Mgi Team
1. The MGI team process and root causes.
The MGI team process seems ineffective because the team generated several conflicts and was unorganized because of the different perspectives, specifically those between the Russians and the HBS students. In addition, because each member had an ambiguous role, they needed to spend unproductive times on the meetings.
According to Robbins and Judge (2012, p. 122), by structuring teams, they can compete with each other more effectively and efficiently. Nevertheless, the MGI team members were unsettled. In other words, the team was not organized even though the MGI team had a common purpose, which is to complete a proper business plan. Hence, the MGI team was on the storming stage of the “Five-Stage Model” (Robbins & Judge, 2012, p. 108) because the MGI team did not have an obvious leader, a clear role for each member, and reflexivity. These are the several problems that caused the MGI team’s dysfunction:
• Communication Problem: A racial discrepancy occurred between the HBS students and the Russians because of the nationality and ethnic origins.
• Language Problem: Among the founders, Sasha preferred to speak in English, but Roman preferred to speak in Russian. As a result, they had several misunderstandings.
• Conflict between the founders’ views: Sasha and Igor disagreed with Roman’s perspective.
• Sasha’s personality: inattention, aggressiveness, and a lack of interpersonal abilities.
• Vague roles of the HBS students in the team: Sasha did not consider the HBS students to be leaders and facilitators in shaping the vision but to be interns and writers who complete a business plan.
• Unclear personal responsibilities: Each person’s responsibility was ambiguous and the team did not have an obvious leader. Therefore, the meetings were unorganized and unmanageable.
• Conflict between Sasha and Dana: They had different perspectives, so they generated negative chemistry and animosity.
• Different market perspectives:
The MGI team process seems ineffective because the team generated several conflicts and was unorganized because of the different perspectives, specifically those between the Russians and the HBS students. In addition, because each member had an ambiguous role, they needed to spend unproductive times on the meetings.
According to Robbins and Judge (2012, p. 122), by structuring teams, they can compete with each other more effectively and efficiently. Nevertheless, the MGI team members were unsettled. In other words, the team was not organized even though the MGI team had a common purpose, which is to complete a proper business plan. Hence, the MGI team was on the storming stage of the “Five-Stage Model” (Robbins & Judge, 2012, p. 108) because the MGI team did not have an obvious leader, a clear role for each member, and reflexivity. These are the several problems that caused the MGI team’s dysfunction:
• Communication Problem: A racial discrepancy occurred between the HBS students and the Russians because of the nationality and ethnic origins.
• Language Problem: Among the founders, Sasha preferred to speak in English, but Roman preferred to speak in Russian. As a result, they had several misunderstandings.
• Conflict between the founders’ views: Sasha and Igor disagreed with Roman’s perspective.
• Sasha’s personality: inattention, aggressiveness, and a lack of interpersonal abilities.
• Vague roles of the HBS students in the team: Sasha did not consider the HBS students to be leaders and facilitators in shaping the vision but to be interns and writers who complete a business plan.
• Unclear personal responsibilities: Each person’s responsibility was ambiguous and the team did not have an obvious leader. Therefore, the meetings were unorganized and unmanageable.
• Conflict between Sasha and Dana: They had different perspectives, so they generated negative chemistry and animosity.
• Different market perspectives:
References: Bennis, W. G. (2009). On becoming a leader (Twentieth Anniversary ed). New York, NY: Basic Books Gratton, L., & Erickson, T. J. (2007). 8 Ways to Build Collaborative Teams. Harvard Business Review, 85(11), 100−109. Ibarra, H., & Hansen, M. T. (2011). Are You a Collaborative Leader?. Harvard Business Review, 89(7/8), 68−74. Isaacson, W. (2012). The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs. (cover story). Harvard Business Review, 90(4), 92-102. Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2012). Essentials of organizational behavior (11th ed). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall.