The Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inv Challenges Facing New Ceo

Workgroups are defined as a set of two or more people who interact with each other to achieve certain goals or needs. A team is defined as a formal group who work together to achieve group goals.

The Aberdeen organization is an organization that thrives off of team work. The tams ranged in size from 3 to 16 that managed every aspect of the plant’s work. The teams are responsible for scheduling work hours, purchasing materials and tools, coordinating with other teams, evaluating team members’ performance, recommending salary increases, generating reports, and dealing with any problems that arose in the running of the plant.

Each employee at Aberdeen is assigned to a team. Each team had a supply person, a safety person, and a quality person to pay close attention to those areas. The teams meet as needed to discuss and resolve issues that confronted them.

The Green River plant did not have workgroups or teams in place. The plant was so divided that the thought of groups were seemingly impossible. The Green River also has a union unlike the Aberdeen plant, which may contribute to the plant not having teamwork. The union may not allow the groups or teams to have as much control as the Aberdeen plant employees have.

The Aberdeen method may not work at the Green River plant because of the setup at the plant. Green River is setup as individual stations, not allowing teamwork. The plant employees are use to working individually and specializing in only one task.

To make positive changes in the workgroups/teams in each location the plants’ mangers should be made to recognize that group performance often fail because of process loss due to lack of motivation and coordination problems in groups. Social loafing also plays a vital role in the failures of workgroups/teams. Social loafing is where the members of the team may feel that their efforts are unimportant. Social loafing can be eliminated by making each individual performance identifiable, making each employee feel that he/she can make an important and worthwhile contribution to the team. The manger could try to develop group cohesiveness.

In the implementation phase of developing the workgroups, the mangers should consider the employees reaction to such a dramatic change. Some of the employees may not feel comfortable working within workgroups, but if the managers had a meeting to explain the importance of workgroups and would let the employees express his/her concern than a medium could be reached.

Leadership is described as the exercise of influence by one member of an organization over other members to help the group or organization achieve its goals.

The Aberdeen plant has incorporated the relationship oriented leadership. These are leaders that are well liked and get along with their employees. Although these leaders want the employees to perform at a high level, the relationship oriented leaders first priority is developing good relationships with their employees. Their second priority is making sure that the employees get the job done. The workers at Aberdeen seem to respond to this leadership in a positive way. The morale of the employees is high and they tend to take pride in their work.

The Green River plant on the other hand is led by the task oriented leadership. These are leaders who want their employees to perform at a high level and accomplish all of their assigned tasks. Their first priority is task accomplishment and they push their employees to make sure that the job is done. Good relationships with their employees are second natured to task oriented leaders.

To make positive changes in leadership for each location, the managers need to build good relationships with their employees. A healthy organization channels natural human inclination by fostering good relationships. The managers can clarify the relationships between goals and roles. People are more engaged when they know how their work contributes to the overall goals and well being of an organization. Lastly, the managers can set up a structure and organize meetings to increase dynamic communication. In developing a structure, an organization develops a system of accountability that span areas of responsibility, making the boundaries more permeable. The managers can define functions as broadly as possible and form teams of people whose roles support function. The managers can organize a matrix and set up dual lines of authority. Decision-making meetings will engage members more fully, both with one another and with the concerns of the organization.

Communication is the sharing of information between two or more individuals or groups to reach common understanding.