Deck 10: Understanding Groups and Managing Work Teams

Question 1

How do you think scientific management theorists would react to the increased use of teams in organizations? How would behavioral science theorists react?

Answer 1

Scientific management theorists would probably be dismayed by the emergence of work teams for solving problems in organizations.
• For one, scientific management segregates the functions of planning and operations. This directly contradicts the characteristic of work teams, which is self-management. Teams decide on how a process is to be carried out and also executes it. Teams combine planning, decision making and execution of tasks.
• Scientific management favors a clear delineation of authority, leaning towards a mechanistic structure, while teams have a leader and function under an organic structure.
• Task specialization and division of labor are characteristics of scientific management. Today this is no longer relevant to increase productivity. Teams are cross functional, learn tasks and carry out duties outside their normal departmental functions. Team members have diverse skills and combine their expertise to achieve goals. The only semblance of connection to scientific management is that teams carry out special purpose tasks.
• Scientific management does not acknowledge the learning and advancement aspirations of workers. It believes in scientific selection and training of workers and that the choice should not be left to them. In contrast, work-teams educate themselves as they work at different jobs and in different roles while supporting other team members.
• Management by exception is another theory supported by scientific management. It suggests that managers need not scrutinize everything under their control, but only when exceptional situations arise. This is akin to a post-mortem. Teams manage pro-actively to solve problems as they occur.
• Monetary incentives are not the sole means of rewarding good performance. Scientific management differentiates between good and bad performance by giving good workers more pay. This is not applicable in a team, as loafing is possible and individual performance cannot be measured in a team setting. In addition, labor laws today prohibit such discrimination.
Behavioral science theorists view on increased reliance on work teams
• Behavioral science is concerned with how employees and workers behave in relation to the organization and with each other. Employees are considered as resources, not as entities to be dispensed with.
• Since behavioral science covers factors such as employee motivation, group dynamics, conflict and productivity, it works well with the concept of work-teams.
• In behavioral science theory, productivity is linked to the quality of supervision. In a team too, productivity improves under good leadership, as there is a clear direction as to what and how tasks are performed.
• Behavioral science considers the social needs of workers. It believes that monetary compensation brings satisfaction to employees only till their basic need for money and security are met. Employees also have a need for inclusion, belonging and esteem, which must be fulfilled. If not, the organization will carry discontented employees and productivity will decline. Teams provide employees with a sense of belonging. In addition, as they are special purpose teams, there is pride in belonging to one.
As behavioral science fits in well with the concept of work teams, behavioral science theorists would laud the idea of increased reliance on work teams.

Question 2

Using Exhibit 14-10, what characteristics of effective teams would these teams need? Explain.

Answer 2

"B" is the company that is known for its perfect and maneuvered manufacturing of planes and jets for the entire world. The company which has just started with the twin engine, narrow body jet became one of the largest plane manufacturing companies in the world. The engineers, researchers, assembly workers etc. work relentlessly to make this company stand as number one in the manufacturing of jets. The diverse team members make their contribution towards achieving "B's" objectives and this way this company has prospered manifold in these years.
The characteristics of effective teams that these teams need could be an atmosphere of trust among its employees which makes them give their best performance towards their team goal. Adequate resources should be provided to the employees so that they can bring positive outcomes.
There should be ultimate autonomy and flexibility in decision making in the hands of the team leader. The leader should be capable of making an individual aware about this strengths and weaknesses. The structure of a team should be composed looking at the talent and capabilities among the employees.
And there should be cohesiveness among the employees. The members should continuously be reminded that they have to give their best towards the team goal. Personalities of team members should be taken into account and based on this their roles should be designed in a team.
There should be a task identity and these way team members should be assigned tasks matching with their capabilities and talents. The team should have a common purpose to give their best and this also decreases social loafing in the team efficacy. Thus the above mentioned are some of the characteristics of effective teams that should get implemented at "B".

Question 3

What challenges do managers face in managing global teams? How should those challenges be handled?

Answer 3

Team work is an activity where two or more people come together and share the responsibilities and tasks assigned to them as a team. This makes the work simpler and gets completed in much lesser time as compared when this work is undertaken by a single individual.
Global team is where team members are scattered in different locations internationally accomplishing their assigned duties and responsibilities. But management of a global team is very difficult and a manager managing them has to face lot of challenges. The first and foremost challenge is the team composition where team structure has to be laid down looking at the diverse background attitude of team members. A manager has to look after team cohesiveness, team processes, good communication, group conformity, social status and management of conflicts among the teammates.
These challenges can be faced and handled if the manager is well aware of the good and bad attitude of each and every individual in a team. This way he might be capable of allotting work to the deserving team member. By doing this a manager can be assured of decreasing conflicts and attitude problem in a team where members who have a good bonding are sharing spaces and work goals while other leftover team members are given other responsibilities.

Question 4

Why is it important for managers to know about the stages of group development?

Question 5

What characteristics do effective teams need?

Question 6

MyManagementLab Only - comprehensive writing assignment for this chapter.

Question 7

What challenges are managers of health-care organizations facing?

Question 8

How would the way health-care organization managers manage be different in a team-based model?

Question 9

Explain how roles, norms, status systems, and group cohesiveness might influence the success of a team-based model?

Question 10

Think of a group to which you belong (or have belonged). Trace its development through the stages of group development as shown in Exhibit 10-2. How closely did its development parallel the group development model? How might the group development model be used to improve this group's effectiveness?

Question 11

What are some reasons you think a team-based model has led to improved patient outcomes and reduced costs?

Question 12

Contrast (a) self-managed and cross-functional teams, and (b) virtual and face-to-face teams.

Question 13

How does the St. Louis Cardinals organization epitomize teamwork?

Question 14

How do you explain the popularity of work teams in countries such as the United States and Canada, whose national cultures place a high value on individualism?

Question 15

Do you think sports teams, like the St. Louis Cardinals, go through the stages of group development? Why or why not?

Question 16

"All work teams are work groups, but not all work groups are work teams." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Discuss.

Question 17

Using Exhibit 10-6 as your guide, discuss how the St. Louis Cardinals organization creates effective teams.
(Reference to Exhibit 10-6):
Team Effectiveness model

Question 18

Would you prefer to work alone or as part of a team? Why?

Question 19

What could other organizations (even non-sports ones) learn from the St. Louis Cardinals?

Question 20

"To have a successful team, first find a great leader." What do you think of this statement? Do you agree? Why or why not?

Question 21

What type of team(s) do these employee teams appear to be? Explain.

Question 22

What traits do you think good team players have? Do some research to answer this question and write a short report detailing your findings using a bulleted list format.

Question 23

As this story illustrated, sometimes it may take a long time for a team to reach its goal. As a manager, how would you motivate a team to keep on trying?

Question 24

Contrast the pros and cons of diverse teams.

Question 25

What role do you think a team leader needs to play in this type of setting? Explain.