Exam 12: Developing and Leading Teams: Part B

Explain the concepts of norms and conformity as they relate to team dynamics and effectiveness.Use these concepts to explain the apparent basis for the similarities and differences in the behavior of Professors Xu and Patil in the following scenario,and comment on the implications of those differences for the probable outcome of negotiations.Be sure to clarify any assumptions that you make in developing your answer. The faculty at Western University were recently unionized by an overwhelming majority vote,with no real faculty opposition to the decision.Unfortunately,contract negotiations did not proceed as smoothly.Those negotiations between faculty representatives and the representatives of the administration dragged on for almost three years without any significant progress.Working without a contract and in the absence of salary increases,faculty were becoming angrier and more frustrated.During a faculty rally,the union president exhorted his colleagues to stand up for their right to fair treatment and just compensation by calling for a wildcat strike.Ninety percent of the faculty went out on an illegal strike,and refused to teach their classes for two days.Then the administration obtained a restraining order,requiring the faculty to go back to work.Union officials and the majority of the union members agreed that,in spite of the restraining order,a continued strike was necessary in order to pressure the administration into making concessions.At this point,the following conversation was overheard in the faculty lounge: Professor Xu: "I'm going to teach my classes tomorrow.Union solidarity isn't worth a $500 fine to me!" Professor Patil: "I can understand why you feel that way,but I'm not going to cave in on this one.I'll stick with the union position and strike,because it's the right thing to do.I can afford to pay the fine if I have to.We won't let those administration blood suckers take advantage of us anymore."

Some managers believe that close-knit informal groups have undesirable effects on an organization such as:

Which of the following lists represents the most common types of team used in contemporary organizations?

A five-member team was working on a marketing plan for a new product.They had spent almost a half-hour trying to come up with a catchy theme for an advertising effort,with little progress.In a moment of silence,Tyler turned to Jared and said," Jared,you haven't had much to say yet this morning,and you often give us excellent ideas.What do you think we should do? Jared replied: "I haven't got a clue.You guys can do whatever you want." In this case,Jared was engaging in ____ behavior.

In the ____ stage of development,team members often focus on defining or understanding goals and developing procedures for performing their tasks.

In Self Competency: Sanjiv Das's Leadership at CitiMortgage,the following was among Das' goals upon becoming CEO of CitiMortgage:

Which of the following statements most appropriately differentiates an informal group from a formal group?

Problem-solving teams frequently address:

The process by which teams divide themselves into subgroups based on one or more attributes is referred to as:

Identify any four of the characteristics of effective teams and explain how their presence or absence in any given team may be related to the interpersonal competencies of the team's members.Identify the single characteristic of effective teams that you believe is the most challenging for most individuals and teams to achieve,and explain your rationale in selecting this characteristic as the most challenging.

The rules and patterns of behavior that are accepted and expected by members of a team or whole organization are:

Competition over the leadership role and conflict over goals may dominate the ____ stage of team development.

The reasons for the use of global teams include all of the following except:

Tyler has just been appointed Chair of a committee with 15 members.Tyler should probably place ____ emphasis on the use of formal rules and procedures in order to be effective.

The characteristics of groupthink include all of the following except:

Low cohesiveness is usually associated with:

Webster,Felicia,Karen,Jim,and David were working on a marketing plan for a new product.They had spent almost a half-hour trying to come up with a catchy theme for an advertising effort,with little progress.In a moment of silence,Webster turned to Felicia and said,"Felicia,you haven't had much to say yet this morning,and you often give us excellent ideas.What do you think we should do? In this case,Webster was acting in a ____ role.

A team with members from a variety of countries who are often separated significantly by time,distance,culture,and language is called a:

If team members do not deal with their feelings in the forming stage,all of the following outcomes are likely except:

Assess the situation described in the following scenario,and identify the type of team that would be most appropriate for use in this situation.Provide a clear justification for your recommendation. Top leadership at Samomi Appliance Manufacturer believes that a recent sales decline for their premium refrigerators is partly the result of customer dissatisfaction with the early failure rate of the product.The production manager and his staff attribute the early failure rate to quality problems in several of the components,which are obtained from different suppliers.As a result of discussions with his staff,the new engineering manager argues that the problem lies in the design of the product.The marketing manager argues that demand for the product is dropping as a result of less expensive competition from overseas,an assessment shared by her subordinates.Top leaders want to identify the most effective solution to this sales decline in the most efficient manner,and is willing to use a team approach to achieve this goal.