Diagnosis of a Case Study

Diagnosis of a case study (Mark Prentice)

Introduction:

Mark Prentice worked for a year at an organization that never spelled success in the

catalogue of the company. Although the team had a hierarchical system of management,

they were dysfunctional in many areas of the business. The unit of only 7 workers with

their supervisors did not work as a solid unit even though productivity standards were

met but never exceeded. The task was a combination of pooled and sequential

interdependence as the shipment had to be sorted first before they were on the conveyor

belts for the 6 other workers including Mark to then load them on flat beds and onto

trailers to be shipped out to the company's retail outlets for distribution. Ironically, their

conflicts were never sorted but were allowed to develop resulting in displacement of the

workers. This is a team that never reached its full potential and the effectiveness was

marred because the leaders did not remove barriers so that the workers could accomplish

their tasks.

Pointers needed to analyse the case:

1. Review characteristics of a well functioning and effective team.

2. Was team roles established and did it facilitate relationship building.

3. What was the culture of the organization . How cohesive was the group.

4. Identify and prioritize solutions to the problems.

Discuss the needs and process theories of motivation that can be implemented to improve the team effectiveness.