HENRY TAM AND THE MGI TEAM
PROF LEENA CHATTERJEE

STRENGTHS OF MGI TEAM
• • • • • Diverse areas of expertise and skill High creativity and idea generation A good product Good connections Passion and initiative

EVALUATION OF THE TEAMS PROCESS
• Ineffective decision making processes  Focused more on generating alternative solutions rather than identifying and defining the problem  Disagreement on who has the expertise about identifying relevant criteria • Unhealthy conflict  Creative abrasion versus personal clashes  Difference in conflict between Sasha and Dana and Henry and Igor  Conflict avoidance by some members eg. Dav

CAUSE OF PROCESS PROBLEMS
• Team Composition: multiple differences among members combine to cause a fault line Functional diversity: different styles of thinking, methods of time management, approaches to problem solving and gender

Demographic diversity: differences in age, nationality
Personality Differences in prior relationships

CAUSE OF PROCESS PROBLEMS
• Unclear goals, roles and leadership Winning the business plan competition versus launching the business successfully Interns or business partners Who was the leader

UNDERLYING ROOT CAUSE
• Impression formation processes • Threats to identity
• Lack of interpersonal congruence

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Launching a team
 Importance of kick-off meeting  Establishing shared goals, clear roles, agreed on decision making procedures, ground rules, leadership etc

• Managing diverse members
 Have a shared understanding of each other’s strengths and limitations  Instill norms for respecting and learning from other’s differences

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Diagnosing team processes  Recognize and manage all stages of group decision making  Understand distinction between healthy task conflict and dysfunctional affective conflict  Manage “sub-groups”