Q1.
In this highly competitive world, teamwork plays an important role as the output of the individuals can be expanded through teamwork. Teamwork has become the most important way in which work is organized in organizations. The idea that work can be delegated to workgroups is supported by different theories such as strategic Human Resources Management (HRM) theory, sociotechnical theory, work design theory, self-leadership theory, and theories of participative management. The strategic HRM theory states that a well-designed HR system that includes teamwork, can affect employee’s job satisfaction, commitment and motivation positively and result in an improved organizational performance. Similarly, self-leadership theory, in its focus on teamwork, considers participatory decision-making as an important motivating factor that results in more committed employees striving for greater efficiency and effectiveness.
The benefits of working as a team are that there are benefits at the individual level as well as at the group level. When the individual discretion is enhanced, as it happens in self-managed teams, the productivity increases as a result of an increase in job satisfaction and motivation. Teamwork enhances the group dynamics due to which employees feel stimulated working in a group towards a common goal. This can have both positive and negative aspects. The downside is that members might be watching each other very closely. If a system of collective reward is implemented, then members will exert high pressure on each other to reach the goals and if strict norms are imposed by the peers then it can result in group terror or tyranny. In such a situation, peer pressure can be counterproductive. Employees will experience higher stress levels leading to decreased organizational performance. Teams could enforce norms to restrict performance, called social loafing or shirking, affecting the performance in a negative manner (Delarue et al., 2008, p. 130).
Self-managing teams tend to solve problems by group participation as soon as they occur. In a normal situation, this can be different as the organization waits for specialists to arrive and sort out the issue. Self-managed teams perform better delivering better organizational performance because the team members feel more at control as they can exert more control over their immediate environment. This can result in higher commitment and are willing to deploy more discretionary effort. The teamwork facilitates employee learning and skill acquisition and information sharing. This is particularly true in the case of complex systems where on-the-job learning is a required for obtaining the necessary knowledge and tacit skills, where learning from others is likely to be the most effective source of skill development. For instance, in software development industry team-based learning is crucial for engineers’ knowledge acquisition.
Q2.
There are opposing views on spending corporate funds for socially responsible projects. Economist Milton Friedman had said in the 1970s that the only socially responsible activity of the business is to maximize its profits and returns for the shareholders. However, proponents of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiates state that these initiatives allow it to earn higher profits due to the enhanced brand awareness, better employee morale, and insulation from regulatory penalties. It is true that CSR spends do not provide returns consistent with the expenditure thereby reducing the shareholder value. However, when the CSR spend exceeds investor expectations, there are positive stock returns justifying the proponents of CSR spend. This is because the investors feel that the company has private information about better future earnings due to which the excess spend on CSR has been authorized.
Many U.S. states have enacted laws that enable corporate directors to consider interests of stakeholder other than shareholders. The directors of an organization have to act in good faith and best interests of the corporation and exercise due diligence in all their decisions. It is, however, not clear if spending on CSR activities is considered to be in the corporation’s interest or not. Some states allow businesses to make charitable donations regardless of corporate benefit and nineteen other states allow donations that benefit the business or result in public welfare. Business judgments rule allows corporate managers to make business judgments that cannot be questioned by the courts as long as they satisfy some basic rules. Some of the actions are driven by regulation (such as reduction of carbon emissions) and some by the desire to generate goodwill both of which will produce results in the long-term that far outweigh the initial upfront investment in the socially responsible projects. Some countries have a limit on the CSR expenditure such as a minimum of two percent of the profits to be spent on these activities in India. There are no maximum limits on the expenditure, but the organizations have to do due diligence to ensure that the shareholder values are not eroded due to these activities.
The expenditure on CSR has the following benefits that affect the bottom line:
Growth because of access to new markets, new customers, and increased market share due to ESG (Environmental, social, and governance) programs, new product offerings for unmet social needs, and innovation due to the cutting-edge technology needed for these products.
Returns on capital due to enhancement of reputation, operational efficiency, workforce efficiency, and price premium due to the enhanced reputation
Risk management due to compliance leading to lower level of risk increased public support and supply chain gains
Management quality due to leadership development, adaptability, and long-term strategic view.
Q3.
Ethical behavior is that which delivers the greatest good for the greatest number of people. According to justice view, ethical behavior is that which is fair and impartial in its treatment of people. It is based on the concept of equitable treatment for all concerned. There are many ways in which the topic of ethical behavior can be introduced in a training regarding teamwork. Two of them are listed below.
Firstly the concept of ethics and ethical behavior are discussed. The importance of ethics is discussed in a broad sense. Then a list of ethical behaviors is listed. The students are asked to debate these and provide the feedback on these behaviors. Scenario-based training is provided which includes different scenarios that have ethical dilemmas and each student is asked to provide the solution. The reactions to the member’s behavior to the scenario are sought along with the explanations from other team members. It is also possible that the team is divided and asked to debate either supporting or opposing the member’s behavior. This will enable the members to be able to critically think each issue from all perspectives. The arguments of the team members are then compared to the ethical behaviors that were defined previously and compared and contrasted.
