Fire Art is a family owned business in the glass making industry based out of Indiana. The company has an 80 year history of producing high quality and high priced glass merchandise. About 18 month ago, sales and earnings bottomed out which drove the need to implement a strategic realignment plan to have the business running and winning within six months. The problem in this case is building a collaborative team with various backgrounds and skills to create a strategic realignment plan in the glass industry to take on the competition, build brand loyalty, increase sales and maximize earnings.
Assumptions
The assumptions in the case are the employees lack of knowledge of the family business being in trouble due to flat earnings and sales, participation in a team environment now needed versus contributing individually, the Directors of each division needs help with learning how to collaboratively operate and co-exist together to achieve company objectives, the company is not technologically savvy with the necessary tools to compete, and the company is not known nationally or global in their industry. Some of the key issues in the case are Team Dynamics, Team Development, Leadership Styles, Managerial Decisions, and Industry Competition which are discussed in further detailed as follows.
Team Dynamics Team Dynamics plays a key role when forming a team because it is important to ensure the team is cohesive with positive energy. The team would need to reflect not only individual ideas but be mutual and complementary as they reach the goals set for the team. Team base activities are becoming standard in today 's business environments. Having a team establishes a way for businesses to collaboratively reach their objectives and hold each other accountable for the tasks at hand. "Teamwork is everywhere. More than ever before organizations are recognizing the types of situations for which group work can provide