Write a reflection

Write a reflection, review this activity 100-200words

just a 2 page summary of group members evaluation of the various tutorial activities – which ones were the most influential and why etc. See if you could rank them according to “impact” on group members thinking about M, L, and S

RichardIvey School of Business The University of Western Ontario

IVEY

W12427

ASSIGNED LEADER GROUP EXERCISE: ASSESSING YOUR LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Professors Cherlyn Granrose and Alison Konrad wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised cettain names and other identi行inginformation to protect confidentiality

Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K 7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail

cases@ivey.uwo.ca.

Co ri ht ©2012 , Richard Ive School of Business Foundation
Version: 2012-10-25

This exercise is a group discussion for five to six participants, where each participant serves as a leader for one case and as a participant for the remaining case discussions. The discussion has the potential for you to exhibit effective leader and follower group behaviors as well as your oral communication, judgment, and decision-making skills.

You will be randomly assigned to groups of six, and each of you will get a chance to lead the group in a discussion of one of the business problems in the six mini-cases presented at the end of this reading (Exhibit l). You will also be asked to serve as an observer for one of the six group discussions by completing the group observation form (Exhibit 2). After your group has completed all six discussions, everyone will be asked to use the participant report form (Exhibit 3) to rank the six members of their group in order from greatest to least contribution to the group’s effectiveness. Depending upon your instructor’s wishes, you may also be observed in person or videotaped for assessment by a trained expert. Based on the ratings you receive from your group members and from the expert assessor, you will receive a confidential summary report on your leadership skills.

You will not know which of the six case discussions you’11 be leading until the day of the exercise, so please read and think about all six short cases in Exhibit 1 in order to prepare yourself to lead any of the six discussions on the day of the exercise.

IMPORTANT: Before coming to class, identify your preferred solution to each case by circling it on the case forms in Exhibit 1, and write your name in the space provided.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR GROUP DISCUSSIONS

There are two goals for your group. The fast goal is to come to a consensus about which alternative action (offered at the end of each case) should be adopted. The second group goal is to use all of the strengths of each member of the team to perform as effectively as possible as a team in reaching this

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consensus. A consensus decision does not mean that every person completely agrees with every aspect of the decision; it means only that each person is willing to accept this decision as the best possible group decision.

During the fast 5 to IO minutes of class, your instructor will randomly assign you to groups, and each group will be assigned to a breakout room for the individual discussions. Your instructor will also inform you who is assigned to the role of leader and who is assigned to the role of observer for each of the six case discussions. Then, do the exercise by completing the following steps:

I. Go to your assigned location together and arrange the chairs around the table in boardroom style, seating the assigned leader for case discussion I at the head of the table.

2. The observer’s chair should be located away from the table so that note-taking does not disturb the group discussion.

3. If you are being videotaped, the observer should make sure the camera is focused on the assigned leader. When you are ready to begin, the observer should make sure the camera is turned on and recording. Once the camera is rolling, let it go until all six case discussions have been completed

4. Please take no more than 10 to 15 minutes to discuss the case.

5. After consensus has been reached on the fi 订 st case, the observer should record the group’s selection on the GROUP OBSERVATION FORM (Exhibit 2).

6. When you have made a decision as a group, switch seats so that the assigned leader for case discussion 2 moves to the head of the table, with the video camera focused on him or her. The observer for discussion 2 should take the observer’s seat.

7. Repeat the process until you have completed all 6 case discussions and everyone has had a chance to take the role of leader and the role of observer.

8. Privately complete the PARTICIPANT REPORT FORM (Exhibit 3).

9. Submit the completed forms in Exhibits 1, 2 and 3 to your instructor at the end of the exercise, ensuring that you have put your name on your copies of the forms.

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Exhibit 1 MINI-CASES

(To be completed individually prior to class as preparation for the exercise and submitted to your instructor when the exercise is complete)

Your name:

All members

As preparation for the Assigned Leader Exercise, please read each case and circle your preferred solution before class.

CASE#1

Derek has just been hired as a new supervisor of the quality control department of a Silicon Valley electronics firm. He was hired to create an exemplary quality control program that could be the heart of the firm’s reputation and brand. The previous supervisor had been transferred to Shanghai to co-ordinate quality control between the Chinese and U.S. branches of the firm. As Derek began to get to know his new team, he found the team had fairly high performance standards, good morale and low turnover. He also heard from several team members that Derek’s predecessor had been lax about following company rules to the letter, and he did notice that several team members sometimes left work early, came back from lunch a bit late or forgot to let him know when they were going to be out of the office. Derek was concerned that this lack of attention to company rules might carry over into laxity about upholding the highest quality standards in other areas of the team’s work, and he knew that his boss believed that he should be sure no employees abused company rules.

