strategic managementby tanmay sanjay manjrekar W r i t i n g

Discussion Forum #7 – The Value of Teams in Strategic Management

The value of teams is often described in the work product created by teams versus individuals. Using available research, how does team work differ from individual work, and how can the use of rewards enhance and promote teamwork, rather than perpetuating an individualist corporate culture?

first reply Discussion 

Forum #7 – The Value of Teams in Strategic Managementby Tanmay Sanjay Manjrekar – Thursday, December 9, 2021, 10:21 PMNumber of replies: 0Hello everyone,An organization runs with various teams working together towards the same goal. Each team consists of individuals from diverse backgrounds who offer different solutions to problems at hand. Combining such solutions and coming up with an optimal solution is teamwork. Teamwork can also be multiple cross functional teams that work together to achieve a goal. There are a lot of schools of thought about what is better individual work or teamwork, but the first step is to make a decision of completing the task individually or as a team. Individual work is quicker and more commonly used when the activity is related to an intense work assignment as opposed to assigning it to a team where there are a lot of team members providing inputs and digressing from the important topics or activities. If the task has multiple aspects to it, the best option is to use a team to tackle the task. A team brings in a variety of ideas and innovative solutions that can be useful to solve a problem faster than individuals working on it separately.When a task is completed by Individual work, the individual gets all the credit. The work is faster and if the individual is familiar with the workstream, the work is even quicker than usual. The individual will be the owner of the task and any issues or faults will be labelled on him or her. Tasks that are complex are generally handled by teams and the entire team gets credited for the work done. Cross functional teams can work in collaboration to come up with a solution for a complex problem. Various members of the team will have different perspective and approach to the problem and the solution will often be unique and innovative. There is a common theme is all team projects where only few members work and others don’t and this causes conflicts with in the team. Since there are many stakeholders in the team, the decision making will be delayed.Incentives do play a key role in an organization. A good example is from a famous motorcycle manufacturing company, Harley Davidson. The company was able to reduce their plant workforce by 25% and were able to substantially reduce the motorcycle manufacturing time by 50%. This was achieved by reducing the workforce to provide greater job responsibilities to existing or retained employees and by nurturing teamwork and cohesion with in all the teams responsible for the manufactured unit i.e. the motorcycle. This eventually leads to an environment which broadens the spectrum of each employee working in a team to understand the overall process of the organization in a working session and the bonuses that are available to such employees vary from the scope of work to their actual performance.Thank you.Tanmay Manjrekar. References:Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2012). Concepts in strategic management and business policy: Achieving sustainability. Pearson Prentice Hall.Cehajic, D. (2020, January 6). Teamwork vs individual work. inMotion. Retrieved December 10, 2021, fromhttps://inmotion.ba/blog/2020/01/06/teamwork-vs-individual-work/.

Second reply Week 7_Discussion

by Ashish Adhikari – Thursday, December 9, 2021, 8:46 PMNumber of replies: 0Teamwork vs Individual Work:For any business to function effectively, it is important to evaluate the task and decide if it can be done better in a group or individually. Human nature varies from individual to individual. some people will prefer to work in a group while others prefer to work individually. Most importantly, it is crucial to assess the task to figure out if it can be achieved efficiently working alone or in a group. Working as a team brings collaboration between team members, and new ideas and suggestions are generated. This will increase the productivity of the team, and communication between individuals will help to build the relationship between colleagues. As every individual has different skill sets and ideas, this will increase creativity and see things from different angles. However, sometimes some team members may sit back and wait for other team members to bring ideas and complete the task. In that case, conflict may arise and affect the entire project/task. On the other hand, if the meetings are frequent than required, team members may go off-topic which in turn affects the efficiency of the team. Whereas, while working individually, you can concentrate and work at your own pace. Individuals may be able to complete the task faster as there is no extra disturbance and several meetings to attend. While working individually, you can make your own decision and take the entire credit for completing the task/project. However, if the result cannot be achieved, the individual may have to take the blame. Sometimes, working individually may be boring and need constant motivation from someone else. Working individually or working along with the team has its advantages and disadvantages. However, to make work efficient and complete each task effectively, it is important to evaluate the task and decide if it can be done better in a group or individually.How do rewards enhance and promote teamwork?Everyone wants to be recognized and appreciated for their hard work and contribution at work. Yes, companies do pay them to do the work, but recognizing their work and contribution makes them feel they are valued, and the organization cares about them. Rewards motivate employees and, this will help to increase productivity. It boosts morale and the communication between employees and the top management and executives gets stronger. When an organization celebrates and rewards employees, effective communication is established, and employees will share their visions and goals with their staff and work effectively to achieve them. Several studies have shown that, organization that fails to recognize and reward their employees end up losing talents. Individuals will feel that they are not valued, and they will start looking for a job elsewhere. When an organization establishes policies to recognize individuals for several occasions such as completion of 5 or 10 years at organizations or successfully completion of projects, etc., employees will be happy, and it attracts more talents to the organizations. As job satisfaction among employees is high, it will also contribute to making the business brand stronger.References:Cehajic, D. (2020, January 6). Teamwork vs individual work. inMotion. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://inmotion.ba/blog/2020/01/06/teamwork-vs-individual-work/. Penny, M. (2020, January 16). 12 ways rewards and recognition impact teamwork. Moneypenny. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https:// you,Ashish Adhikari