Deck 8: Team Leadership and Self-Managed Teams

Question 1

Based on each statement, identify it as characteristic of a group or a team. Write the appropriate letter in the blank before each item.

A) group
B) team
____________ Here every individual does his or her tasks separately and we add up our outputs at the end.

Answer 1

A group is a collection of individuals who share information with each and make decisions to ease every member of the group to perform their own tasks effectively. Whereas a team is a group of individuals who work for the common goal and they contribute to achieve a unique and common objective.
Let us solve the question:
Answer: a
Because in the statement it is said that every individual performs his/her own task individually and then they total up their share of output which indicates that they are not a team but a group of people.

Question 2

The following critical-thinking questions can be used for class discussion and/or as written assignments to develop critical thinking skills. Be sure to give complete explanations for all questions.
Describe an organization whose culture, structure, and leadership philosophy clearly support creativity and innovation.

Answer 2

Google is the company that is synonymous with positive culture, fine structure and great leadership philosophy that clearly support creativity and innovation. This California based eminent search engine enterprise provides medical services, food, massage, yoga, carwash and also a hairstylist in the package of an employee. It gives twelve thousand dollars for the enhancement in the education of the deserving employee.
There is a very positive culture that could be seen in the team members of this company. As this company is team centred and takes in concerned the opinions of its employees before taking any major decisions, it helps in making the entire working culture very positive and thus it helps the company to create a positive culture and structure in the company.
Leadership is employee and team centered. Tasks that are assigned to employees are of their deserving nature and the employees are capable of thinking and working creatively over the assigned tasks. This helps in getting the innovative and unique performances from the employee's side. Thus, Google is recognized as one of the finest companies whose structure, culture and leadership philosophy clearly supports creativity and innovation.

Question 3

Identify each statement below with one of these key terms.

A) group
B) functional team
C) cross-functional team
D) self-managed team
__________ At Richmond Technology Associates, a team with members from information technology, finance, customer service, and quality control oversaw an ambitious information system-an integration project that spanned operations in the United States and Canada.

Answer 3

A group is termed a collection of people who come together and work individually on their own assignments; functional team where members belong to the same department or background; cross-functional teams where members comes from several departments and backgrounds to achieve a common and unique goal; and self-managed team where there is no as such a team leader and they work autonomously setting their objectives and performing duties on their own voluntarily.
Let us solve the question:
Answer: c
Because in the statement it is said that at Richmond Technology Associates, people from different departments comes together to look after the operations at and. Thus, it is a statement where cross-functional team works up.

Question 4

The following critical-thinking questions can be used for class discussion and/or as written assignments to develop critical thinking skills. Be sure to give complete explanations for all questions.
Identify and describe any team you have been a member of, or know about otherwise, that has a strong norm of teamwork that all members buy into. What role did the team leader play in making this possible?

Question 5

Briefly discuss some of the potential benefits and drawbacks of using self-managed teams.

Question 6

Identify each statement below with one of these key terms.

A) group
B) functional team
C) cross-functional team
D) self-managed team
__________ In my department, a number of us sometimes get together to discuss ways of improving our work processes.

Question 7

Describe the factors that generally contribute high levels of team cohesion.

Question 8

Identify which strategy for creative teams each statement relates to:

A) quality resources
B) recognition and rewards
C) flexibility
D) free time
___________ There is very little room for thinking "out of the box" in this team.

Question 9

Identify each statement below with one of these key terms.

A) group
B) functional team
C) cross-functional team
D) self-managed team
__________ In my company, I work in a team where leadership roles are rotated and shared, with each of us taking initiative at appropriate times for the good of the group.

Question 10

Based on each statement, identify it as characteristic of a group or a team. Write the appropriate letter in the blank before each item.

A) group
B) team
____________ My compensation is based primarily on my department's performance and there is shared responsibility.

Question 11

Identify which strategy for creative teams each statement relates to:

A) quality resources
B) recognition and rewards
C) flexibility
D) free time
___________ How does management expect our outputs to be better when our inputs are of such poor quality?

Question 12

Identify which guideline for improving the success rate of SMTs is implied by each statement below.

A) top management support and commitment
B) specific goals and incentives
C) SMT Champion
D) adequate and necessary resources
E) team composition
F) matching culture and structure
G) adequate team training time
___________The team members are not taking our new self-directed status seriously, because they believe SMTs are just the latest fad, that management will drop it for the next hot topic.

Question 13

The following critical-thinking questions can be used for class discussion and/or as written assignments to develop critical thinking skills. Be sure to give complete explanations for all questions.
What are some of the key indicators of team dysfunction?

Question 14

Identify which strategy for creative teams each statement relates to:

A) quality resources
B) recognition and rewards
C) flexibility
D) free time
___________ I received a $500 gift certificate for an idea I suggested that helped my team cut cost and improve quality.