What should Derek do about discipline? (Please circle your preferred solution before class.)

A. Do nothing about discipline, concentrate on quality, and justify his decision to his supervisor based on the team’s high performance and low turnover.

B. Gradually mention it to individual workers when he notices rule infractions, and work one-on-one to create change, one person at a time.

C. Tell his work group that he wants them to consistently follow the company rule on lunch breaks. When he gets good compliance on this rule do the same to change the team’s behaviour one rule at a time, until the whole team is following all the rules.

D. Call a special meeting to discuss rule infractions and let the team decide how to enforce the rules.

E. At his next team meeting, tell all employees that he is going to start enforcing all company policies and rules and imposing company punishments on all offenders consistently and equitably.

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Exhibit 1 (continued)

Your name:
Qingyun Guan

CASE#2

Jennifer has just received her MBA and is currently working in a manufacturing setting where three of her four subordinates, withwhom she must work daily, are male; all four are older than she is. Jennifer gets along prettywell with the three men, but her one female subordinate, Emma, has done less work than the others, produces poor results when she does do her work, and has challenged Jennifer publicly. “We never did it this way before and it always worked just fine”was a typical comment from Emma when Jennifer was discussing changes with her team. To avoid confrontation, Jennifer has found herself giving more work to other team members or doing it herself. Jennifer has heard through the grapevine that Emma has had an affair with the vice-president, and that this affair may still be continuing, even though it violates the company policies. Jennifer knows that her immediate boss, a nephew of the vice-president, will not touch the situation for fear of upsetting his uncle (i.e., the vice-president).

What should Jennifer do about Emma? (Please circle your preferred solution before class.)

A. Talk to the human resources director and try to get Emma transferred.

B. Go over her boss’s head and talk to the division chief about how Emma’s poor work performance is interfering with other team members’work and how her own supervisor refuses to take any action.

C. Ignore the problem and hope that Emma will come to accept her leadership once she realizes that, as the new boss, Jennifer is more than capable.

D. At a team meeting, ask for her team’s help in improving their team’s work and praise Emma’s suggestions.

E. Meetwith Emma privately to try to identify her problem andwork out a solution, even though she is fairly sure that Emma will not want to talk to her.

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Exhibit 1 (continued)

Your name:
Lingyun Feng

CASE#3

Courtney was a manager of a large retail chain store in a major metropolitan area. Shoplifting and employee theft were a major threat to the profitability of the store. During a loss-reduction se皿nar for store managers, the loss prevention manager from co叩orate headquarters explained that while it was key to reduce theft losses, many chain stores had a policy of not pressing charges with the police unless a thief had stolen at least $100 worth of merchandise at one time or was a repeat offender. This chain also believed that was the most efficient policy to follow, since it lost money prosecuting smaller cases. Recently the department manager of women’s clothing, Chris, reported that she had seen one of her sales associates put a wrap worth $95 in her handbag and carry it out of the store when she left work for the day. The department manager was rumoured to have had other conflicts with this associate in the past, so Courtney could not be 100 per cent certain that the theft had really occurred. There was no evidence of the theft on the store’s surveillance video, but the video cameras did not cover 100 per cent of the floor area.

What should Courtney do about the reported theft? (Please circle your preferred solution before class.)

A. Tell Chris to let it go because she was enforcing a policy of no reporting of thefts under $100, but tell human resources that this associate had stolen a wrap and should have a note put in her employment file in case she did it again.

B. Ask Chris to meet with the associate and issue a warning that a theft had been observed, and if another one occurred or was suspected, the associate would be terminated and prosecuted in court.

C. Ask the associate to meet with Courtney and talk over the relationship between the associate and her supervisor, but not mention the theft unless the associate reported other false accusations.

D. Arrange for Chris and the associate to meet in Courtney’s office and discuss the theft and possible consequences of the theft, including the associate losing her job.

E. Ask someone from the human resources department to investigate the accusation and defence of each party and resolve the issue as a possible false accusation, forgetting about the theft since it was under

$100.

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Exhibit 1 (continued)

Your name:
Yongbo Shao

CASE#4

When he graduated with his honours undergraduate degree in business, Jordan was hired as a marketing representative for a large consumer products firm. Within 18 months, he was transferred to another group

and promoted to the position of supervisor. About a third of Jordan’s direct reports were 10 or more years older than he was, and they seemed less than pleased when he was introduced as their new supervisor. While he was able to build respectful and supportive relationships with many of the younger employees, the older group remained aloof.

