This essay is for organizational behavior. Please write a two page essay based on the essay #2 files and slides , and answer the questions.You will only need to answer option 1 and ignore option 2.1. What strategies do you recommend Kalia to help her improve team design and processes? 2. What suggestions do you have for Kalia in leading her staff to be inclusive of diverse members?
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week_8.pdf
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Option #1:
Building a Multicultural Team:
Kalia works in a large business, managing a diverse team of eight individuals. Two of her employees are in their
early 20s, two in their 30s, three in their late 40s, and one in her late 50s. Four members of her team are Caucasian
and the other four are Hispanic, African American, Asian, and African. Her younger employees are fairly new,
having been there for less than two years. Most of her team members have worked with the organization for 5 to
10 years, and her most senior staff has been there for 25 years, 10 years longer than Kalia has been in her
leadership position.
Generally, team members are cordial to one another on the surface, but Kalia knows that there are tensions among
some of the staff that have an impact on the success and productiveness of the team. She is aware that one of the
younger employees, Robert, is frequently frustrated that his Hispanic co-worker, Ana, defers authority and
decision making to others in the team. In conversations with him, she discovers that the younger employee feels
Ana should express her opinions more often. Robert’s frustration results from his beliefs that everyone on the
team should be able to contribute in a shared, democratic process. He feels that when Ana defers her decision
making to others, she is not being accountable as a team member.
Margaret, a senior member of the team has picked up on Robert’s comments and feels that he is disrespectful of
Ana’s working style. She has mentioned to him that it could be a “cultural thing” and that he should learn to adapt
his behavior and working style to better meet her needs. In response, Robert mutters, “Whatever. You don’t know
anything about us.” Responses like this have led Margaret to believe that he is disrespectful of her knowledge and
tenure in the organization.
Frankly, Kalia is tired of managing people’s personalities. She feels that people should just learn to adapt to each
other’s working styles. Even though she believes this, she also believes that a good leader has to unite the team,
no matter their differences and working styles. This year, she has made it a goal of hers, and of the team, to
resolve these issues. But given her previous attempts, she does not have high hopes for a successful outcome. The
last time she tried to resolve intercultural team issues, she felt like a complete failure. She is concerned about the
employees’ responses to this next attempt. In fact, every time she thinks about that meeting, she flinches. She just
did not have the skill sets to facilitate the conversation in their last meeting. She wonders if this next try will
progress her team in any way or whether it will just be another failure.
1. What strategies do you recommend Kalia to help her improve team design and processes?
2. What suggestions do you have for Kalia in leading her staff to be inclusive of diverse members?
Option #2:
Ernst & Young Web Article, OCT 2016
In this age of disruption, organizations are increasingly being forced to make existential choices. How can big data
support better and more rational decisions?
We all fall victim to some cognitive bias or another, which can prejudice our decision-making processes. All too
often, decisions are based on subjective “gut feelings” rather than hard objective facts. Confirmation bias also has
a dangerous influence on decision-making. People often seek out information to confirm a hypothesis as opposed
to try and prove it wrong — the spirit of the scientific method that underpins modern science.
With a general psychological tendency for over-confidence, over-optimism and pattern recognition, executives
can dismiss evidence that contradicts their opinion, while overemphasizing supporting evidence. Such cognitive
biases can translate into underestimating competitor responses, R&D and acquisition overspend, and divesting a
business far too late in the mistaken belief of being able to salvage the situation.
More data, more confusion?
The digital universe is overflowing with information. Around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day,
while 90% of the world’s data has been created in the last two years alone. This trend shows no sign of slowing
down as the total amount of data is predicted to double every two years.
This is far too much information for even the most gifted individuals to possibly process and understand without
some help. This information clouds, rather than informs, decision-making.
Bounded rationality
Herbert Simon, a Nobel Prize laureate, defined this human constraint as “bounded rationality” — a stark deviation
from the classical economic view that humans are fully rational.
Alongside dealing with imperfect information and time restraints, Simon argued humans have a limited capability
to process the vast amount of available information. Collectively, these cognitive constraints or “boundaries” limit
our ability to make fully informed and rational decisions.
Investing in the unknown
Andrew Haldane, the Chief Economist and Executive Director of the Bank of England, highlighted the issue of
bounded rationality and investments in CDO-squared derivatives. He argued that investors would need to read
one billion pages to understand fully these financial products.