Question 15

Identify which guideline for improving the success rate of SMTs is implied by each statement below.

A) top management support and commitment
B) specific goals and incentives
C) SMT Champion
D) adequate and necessary resources
E) team composition
F) matching culture and structure
G) adequate team training time
___________ get frustrated with this team because no one seems to know what we are doing or why we are doing it.

Question 16

Creativity is usually thought of as a characteristic of individuals, but are some teams more creative than others?

Question 17

Identify each statement as characteristic of the following team types:

A) functional
B) cross-functional
C) virtual
D) self-managed
___________Members of my team are dispersed all over the country and even overseas, yet we conduct meetings and get our work done using the Internet and videoconferencing technologies.

Question 18

Identify which guideline for improving the success rate of SMTs is implied by each statement below.

A) top management support and commitment
B) specific goals and incentives
C) SMT Champion
D) adequate and necessary resources
E) team composition
F) matching culture and structure
G) adequate team training time
___________ There are still a lot of people in this organization who don't know why we operate differently from other traditional teams and thus are not very supportive of our efforts. We need someone to defend and promote us.

Question 19

Based on each statement, identify it as characteristic of a group or a team. Write the appropriate letter in the blank before each item.

A) group
B) team
____________ Our tasks are interconnected and we make decisions that support each individual to do his or her own job better.

Question 20

Identify each statement as characteristic of the following team types:

A) functional
B) cross-functional
C) virtual
D) self-managed
__________We are developing a multispecialty work team to speed up processing our orders, and we are including two of our major customers in the mix.

Question 21

Identify which guideline for improving the success rate of SMTs is implied by each statement below.

A) top management support and commitment
B) specific goals and incentives
C) SMT Champion
D) adequate and necessary resources
E) team composition
F) matching culture and structure
G) adequate team training time
___________ The thing that bothers me is the fact that we are still missing some key people with specific skills and experiences to make the team complete.

Question 22

The following critical-thinking questions can be used for class discussion and/or as written assignments to develop critical thinking skills. Be sure to give complete explanations for all questions.
What is the key to creating cross-functional teams in which team members put the good of the team ahead of functional self-interest?

Question 23

Identify each statement as characteristic of the following team types:

A) functional
B) cross-functional
C) virtual
D) self-managed
__________ We don't really have a boss in our team.

Question 24

Identify which guideline for improving the success rate of SMTs is implied by each statement below.

A) top management support and commitment
B) specific goals and incentives
C) SMT Champion
D) adequate and necessary resources
E) team composition
F) matching culture and structure
G) adequate team training time
___________ Management expects us to get the job done but has not met our demands for better work space, new computers, and a travel budget.

Question 25

What is team-centered leadership, and how does it differ from the leader-centered approach?

Question 26

Identify each statement as characteristic of the following team types:

A) functional
B) cross-functional
C) virtual
D) self-managed
__________ Our team has been charged with developing a new product within three months, and we get to decide many job-related issues on our own.

Question 27

Based on each statement, identify it as characteristic of a group or a team. Write the appropriate letter in the blank before each item.

A) group
B) team
____________ We are just a collection of about 30 people working individually on an assigned project.

Question 28

Identify each statement as characteristic of the following team types:

A) functional
B) cross-functional
C) virtual
D) self-managed
__________ The marketing manager is creating a team with three other marketing employees to come up with ideas to increase sales.

Question 29

The following critical-thinking questions can be used for class discussion and/or as written assignments to develop critical thinking skills. Be sure to give complete explanations for all questions.
How can virtual teams work well together from far apart?

Question 30

Identify the problem type as:

A) silent
B) talker
C) wanderer
D) bored
E) arguer
___________As the group is trying to resolve crisis, Paul's focus was on trying to inform everyone about the company owner and the mailroom clerk.

