Exam 15: Managing Groups and Teams

Task groups are permanent teams that take on special projects.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. 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 791 is at the __________ stage.

Which of the following is true about group decision making?

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

The __________ view of conflict argues that conflict is a natural and inevitable outcome in any group.

__________ conflict refers to how the work gets done.

In the group development process, the forming stage is complete when members begin to think of themselves as part of a group.

The labour mediator's report contained some suggestions that favoured management, and others that favoured the union. Both sides would have to give and take. She used which conflict-resolution technique?

In comparison to large groups, small groups ________.

The __________ stage is complete when members begin think of themselves as part of a group.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Teams at Strato Engineering (Scenario) Strato Engineering, a technology product company, recently organized Team 1 to develop the next generation of the company's model CVF-D. The team is composed of the product development manager, chief engineer, director of procurement, human resource director-technology, marketing research director, cost analysis director, operations director-production, and the four highest-dollar project vendors. The preliminary projection for the lifetime of the team to prototype production is expected to be two years due to the level of technology involved in the product. Team 2 has also been recently established to solve a problem with an adhesive used to attach a thin-foil material to a finished metal surface. There are three members in this team: installer, engineer, and sales representative for the adhesive manufacturer. They operate without a manager and no one in particular is the leader. It is anticipated that it will require about two days to solve the problem. Team 3 has been working together for 4 years implementing modifications to the company's current model CVF-C) It is composed of members in the areas of procurement, engineering and production, and also includes several vendors and Strato Engineering customers' procurement agents. None of the members of this team are at the same location. They use a sophisticated computer-aided design program to view the product onscreen in three-dimensional form at each location simultaneously. At the Oshawa facility, Team 4 has been formed to stamp a new part. It requires four members, and they rotate jobs every two hours. Before beginning the workday, they meet for about 10 minutes and discuss the work that needs to be completed that day. -Team 4 is a __________ team.

Self-managed teams function in an independent manner.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. 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 348 is at the __________ stage.

To be considered a group, there must be at least three people.

The most noticeable result of the social network structures within teams in an organization is ________.

Carly is compiling the notes from her team members into one document to help them complete the project on time. Carly is performing a task-accomplishment role.

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

When the __________ stage is complete, there will be a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership within the group and agreement on the group's direction.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. 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. Now, it felt ironic that he was managing the consulting team that was going to help bring a group orientation into being. 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. -David also saw a need for __________, which are essentially independent groups taking on traditional management responsibilities.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Conflicting Opinions (Scenario) 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, and 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(n) __________ view of conflict.