clients | Two or three times a week | Communication, schedule commitments, client dealings |
| Estimator | Peer in the office | Weekly | Requests for material and changes |
| Sheet metal subcontractor's lead | Outside the company | Weekly on shared jobs | Coordination and fairness between trades |
| Operations manager | My manager | Weekly | Overall results, reliability, how I represent the company |
What the Sources Reported, by Theme
A pattern reported by five sources in different relationships to my work carries far more weight than a remark from one. The last theme is a single report, but it matches what I found about my own conduct in Unit 6, so I treat it as more than a stray comment.
| Theme | Sources reporting it | Example, paraphrased |
|---|---|---|
| Clear daily plans; decisive on site | 5 of 6 (all but the estimator) | Everyone knows by 6 a.m. what they are doing and why |
| Slow to return calls and messages from the office | 4 of 6 (project manager, estimator, operations manager, subcontractor's lead) | Calls go unanswered until the end of the day |
| Takes over the work when a crew falls behind | 3 of 6 (both foremen, operations manager) | Climbs up and starts doing it himself instead of asking what the crew needs |
| Gives credit to crews in front of others | 2 of 6 (both foremen) | Names the crew that did good work at the weekly meeting |
| Slow to accept new materials and methods | 2 of 6 (project manager, subcontractor's lead) | Wants to keep doing details the old way |
| Does not always explain the reason for changes | 1 of 6 (Foreman 2) | Tells us what changed, not why |
Agreement With My Self-Account
Two conclusions from Unit 4 are confirmed. The high conscientiousness score matched what five sources said about my planning. The low openness score, which Unit 4 flagged as one others judge better than I do, matches two independent reports about new materials, both from people who work with me on details rather than on schedules.
Disagreement With My Self-Account
The question Unit 4 could not answer, whether foremen experience my planning as help or as control, now has an answer: three sources, including both foremen, describe me taking over the work when a crew falls behind. My self-assessment described planning and follow-through; the people closest to my daily behavior describe the same tendency turning into control under pressure. Vazire (2010) found that others are often better placed than the self to judge visible behavior, and this is visible behavior.
The communication theme is a disagreement I had not anticipated at all. I see myself as reliable, and on site I am; four sources who deal with me from outside the site experience me as hard to reach.
Where the Sources Contradicted Each Other
The project manager said I am too accommodating to general contractors and accept unreasonable schedule demands. Foreman 1 said I am too hard on crews when a general contractor pushes. These sound opposite, but they describe one pattern seen from two sides: I absorb pressure from above without pushing back and pass it down. The project manager sees the absorbing and the foreman sees the passing on. Read together, the two complaints point to a single behavior, not to an inconsistent leader.
The operations manager's report adds a third view of the same pattern. She described me as dependable with general contractors, which she meant as praise. From her position, accepting a contractor's demand without argument looks like reliability; from the project manager's it looks like weakness in negotiation; from the foreman's it looks like pressure arriving on the crew with no explanation. The behavior is identical in each account. What differs is which part of its cost each person bears, and that is a useful reminder that a single piece of feedback describes the observer's position as much as the person observed.
This pattern also connects to the manipulation identified in Unit 6. The December weekend request I attributed to the general contractor was the same behavior at its worst: a demand passed down with the real reason removed.
What Was Not Mentioned
No one mentioned calmness under pressure, which Unit 4 treated as my most reliable self-reported strength. That silence is not evidence against it, since I asked open questions and calmness may simply not have come to mind, but it means the strength rests only on my own account.
Limits
Six sources is a small number, two of them report to me, and I asked the questions myself, so politeness probably softened some answers. Kluger and DeNisi (1996) found that feedback interventions improve performance on average but make it worse in a substantial share of cases, often when feedback pulls attention toward the person and away from the work itself. The development plan in Unit 8 therefore turns these themes into specific task behaviors rather than into conclusions about what kind of leader I am.
