Management Exam 3

advantages of team work

• wide information base

• objective

• creative

conditions for team success

• supportive climate

• time

• complex problem

• heterogeneous group

five stages of group development

1. forming

2. storming

3. norming

4. performing

5. adjourning 

forming 

stage of team development involving a period of orientation and getting acquainted

orientation, break the ice

leader: facilitate social change

storming

is the stage of team development in which individual personalities and roles emerge, along with resulting conflicts

conflict, disagreement

leader: encourage participation, surface differences

norming

refers to the stage of development in which conflicts are resolved and team harmony and unity emerge

establish order and conclusion

leader: help clarify group roles, norms, values

performing 

members focus on problem solving and accomplishing the team’s assigned task

cooperation, problem solving 

leader: facilitate task accomplishment 

three team member profiles

• contributors (act)

• analyzers (reflect)

• communications (relate)

contributor (action)

strengths:

• dependable

• systematic

• efficient

• pragmatic

• organized

• proficient 

flaws:

• perfectionist

• inflexible

• micro manager

communicator (people)

strengths:

• people

• diplomatic

• outgoing

• enthusiastic

• supportive

• flexible

• perceptive 

flaws:

• vague 

• indecisive 

• aloof 

analyzer (ideas)

strengths:

• creative

• independent

• assertive

• candid

• principled

• analytical

flaws:

• arrogant

• unrealistic

• rigid

How to build the “perfect team” 

1. The personalities are not that important

2. Good teams have 5 traits: psychological safety, dependability, good work structure and clear expectations, meaning (a sense of purpose in work), impact (clear contribution to greater good)

self awareness

being conscious of the internal aspects of one’s nature, such as personality traits, beliefs, emotions, attitudes, and perceptions, and appreciating how your patterns affect other people 

motivation

arousal of enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action

signs of low emotional intelligence

being argumentative, not listening, blaming others, emotional outbursts

EQ

The extent to which people:

1. self awareness (knowing one’s emotions)

2. self management (manage their emotions)

3. social awareness (recognizing emotions in others)

4. social skill (handling relationship)

5. empathy

good teams have members with high EQ

Group Problems

• slow 

• personality conflicts

• forming and norming stages

• risky shift (group means higher tendency to take more than needed risk)

• polarization (teams become more extreme)

• groupthink 

groupthink → group characteristics 

cohesive, strong leaders, extended success

groupthink → symptoms

1. invulnerability

2. stereotyping

3. peer pressure

4. self - censorship

5. unanimity

groupthink → decision making errors

1. few alternatives

2. rejections of experts

3. selective bias of new data

4. no contingency plan

groupthink → outcome

lower performance

lower decision quality 

5 conflict management styles

force, avoid, accommodate, compromise, collaborate 

force/compete

• goal: get your way

• “i know what’s right”

• “don’t question my opinion”

• + quick

• - resentment

• - no buy - in

avoid

• goal: sidestep the issue

• “I am neutral”

• “let me think about it”

• + cool down

• - escalation

• - tension

compromise

• goal: quick resolution

• “Let’s both give a little”

• + quick

• - mutual cost

• - manipulation 

accomodate

• goal: satisfy the other side

• “what can I do to please you”

• + indebtedness

• - exploitation

• - relationship

collaborate 

• goal: solve the problem

• “this is my perspective, what is yours?”

• + ownership

• + participation

• + problem solving 

• - time 

Interaction between Cohesiveness and Performance Norms 

Resistance To Change

• self - interest (they fear the change will be costly to them)

• lack of understanding

• lack of trust

• uncertainty (about the consequences)

• different assessment (of the benefits of change)

• different priorities/ goals 

Stages of Change (OD steps)

unfreezing (diagnosis) - members must be made aware of the problem and realize the benefits of change in order to be willing to change

changing (intervention) - introduce new procedures, habits, etc, be coaching and closely working with members 

refreezing (reinforcement) - members must acquire new attitudes, procedures, habits, etc, and incorporate them into their routines

overcoming resistance to change

• active participation (let people talk)

