Keller Graduate School of Management
Case Study Analysis Building a Coalition
Emily Rector
[email protected] MGM !"#$ %eadershi& and 'rgani(ational Beha)ior *nstructor$ +rofessor Glenn +almer May ,- ,/#!
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Introduction: Case Study Analysis on Building a Coalition *n order for a &ro0ect to be successful in an organi(ation it should form a di)erse team to head it u&. *ncor&orating di)ersity 1ithin the team 1 ill encourage creati)ity and inno)ation into the formation of the &rocesses and solutions that result in the outco me of the &ro0ect. Each team member 1ill be able to change and gro1 by dra1ing from the different e2&eriences bac3grounds and s3ills from each indi)idual. he team needs to ha)e a &rocess in &lace to communicate and collaborate o&enly and listen to all member4s )ie1s ideas and goals. 5i)erse 1or3 teams 1ill almost al1ays ha)e a le)el of conflict 1ithin them. Res&ecting each other4s different )ie1s and e2&eriences and recogni(ing that they ha)e been brought together because of a common goal can result in a more effecti)e resolution &rocess.6 Regardless of the com&osition of the grou& differences can be le)eraged to achie)e su&erior &erformance.6 7Robbins 8 9udge ,/#, &.!:;.
Part 1: Group Development he
C+*E 7>ational Coalition for +arental in)ol)ement in Education; is also going to ha)e a role in this &rogram to re&resent the &arents on behalf of the +A. 7Robbins 8 9udge ,/#, &.?,";.
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contribute and lead this after school &rogram.
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#;. Select the e2ecuti)e members that 1ill run the e2ecuti)e de)elo&ment team. ,;. Set u& a meeting 1ith this team to define common goals 8 &ur&ose assign roles 8 res&onsibilities of each member set u& the meeting schedule &rocess and &ro0ect deadlines and discuss 1hat the desired outcome of the &rogram 1ill be. ;. Create a climate of trust and cohesion 1ithin the grou&. Da)e an o&en forum for the members to e2&licitly discuss their )ie1s )alues and beliefs to1ards o&erating and de)elo&ing this &rogram. -;. 5etermine the agreed u&on common goals functions and &rocesses in 1hich the team 1ill facilitate to create a successful and effecti)e after school &rogram and handboo3. *n order for this team to o&erate in an effecti)e manner to accom&lish the &rogram &ur&ose it is im&ortant for the leadershi& to select the a&&ro&riate members to run the ne1 agency. Some things to consider 1hen doing this are to ta3e a loo3 at the team com&osition. he team com&osition category includes )ariables that relate to ho1 teams should be staffed the ability and &ersonality of team members allocation of roles and di)ersity si(e of the team and members4 &reference for team1or3. 7Robbins 8 9udge ,/#, &. #!;. hey also need to consider 1hat it ta3es to create a cohesi)e team. Cohesi)e teams ultimately are more &roducti)e and effecti)e at reaching the desired outcome. here are multi&le things that can be done to encourage cohesi)eness 1ithin the grou&. 7#; Ma3e the grou& smaller 7,; encourage agreement 1ith grou& goals 7; increase the time members s&end together 7-; increase the grou&4s status and the &ercei)ed difficulty of attaining membershi& 7!; stimulate com&etition 1ith other grou&s 7?; gi)e re1ards to the grou& rather than to indi)idual members and 7; &hysically isolate the grou&.6 7Robbins 8 9udge ,/#, &. ,::;. Fltimately the grou& 1ill need to define 4
their common goals and &ur&ose to1ards the outcome of de)elo&ing a successful and &roducti)e after school &rogram that 1ill benefit all organi(ations in)ol)ed.
