Key words from the assignment
"You are newly appointed as an external appointee as Department Head in an organization, managing about 20 employees."

Analysis of the above sentence

The word 'external appointee' means that you are brought in from outside the organization. What does this implicate?
First, you are new to the organization, meaning you do not know the culture of the organization. You have to get to know the history and culture of the organization. If you have been in the organization, you would have the advantage of knowing everyone , their personalities, values of the organization or management. In this case, you do not have this advantage. You will have to start from scratch.

Secondly, As someone from outside the organization to head the department, means that you will face certain obstacles. What is the perceptions of the employees of you? Will they trust an outsider? Most likely not. They will view you with suspicions, that you are with the management.
Will you be able to get their respect? Since they do not know you, you will need to demonstrate your capacity and ability to them before they will give you their trust. You will have to earn it before you can use your powerbase. Position power is not going to work well here. You need to demonstrate expert power to gain their respect.

For this issue, you will need to read up chapter one on the relevant sections on effective managing, functions and role of a manager. Read up the various theories about effective managers. You will need this manage the negative attitudes and perceptions.

Something you should ask in the forum in the Studydesk on this.
We are not told about the demographic factors of the twenty employees. How many males, females, age, qualifications? These are important in making assumptions about their perceptions and attitudes too.

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