Exam 16: Managing Groups and Teams

________ occurs when a supervisor earns less than his or her subordinates.

Which of the following is a drawback of global teams?

Which of the following is a characteristic of work teams?

An individual's role in a group is not defined by the internal structure of the group.

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

Global teams are associated with high levels of groupthink.

A New Group (Scenario) 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 ________.

A self-managed team is a formal group of employees who operate without a manager and are responsible for a complete work process or segment.

The Retreat (Scenario) The first-line managers were sent on a retreat to Niagara Falls for their inaugural strategic planning meeting. Few people knew one another, but their task was clear: design a new performance appraisal system for subordinates that will be effective and usable. Their years of complaining about the old system had landed them with this new responsibility dumped right in their lap. They had four days to become brilliant, and everyone was a little on edge. The first day, little was accomplished except for the jockeying to see who would be the official leader. Finally, Jim seemed to wrestle control and helped provide the first real direction for the group. By the second day, the group seemed to begin working well. They spent the morning deciding how they would make decisions within the group and how to manage the idea-generation process. The third and fourth days saw the new managers move amazingly quickly, with ideas flowing freely. By the end of the fourth day, they had a workable system developed, and they felt satisfied. That night they all signed the new document to be presented to the regional manager the next day. They all felt a sense of regret at having to break up the group and return to normal work life. -When the management team left Niagara Falls to return to their normal jobs,they had just completed the ________ stage of team development.

The interactionist view of conflict holds that some conflict is absolutely necessary for effective group performance.

A New Group (Scenario) 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. -The temporary groups that would be created to achieve a special task,then disband,are known as ________.

Task groups are permanent teams that take on special projects.

Stages of Team Development at King Midas (Scenario) King Midas Manufacturing Co. has been utilizing groups to improve the manufacturing process, product design and packaging, vendor selection, quality control, and other organizational tasks. The groups have been starting and stopping for the last three years. Some of the most successful groups were together for only a few months, while others have been together for over a year with little success to date. Management has requested your consulting expertise in determining why there were varied successes and failures. Your analysis indicates that part of the explanation for the diverse results is based on the stage of team development. For example, Group 348 has been meeting for one month and still having some difficulty establishing a leader. At least three individuals are qualified to keep the group focused on its objectives, but they are still undecided about who should lead. Group 174 has been meeting for about two years and has nearly completed its task. They have only one more print to distribute to engineering for final consideration before prototype production can begin on the latest model of product S. Only four of the original nine members remain, and the group is winding down. Group 830 has been meeting for 11 months and is finding it difficult to get all 10 members together at one time. Several of the middle-level managers have been promoted and transferred to other functional areas or to other facilities of the company. To date, the group has had 18 members at one time or another to fill the 10 positions allocated by management and, as a result, has not yet started to focus on its objectives. On the other hand, Group 458 has been meeting for two months and seems to be progressing extremely well. You attended a meeting and observed that the group starts by chatting for about five minutes, then moves to the meeting area and begins reviewing the decisions of the last meeting. Then, Group 458 gets down to new business, focusing on their objectives and determining new assignments before concluding and returning to their functional job duties. Finally, Group 791 has been meeting for four months and appears to have close relationships among its members, considerable cohesiveness, and a focus on its objectives. -Group 174 is at the ________ stage.

Which of the following best describes the group's internal characteristics at very low levels of conflict?

________ conflict refers to how the work gets done.

Team member friendliness ________ being an effective team.

Which formal group is determined by the organization chart and composed of individuals who report directly to a given manager?

Identify the key difference between work teams and work groups.

Manny's Many Conflicts (Scenario) Manny Gill is reflecting on several recent conflicts at work and how they were resolved. He has spent weeks of careful negotiations with the labour union representing most of his workers. The previous round of negotiations had not gone well, and Manny saw an opportunity to try to mend the relationship between labour and management. In the end, both sides had to give up some of their demands in order to achieve a settlement before the current agreement expired. However, Manny was not about to give up any ground on his dispute with the production manager over the latest budget allocation. His position may not be popular, but Manny knew he was right! Then there was his brief encounter with Jeff, who complained that Sherry kept leaving the photocopier tray empty. Manny did not have time to deal with such squabbles, so he told Jeff to sort it out with Sherry directly. At home, he was hoping to catch the game on TV last night, but his wife wanted to watch a light romantic comedy instead. Manny agreed to watch the movie with her since it really seemed to be important to her. Besides, he could always catch the game highlights on the news at eleven! -Which conflict-resolution technique is Manny using in his dispute with the production manager?

Manny's Many Conflicts (Scenario) Manny Gill is reflecting on several recent conflicts at work and how they were resolved. He has spent weeks of careful negotiations with the labour union representing most of his workers. The previous round of negotiations had not gone well, and Manny saw an opportunity to try to mend the relationship between labour and management. In the end, both sides had to give up some of their demands in order to achieve a settlement before the current agreement expired. However, Manny was not about to give up any ground on his dispute with the production manager over the latest budget allocation. His position may not be popular, but Manny knew he was right! Then there was his brief encounter with Jeff, who complained that Sherry kept leaving the photocopier tray empty. Manny did not have time to deal with such squabbles, so he told Jeff to sort it out with Sherry directly. At home, he was hoping to catch the game on TV last night, but his wife wanted to watch a light romantic comedy instead. Manny agreed to watch the movie with her since it really seemed to be important to her. Besides, he could always catch the game highlights on the news at eleven! -Which conflict-resolution technique did Manny use with Sherry?