Four months into his new job, Jordan was informed that his group would be upgraded to a new computer software system and was asked to send all his employees to training. Jordan took the training himself first, and then asked his employees to sign up for the time slots that would be the most convenient for them. Members of the older group of employees were the last to sign up, saying they were in the middle of a busy season for their clients, and couldn’t take the time. Then, the trainer complained to Jordan that his employees had not paid much attention during the training, instead responding to e-mails on their smartphones or stepping out to take client calls. After the training, the older group of workers complained that the new system was ineffective and inferior to the old one. One person, David, spoke the loudest and made the most complaints, explaining that he was speaking for the entire group of “seasoned veterans who really know what makes this business run.”

What should Jordan do? (Please circle your preferred solution before class.)

A. Speak to David privately about his obstructiveness, and warn him that if he doesn’t co-operate by learning and using the new system, he will receive a written warning.

B. Do nothing about David’s complaints; over time, he and the other veterans will have to learn the system if they want to get good appraisals, raises and bonuses.

C. Call a meeting of the entire group and ask for feedback on the new system. Identify those individuals who are most technologically savvy and develop a plan together for getting everyone up to speed on all of the features and functions of the new system.

D. Speak to David in front of the group of seasoned veterans. Explain that he appreciates David’s views and would like the entire group to get together regularly to exchange information and knowledge across all of the employees in the work group.

E. Get advice from his own supervisor regarding how to proceed with managing the different personalities and perspectives among his employees and how to best implement the changeover.

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Exhibit 1 (continued)

Your name:
Yuhan Yin

CASE#5

Jean-Louis has recently been promoted to supervisor of his group. He got along well with everyone in the group and had a few close friends in the group, including Cameron. Six months into Jean-Louis’s tenure as supervisor, Cameron told血n that Genevieve had started complaining that Jean-Louis was playing favourites and giving the best and most interesting assignments to his friends, leaving her and the other “outsiders” with the routine jobs that would not help them become more promotable. Genevieve apparently was threatening to go to Jean-Louis’s boss to complain about his unfair and arbitrary project assignments.

What should Jean-Louis do? (Please circle your preferred solution before class.)

A. Ask Cameron to keep an eye on the situation and report to him about anything Genevieve says about his management style.

B. Speak to Genevieve directly, tell her what Cameron said, and ask her to explain herself.

C. Call a meeting of the entire group and ask for feedback on his management style, then, work to improve his relationships with all of his employees.

D. Make sure that Genevieve gets her choice of assignments when the next set of projects opens up.

E. Pre-empt any complaint by Genevieve by going to his supervisor now, explaining the situation, and asking for advice on how to handle it.

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Exhibit 1 (continued)

Your name:
Chengfeng Gao

CASE#6

Andrea is the supervisor of a group of auto mechanics, all of whom are men. She got the supervisory position when she decided to help build her father’s car dealership business after graduating with an honours undergraduate degree in business. Having been brought up in the family business, Andrea was well versed in automotive mechanics, and she kept up her technical knowledge in order to keep pace with developments in each new car year.

Andrea’s employees respect her technical knowledge. Some of them have known her all her life and, along with her father, taught her how to do an oil change, a tune-up, and more complex maintenance and

engine repairs. But a few of the newer employees — those hired after Andrea went away to university — seem stand-offish and unresponsive to her attempts to build a good working relationship. Worse, she’s

heard one of these guys, a man named George, make comments about her body, and lately, he’s been asking her for dates and fmding excuses to touch her frequently. Andrea is becoming more and more uncomfortable in the garage, and she knows her discomfort is starting to hurt her ability to supervise her unit.

What should Andrea do? (Please circle your preferred solution before class.)

A. Do nothing. If she’s going to get along in a male-dominated industry, she has to learn to laugh at these kinds of things.

B. Speak to George privately, explain that his behaviour is making her uncomfortable, and ask him to stop.

C. Ask one of the senior mechanics whom she trusts to speak with George about his behaviour and tell him to stop.

D. The next time George touches her or asks her for a date in front of the other mechanics, tell him to stop bothering her, using a strong and assertive tone to ensure the group hears.

E. Document George’s behaviour: give him an oral warning the first time he touches her or asks her for a date, give him a written warning the next time, and the third time, fire him for sexual harassment.

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Exhibit 2

GROUP OBSERVATION FORM

(To be completed during the exercise when you are in the role of observer and submitted to your instructor at the end of the exercise)

Mini-Case Number:
___3___ Consensus Decision (indicate solution a, b, c, d, e, or describe if

combination or other): _________E_________

Observer’s Name: ___________Lingyun Feng__________________________________

Assigned Leader’s Name: ____________Lingyun Feng___________________________

Starting Time: __________16:20________________ Ending Time: ____________16:30_______________

During the group discussion, use the space below to record your observations of the assigned leader in each of four areas: Oral Communications, Judgment/Decision Skills, Group Process Leadership, and Task Leadership. Give examples of the assigned leader’s behaviours (both effective and ineffective if applicable) in each of the four areas.