Question 31

Since 1971, Federal Express, now known simply as FedEx, remains the market leader in an industry it helped create. The name FedEx is synonymous with overnight delivery. The person in charge of providing the strategic direction for all FedEx Corporation companies is its founder, Frederick W. Smith, the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. To position the company for the 21st century, Smith has organized FedEx into the following Strategic Business Units: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Office, FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Trade Networks, FedEx Supply Chain, and FedEx Services. These companies serve more than 220 countries and territories with operations that include 697 aircraft and more than 80,000 vehicles. With more than 290,000 team members worldwide, FedEx handles more than 8.5 million shipments each business day.
FedEx has expanded far beyond what Smith started with back in 1971. FedEx has continued to strengthen its industry leadership over the past 40 years and has been widely acknowledged for its commitment to total quality service. Federal Express was the first service company to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1990. In addition, FedEx has consistently been ranked on Fortune magazine's industry lists, including "World's Most Admired Companies," "America's Most Admired Companies," "100 Best Companies to Work For," and "Blue Ribbon Companies." In 2011 Fortune ranked FedEx No. 8 among the "World's Most Admired Companies."
With growth come difficulties of coordination, maintaining efficiency, meeting customer expectations, and managing employees. Smith realized that a rigid hierarchy of command-and-control leadership would only magnify these difficulties. To give his employees the flexibility and freedom they need to move quickly and help FedEx remain the dominant overnight delivery service in the world, Smith decided to restructure FedEx by emphasizing the team approach to getting work done. He directed his executive team to create and empower more teams by giving them the authority and the responsibility to make the changes needed to improve productivity and customer satisfaction throughout the FedEx system. This directive is consistent with the operational strategy of the corporation put forth by Mr. Smith and his executive team. It is evident from the corporation's Web site that teamwork is a core component of its strategic orientation as revealed in this statement:
The unique FedEx operating strategy works seamlessly- and simultaneously-on three levels:
• Compete collectively by standing as one brand worldwide and speaking with one voice.
• Operate independently by focusing on our independent networks to meet distinct customer needs.
• Manage collaboratively by working together to sustain loyal relationships with our workforce, customers, and investors. 132
An example of the successful implementation of Mr. Smith's directive can be found in Springfield, Virginia. With strong support from their managers, employees formed the Quality Action Team to overhaul their package-sorting techniques. The improvements they introduced put couriers on the road 12 minutes earlier than before, and halved the number of packages they delivered late. The success of teams at departmental or local levels encouraged Smith and his leadership team to also assign employee teams to companywide projects. Facing growing competition from United Parcel Service, the U.S. Postal Service, and Airborne Express, FedEx organized its clerical employees into "superteams" of up to 10 people. These teams operated as selfmanaged teams with little direct supervision from managers. One team cut service glitches, such as incorrect bills and lost packages by 13 percent. Another team spotted-and worked until they eventually solved-a billing problem that had been costing the company $2.1 million a year.
FedEx teams have worked so well because Fred Smith sets standards and reinforces them. He spearheaded the concept of the "golden package," the idea that every package FedEx handles is critical and must be delivered on time. Whenever there's a crisis, whether due to competitive pressure or to Mother Nature threatening to ground the company's planes, the team with the golden package takes charge to figure out how to make the delivery on time. Smith reinforces group performance by presenting a monthly Circle of Excellence award to the best FedEx station. He encourages innovative thinking by creating a "job-secure environment." He takes the position that "if you hang people who try to do something that doesn't quite work, you'll get people who don't do anything."
Managers are by no means obsolete at FedEx. Smith has redefined their roles. There has been a shift in mindset from the traditional leader-centered to the team-centered leadership approach. Managers are expected to formulate clear, attainable goals for their teams, solicit employee ideas, and act on the best employee suggestions. FedEx managers perceive their role as facilitators-and sometimes they are players. During emergencies at the Memphis hub, senior managers have been known to hurry down from the executive suite to help load packages onto the conveyor belts that feed the company's planes. They practice team leadership by doing, not by telling.
According to one company executive, "FedEx has built what is the most seamless global air and ground network in its industry, connecting more than 90 percent of the world's economic activity." It is evident that FedEx's open, flexible, and team-based organizational structure and culture has been instrumental in keeping the company's lead position in overnight package service. CEO Smith's team leadership deserves much of the credit.
GO TO THE INTERNET: To learn more about Fred Smith and FedEx, their Web site (http://www.fedex.com).
Support your answers to the following questions with specific information from the case and text or with other information you get from the Web or other sources.
1. How do the standards set by Fred Smith for FedEx teams improve organizational performance?
2. What motivates the members of FedEx to remain highly engaged in their teams?
3. Describe the role FedEx managers play in facilitating team effectiveness.
4. What type of teams does FedEx use? Provide evidence from the case to support your answer.
5. Leaders play a critical role in building effective teams. Cite evidence from the case that FedEx managers performed some of these roles in developing effective teams.
C U M U L A T I V E C A S E Q U E S T I O N S
6. The Big Five model of personality categorizes traits into dimensions of surgency, agreeableness, adjustment, conscientiousness, and openness to experience (Chapter 2). Which of these dimensions do you think Fred Smith possesses?
7. The normative leadership model identifies five leadership styles appropriate for different situations that users can select to maximize decisions (Chapter 5). Which of the five leadership styles is practiced by FedEx team leaders?
8. The case reveals that at theMemphis hub seniormanagers have been known to hurry down from the executive suite to help load packages during emergencies in order to get the plane off on time. FedEx leaders want to be seen as coaches, not managers. Specific guidelines can help a leader become an effective coach (Chapter 6). Which of the guideline(s) does the example above represent?
9. Research on followership describes five types of followership (see Exhibit 7.3, Chapter 7). Which of these types will work best in FedEx's team environment as described in the case, and why?
C A S E E X E R C I S E A N D R O L E - P L A Y
Preparation: You are senior vice president for operations at FedEx. FedEx's monthly Circle of Excellence Award is presented to the best FedEx station. This time the best station was one that truly represented the spirit of teamwork in problem solving. The station manager spotted a loading problem that was costing the company millions of dollars a year and decided to leave it up to the station as a group to find ways of solving the problem. After a series of group meetings and key decisions, a solution was found that successfully took care of the loading problem and was adopted by the rest of the company. It has come to Fred Smith's attention that a key reason for the station's success is the leadership role played by the team leader during this process. Smith has asked that you use the award ceremony as an opportunity to highlight the virtues of the groupcentered approach of leadership, particularly with respect to decision making in teams. Develop the key parts of the speech you will give on this occasion.
Your instructor may elect to break the class into groups to share ideas and put together the speech or simply ask each student to prepare an independent speech. If you do a group speech, select one leader to present the speech to the entire class.
Role-Play: One person (representing oneself or a group) may give the speech to the entire class, or break into groups of five or six and deliver speeches one at a time.

