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Comprehensive Case Notes Page
Case 3
Building a Coalition
Learning Goals
Many of the most important organizational behavior challenges require
coordinating plans and goals among groups. This case describes a
multi-organizational e!ort, but the same principles of accommodation and
compromise also apply when trying to work with multiple divisions within a single
organization. You’ll create a blueprint for managing a complex development
team’s progress, steering team members away from negative conflict and
toward productive discussion. You’ll also be asked to help create a new message
for executives so they can lead e!ectively.
Major Topic Areas
Group dynamics
Maximizing team performance
Organizational culture
Integrative bargaining
The Scenario
The Woodson Foundation, a large nonpro.t social service agency, is teaming up with
the public school system in Washington, D.C. to improve student outcomes. There’s
ample room for improvement. The schools have problems with truancy, low student
performance, and crime. New sta! quickly burns out as their initial enthusiasm for
helping students is blunted by the harsh realities they encounter in the classroom.
Turnover among new teachers is very high, and many of the best and brightest are
the most likely to leave for schools that aren’t as troubled.
The plan is to create an experimental after-school program that will combine the
Woodson Foundation’s skill in raising private money and coordinating
community leaders with the educational expertise of school sta!. Ideally, the system
will be .nancially self-su0cient, which is important because less money is available
for schools than in the past. After several months of negotiation, the leaders of the
Woodson Foundation and the school system have agreed that the best course is to
develop a new agency that will draw on resources from both organizations. The
Woodson Foundation will provide logistical support and program development
and measurement sta!; the school system will provide classrooms and teaching
sta!.
The .rst stage in bringing this new plan to fruition is the formation of an executive
development team. This team will span multiple functional areas and establish the
operating plan for improving school performance. Its cross-organizational nature
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Conflict and Agreement in the Development Team
While it would be perfect if all the groups could work together easily to improve
one another.
School district representatives want to ensure the new jobs will be unionized and will
operate in a way consistent with current school board policies. They are
very concerned that if Woodson assumes too dominant a role, the school board won’t
be able to control the operations of the new system. The complexity of the
district jobs.
Woodson, founded by entrepreneur Theodore Woodson around 1910, still bears the
hallmarks of its founder’s way of doing business. Woodson emphasized efficiency and
experimentation in everything he did. Many of the foundation’s charities have won
awards for minimizing costs while still providing excellent services. Their focus on
the school district culture.
Finally, the NCPIE is driven by a mission to increase parental control. The organization
believes that when communities are able to drive their own educational methods,
students and parents are better able to achieve success together. The organization is
strongly committed to celebrating diversity along racial, gender, ethnic, and disability
Woodson Foundation, based in northern Virginia, is predominantly sta!ed by
Caucasian professionals. There is some concern with the idea that a new group that
does not understand the demographic concerns of the community will be so involved
in a major change in educational administration. The leadership of the new program
the program across diverse stakeholder groups.
Although the groups di!er in important ways, it’s also worth considering what they
have in common. All are interested in meeting the needs of students. All would like to
increase student learning. The school system does bene.t from anything that
increases student test scores. And the Woodson Foundation and NCPIE are united in
Candidates for the Development Team
The development team will consist of three individuals— HR representatives from the
Woodson Foundation, the schools, and the NCPIE—who have prepared the
following list of potential candidates for consideration.
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want to shut anyone out, but we have to be realistic about what the parents can
do.”
Duane Hardy has been a principal in the Washington area for over 15 years. He also
thinks the schools should have the most power. “We’re the ones who work with these
well liked by his students but doesn’t get along well with other faculty members. He’s
seen as a “squeaky wheel.” “The schools need change so badly. And how did they get
this way? From too little outside involvement.”
Community organizer Mason Dupree doesn’t like the level of bureaucracy either. He
done.”
Meredith Watson, with the Woodson Foundation, agrees the schools have become
less focused on the families. A former teacher, she left the .eld of education
after being in the classroom for 6 years. “There is so much waste in the system,” she
complains. “Jobs are unnecessarily duplicated, change processes are needlessly
the home.”
Victor Martinez has been at the Woodson Foundation for 10 years, starting as an
intern straight out of college. “It’s sometimes hard to see a situation when you’re in
the thick of it,” he explains. “Nobody likes to be told they’re doing something wrong,
Strategies for the Program Team
Once the basic membership and principles for the development team have been
established, the program team would also like to develop a handbook for those who
will be running the new program. Ideally, this set of principles can help train new
leaders to create an inspirational message that will facilitate success. The
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Your Assignment
The Woodson Foundation, the NCPIE, and the schools have asked you to provide
some information about how to form teams e!ectively. They would like your
response to explain what should be done each step of the way, from the selection of
appropriate team members to setting group priorities and goals, setting
new program.
The following points should help you form a comprehensive message for the
development team:
CC-17. The development team will be more e!ective if members have some idea
about how groups and teams typically operate. Review the dominant
CC-19. Using principles from the chapters on groups and teams, describe how you
will advise the team to manage con(ict e!ectively.
CC-20. Describe how integrative negotiation strategies might achieve joint goals for
the development team.
