Army Crew Team
Army Crew TeamRunning head: ARMY CREW TEAM
THE ARMY CREW TEAM
Dwight M. Brewington
Fayetteville State University
MGMT 605
October 23, 2011
Dr. Kathleen Gurley
Abstract
The case is centered on events of the Army crew team’s annual crew season in May 2002, four days before The Nationals, a 2000 meter race where crew teams row for the best time in an intercollegiate competition. The varsity team has been consistently beaten by the junior varsity team, even though, the eight Varsity rowers are supposed to be the top eight performers of the team and the Junior Varsity is comprised of the bottom eight performers. Coach Preczewski’s dilemma forces him to a decision point where he has to decide between three options which are:
1. Switch Varsity and Junior Varsity boats.
2. Switch individual boat members.
3. Intervene to improve the Varsity boat’s performance.
THE ARMY CREW TEAM
The Army Crew Team case study introduces The Army Crew Team in rowing from The United States Military Academy at West Point and their nine year coach Colonel Stas Preczewski. Coach P and the Army Crew Team find themselves at an impasse late in the 2001-2002 season where the Junior Varsity crew team is has been outperforming the Varsity crew team all year long causing the Varsity team to appear to fall apart four days before The Nationals instead of working toward becoming a more cohesive team unit.
1. Why does the Varsity team lose to the JV team? Look for the root causes below the surface dynamics. Surface dynamics are the finger pointing and dislike team members have for each other. Why is this occurring?
One of the root causes why the Varsity team loses to the JV team are the absence of leaders and the presence of team disrupters. From the case study, crew team members were rated subjectively in a matrix of strengths and weaknesses on various dimensions where the complement to leader was follower as team builder was the complement to team disruptor. In a sport where
THE ARMY CREW TEAM
Dwight M. Brewington
Fayetteville State University
MGMT 605
October 23, 2011
Dr. Kathleen Gurley
Abstract
The case is centered on events of the Army crew team’s annual crew season in May 2002, four days before The Nationals, a 2000 meter race where crew teams row for the best time in an intercollegiate competition. The varsity team has been consistently beaten by the junior varsity team, even though, the eight Varsity rowers are supposed to be the top eight performers of the team and the Junior Varsity is comprised of the bottom eight performers. Coach Preczewski’s dilemma forces him to a decision point where he has to decide between three options which are:
1. Switch Varsity and Junior Varsity boats.
2. Switch individual boat members.
3. Intervene to improve the Varsity boat’s performance.
THE ARMY CREW TEAM
The Army Crew Team case study introduces The Army Crew Team in rowing from The United States Military Academy at West Point and their nine year coach Colonel Stas Preczewski. Coach P and the Army Crew Team find themselves at an impasse late in the 2001-2002 season where the Junior Varsity crew team is has been outperforming the Varsity crew team all year long causing the Varsity team to appear to fall apart four days before The Nationals instead of working toward becoming a more cohesive team unit.
1. Why does the Varsity team lose to the JV team? Look for the root causes below the surface dynamics. Surface dynamics are the finger pointing and dislike team members have for each other. Why is this occurring?
One of the root causes why the Varsity team loses to the JV team are the absence of leaders and the presence of team disrupters. From the case study, crew team members were rated subjectively in a matrix of strengths and weaknesses on various dimensions where the complement to leader was follower as team builder was the complement to team disruptor. In a sport where
References: Snook, S, & Polzer, J (March 30, 2004). THE ARMY CREW TEAM. Harvard Business Publishing, 9(403-131), 23-33, Inline Citation -- (Snook & Polzer, March 30, 2004)