How would you characterize the current decision-making process?
The decision-making process is ineffective and irrational. The poor decision-making process is the cause of the dilemma at the organization. The meetings held by departmental managers are contentious because they are full of anger and blame. The managers fail to agree concerning the right decision to implement. Man team members lack an opportunity to express their views thus they are forced to accept decisions imposed by the officials. Emma makes a go/no-go decision, and this thwarts the decision-making process at the organization. The communication process between the top executives is inadequate. There is a lack of real leadership during the decision-making process.
Has the team been effective?
The organization has a weak team structure. The team has not been effective because the departmental heads are not optimistic with the new project. Emma Richardson, who is the Vice president, cannot find a way to help all the teams agree on the price of the Aerial project. No department is willing to take the risk of reducing price. The teams in the organization are not effective because the executives are emotional and keep blaming each other. The team lacks a clear agenda and shared vision.
Potential sources of conflict
Functional orientation
The different roles of departments in organizations increase various beliefs about was of increasing organizational performance. According to the case, the sales and development departments differ concerning ways to improve the organization’s performance because they have different goals, jobs, tasks and priorities.
The interdependence of tasks among various departments generates disagreements among the departmental heads. According to the case, the production and design departments fail to agree on the retail price of a new product. The interdependence of tasks increases the conflicts between departments.
Individual biases
When individuals are concerned about their objectives, conflicts are likely to rise because of cognitive and personal biases. The case shows that the executive management is full of personal biases that are likely to generate more conflicts. Individual biases lead to the preference of personal objective over organizational goals.
