Employees are a fundamental asset to any organization. Good working relationships among staff working on a project ensure that the project’s goals are achieved in a timely and cost-effective manner. The poor working relationships between Germans and French working in the development of Airbus A380 for Singapore Airlines led to massive over- runs and losses for the company.
Airbus delayed the delivery of A380-the world’s biggest passenger jet to Singapore Airlines by two years and incurred a cost-overrun of $6.8 billion above the set budget (Mickeals, 2007). This situation created havoc at Airbus. The problems facing Airbus emanated from communication breakdown and opinionated conflicts between its German and French operations (Mickeals, 2007). For instance, designers under Mr Fushs, a German working on the planes electrical wiring system, interacted poorly with the manufacturing team in France.
The management could also assign challenging but engrossing tasks to their teams. This increases their cohesion as they strive to achieve the set goals. The tasks should be divided equally between all the team members and no employee should feel overburdened.
Employees must also be motivated through harmonized salaries and working conditions. Participation in teambuilding exercises, sporting events always helps in enhancing the cohesiveness of a team.
Very importantly, the management should encourage transparency in communication. Employees who are open to each other are always able to overcome petty squabbles arising in the course of their work. Effective communication is the best alternative in creating a cohesive and productive workforce.
It is imperative for organizational managements to create cohesive teams if they are to remain competitive in a dynamic global business environment.
Mickeals, D. (2007) Airbus, Amid Turmoil, Revives Troubled Plane," wall Street journal,
October 15, 2007, http://online.wsj.com; "the giant on the runway: the airbus A380."
Economist, October 13, 2007.
