The success of any company does not depend on the collection of individuals who work by themselves. There has to be clustering of employees into groups or teams enabling them to have the capability of achieving a certain function that could not be possible for an individual alone. The use of both teams and groups not only meets a firm’s objectives but also enables Nike to attain competitive advantage (Ivanko, 2013).
Groups
There is a difference between groups and team. A group is a set of two or more people who work together to achieve a common goal. According to Ivanko (2013), two factors describe a group. The first is, in a group, one person’s actions affect the other person’s action. The other is that there is perceivement that working together will assist the accomplishment of a set objective. There are two types of groups that an organization can deploy, which are formal and informal. Formal group: the creation of these groups has a basis on the needs of the company. They are such as command groups or task forces. An example is a product committee.
Informal groups are those that emerge naturally because the members perceive that membership will assist to achieve their goals and needs. They are friend groups and interest groups. The group Nike deploys are formal. When it comes to determining the effectiveness of the group, there has to be consideration of factors that affect that effort. The factors are such as group size, communication, groupthink, cohesiveness, role stability and homogeneity (Ivanko, 2013).
Teams
Teams are a group of people with a higher level of interdependence and rely on collaboration to achieve the success of a goal. The effectiveness of the team depends on trust, flexibility and support. According to Ivanko (2013), the types of teams are such as informal, which are those teams that have a basis on similar social purposes. Another type is an organizational group that is a traditional team. An example is department. The problem-solving team is a task force created to solve a problem within a corporate structure.
The leadership team is a manager of different departments or holders of top management seats brought together to expand the boundaries and functions of the organization. Self-directed teams are those created to decide the performance of a particular company operation. Virtual teams are those set up to manage and oversee operations that are geographically apart, using technology (Ivanko, 2013). Nike uses all the above teams in its operations.
Role and Effectiveness
Organization structure and culture is important when it comes to making the roles of teams and groups more efficient. They are essential as they contribute to team collaboration and effective communication. In addition to that, there is an increase in job interaction due to the level of group interaction. Nike has a challenge when it comes to employee motivation. It is because the company values retaining employees and that fact causes extra efforts to ensure that their moral does not fall (Enderle, Hirsch, Micka, et al. 2000). The use of groups and teams that mix up the new recruits and the retained employees will be a great motivator and enhance job satisfaction. The result of the technique will be positive regarding output and profits.
Teams and groups to function better require abilities such as trust, collaboration and respect. The principles implemented in teams and groups contribute significantly to the organizational behavior. There will be no more conflicts associated with diversity or even cross- cultural conflicts (Tsai, 2011). Also, the work environment with be both healthy and serene enabling effective performance of functions that result in Nike’s success.
References
Enderle, K., Hirsch, D., Micka, L., et al. (2000). Strategic Analysis of Nike, Inc. DePaul University. Retrieved from http://condor.depaul.edu/aalmaney/StrategicAnalysisofNike.htm
Ivanko, Š. (2013). Organizational Behavior. The University of Ljubljana. http://www.fu.uni-lj.si/fileadmin/usr-files/Mednarodna_pisarna/ORGANIZATIONAL-BEHAVIOR-2013.pdf
Tsai, Y. (2011). Relationship between Organizational Culture, Leadership Behavior and Job Satisfaction. NCBI. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3123547/
