Welcome to MGTO 321

• House key, car key, hulpke

• best course in HKUST– (no matter which prof. YOU make it work)

• but, requires WORK

• today: – get acquainted with each other, – introduce a key concept: a good strategy helps– thoughts on GROUPS and TEAMS

Foundations of Group Behavior

One of the truly remarkable things

about work groups is that they can make

2+2=5.

Of course, they also have the capability

of making 2+2=3.

Stages of Group DevelopmentPrestage Stage I Forming

Stage II Storming Stage III Norming

Stage IV Performing Stage V Adjourning

Punctuated-Equilibrium Model

Time(Low)

(High)

First Meeting

Phase 1

Phase 2

TransitionCompletion

A B(A+B)/2

Performance

Group Norms

Informal rules of conduct for behaviors considered important by most group members.

Reasons Group Members Conform to Norms

• Compliance - assenting to a norm in order to attain rewards or avoid punishment.

• Identification - associating oneself with supporters of a norm and conforming to the norm because those individuals do.

Reason Group Members Conform to Norms

• Internalization - believing that the behavior dictated by a norm is truly the right and proper way to behave.

Socialization:• The process by which

newcomers learn the roles, rules, and norms of a group.

Classic Example: How Disney Classic Example: How Disney will train its HK employees!!will train its HK employees!!

Effective Work Groups• Process Gains - Increases in potential

performance that result from new ways of motivating and coordinating members.

Social Loafing - Tendency of individuals to exert less effort when they work in a group than when they work alone.

To Reduce Social Loafing

• Make Individual Contributions Identifiable

• Make Individuals Feel That They Are Making Valuable Contributions to a Group

• Keep Group as Small as Possible

Work Groups and Work TeamsWork Groups Work Teams

Share Information

Neutral (sometimes Negative)Individual

Random & Varied

Share Information

Neutral (sometimes Negative)Individual

Random & Varied

Collective Performance

Positive

Individual & Mutual

Complementary

Collective Performance

Positive

Individual & Mutual

Complementary

Goals

Synergy

Skills

Accountability

Mgto 321

• Welcome to day 2

• more on teams

• intro to cases

• first mini-case: Robin Hood

Building Trust• Work for others’ interests as well as own

• Be a team player.

• Practice openness.

• Be fair.

• Speak your feelings.

• Show consistency in basic values.

• Maintain confidence.

• Demonstrate competence.

Shaping Team Players Selection

– ensure candidates can fulfill team roles as well as technical requirements

• Training– most people raised with ideas of individual

accomplishment can become team players.

• Rewards– reward cooperative rather than competitive

efforts

High Performance Teams• Optimal size: less than 12

members

• Abilities:

–technical expertise

–problem solving skills

–interpersonal skills

• Clearly allocated roles

High Performance Teams• Commitment to common purpose

• Specific goals

• Leadership and structure

• Individual & joint accountability

• Appropriate evaluation & reward systems

• High mutual trust

The Nature of High Performing Teams

What Are the Properties of Effectively Functioning Teams?

• Results are consistent

• Criteria face valid

• People in effective teams KNOW the answer

• But this is tacit knowledge

• We must make it explicit

Key Success Factors for Teams• A clear elevating goal• Results driven structure• Competent team members• Unified commitment• Collaborative climate• Standards of excellence• External support and recognition• Principled leadership

A Clear and Elevating Goal

• What does this mean?– What is a goal?– Clarity: focused and non-political– Elevating: worth doing and personally

challenging

A Results Driven Structure• What types of results

– problem resolution team– creativity team– tactical team

• What kind of team are you?

• Team structure– roles and responsibilities– effective communication– methods for monitoring and feedback– emphasis on fact-based judgements

Competent Team Members

• Right people for the task– technical competencies– personal competencies

• Best matches– Problem: intelligent, savvy, people sensitive,

high integrity– Creative: cerebral, independent, tenacious– Tactical: loyal, committed, action oriented

Unified Commitment• What does this mean?

– spirit– loss of self– unity

• How to get it?– involvement– balancing– expectations– group task and maintenance behavior only

Collaborative Climate

• Meaning?– teamwork, whole > sum of parts, working well

together

• Four elements– honesty, openness, consistency, respect

• Total trust through involvement and autonomy

Standards of Excellence

• Standards matter

• Standards are hard work

• Standards are easy to ignore

• No resting on past performance

• Standards in this class???

External Support and Recognition

• What is this?

• Why is it important?

• Why is tangible support needed?