Part II: Problem Identification E)en 1ith careful selection of the e2ecuti)e team members and follo1ing the grou& de)elo&ment model conflicts among the members 1ill still arise. All organi(ations in)ol)ed a&&ear to ha)e one main interest regarding this &ro0ect and that is to im&ro)e student outcomes 1ithin their community. here seems to be a fe1 &roblems that may cause conflict 1ithin this grou& to1ards the effecti)e de)elo&ment of the &rogram. he &rimary &roblem is that each organi(ation seems to be fueled by their o1n interests and beliefs about the &rocess and 1hat it 1ould ta3e to accom&lish the &rogram outcome. =or e2am&le School district re&resentati)es 1ant to ensure the ne1 0obs 1ill be unioni(ed and 1ill o&erate in a 1ay consistent 1ith current school board &olicies6 7Robbins and 9udge ,/#, &. ?/;. he C*+E 1hich is dri)en by a mission to increase &arental control and its members are most interested in the &rocess by 1hich changes are made ensuring e)eryone has the ability to 1eigh in6 7Robbins and 9udge ,/#, &. ?/;. All of these different interests if not discussed and understood &ro&erly can lead to negati)e conflict 1ithin this grou&. he secondary &roblem is that there seems to be some demogra&hic di)ersity issues that may cause negati)e conflict 1ithin this grou&. “5emogra&hics mostly reflect surfacele)el di)ersity not thoughts and feelings and can lead em&loyees to &ercei)e one another through stereoty&es and assum&tions6 7Robbins 8 9udge ,/#, &. -,;. hese Surface le)el di)ersities
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include differences in easily &ercei)ed characteristics such as gender race ethnicity age or disability that may acti)ate certain stereoty&es. 7Robbins 8 9udge ,/#, &. -,;. *t is im&ortant that the members of the organi(ations get to 3no1 each other on a dee&er le)el so they can mo)e &ast these surface le)el di)ersities and transform them into dee& le)el di)ersities. dee&le)el di)ersity 5ifferences in )alues &ersonality and 1or3 &references that become &rogressi)ely more im&ortant for determining similarity as &eo&le get to 3no1 one another better.6 7Robbins 8 9udge ,/#, &. -,;. *f the grou& members can get &ast their initial assum&tions of each organi(ation and its members and communicate o&enly to get to 3no1 one another it 1ill &ositi)ely benefit the dynamics and cohesion 1ithin the grou&. Conflicts among grou&s don4t al1ays ha)e negati)e effects. Conflicts among grou&s in the de)elo&ment &rocess can actually be a good thing. *f handled in a constructi)e manner these conflicts bring ne1 ideas and )ie1s into creation. hese conflicts can hel& grou& members to gro1 and change. *t is also im&ortant that this grou& identify that they ha)e c ommon goals and &ur&ose for de)elo&ing this &rogram. Fltimately they all 1ant the students and community to be im&acted &ositi)ely through this &rogram. Do1 they handle and resol)e their conflicts can im&act the grou& &ositi)ely or negati)ely. *t4s im&ortant to understand that effecti)e teams resol)e conflicts by e2&licitly discussing the issues. 7Robbins 8 9udge ,/#, & . ,,;.
Part III: Retrospective valuation here could be t1o &ossible courses of action to handle these &rimary &roblems. =irst they could elect a leader to facilitate all meetings held by the grou& throughout the &rogram de)elo&ment &rocess. his leader should be able to relate to and understand the &rimary interest of each organi(ation and facilitate the grou& meeting 1ith an o&en mind. Meredith
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be a good fit to lead and facilitate the inner 1or3ing of the grou& based on her current &osition 1ithin the
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resolution &rocess. herefore &ossibly allo1ing the grou& to not follo1 this conflict resolution &rocess and getting stuc3 by their o&&ositions delaying the im&lementation and success of this &rogram.
Part I!: Reflection he com&osition of this &rogram de)elo&ment grou& is di)erse. *n order for the outcome of the &rogram to be successful the leadershi& managing it should understand the different ty&es of di)ersity that occurs 1ithin grou&s. %eaders also need to recog ni(e that differences among &eo&le can lead to miscommunication misunderstanding and conflict. %eaders can de)elo& a1areness about these characteristics 1ithin the grou& to effecti)ely manage a di)erse 1or3 team. 7Robbins 8 9udge ,/#, &. -#;. *f each e2ecuti)e member can understand the demogra&hics bac3ground and e2&eriences of each indi)idual organi(ation it 1ill be easier for them to collaborate together to im&lement successful &rocesses into this &rogram. *f they can create a sense of cohesion 1ithin the grou& by clearly defining their common goals and getting to 3no1 each other on a dee&er le)el they 1ill also be a more effecti)e and efficient team. hey need to all be 1or3ing to1ards the same &ur&ose and outcome that 1ill benefit all members and organi(ations collecti)ely.
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Source Ro bb i n s ,St e ph enP . ,a ndTi mo t h yA.J ud ge . ( 2 01 2) .Or g ani z at i o na lBeh av i o r ,( 15t hEd. ) .Pear s on Lear ni ngSol ut i ons ,Vi t al Bookfi l e.
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