• education and communication (inform/prepare people)

• making only necessary changes

• announcing changes in advance

• allowing time to adapt

creating a change mindset 

recruiting - select people who “fit”, select open - minded employees

training - change the people, teach skills, expose to new ideas

organization development - change the culture, build capacity to learn, create flexibility 

OD Activities

• team building

• surveys feedback

• large group interventions

• training

• communication

• outreach

• morale building

Change is the result of competition between two forces

driving forces: promote the change

restraining forces: resist the change

controlling the organization

goal: promote progress toward organizational goals

feedback system: set standards → measure accomplishments → correct problems → keep improving by going back to measure (cycle)

How important is control in your organization?

depends on firm size, competition, speed of change

control management goals

1. increase speed

2. reduce costs

3. improve quality 

increase speed

measures: time to market

cycle time or lead time = time between start and end of a project

Reduce Costs

• measures: efficiency (= input/output)

  • input = resources → work hours, money spent, time spent, space

• measures productivity (=output/input)

  • output = results → customers served, sales, packages delivered, good produced

Improve Quality

effectiveness (goal - actual outcome)

Who operated control system

• cybernetic (fully automated control process)

• non cybernetic

When do you control

• preliminary

• screening

• poastaction 

How do you control?

• hierarchical control

• clan control/ decentralized control

Timing of Control

Hierarchical Control

• hierarchy

• rules

• automation

• computerization

• standardized selection and training

• budgets

• non negotiable, rules put in place and there’s less freedom

clan/decentralized control

• traditions

• peer pressure

• socialization

• role models

• teams

• selection

• training 

• personal interactions

modern control techniques

• total quality management 

• JIT

TQM in Process

• keep improving continuously (kaizen)

• define quality standards 

• reduce cycle time

• measure quality at every step

• six sigma (relentless pursuit of quality)

• conduct quality circles

• benchmark your competitors  

an organization wide effort to infuse quality into every activity in a company through continuous improvement 

Six Sigma

• pursuit of perfect quality

• tools to minimize defects and errors

• use statistics: reduce variance in quality

quality control approach that emphasizes a relentless pursuit of higher quality and lower costs

inventory control

• minimize inventory 

• serve customers

traditional inventory control

old: push approach

start → supplier → warehouse → store → customer

fixed interval: always in stock, cost of warehousing, risk of overstock

Inventory Control JIT (just in time)

new: pull approach

JIT (just in time inventory)

• stockless production

• kanban system

inventory turnover

• how to measure inventory control

  • costs of goods sold

  • cost of average inventory

consequences of JIT

• order small amounts as needed

• many deliveries

• expensive to set up

• requires integrated computer system with suppliers

• low inventory costs

• = screening quality controls

Balanced Scorecard (4 areas to improve results)

• financial perspective

  • measured by: revenue, expenses, net income, cash flow, asset value

• customer perspective

  • customer satisfaction, customer retention, market share, brand strength

• learning/growth perspective

  • employee satisfaction, employee turnover, employee skills, employee education

• internal process perspective

  • inventory, orders, resource allocation, cycle time, quality control

balancing financial goals (money - costs, profits) with critical success factors (strategy)

product innovation

• change in the organization’s products or services

process innovation

• change in production processes

• how does the organization work

creativity

generation of novel ideas that may meet perceived needs or respond to opportunities for the organization

bottom up approach

encouraging the flow of ideas from lower levels and making sure they get heard and acted upon by top executives

horizontal linkage model

several departments, such as marketing, research, and manufacturing, work closely together to develop new products

open innovation

many companies extend the search for and commercialization of innovative ideas beyond the boundaries of the organization 

innovation by acquisition

buying start-up companies to obtain innovative products and services, and usually the talent that created them

corporate intrapreneurship

attempts to develop an internal entrepreneurial spirit, philosophy, and structure to encourage employees to act like employees