Principled Leadership

• Consistency

• Courage

• Standards

• Communications skills

• Promotes the other 7 factors

• Leaders create leaders

Learning with Cases

What Is a Case?

• A description of an actual situation, commonly involving a decision, a challenge, an opportunity, a problem or an issue faced by a person (or persons) in an organization.

• Allows you to step figuratively into the position of a particular decision maker.

• Field-based with the visit of an organization and collects the data.

• The product of a carefully thought-out process.

The Opening Paragraph

Typical Structure of a Case

Organization Background

Specific Areas of Interest

Specific Problem or Decision

Alternatives

Conclusion(Task)

Why Do We Do Cases?

• Examine real life situations

• Practice our analytical tools

• Engage in discussion of issues/answers

• Develop professional attitudes

Why use Cases?

• Cases allow you to take an active role in your learning.– More enjoyable than a lecture.

• But, you must be prepared in each class.

• You contribute to the class:– by teaching others,– by actively participating,– by taking risks,– by learning from the instructor and classmates.

Inventory of Skills Developed by the Case Method

• Analytical skills

• Decision making skills

• Application skills

• Oral communication skills

• Time management skills

• Interpersonal or social skills

• Creative skills

• Written communication skills

Preparing for a Case

• Two forms of preparation for a case:– Individual preparation– Group discussion

• small group

• large group

• Individual preparation– Look at the summary of the case.– Look at the assignment questions.– Look at topic assigned that day

Analyzing the Case - 7 Steps

• Defining the issue

• Analyzing the case data with focus on causes and effects as well as constraints and opportunities

• Generating alternatives

• Selecting decision criteria

• Analyzing and evaluating alternatives

• Selecting the preferred alternative

• Developing an action and implementation plan

Analyzing Cases

• One method:– Read the case.

• Pay the most attention to the opening paragraph and concluding paragraphs.

– Read the assignment questions.• These can help guide more detailed analyses.

– Do a detailed analysis.

Deliverables

• Issue identification

• Analysis and alternatives

• Recommendations for action

• Implementation plans

Defining the Issues

• Produce a clear and comprehensive statement of the issue(s) involved in the case.

• Clearly identified key concern(s), problem(s), decision(s), challenge(s) or opportunity(ies).

• 3 things to be considered:– Immediate and basic issues

– Importance

– Urgency

Generating Alternatives

• Be creative and think widely

• Consider constraints and opportunities

• Be realistic and plausible

Selecting Decision Criteria

• Provide the basis for evaluation or assessment measures

• Common decision criteria:– Quantitative:

• profit, cost, return on investment, market share, capacity, delivery time, risk, cash flow, inventory turn, productivity, staff turnover, time to complete, growth rate, quantity

– Qualitative:• competitive advantage, customer satisfaction, employee morale

corporate image, ease of implementation, synergy, ethics, flexibility, safety, visual appeal, obsolescence, cultural sensitivity, motivation, goodwill

Analyzing and Evaluating Alternatives

• List the key advantages and disadvantages of each alternative.

• Compare and contrast each alternative against the selected criteria by Alternative Analysis Matrix.

• Short vs long term

• Predicting outcomes

• Quantitative vs qualitative analysis

Alternatives and Criteria

• Alternatives are the different actions the company can take.– These are usually provided in the case.– Students can suggest their own options.

• How to select among the options?– Need to establish criteria.– Criteria emerge from your analysis.– Criteria can be qualitative or quantitative.

Alternatives and Criteria• Examples of criteria

– profit, cost, return on investment– market share– competitive advantage– ease of implementation

• Once criteria are established– compare alternatives to criteria– alternative that best matches criteria should be the

one selected

Example Alternatives and Criteria Criteria Independent Joint Venture Acquisition

Profitability inyear 2

4 5 3

25 percentmarket share byyear 4

3 4 5

Maintain controlover day-to-dayoperations

5 2 4

Develop strongmarketingcapabilities

1 4 5

Note: 5 = highest, 1 = lowest

Action and Implementation• All cases must conclude with an action

plan.– No action plan, no decision, means analysis is

incomplete.

• Action plan includes– recommended decision– suggestions for implementation of decision

• Action plan should answer the questions– who, what, when, where and how.

Exercise• Read the Robin Hood case.

• Get together in groups.

• Identify:– The decision to be made– The decision maker– The context of the case

• Be prepared to write these items on the board if called upon

Next class:

• what is strategy?

• why is it important?

• to whom might strategy be important?