With such complexity, it is unsurprising that many investors lost heavily in the 2008 financial crash with these
securities. They simply did not — and could not — understand what they were buying.
Overcoming biases
So how do we overcome these biases and bounded rationality to make better-informed and optimized decisions?
As more data is generated through the internet of things and smart-connected technologies, executives will have
even more comprehensive data to inform decisions.
The human element
Big data insights can overcome our biases, but its real value is paradoxically realized only through the human
element of analytics. Human judgment is required to intelligently analyze, review and act upon insights to create
value from big data. We just need to make sure that this human lens is not clouded by our cognitive biases.
Considering the article above and what we covered in Decision Making lectures, how would you suggest
companies to design their decision-making processes. Please be specific by choosing one of these alternative
approaches:
1. Focus on a company you know intimately, and analyze and redesign their decision-making activities.
Elaborate on how should they take advantage of data advances.
2. Focus on 2 decision making biases and suggest solutions to counteract these during decision making
activities. Consider how speed and volume of the data would impact the affect of these biases.
3. Focus on comparing and contrasting Rational and Bounded rational decision making and analyze how
“big data” and other data advances can help corporations bridge the gap between the two.
Option #1:
Building a Multicultural Team:
Kalia works in a large business, managing a diverse team of eight individuals. Two of her employees are in their
early 20s, two in their 30s, three in their late 40s, and one in her late 50s. Four members of her team are Caucasian
and the other four are Hispanic, African American, Asian, and African. Her younger employees are fairly new,
having been there for less than two years. Most of her team members have worked with the organization for 5 to
10 years, and her most senior staff has been there for 25 years, 10 years longer than Kalia has been in her
leadership position.
Generally, team members are cordial to one another on the surface, but Kalia knows that there are tensions among
some of the staff that have an impact on the success and productiveness of the team. She is aware that one of the
younger employees, Robert, is frequently frustrated that his Hispanic co-worker, Ana, defers authority and
decision making to others in the team. In conversations with him, she discovers that the younger employee feels
Ana should express her opinions more often. Robert’s frustration results from his beliefs that everyone on the
team should be able to contribute in a shared, democratic process. He feels that when Ana defers her decision
making to others, she is not being accountable as a team member.
Margaret, a senior member of the team has picked up on Robert’s comments and feels that he is disrespectful of
Ana’s working style. She has mentioned to him that it could be a “cultural thing” and that he should learn to adapt
his behavior and working style to better meet her needs. In response, Robert mutters, “Whatever. You don’t know
anything about us.” Responses like this have led Margaret to believe that he is disrespectful of her knowledge and
tenure in the organization.
Frankly, Kalia is tired of managing people’s personalities. She feels that people should just learn to adapt to each
other’s working styles. Even though she believes this, she also believes that a good leader has to unite the team,
no matter their differences and working styles. This year, she has made it a goal of hers, and of the team, to
resolve these issues. But given her previous attempts, she does not have high hopes for a successful outcome. The
last time she tried to resolve intercultural team issues, she felt like a complete failure. She is concerned about the
employees’ responses to this next attempt. In fact, every time she thinks about that meeting, she flinches. She just
did not have the skill sets to facilitate the conversation in their last meeting. She wonders if this next try will
progress her team in any way or whether it will just be another failure.
1. What strategies do you recommend Kalia to help her improve team design and processes?
2. What suggestions do you have for Kalia in leading her staff to be inclusive of diverse members?
Option #2:
Ernst & Young Web Article, OCT 2016
In this age of disruption, organizations are increasingly being forced to make existential choices. How can big data
support better and more rational decisions?
We all fall victim to some cognitive bias or another, which can prejudice our decision-making processes. All too
often, decisions are based on subjective “gut feelings” rather than hard objective facts. Confirmation bias also has
a dangerous influence on decision-making. People often seek out information to confirm a hypothesis as opposed
to try and prove it wrong — the spirit of the scientific method that underpins modern science.
With a general psychological tendency for over-confidence, over-optimism and pattern recognition, executives
can dismiss evidence that contradicts their opinion, while overemphasizing supporting evidence. Such cognitive
biases can translate into underestimating competitor responses, R&D and acquisition overspend, and divesting a
business far too late in the mistaken belief of being able to salvage the situation.
