Using Teams at the Engineered Materials Business Unit

Using Teams at the Engineered Materials Business Unit Consolidated Products is a multibillion-dollar company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, which specializes in a large selection of products and services. It is a global company with many locations around the world. The company consists of a very small staff, and its organizational structure is very decentralized, with each business unit held accountable for its own P&L. In the early 1980’s the corporation began its strategy of acquiring several new companies. In 1999, Consolidated Products purchased a business unit, Engineered Materials, from Andreas Manufacturing. Engineered Materials was the smallest of the five companies that were part of the Consolidated Products acquisitions during the last two decades. Consolidated Products recognized the differences in the company and its new acquisition from the beginning and understood that challenges would result in the integration process. Engineered Materials brought along its culture from Andreas Manufacturing, which was an old school way of thinking and strict hierarchical organizational structure. Over the past few years, it has focused its efforts on trying to change and integrate the culture of Engineered Materials in order to fit into the entrepreneurial style of the overall company. Unfortunately, its efforts were not successful. In 2003, the company’s sales results had decreased by eight percent, while many of its competitors had gained over five percent. Effective leadership and cross-functional teams are always important factors within a company to gain success. An effective leader is critical when it comes to running a company. It is extremely important for an effective team leader to possess great communication skills to be able to manage several employees or team members. Also, a team leader must show confidence when taking decision and giving out orders to his or her employees. Others look up to someone that is confident and that provides

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