A clear and specific ethics program is instituted backed by clear action. Case studies and clear examples of ethical breaches should be discussed and the team’s opinions sought so that it can be ensured that the team understands the concept. The discussion or the training has to be an interactive, two-way conversation. It should be memorable and situational by ensuring that there are quizzes at the end of the program that tests the recall of the team members about the training program. By asking the team to analyze the case studies and suggest next steps, the training can be made relatable. The training is reinforced by continual messages.
Q4.
There are three types of leaders, tactical leaders who solve straightforward problems using their expertise, strategic leaders who think about the future with a vision and predict specific trends, and the transformational leaders who is a facilitator who does not make a strategic or tactical decision but facilitates the stakeholders to reach those decisions. Transformational leadership is defined as a leadership style in which leaders and followers are enhanced to motivate and execute the change with the members of any institution.
Transformational leaders achieve results by inspiring individual followers to transcend self-interest and focus on collective goals, promote their commitment, effort, and performance. In the teamwork training, this is one aspect of being a good team member. Teamwork involves performing tasks through joint work and interaction between individual members. Teamwork is not a summation of all the efforts of the team members, but it can amount to a lot more if properly channeled. It is significantly dependent on the way the team members interact and integrate their efforts and expertise. The teamwork training tries to realize this very same effect and hence this helps a person to become a transformational leader.
The other aspect of teamwork training is conflict resolution. As transformational leaders inspire a shared vision and commitment to team goals, they establish collective values and norms that are conducive to the team’s cooperative approach to managing conflict. Hence, transformational leaders encourage team members to manage their conflicts cooperatively for mutual benefit rather than approach conflicts in a competitive, win–lose manner. They thereby promote team coordination and, in turn, team performance. This is one of the key components of teamwork training and a person who has gone through this training knows how to manage team conflicts in a productive manner so that the team performance is enhanced. This quality will ensure that the person will be able to be a transformational leader.
Q5.
When somebody gives a suggestion of another theme that does not have any relation to the theme that has been proposed by me, a difference in viewpoints arises. Under the right set of circumstances, this can escalate to a conflict. There are different ways in which this situation can be resolved. I understand and appreciate various viewpoints so I would use the following method of conflict resolution. I will acknowledge that there is a conflict. The impact of the conflict will be discussed. I will present the reasons for proposing my theme of teamwork training and ask the other member to elaborate his/her reasons for proposing the alternative theme. In the above process, I had discussed the impact, agreed to a cooperative process, and agreed to communicate by actively listening. Each of us will clarify our positions. Each team member is encouraged to voice his/her opinion about the matter. Both of us will try to convince the team about the merits and demerits of our respective themes. I will list out the facts, assumptions, and beliefs underlying my position and will encourage the other person to do so. I will ask that the team is broken down into smaller groups and the issues will be analyzed by those teams. Each team might discuss the entire issue separately or they could decide to discuss separate parts of the issue. I will suggest for the teams to reconvene and discuss. At the end of the discussion, an agreement is reached. Whether the team selects my theme or not, I will thank everybody who had participated in the discussion, irrespective of the fact whether they supported me or not including the person who had made the alternative suggestion.
References
Bonini, S., Koller, T. M., & Mirvis, P. H. (2009, July). Valuing social responsibility programs. Retrieved from mckinsey.com: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/valuing-social-responsibility-programs
Delarue, A., Hootegem, G. V., Procter, S., & Burridge, M. (2008). Teamworking and organizational performance: a review of survey-based research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 10(2), 127–148. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2370.2007.00227.x
Doxey, C. (2015, April 8). Nine steps to make your company’s ethics training program stick. Retrieved from accountingweb.com: http://www.accountingweb.com/practice/practice-excellence/nine-steps-to-make-your-companys-ethics-training-program-stick
Gallie, D., Zhou, Y., Felstead, A., & Green, F. (2009). Teamwork, productive potential and employee welfare. SKOPE publications, 1-34.
Lys, T., Naughton, J., & Wang, C. (2013, March 4). Pinpointing the value in CSR: the unexpected link between CSR spending and financial performance. Retrieved from insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu: http://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/pinpointing_the_value_in_csr
Reinhardt, F. L., Stavins, R. N., & Vietor, R. H. (2008). Corporate social responsibility through an economic lens. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 2(2), 219-239. doi:10.3386/w13989
Zhang, X.-a., Cao, Q., & Tjosvold, D. (2011). Linking transformational leadership and team performance: a conflict management approach. Journal of Management Studies, 48(7), 1586-1611. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00974.x