1.
Oral Communications (clarity, persuasion, volume, pacing, non-verbal aspects)

Rating (circle one):
poor
neutral
good
very good
excellent

Example: Everyone expresses their own opinions, and everyone is very persuasive. For example, Chengfeng and I think E is very good, Yuhan and Grace have the same ideas, and Yongbo thinks C is good. When the advantages of D and the shortcomings of C and E were proved to some extent, we both had a good communication.

2. Judgment/ Decision Skills (quality of his/her ideas or recommendations, discusses both pros and cons of ideas, decisiveness balanced with openness to high quality ideas from others)

Rating (circle one):
poor
neutral
good
very good
excellent

3.
Group Process Leadership (humour, praise, inclusion, conflict resolution, compromise)

Rating (circle one):
poor
neutral
good
very good
excellent

Examples: I think I am a humour people, so I always can make a relaxed atmosphere, in each case, include this one, although I am an observer, but I still can make the atmosphere good.

Example: I will create a relaxed and happy position for everyone, just like everyone sitting at the door of Starbucks and speaking freely. Everyone has said their own opinions, and everyone discusses their own opinions there to convince others.

4.
Task Leadership (timekeeping, goal-setting, setting up decision processes, proposing solutions, clarifying, summarizing, reporting)

Rating (circle one):
poor
neutral
good
very good
excellent

Examples: Our weakness is that we are not good at timekeeping.

5. Summary (leader’s general impact on the group, understanding of the exercise and others’ ideas, general sensitivity to others’ feelings and opinions, and impact on the timing and structuring of the tasks.)

Rating (circle one):
poor
neutral
good
very good
excellent

Examples: In the beginning of the discussion, few people have the same opinions, but after our mutual communication, we will still reach a consensus. We are all doing well.

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Exhibit 3

PARTICIPANT REPORT FORM

(To be completed individually and in private at the end of the exercise and submitted to your instructor) Your Name: _________________MINGCHEN SUN________________________

1. Indicate the degree to which you feel the individual members contributed to the overall effectiveness of the group. Place the name of the person you feel performed best and contributed most to the group’s effectiveness on the line below, next to the number “1.” Then place the name of the person you feel performed worst and contributed least to the group’s effectiveness on the line next to the number “6” (or 5, 4 or 3, depending on the total number of members in your group). Place the name of the person you feel performed second best on line “2,” etc. Continue until you have ranked all of your group members, including yourself. You may not place more than one name on any line.

1) Yuhan Yin_________ (Greatest Contribution)

2) Lingyun Feng

3) Chengfeng Gao _____________________________________________

_

4) Yongbo Shao________________________ ______________________

5) Qingyun Guan______________________________________________

6) ______________________________________________ (Least Contribution)

2. How did the person you ranked “1” contribute most to your group’s effectiveness?

Analyze problems well and have strong persuasiveness

3. How did the person you ranked last contribute least to your group’s effectiveness?

In fact, this question is difficult to answer, and dividing this level is a very difficult choice. She is not the one who has contributed the least. We are all a team, and we all help each other.

4. Please rate your own behaviour on each of the following aspects of group participation by circling the terms “never,” ” rarely,” “sometimes”or “o ften.” When possible, give examples of something you said or did to justify your ratings.

a) How often did you use humour or praise to encourage group members?

Rating:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently Example: Sometimes when discussing, everyone will suddenly be quiet, so I always adjust the atmosphere here

b) How often did you try to include others who were participating less?

Rating:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently Example: There are 5 people in our group, and we will all participate in the speech, and we will not leave one behind

c) How often did you try to resolve a conflict between others in the group?

Rating:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently Example: No conflict among us

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Exhibit 3 (continued)

d) How much did you compromise in order to reach a group consensus?

Rating:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently Example: I will try to tell everyone my thoughts and ideas, how to convince them

e) How much did you help with timekeeping or taking notes for the group?

Rating:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently Example: Sometimes I tell all of us to pay attention to the time.

t)
How much did you propose new ideas or build on another’s suggestions to create a solution? Rating:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently Example: As soon as I have my own ideas, I will discuss with everyone

g) How often did you seek to clarify other people’s comments or request other information? Rating:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently Example: If I don’t understand, I always ask him or others to make sure I clarify

h) How much did you structure the discussion by doing things like clarifying the group goals, setting up processes for reaching a decision or summarizing and reporting results?

Rating:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently Example:

i) How often did you interrupt others, disagree with others, or start a conflict with others in the group?

Rating:
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Frequently Example: We respect each other

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