1. Leaders of the new combined organization should have a good idea of the
stakeholder organizations? Use concepts from the chapter on organizational
2. Consider how leaders of the new program can generate a transformational
accomplish these ends.
3. Given the potential for demographic fault lines in negotiating these changes,
what would you advise as a strategy for managing diversity issues for
program leaders?
Case Discussion
The following points should help you form a comprehensive message for the
development team:
CC-17.The development team will be more e!ective if members have some idea
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about how groups and teams typically operate. Review the dominant
perspectives on team formation and performance from the chapters in the
book for the committee so it can know what to expect.
Suggested discussion: Team processes are:
a. Team Processes (ppt10-14)
i. Introduction
(a) The .nal category related to team e!ectiveness is process
variables such as member commitment to a common purpose,
establishment of speci.c team goals, team e0cacy, a managed
level of con(ict, and minimized social loa.ng.
ii. Common Plan and Purpose
(a) E!ective teams begin by analyzing the team’s mission,
developing goals to achieve that mission, and creating
strategies for achieving the goals.
(b) E!ective teams also show re(exivity, meaning they reflect on
and adjust their master plan when necessary.
iii. Speci.c Goals
(a) Successful teams translate their common purpose into speci.c,
measurable, and realistic performance goals. They energize the
team.
b. Team E0cacy
i. E!ective teams have con.dence in themselves and believe they
can succeed—this is team e0cacy. Success breeds success.
ii. Management can increase team e0cacy by helping the team to
achieve small successes and skill training.
c. Mental Models
i. E!ective teams share accurate mental models—knowledge and
beliefs (a “psychological map”) about how the work gets done.
ii. If team members have di!erent ideas about how to do things, the
team will .ght over how to do things rather than focus on what
needs to be done.
d. Con(ict Levels
i. Con(ict on a team is not necessarily bad. Teams that are
completely void of con(ict are likely to become apathetic and
stagnant.
ii. Relationship conflict—those based on interpersonal
incompatibilities, tension, and animosity toward others—are almost
always dysfunctional.
e. Social Loa.ng
i. Individuals can hide inside a group. E!ective teams undermine this
tendency by holding themselves accountable at both the individual
and team level.
CC-18. Given the pro.les of candidates for the development team, provide
suggestions for who would likely be a good group member and who might
be less e!ective in this situation. Be sure you are using the research on
groups and teams in the textbook to defend your choices.
Suggested discussion: Characteristics of team composition include:
1. Abilities of Members
a. Teams require three di!erent types of skills:
i. Technical expertise
ii. Problem-solving and decision-making skills
interpersonal skills.
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performance.
c. The ability of the team’s leader also matters.
2. Personality of Members
backing up other team members, and they’re also good at sensing
when that support is truly needed.
creative and innovative.
3. Allocating Roles
person can bring to a team, select members with their strengths in
mind, and allocate work assignments accordingly.
4. Diversity of Members
a. Many of us hold the optimistic view that diversity should be a good
better.
b. Two meta-analytic reviews of the research literature show, however,
that demographic diversity is essentially unrelated to team
performance overall.
organizational demography.
d. Con(ict and power struggles are more likely and are more severe when
will advise the team to manage con(ict e!ectively.
Suggested discussion:
1. Managing Functional Con(ict
a. If managers recognize that in some situations con(ict can be
organizations?
b. There seems to be general agreement that managing functional
con(ict is a tough job, particularly in large U.S. corporations.
survival threatened.
e. One common ingredient in organizations that successfully manage
functional con(ict is that they reward dissent and punish con(ict
avoiders.
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the development team.
Suggested discussion:
1. Integrative Bargaining
a. An example: A sales rep calls in the order and is told that the .rm
cannot approve credit to this customer because of a past slow-pay
record.
succeed.
d. Finally, you should realize that compromise may be your worst enemy
in negotiating a win-win agreement.
The following points should help you form a message for the program team:
CC-21. Leaders of the new combined organization should have a good idea of the
Suggested discussion:
1. Research identi.es seven primary characteristics that capture the essence
of an organization’s culture:
a. Innovation and risk taking
b. Attention to detail
c. Outcome orientation
d. People orientation
e. Team orientation
f. Aggressiveness
g. Stability
School District NCPIE Woodson
Innovation and Risk Taking High High High
Attention to detail Low Low High
Outcome orientation High High High
People orientation Low High High
Team orientation Low Low High
Aggressiveness Low Low High
Stability Low High High
accomplish these ends.
Suggested discussion:
1. Transformational Leadership
a. Transformational leaders inspire followers to transcend their own
self-interests for the good of the organization.
2. How Transformational Leadership Works
a. Transformational leaders:
i. Encourage followers to be more innovative and creative
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b. Evaluation of Transformational Leadership
i. Advantages
(a) Transformational leadership has been supported in di!erent
countries and cultures.
(b) It is related to followers’ motivation and satisfaction.
c. Concerns
i. Contingent reward leadership
program leaders?
Suggested discussion:
E!ective, comprehensive workforce programs encouraging diversity have
three distinct components. First, they teach managers about the legal
framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of
for everyone.
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