Online Discussions
You are required to make an approximately two hundred (200 words) contributions to your Discussion Forum The nature of each contribution can be found on the weekly discussion forum. As a guide, the contributions need to be based on thoughts that arise after completing the week’s reading, video materials, etc. The thoughts may be based on personal experiences in (a not to be named) organisation (past or current), or perhaps from a web-site, journal article or mass media item that is relevant to the week’s module topic. The thoughts that are posted to the forums should be considered and reflect logic and rationale discourse. The intention with this task is to generate discussion about topics in modules to make material in the text come alive.
Assessment Criteria
- Demonstrates careful reading & inquiry into subjects (5 marks)
- Responsible cited: offers examples (5 marks)
- Quality of post ( 5 marks)
Engagement with others ( 5marks)
- (Perception and Individual Decision Making)
Choose a film that you have seen recently, and which you particularly enjoyed. Now find a friend or colleague who has seen the same film, and who hated it.Discuss your views of that particular film. What factors (age, sex, background, education, interest, values and beliefs, political views, past experience) can you identify that explain the differences in perception between you and your friend or colleague? (200 Words)
Visit www.greatplacetowork.co.uk and take a look at the UK’s 50 best places to work, as well as the 100 best workplaces in Europe.
Find out what these companies do to motivate their staff. (250 words)
3. (Organisational Change) (250 Words)
Answers the following questions:
1. Identify three to five sustaining innovations that have affected you over the past year.
2. Identify three to five disruptive innovations that have affected you. Did you welcome these innovations because they were Beneficial’s, or did you have cause to complain?
Case Study (300 Words)
Why Don’t Teams Work Like They’re Supposed to?
Despite years of promises that teamwork will serve as a cure-all for the problems of business, many managers have found that even teams with highly motivated, skilled, and committed members can fail to achieve the expected results. Professor Richard Hackman from Harvard University has been studying teams for years and believes that more often than not, failing to establish the groundwork for effective team performance leads teams to be less effective than if the leader simply divided up tasks and had each individual work on his or her assigned part. As Hackman notes, “I have no question that a team can generate magic. But don’t count on it.”
What are the main factors Hackman has identified that lead to effective teams? Teams should be kept small and have consistent membership to minimize the types of coordination tasks that take up valuable time. Too often, organizations set up project-based teams and then reconfigure them, without considering the stages of group development that might have to occur before the team can achieve full performance. Supports need to be in place, like group-based rewards and clearly defined group responsibilities. Surprisingly, in his study of 120 senior management teams, Hackman found fewer than 10 percent of members agreed about who was even on the team!
Successful teams also have assertive, courageous leaders who can invoke authority even when the team resists direction. Similar lessons were derived from the failure of Ghana Airways, a state-run organization that experienced frequent changes in top management that were disruptive to establishing a consistent leadership team. As a result of excessive turbulence and lack of strategic vision, the 40-year-old air carrier that was once an emblem for the country went bankrupt.
Do these weaknesses mean teams are never the answer to a business problem? Obviously, it is often necessary to bring together and coordinate individuals with a diverse set of skills and abilities to solve a problem. It would be impossible for all the management tasks of a complex organization like Ghana Airways to be done by disconnected individuals. And often there is more work to be done in a compressed time period than any one individual can possibly accomplish. In these cases, it is wise to consider how to best heed the advice provided above and ensure your team isn’t less than the sum of its parts.
Questions
1. What do you think of the elements of successful teamwork Hackman has identified? Do you believe these elements are necessary for effective team performance?
2. Can you think of other conditions necessary for teams to be effective?
3. Imagine you’ve been asked to assemble and lead a team of high-potential new hires to work on the development of an international marketing campaign. What specific steps might you take early in the team’s life to ensure that the new team is able to avoid some of the problems Hackman identified? Is there any way to break down the overall group goal into subtasks so individual accountability can be enhanced?
