Exam 16: Managing Groups and Teams

In global teams,cohesiveness is often more difficult to achieve because of higher levels of mistrust,miscommunication,and stress.

As a consultant who specializes in group dynamics, you are observing MagPie Inc.'s self-managing teams and work groups which are in different stages of development. MagPie is a medium-sized manufacturing business and has recently started using teams in all of their operations. Team training is lacking and you have been asked to evaluate the teams and suggest actions for better cohesiveness among the team members. You have labelled the teams A, B, C, D and E, in order to conceal their names. Group D has resolved its issues of leadership and is devoting all of its energy to getting the job done. Team C, on the other hand, shows significant resistance to its appointed leader's guidance and there is a lot of argument over roles within the group. The members of Group A are getting acquainted in their meeting. The team is made up of employees from different divisions and departments and they are still getting to know each other. Team E is in the process of setting their formal rules, roles, and clarifying expectations. Everyone seems to be in agreement as to how these are done. Team B is full of hostility. At least one group member has withdrawn by sitting quietly away from the others, and is no longer participating in the discussions. -Group E is at which stage?

The two vice-presidents were in a heated debate. Celine believed that the company's traditional marketing strategy was no longer effective at attracting new customers, but that loyal customers would stay regardless. So, she proposed an aggressive new marketing promotion to "spice things up a bit" and target new customers. Merle strongly disagreed. He felt the company was doing fine and was concerned that an aggressive new approach might scare away loyal customers without any guarantee of gaining new customers. Regardless of who was right, their battle was causing a stir in the organization. Some felt that a conflict such as this hurt the company and made it appear weak to employees and shareholders. Others felt that a conflict over marketing strategies was bound to occur eventually, and that it may even help the company. Still others even encouraged such conflict and felt it was absolutely necessary in order to achieve the best outcome. -Those in the company who view the conflict over the marketing strategy as natural and inevitable have a ________ view of conflict.

David had been away from his old company, Control Tech, for a while. He remembered that when he worked there 10 years ago, the company was very traditional and conservative. The lines of authority and responsibility were established and clear. It felt ironic that he was now managing the consulting team that was going to help increase operational efficiency at Control Tech. In addition to the traditional hierarchy, with a manager and subordinates, he saw a need to introduce teams comprised of individuals from various work areas to help solve operational problems. He also felt that for certain projects, there could be groups that could function essentially independently, even taking on traditional management responsibilities such as hiring, planning, and scheduling. Plus, he also saw real potential for special, temporary projects to be handled by groups that would disband once the task was completed. -All of the groups being considered by David are examples of ________.

Groupthink occurs only when group members have a negative image of the group or the leader.

The acceptable standards or expectations that are shared by group members are referred to as ________.

As a consultant who specializes in group dynamics, you are observing MagPie Inc.'s self-managing teams and work groups which are in different stages of development. MagPie is a medium-sized manufacturing business and has recently started using teams in all of their operations. Team training is lacking and you have been asked to evaluate the teams and suggest actions for better cohesiveness among the team members. You have labelled the teams A, B, C, D and E, in order to conceal their names. Group D has resolved its issues of leadership and is devoting all of its energy to getting the job done. Team C, on the other hand, shows significant resistance to its appointed leader's guidance and there is a lot of argument over roles within the group. The members of Group A are getting acquainted in their meeting. The team is made up of employees from different divisions and departments and they are still getting to know each other. Team E is in the process of setting their formal rules, roles, and clarifying expectations. Everyone seems to be in agreement as to how these are done. Team B is full of hostility. At least one group member has withdrawn by sitting quietly away from the others, and is no longer participating in the discussions. -Group D seems to be in the development stage of ________.

An organization must eliminate conflicts to be successful.Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer.

Studies demonstrate that ________ conflicts are almost always dysfunctional.

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of group decision making.

Providing a reward system that appropriately recognizes team activities relates to which characteristic of effective teams?

Team building training and exercises do not add value to high performance work teams.

In comparison to large groups,small groups ________.

Brittney is bringing muffins to her next team meeting as a friendly gesture to help them get off to a good start.Brittney is performing a group satisfaction role.

________ teams are involved in efforts to improve work activities or to solve specific problems within a particular department or functional area of a company.

Problem-solving teams consist of managers and employees from different departments or functional areas who are involved in efforts to improve work activities or to solve specific problems in the organization.

Which of the following requires the least interdependence between its members?

As a consultant who specializes in group dynamics, you are observing MagPie Inc.'s self-managing teams and work groups which are in different stages of development. MagPie is a medium-sized manufacturing business and has recently started using teams in all of their operations. Team training is lacking and you have been asked to evaluate the teams and suggest actions for better cohesiveness among the team members. You have labelled the teams A, B, C, D and E, in order to conceal their names. Group D has resolved its issues of leadership and is devoting all of its energy to getting the job done. Team C, on the other hand, shows significant resistance to its appointed leader's guidance and there is a lot of argument over roles within the group. The members of Group A are getting acquainted in their meeting. The team is made up of employees from different divisions and departments and they are still getting to know each other. Team E is in the process of setting their formal rules, roles, and clarifying expectations. Everyone seems to be in agreement as to how these are done. Team B is full of hostility. At least one group member has withdrawn by sitting quietly away from the others, and is no longer participating in the discussions. -Group C seems to be at which stage?

The two vice-presidents were in a heated debate. Celine believed that the company's traditional marketing strategy was no longer effective at attracting new customers, but that loyal customers would stay regardless. So, she proposed an aggressive new marketing promotion to "spice things up a bit" and target new customers. Merle strongly disagreed. He felt the company was doing fine and was concerned that an aggressive new approach might scare away loyal customers without any guarantee of gaining new customers. Regardless of who was right, their battle was causing a stir in the organization. Some felt that a conflict such as this hurt the company and made it appear weak to employees and shareholders. Others felt that a conflict over marketing strategies was bound to occur eventually, and that it may even help the company. Still others even encouraged such conflict and felt it was absolutely necessary in order to achieve the best outcome. -Those in the company who encourage the conflict over the marketing strategy have a(n)________ view of conflict.

Command groups,cross-functional teams,self-managed teams,and task forces are all examples of informal groups.