1. Just as Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney cried, "Let’s put on a show!" to
solve problems in their 1940s movie lives, many businesses cry "Let’s build
teams!" to attack problems ranging from low productivity to poor morale,
high costs, and missed deadlines. Likewise, in our Week 3 Case Study,
Building a Coalition, we had a team begin to form to address problems in the
Washington, DC school system. Employee teams intuitively seem to be a
great idea and are certainly a growing trend.
Use your newfound knowledge of teams and discuss the following three
elements:
(a). Describe the stages of group development. Why is it important that
managers have an understanding of the group development process? (15
points)
(b). Identify and discuss three group property or team process elements you
feel are most important in building a high performing team. (15 points)
(c). Identify and discuss at least TWO factors that determine whether teams
are successful.
2. The use of social networking by professionals in the workplace as a
means of communication is increasing dramatically. Describe how the use of
social networks enhances or reduces productivity at an organizational level.
Discuss how their social and work uses affect employee attitudes and
behaviors.
3. In the small town of Evansville, Indiana, Amberville Textiles was not
producing parachute and military blankets as it did in its height of success
thirty years ago. When Joe Harley, the middle-level manager of the
production department at Amberville was laid off, many employees who
worked under him became apprehensive about their job security. They were
aware of the current trend toward laying-off employees in the textile
industry.
The termination of their manager, combined with the fact that the plant had
performed only moderately well in the last two quarters, led the employees
to believe that they were at a high risk of losing their jobs as well. Rumors
had spread about impending lay-offs and the human resources manager was
just developing the first formal inter-departmental communication network
for managers to put into place the same week Joe Harley left the
organization.
Analyze the current organizational and inter-departmental structure; then,
prepare a clear, concise process-improvement strategy plan, which you will
present in writing to the President and Human Resources Manager. Include
specific examples of current communication issues and specific suggestions
for improvement. Conclude with two recommendations for how the interdepartmental communication conflicts could be altered to improve accurate
and timely communication and productivity within the current workforce.
4. Monica was recently promoted to the manager role for a large function in
her organization that oversees global regulatory compliance for the
company’s products. Her prior department—Customer Complaints—is just
one of the functional groups that provide input for her new department’s
charter. Monica is tasked with revising a set of complex processes to
improve the quality and timeliness of regulatory reporting, and she has asked
you for some recommendations about team format. Considering the
numerous inputs and outputs of the affected processes, and the global
reporting requirement, should Monica create a cross-functional team, a
problem-solving team, a virtual team, or a hybrid? After careful analysis,
write up your recommended team format and defend your reasons for the
type of team Monica should establish.
