Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
are nearly double what they were last year. Customer complaints about our lack
of concern are an embarrassment. We are in this together. 30 percent of our
regular income and 50 percent of our bonuses come from our combined efforts.
We have to figure out how to stop double efforts on some clients and missing
others altogether. When we call the same person on the same day with
approximately the same questions or information, we look disorganized and
unprofessional. Travel expenses show we are going to the same cities on
consecutive weeks to do the same business. Don't we share account information
with each other? All of these products have similar client demographics, similar
market niches, and similar competitive profiles. We have to share. We have to
figure this out together. Now, we have to change something. Now. any questions
before Toby arrives?" Amanda fished through her purse, "Oh, Pat, I nearly forgot!
Daddy (the CEO of Blues Services) said ‘Thanks' for that report you rushed to
him yesterday. What projections and reports?" Nate flashed her the packet of
information. She said, "Oh, that looked too boring and too historical for me to
look through. Tell me what I need to know." Nate ignored her as he checked the
scores on his mobile. Amanda gave him a pitying look and said, "You men,
concerned about ball game scores at work! How just, un. . ." Pat smiled bleakly
and said, "Hello, Toby, I think you know everyone here." Toby shook hands all
around, except with Amanda who was busy putting on the hand lotion she had
finally found in her purse. Toby started, "Thanks for taking the time to complete
the questionnaires I sent you. I think Blue Lightning has a lot going for it, and
some areas to work on. I will show you what you told me, and then we will work
on this together." Toby's first slide showed four stick figures with "What we think
about _____" arrayed around them. Figure 1 had curly hair and a big smile and
data that indicated that the rest of the team thought Figure 1 did not show up for
meetings on time, did not contribute a fair share to the group workload, did not
receive feedback well, did encourage innovation among team members, and was
fun and energetic. Figure 2, with a flattop haircut, was surrounded by data that
indicated Figure 2 showed up on time, prepared work assignments on time,
showed respect for all group members, and did not change his or her opinion
easily, even when appropriate. Figures 3 and 4 provided similar information. Toby
also had results combined from the four Blue Lightning members in response to
questions such as "How satisfied are you that your ideas are heard by the
team?" "How well does the team resolve differences of opinion? How well does
the team follow its own ground rules?" Please refer to this scenario for the
following question.
Would you have chosen the same intervention that Toby used with Team
Lightning? Explain your answer and develop at least one alternative intervention.
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
AACSB: Analytic
Blooms: Apply
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Learning Objective: 10-04 Describe team-building interventions that have been shown to stimulate team performance.
Topic: Effective Team Interventions
64. Identify a few myths about teamwork.
65. You have been assigned a new project with high visibility. Your boss has
given you the option of either dividing the work between five highly skilled and
talented employees, or making a team of those five and giving them shared
responsibility for the project. On what criteria will you base your decision to form
a team or not?
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
AACSB: Analytic
Blooms: Apply
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Learning Objective: 10-01 Describe the potential of teams to exceed the performance of individuals acting alone.
Topic: When Do Teams Make Sense?
66. How do teams that recommend things differ from teams that make or do
things?
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
AACSB: Analytic
Blooms: Analyze
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Learning Objective: 10-01 Describe the potential of teams to exceed the performance of individuals acting alone.
Topic: Different Teams—Different Challenges
67. To execute a complex accounting project for a retail giant, an accountancy
firm created a five-member team. The team members were all highly
experienced and had complementary skill sets. The team was given a month's
deadline to finish the project. Despite facing many hurdles, the team finished the
project in three weeks. Though the team's work met the quality standards, two
resenting members (Paul and Julia) thought that the quality of their work
suffered due to tight deadline. Others in the team disagreed which made Paul
and Julia decide never to work with this team again. Evaluate the performance of
this team.
68. Explain in brief the five disciplines of high-performing teams.
69. In a five-member team that you need to set up, you have selected four
members. You are debating whether Steve or Pete would be the best fifth
member. They both have the skill sets required for the success of the team. What
are the five dimensions of teamwork that you will base your judgment on?
70. Your friend, Lee, a team coaching expert, told you that she believes a key
feature of a high-performing team is that they start performing as soon as the
team members meet the first time. Do you agree? Elaborate.
71. What are the five stages of team development?
72. Martha is a conscientious, highly capable, and risk-averse primary school
teacher. She has been asked to be a part of a team of experienced school
teachers. The purpose of this team is to make recommendations for improving
teaching methods and syllabi for their school district. What kind of changes
might her behavior undergo in the team setting?
73. What is the Ringelmann effect? What is the best strategy for avoiding it?
74. Your friend Jim works for the biggest automobile manufacturer of the
country. He is part of the sports car design team. During a baseball game last
weekend, you asked him, "How's work?"
He replied, "Great. I have been part of this team for over a year now. Our team is
the most cohesive team in the entire company, and we are always happy and
respect each other. The only flaw is that just one out of the four cars we
designed has been successful in the marketplace. I wonder why." Which of the
pitfalls of teams is Jim's team demonstrating? Give Jim good advice.
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
It is clear that Jim's team is highly cohesive, so much so that it is stifling honest
criticisms. This illustrates the effect of social conformity on team members.
Social conformity involves social pressures to conform to the perceived wishes of
the group. Jim's team members strive so hard to maintain harmony and cohesion
that they end up avoiding the discomforts of disagreement. This groupthink is
leading to poor decision making, which is showing up as failure of their car
designs in the marketplace.
You can suggest the following strategies to overcome social conformity:
• Ask each team member to be a critical evaluator.
• Encourage a sharing of objections.
• Do not let the leader become partial to one course of action.
• Create subgroups with different leaders to work on the same problem.
• Have members discuss issues with outsiders and report back.
• Invite outside experts to observe and react to group discussions.
• Have a different member act as "devil's advocate" at each meeting.
• Write alternative scenarios for the intentions of competing groups.
• Hold "second-chance" meetings once an initial decision is made.
• Make use of pre-votes and anonymous decision votes.
• Use electronic meeting formats.
Feedback: Refer: Table 10.5
75. You are an HR manager at a retail stationery giant. To assess how future
hires will fare in teamwork, you have been recently asked to introduce leaderless
group discussions as part of the hiring process. What team member behaviors
will you use to assess teamwork performance of the job candidates?
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
Teams need members who perform both task and maintenance (interpersonal)
roles, and the best contributors are individuals who know what they do well and
can match that to the needs of their team. The following is a set of team member
behaviors that are commonly used in assessing teamwork performance:
Task roles:
• Initiating: Suggesting new goals or ideas.
• Information seeking: Clarifying key issues.
• Opinion seeking: Clarifying attitudes, values, and feelings.
• Elaborating: Giving additional information about points made by others.
• Coordinating: Pulling together ideas and suggestions.
• Orienting: Keeping the team headed toward its stated goals.
• Recording: Performing a "team memory" function by documenting discussions
and outcomes.
• Challenging: Questioning the quality of the team's method, logic, and results.
Interpersonal roles:
• Encouraging: Fostering team solidarity by reinforcing others.
• Harmonizing: Mediating conflicts.
• Compromising: Shifting one's own position on an issue to reduce conflict in the
team.
• Gatekeeping: Encouraging all team members to participate.
• Reflecting: Pointing out the positive and negative aspects of the team's
dynamics and calling for change if necessary.
• Standard setting: Expressing, or calling for discussion of, standards for
evaluating the quality of the team.
Feedback: Refer: Tool Kit 10.3
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
AACSB: Analytic
Blooms: Apply
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Learning Objective: 10-04 Describe team-building interventions that have been shown to stimulate team performance.
Topic: Effective Team Interventions