More data, more confusion?
The digital universe is overflowing with information. Around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day,
while 90% of the world’s data has been created in the last two years alone. This trend shows no sign of slowing
down as the total amount of data is predicted to double every two years.
This is far too much information for even the most gifted individuals to possibly process and understand without
some help. This information clouds, rather than informs, decision-making.
Bounded rationality
Herbert Simon, a Nobel Prize laureate, defined this human constraint as “bounded rationality” — a stark deviation
from the classical economic view that humans are fully rational.
Alongside dealing with imperfect information and time restraints, Simon argued humans have a limited capability
to process the vast amount of available information. Collectively, these cognitive constraints or “boundaries” limit
our ability to make fully informed and rational decisions.
Investing in the unknown
Andrew Haldane, the Chief Economist and Executive Director of the Bank of England, highlighted the issue of
bounded rationality and investments in CDO-squared derivatives. He argued that investors would need to read
one billion pages to understand fully these financial products.
With such complexity, it is unsurprising that many investors lost heavily in the 2008 financial crash with these
securities. They simply did not — and could not — understand what they were buying.
Overcoming biases
So how do we overcome these biases and bounded rationality to make better-informed and optimized decisions?
As more data is generated through the internet of things and smart-connected technologies, executives will have
even more comprehensive data to inform decisions.
The human element
Big data insights can overcome our biases, but its real value is paradoxically realized only through the human
element of analytics. Human judgment is required to intelligently analyze, review and act upon insights to create
value from big data. We just need to make sure that this human lens is not clouded by our cognitive biases.
Considering the article above and what we covered in Decision Making lectures, how would you suggest
companies to design their decision-making processes. Please be specific by choosing one of these alternative
approaches:
1. Focus on a company you know intimately, and analyze and redesign their decision-making activities.
Elaborate on how should they take advantage of data advances.
2. Focus on 2 decision making biases and suggest solutions to counteract these during decision making
activities. Consider how speed and volume of the data would impact the affect of these biases.
3. Focus on comparing and contrasting Rational and Bounded rational decision making and analyze how
“big data” and other data advances can help corporations bridge the gap between the two.
3/20/19
Week 8
Diversity, Inclusion and Teams
7
Mar. 11
Personality and Diversity
TB: Chapters 9 and 10
Personality Tests, NYT articles
8
Mar. 18
Team Characteristics and Processes
TB: Chapters 11 and 12
9
Mar. 25
Power and Influence and Leadership
TB: Chapter 13 and 14
10
Apr. 1
Organizational Structure
TB: Chapter 15
Bb: Holacracy, Zappos articles
March 30th, Essay #2
11
Apr. 8
Organizational Culture and Change
TB: Chapter 16
April 12 Take home exam due
1
3/20/19
7
Mar. 11
Personality and Diversity
TB: Chapters 9 and 10
Personality Tests, NYT articles
8
Mar. 18
Team Characteristics and Processes
TB: Chapters 11 and 12
9
Mar. 25
Power and Influence and Leadership
TB: Chapter 13 and 14
10
Apr. 1
Organizational Structure
TB: Chapter 15
Bb: Holacracy, Zappos articles
March 30th, Essay #2
11
Apr. 8
Organizational Culture and Change
TB: Chapter 16
April 12 Take home exam due
§Individual
§ Personality
§ Ability
§ Values
2
3/20/19
3
3/20/19
§ Homogenous workplace => less conflict, quicker processes
§ Diverse workplace => more creativity, more robust decisions
4
3/20/19
§ What
kind of diversity?
§ Should
companies pursue it? (you can talk about contingencies here.
Is there a certain kind of company that should or should not pursue?)
§ Diversity of one? Diversity of thought?
The Massachusetts Fair Employment
Practices Act (FEPA): race, color, religious
creed, national origin, sex, gender identity,
sexual orientation, genetic information,
ancestry, status as a veteran, age (40 years
and older), military status, or handicap
5
3/20/19
§ Scott E. Page (check his books=> Diversity trumps ability
§ But… not just “new perspectives”
§ When “outsiders” are present, we pay more attention to nuances: we prepare better,
defend better, consider more alternatives, remember the information better, come up
with better alternatives…
=> Groups and Teams
§ What is a TEAM?