idea champion

person who sees the need for and enthusiastically supports a productive change within the organization

idea incubator

organizational program that provides a safe harbor where employees can generate and develop ideas without interference from company bureaucracy or politics

new venture team

a unit separate from the mainstream organization that is responsible for initiating and developing innovations

skunkworks

separate, informal, highly autonomous, and often secretive group that focuses on breakthrough ideas

in-house venture

start up launched within the company rather than as a separate entity, seeks to nurture promising new businesses and stimulate entrepreneurship throughput the organization 

people change

change the attitudes and behaviors of a few employees

culture change

major shift in the norms, values, and mind-set of the entire organization

Organization development (OD)

• planned, systematic process of change that uses behavioral science techniques to create a positive corporate culture and improve the way people and departments relate to one another.

team building

OD intervention that enhances cohesiveness by helping groups of people learn to work together as a team.

survey feedback

OD change agents survey employees to gather their opinions regarding corporate values, leadership, participation, cohesiveness, and other aspects of the organization, then meet with small groups to share the results and brainstorm solutions to problems identified by the results

large group intervention

OD approach that brings together people from different parts of the organization (and often including outside stakeholders) to discuss problems or opportunities and plan for change

emotional contagion

refers to the people to absorb and express the emotions, moods, and attitudes of those around them

negativity bias

how the human mind reacts more quickly and strongly to perceived bad things than it does to good things.

social facilitation

the tendency for the presence of other people to influence an individuals motivation and performance

functional team

composed of a manager and subordinates in the formal chain of command

cross functional team

made up of employees at roughly the same hierarchal level but from different areas of expertise, include task force and special purpose teams

task force

group of employees from different departments who deal with a specific activity and exist as a team only until that task is completed.

special purpose team

team created outside the formal structure to undertake a project of special importance, such as developing a new product.

self managed team

consists of multiskilled employees who rotate jobs to produce an entire product or service; the team is often led by an elected team member

agile team

small, is focused on one piece of a larger project, and has complete responsibility along with all needed member expertise to produce a product or service

free rider

is a person who benefits from team membership but does not make a proportionate contribution to the team’s work

team cohesiveness

• the extent to which team members are attracted to the team and motivated to remain a part of it

• influenced by interaction, shared goals, personal attraction to the team, presence of competition, team success

team norms

informal operating guidelines that establish agreed-upon behaviors about how the team’s work will get done and what members can expect from each other

task conflict

conflict that results from disagreements about the goals to be achieved or the content of the tasks to be performed.

relationship conflict

results from interpersonal incompatibility that creates tension and personal animosity among people

faultlines

hypothetical dividing lines that are based on one or more demographic characteristics of team members, such as age, race, or ethnicity, or on nondemographic characteristics, such as personal values or attitudes

negotation

is a conflict management strategy whereby people engage in give-and-take discussions and consider various alternatives to reach a joint decision that is acceptable to both parties

integrative negotation

is a collaborative approach that is based on a win-win assumption, whereby the parties want to come up with a creative solution that benefits both sides of the conflict.

distributive negotiation

is a competitive and adversarial approach in which each party strives to get as much as it can, usually at the expense of the other party

feedback control model

establish strategic goals 

1. establish standards of performance

2. measure actual performance

3. compare performance to standards

4. if inadequate: take corrective action and if adequate: do nothing or provide reinforcement

kaizen (continuous improvement)

is the implementation of a large number of small, incremental improvements in all areas of the organization on an ongoing basis

need for change

a disparity between actual and desired performance

algorithmic control

the use of software algorithms to set targets, measure performance, provide feedback, and decide rewards for employees

Total Quality Management (TQM)

organization wide approach to infuse quality into everyday activity in a company through continuous improvement 

quality circle

a group of 6-12 volunteer employees who meet regularly to discuss and solve problems affecting the quality of their work

benchmarking

continuous process of measuring products, services, and practices against major competition or industry leaders