References
Ashford, S. J., & Cummings, L. L. (1983). Feedback as an individual resource: Personal strategies of creating information. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 32(3), 370-398. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(83)90156-3
Kluger, A. N., & DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254-284. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.119.2.254
Vazire, S. (2010). Who knows what about a person? The self-other knowledge asymmetry (SOKA) model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 281-300. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017908
Reading the BU 530 Unit 7 instructions
The seventh BU 530 unit asks students to analyze feedback from other people about their leadership. Requirements typically include describing the sources without identifying anyone, including their relationship to your work and what each had reason to notice, organizing content by theme rather than by person, comparing it with your earlier self-assessment, examining where sources contradict each other and stating limits. Three to six sources is a common range, ideally spread across people who see your work from different positions. You gather and report the feedback yourself; a writer cannot invent it for you. A full 360 report from work is the employer's document, so if you use one, summarize themes with permission rather than submitting it.
Inside the BU 530 Unit 7 example
A source table opens the paper, describing six people by role, contact frequency and vantage point, with Ashford and Cummings on what direct inquiry yields. A theme table then counts how many sources reported each of six patterns, with paraphrased examples, and explains why a single report still matters. Separate sections report agreement with the self-assessment, disagreement with it and contradictions between sources, the last showing how opposite complaints describe one behavior seen from different positions. A short section notes what no source mentioned. Limits close the paper, using Kluger and DeNisi to explain why the development plan will target task behaviors rather than self-image. Nothing in the analysis names or describes a source closely enough to identify them.
Where the points sit in the BU 530 Unit 7 rubric
Herzing's rubric for the feedback analysis generally awards points for source description, thematic organization, comparison with the self-assessment, treatment of contradictions, limits and professional handling of confidentiality. Source description earns credit when readers can weigh each report without knowing who gave it. Thematic organization scores when patterns are counted across sources. Comparison is often the core criterion, rewarding writers who report contradictions of their self-view rather than only confirmations. Contradictions between sources earn points when explained rather than averaged, since two opposite complaints can describe one behavior seen from different positions. Limits are judged on whether sample size, relationship and collection method are considered. Confidentiality is expected throughout.
BU 530 Unit 7 help before you submit
Feedback analyses lose marks when they list comments person by person instead of finding patterns. Another frequent weakness is reporting only praise, or explaining away criticism. Writers often treat contradictory feedback as noise rather than as information about different vantage points. Some identify sources by details that make them recognizable. Others ignore that people who report to them may soften their answers, which makes criticism from those sources more significant, not less. Silence on a strength the writer claimed is also worth noting. Submitting a workplace 360 report as the analysis is not acceptable. If your feedback seems contradictory, our writers can help you organize it by theme and draft the comparison with your self-assessment.
Get a BU 530 Unit 7 example written to your instructions
Once you have your feedback in hand, send the Unit 7 instructions and the BU 530 rubric from your classroom with a de-identified summary of what you received. We write a custom example that characterizes sources, groups by theme, sets the self-account alongside and analyzes the resistance. First custom sample free, back in 24 to 48 hours.
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BU 530 Unit 7 questions, answered
Can you write the feedback itself for me?
No. Real comments from real colleagues are yours to collect, and an example that invented them would be fiction where the unit demands testimony. What a custom sample shows is the analytic apparatus: how sources are characterized, how themes are grouped, how the self-account is set against them and how resistance is examined. You supply the content that arrives from other people.
How many sources does the analysis need?
Take whatever number the assignment requires. If it leaves the count open, aim for enough variety that a pattern can be separated from an opinion. Sources that see you in different settings are worth more than several who see you in the same one. Ask them for behavior they have observed rather than for a general impression, since observations are analyzable and impressions mostly are not.
Could I just submit my last 360 report instead?
That report belongs to the organization that commissioned it, along with the review records and ratings around it, and the people who responded did so under its process rather than for a classroom. Gather feedback yourself for the course, tell the people you ask what it is for, keep every response de-identified in the paper, and leave the workplace document where it sits.
Where can I find a free BU 530 Unit 7 sample paper?
A complete BU 530 Unit 7 feedback analysis appears on this page without charge, with the source and theme tables, the comparison with the self-assessment and margin notes. Analyzing your own feedback? Send the prompt and anonymized themes and we will draft the analysis free, usually inside 48 hours.
How many sources does a BU 530 Unit 7 analysis need?
Enough to see patterns across different vantage points, often four to six. The sample uses six people in different relationships to the work and counts how many reported each theme.