Question 32

Describe how a leader can avoid conducting nonproductive meetings.

Question 33

Identify the problem type as:

A) silent
B) talker
C) wanderer
D) bored
E) arguer
___________ Greg enjoys challenging members' ideas even if he does not have a strong case. When a group member does not agree with Greg, he makes wisecracks about the member's prior mistakes.

Question 34

Based on each statement, identify it as characteristic of a group or a team. Write the appropriate letter in the blank before each item.

A) group
B) team
____________We all have a common objective that focuses our energies and resources.

Question 35

Identify which strategy for creative teams each statement relates to:

A) quality resources
B) recognition and rewards
C) flexibility
D) free time
___________It is hard to be creative when company policy dictates strict adherence to standard operating procedures.

Question 36

Identify the problem type as:

A) silent
B) talker
C) wanderer
D) bored
E) arguer
___________ Richard is always first or second to give his ideas. He endlessly elaborates on his ideas. Other members are whispering about his "pushy" attitude.

Question 37

The following critical-thinking questions can be used for class discussion and/or as written assignments to develop critical thinking skills. Be sure to give complete explanations for all questions.
Teams are often credited with making better decisions than individuals, yet they are also criticized for groupthink. What are some strategies for creating effective teams that are not victims of the groupthink phenomenon?

Question 38

The following critical-thinking questions can be used for class discussion and/or as written assignments to develop critical thinking skills. Be sure to give complete explanations for all questions.
What would you describe as some of the do's and don'ts of team leadership?

Question 39

Identify the problem type as:

A) silent
B) talker
C) wanderer
D) bored
E) arguer
___________ Zora is usually reluctant to share her ideas. When asked to explain her position, Zora often changes her answers to agree with others in the group.

Question 40

What is groupthink, and under what conditions is it most likely to occur?

Question 41

What is the depth of decision-making latitude commonly found in self-managed teams?

Question 42

Identify the problem type as:

A) silent
B) talker
C) wanderer
D) bored
E) arguer
___________ One of the usually active group members is sitting back quietly today and looking very absent-minded for the first time. The other members are doing all the discussing and volunteering for assignments.

Question 43

The National Education for Assistance Dog Services (NEADS) functions with teams of people. But another type of teamwork is also central to the mission of NEADS: the team of human and dog. NEADS acquires, raises, trains, and matches service dogs to meet the needs of people with limited physical mobility or deafness. It takes about two years to train a service dog-and that requires a lot of teamwork. Volunteer families become part of the team when, at four months of age, the puppies are placed in foster care. These families agree to feed, love, and raise the puppies so they become accustomed to the distractions and energy of the real world. Professional dog trainers from NEADS visit regularly to work with the families and dogs to ensure that the dogs receive the proper training in preparation for their later work. The puppies live in their foster homes until they are about a year and a half old; then they return to the NEADS farm to continue their education. Here, they receive advanced training from professional dog trainers. When a dog's training is complete, its new owner arrives on campus for a two-week stay, during which the person and the dog become a team. The person and dog have been matched through an extensive interview process that involves a team of people interviewers and dog trainers.
1. Describe the characteristics of a typical NEADS team, using the information discussed in the chapter.
2. What factors determine the cohesiveness of NEADS teams?

Question 44

Identify which strategy for creative teams each statement relates to:

A) quality resources
B) recognition and rewards
C) flexibility
D) free time
___________ I wish a certain part of my work day was left up to me to do whatever I chose-like experimenting with new ideas.

Question 45

Identify each statement below with one of these key terms.

A) group
B) functional team
C) cross-functional team
D) self-managed team
__________At the Charlottesville Winery, the quality control department headed by a unit supervisor is in charge of testing all incoming ingredients to make sure only the best ingredients go into the company's wine.