The Problem with Teamwork

1. The Problem with Teamwork By: Christopher Speer Lawrence Bridges

2. Case Study Summary • Mike and Jill have been butting heads for months now • Mike is a manufacturing manger at Auto Safety Products • Mike is 55 years old and has worked in manufacturing for most of his life • Spent the last 22 years at Auto Safety Products • Always felt some animosity toward the design side of the firm • Found the engineers were unwilling to listen to the problems faced in manufacturing

3. Case Study Summary (cont.) • Often complained that design department generates projects that run into all sorts of problems once they hit manufacturing • Jill is 25 years old • Mechanical engineer with Auto Safety Products • Been with them since graduating college • Assertive and strong-minded • Believes she has to be effective in the male-dominated world of engineering • Jill and Mike has to work together frequently on a booster seat design in a variety of minivans

4. Case Study Summary (cont.) • Inability to work together has gotten worse • Supervisor had to set up a meeting • Adam Shapiro is the project supervisor • Knew the two of them have not it off on the engineering team and had decided the conflict had gotten to the point where he must step in and help them settle it. • He brought them in individually and asked them about the problem • Jill was the first person Adam talked to • Jill’s problem was that Mike would not listen to her ideas and downplayed the contributions that design can make to concurrent engineering

5. Case Study Summary (cont.) • Jill suspects that Mike has problems with her because she is young and she is a woman. • This has made her push even harder for her point of view on project disagreements • Mike’s problem is that he thinks the concurrent engineering system and the booster seat team in particular is a joke • Design engineers are still trying to push their ideas down the manufacturing’s throat and he’s tired of it • Mike would like to go back to doing things the old way • However if forced to continue with the concurrent engineering system he refuses to give into every one of Jill’s ideas.

6. 1a. What kind of predispositions are Mike and Jill taking into this conflict situation? • Mike believes that engineers are “uppity” and unwilling to listen to the problems dealing with manufacturing. • As a female engineer Jill feels as though she needs to be effective in the male-dominated world of engineering.

7. 1b. How might these predispositions influence the way the frame, the conflict and the way they approach each other? • These predispositions are definitely negatively influencing the way Mike and Jill approach each other. • Obviously they are going to automatically approach each other because of their opinions.

8. 2a. If Mike and Jill were to attempt to deal with this conflict on their own, what conflict style would you recommend? • If Mike and Jill were to attempt to deal with this conflict on their own I would recommend that they use the compromising conflict style. • Compromising will allow you to achieve both of your goals, resulting in a “win-win” situation instead of a “win-lose” situation.

9. 2b. Given what you know about Jill and Mike, do you think they would use an effective conflict resolution style? • No, because when the problem first arose they had a hard time coming to a common ground resolution • If it wasn’t for Adam they would have never resolved the problem.

10. 3a. IF you were Adam, how would you approach this conflict? • Sit them both down together and have them write down the benefits that each of them bring to the company. • Find a common ground

11. 3b. What strategies should you use to help Mike and Jill deal with their ongoing problems? • Use mediator • Check to make sure each parties ideas are running smoothly • Integrative bargaining

12. 3c. Would you consider bringing in a mediator to help them work through their issues • Yes, because a mediator in the meeting will keep things calm as well as make sure both sides get a fair compromise

13. 4a. How would a feminist approach to conflict see this situation? • Would see the situation from a female and side thus would take Jill’s side in the argument • Would conflict be viewed differently if Jill was in a male position of power? • Same sex, less confrontation?

14. 4b. Is it possible to use an alternative model that would recast this situation in a more productive frame? • No because Adam handled this situation the right way by bringing Mike and Jill in and have them discuss the problem • This way is more productive because they can express themselves without knowing what the other person had to say • You can cover more ground by one-on-one problem solving.

15. Effective Student Teams: A Faux Hiring and Peer Evaluation Process • Michelle D. Lane • Professor at Western Kentucky University • Team projects provide benefits to the education process and provide experience that is valued by some employers. • Due to free-riding, scheduling problems and differing goals, there are fragile grounds for team conflicts • Needs to be a better method of forming teams and a process to assure shared goals by team members.

16. Faux Hiring Process • Six steps • Selection of interviewers • Posting interviewee’s applications for review by classmates and interviewers • Hold a “Job Fair” • Selection of personal top choices by both interviewers and interviewees • Instructor-team assignment • Forming and signing of the team contract

17. Faux Hiring Process

18. Results • The results showed that using the faux hiring teams had stronger influence on shared goals • Fewer conflicts within the group

19. Article Related to Case Study • Provides an example of a way to prevent teamwork problems • Article says to use a interview process whereas the case study doesn’t

20. What is Expected from Supervisors • LiisaHuusko • Department of Business and Economics • University of Joensuu • Joensuu, Finaland • Article was about how the past 10 years that team members enter the workforce as well as management or leadership emphasis influences different images of supervisors • Team member who are not the same age have different images of superviosrs.

21. Article Related to Case Study • Team members not the same age have different images of one another • Male-female problem in the group • Age • Older generation wants to do the same change and not adapt to change.

22. NBA Lockout; Can Both Sides Agree on Basketball-Related Income? • Published in Los Angeles Times newspaper • The players’ union and the owners can not come to terms on money agreements thus causing a lockout • At first they did not want to bring a mediator in but they now have to try to speed up the talks • Related to our case study because neither side could come to a common ground and they had to bring a mediator to help get to that common ground