UGBA105: Organizational BehaviorClass agenda: Teams and Teamwork in OrganizationsWhat is a team?Slide 4Read your way to a better team!What kinds of teams exist in organizations?“The myth of the executive team”An entrepreneurial teamA product development team in a mature corporationWhat’s so good about teams?Are teams or individuals better at decision-making?What are the downsides to teamwork?The problem of groupthinkSlide 14A contemporary exampleThe “risky shift” (Group polarization) An extension of groupthinkThe value of diversity and dissent (Based on Charlan Nemeth’s jury research)Making teams work in YOUR organizationTeams were a bad fit for Levi’sBut teams are key to Southwest Air’s fast turnaroundsDesigning effective teamsSlide 22Roles teams should watch out forDevelop these: Cultural patterns of functional teamsGuard against these: Cultural patterns of dysfunctional teamsSlide 26Training for teamworkOutward Bound and similar team-building programs may helpLeadership in teamsSlide 31Leadership - followership roles rotate in mature teamsLeadership behaviors: Instrumental (task-oriented)Leadership behaviors: Maintenance (socio-emotional)Leading a dysfunctional teamKey points to rememberWednesdayUGBA105: UGBA105: Organizational BehaviorOrganizational BehaviorWeek 4: Managing Teams2Class agenda: Teams and Class agenda: Teams and Teamwork in OrganizationsTeamwork in Organizations– Defining and describing teams in organizations– The goods and bads of teams and the problem of “fit”– Steps in team design– Excerpts from “12 Angry Men”– Leadership in teams3What is a team?What is a team?“A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”Katzenbach and Smith: “The Discipline of Teams”4Top ManagementTeamTeamProcessCoordinatorsTeamTeamProcessCoordinatorsTeamTeamProcessCoordinatorsNew product development processOrder fulfillment processProcurement, logistics processThe team concept is central to the design of the modern horizontal organization5Read your way to a better team!Read your way to a better team!6What kinds of What kinds of teams exist in teams exist in organizations?organizations?•Executive and entrepreneurial teams•Off-line problem-solving teams–Task forces–Quality circles; safety; productivity•On-line production teams–E.g., NUMMI, Saturn•Cross-functional (and cross-product) process teams–Product development•Allentown Materials–Customer service7““The myth of the executive team”The myth of the executive team” “The expression ‘top management team’ is a misnomer for the groups that exist at the apex of many firms. Many such groups are simply constellations of executive talent: individuals who rarely come together (and then usually for perfunctory information exchange), who rarely collaborate, and who focus almost entirely on their own part of the enterprise.Donald C. Hambrick, Financial Times, Oct 11, 20018An entrepreneurial teamAn entrepreneurial team9A product development team in a A product development team in a mature corporationmature corporation10What’s so good about teams? What’s so good about teams?11Are teams or individuals better at Are teams or individuals better at decision-making? decision-making?12What are the What are the downsides to downsides to teamwork?teamwork?13The problem of The problem of groupthinkgroupthinkDefinition: When members fail to disagree, to bring up doubts and fears, or to bring up information that contradicts the team’s decision. Suddenly, they are going in a direction that makes no one happy simply because no one wants to cause conflict.Components:–Illusion of invulnerability–Rationalizations collectively devised to discount negative feedback–Belief in team’s morality & shared negative views of external detractors–Pressure to conform on anyone who doubts about the majority view–Reluctance to deviate from what appears to be the team consensus1415A contemporary exampleA contemporary exampleOn February 7, 1999, the audit committee of Enron Corporation’s board of directors gathered in London to hear rather startling news. The company’s auditors described Enron’s accounting practices as “high risks.” David B. Duncan, who headed up the Arthur Anderson L.L.P. team at the company, informed the committee that Enron’s accounting was “pushing the limits” and was “’at the edge’ of acceptable practice”. However, none of the directors “objected to the procedures described by the auditors, requested a second opinion, or demanded a more prudent approach.”--John A. Byrne (Feb 2002) Business Week16The “risky shift” The “risky shift” (Group polarization)(Group polarization) An extension of groupthinkAn extension of groupthinkThe tendency for decisions of a group to be more extreme (whether risky or cautious) than those made by individuals acting alone.People with moderate viewpoints assume that teammates hold more extreme views, so they alter their own views to conform (groupthink).17The value of diversity and dissent The value of diversity and dissent (Based on Charlan Nemeth’s jury research)(Based on Charlan Nemeth’s jury research)•Exposure to minority viewpoints, even when they’re wrong, stimulates divergent thought and a search for information –Leads to better performance and decision-making, more creativity. –Downsides are: conflict, low morale, persecution of minorities•How about role playing at dissent: The devil’s advocate? –Doesn’t work. Need an authentic minority. Devil’s advocates can reinforce the convictions of the group. We profit from people with whom we disagree. But we don’t give them credit – we get angry.18Making teams work in Making teams work in YOUR organization YOUR organization Achieving “fit” to: –Strategy–People–Culture–Management & leadership–Tasks and technology–Formal and informal structure19Teams were a bad fit for Levi’s Teams were a bad fit for Levi’s (S)killed workers.. found themselves pitted against slower colleagues, damaging morale and triggering corrosive infighting… Longtime friendships dissolved as faster workers tried to banish slower ones. The quantity of pants produced per hour worked plunged in 1993 to 77% of pre-team levels. Meanwhile, labor and overhead costs surged