Exam 15: Managing Groups and Teams

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 3 is a __________ team.

Social networks among team members have no impact on the goal attainment of the team.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Manny's Many Conflicts (Scenario) Manny Gill is reflecting on several recent conflicts and how they were resolved. At work, 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?

Which of the following is a drawback of global teams?

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. -Conflict that prevents the organization from achieving its goals is considered __________ conflict.