§ Team Performance
§ Team Design
§ Team Life cycle
§ Team Processes
12
6
3/20/19
§ (Closed) Team
§ a collection of two or more people who work with one another regularly to
achieve common goals
§ Members are mutually and significantly dependent on one another to
achieve common goals
§ Members interact with one another to pursue those goals
§ Perceive themselves as a group and hold themselves collectively
accountable
§ ALL CONDITIONS MUST BE PRESENT FOR IT TO BE A REAL TEAM. UNTIL
THEN YOU HAVE CO-ACTING INDIVIDUALS.
13
7
3/20/19
§ Empty your pockets
or
bag: come up with one
thing that starts with
each of the following
letters:
§ A, B, C, D, E,F, G, H, I, K, L, M,
O, P, R, S
§ Now combine your stuff
with 4 other people’s
•
Please individually list as
many alternative uses for a
paper clip as you can. (1
minute)
•
Please share with your
group of 5 and try to come
up with a combined list
(again, as many uses as
you can for a paper clip). (2
minutes)
8
3/20/19
30.03.2012
,
17
§ When you need the manpower
§ When the decision in non-routine
§ there is no clear answer
§ the task is complex
§ there is too much or not enough information
§ creative ideas are needed
§ the problem crosses functions
§ When everyone’s buy-in is needed — the decision requires broad and deep
support in order for it to be implemented successfully (Vroom and Yetton)
9
3/20/19
QUESTION 2: HOW TO DESIGN A TEAM?
Composition
Size? (# of
people)
10
3/20/19
Effectiveness
Bezos: “If you can’t feed a team with
two pizzas, it is too large…
Number
U of M research
lab
Study of Team Innovation in 1359 teams
11
3/20/19
Composition
Size? (# of
people)
Diversity
12
3/20/19
§ Improves accuracy, reduces certainty
§ Form teams with background and knowledge
diversity
§ Keep work values and age “relatively” homogenous
13
3/20/19
Composition
Goals
Size? (# of
people)
Smart Goals
Diversity
§ Effective goal setting should be:
§ S
pecific
§ M easurable
§ A chievable
§ R esults oriented
§ T ime-related
,
33
14
3/20/19
Composition
Size? (# of
people)
Goals
Smart Goals
Structure
Roles
Diversity
15
3/20/19
§ Roles
§ expected behaviors for a given position
§ Task roles
§ task-oriented group behavior
§ Keep the group on track
§ Maintenance roles
§ relationship-building group behavior
§ Keep the group together
Team role
preferences scale
(at Bb)
38
16
3/20/19
Composition
Goals
Size? (# of
people)
Smart Goals
Diversity
Rewards
Composition
Goals
Size? (# of
people)
Smart Goals
Diversity
Rewards
Structure
Roles
Norms (more to
come later)
Structure
Roles
Norms (more to
come later)
17
3/20/19
18
3/20/19
19
3/20/19
Stage 1: Forming
§ Group members tend to be uncertain and anxious about their roles, the people in
charge and the group’s goals
§ Mutual trust is low
§STAGE 1: FORMING“Ritual
Sniffing”
§ Testing out – feelings are kept hidden
§ Apprehensive of change
§ Authority centralized
§ Little listening and little care for others
§ Personal weaknesses covered up
§ Objectives poorly set
§ Objectives poorly communicated
§ Legitimate leader needs to be clear and
strong
§ Major Issues are safety and inclusion
20
3/20/19
Stage 2: Storming
§ Time of conflict
§ Individuals try to determine how they fit into the power structure
§ Procrastination may occur
§ STAGE 2: STORMING – “Infighting”
§ Emergent leader’s performance evaluated
§ Relationships become more significant – Alliances and cliques form
§ Personal strengths/weaknesses known
§ Commitment debated
§ Conflict norms are an important need
§ “Emotional leader” emerges
21
3/20/19
Stage 3: Norming
§ Questions about authority and power are resolved through unemotional, matter-of-
fact group discussion
§ STAGE 3: NORMING “Experimentation”
§ Dynamic and exciting AND functioning
§ Dormant people begin to contribute
§ Review of operating methods and processes
§ Values and assumptions debated
§ Personal animosities dealt with effectively
§ Better listening
§ Group cohesiveness
§ a � …
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