Notes

1. You have been hired as a consultant to improve communication between engineering and marketing staff in a large automobile company. Use the communication model and the four ways to improve that process to devise strategies to improve communication effectiveness among employees between these two work units. (worth 20 points; 2,000 character limit)

By definition, communication refers to the process by which information is transmitted and understood between two more people. Communication is key to success in a company. According to the communication model, The sender forms and encodes a message to the receiver, then the receiver receives the message and decodes it. It is a process that requires the attention of the receiver form the sender, vice versa. Without communication, people wouldn’t be able to understand each other. Using the four ways will improve communication between engineering staff and marketing staff in a large automobile company.
First, making sure staffs from both departments have similar “codebooks.” In this case, staffs from the marketing and engineering department should have a basic understanding of the common terms. Communication efficiency improves because there less need for redundancy in repeating the same messages in different ways. Hiring staffs with a double degree in marketing and engineering will be ideal in this solution.
Second, make sure that staffs understand the forms of different communication channels. They need to know which means of communication should they use in different situations. For example, a face-to-face communication has a higher communication efficiency compared to communicating through email. Training staffs and setting rules for different scenarios in using different communication channels will improve communication effectiveness in this case.
Third, make sure that staffs from both departments share a mental model about the context of the information. This means that having staffs from both departments gain experience from the topic that is discussed. This increases communication efficiency and eliminate any topics that need further explanation.
Forth, have staffs from both departments gain experience in communicating with one another. Being familiar with another department communicating on a common topic increases communication efficiency and the effectiveness. This also helps them develop a sense of understanding of both teams and the tasks that they have to complete.


2. As we learned in OB221, power is present in all human interactions, and there are many different ways to influence the behavior of others. Analyze the sources and use of power on your OB team this semester, using specific examples from your team experience and supported with course concepts and frameworks. You can analyze any/all members of your team but be sure to include an analysis of the sources and uses of power you leveraged, and how this power allowed you to influence (or not) team dynamics and performance. (worth 20 points; 2,000 character limit)

I am a leader in my team and I hold power because of my actions and personality. I actively participate in conversations and make sure everyone is on track. My power is derived from my actions. At the beginning of the semester when the team is formed, I actively asked for my team’s contact information so that we can form a group on text. Our group text is used to communicate with the team and I often check on how my team is doing. Once I start taking a leadership role in team when assignments are placed, I listen to my team’s advice and give feedbacks. As time goes, they look up to me as leader and this is how I obtained my power. This can be referred to how power derives in part from the structural positions I hold. Power is also a function of my personal personality. I am active and outgoing. This had an effect on how my team perceives me. For example, I voluntarily take charge in designing and creating PowerPoints for our presentations. My team trusted me because of my ability in doing so and my past performances. I utilized expert power and centrality because I believe I can do well and have an effect on my team. I certainly leveraged my power by being flexible and listening to what my team has to offer. While I was decorating the slides for our presentation. A member of our team, Sharleen spoke up and suggested that she could make the intro video to implement to our slide. I combined her work into the presentation and it worked out perfectly. I leveraged my power in encouraging my teammates to speak up and express their feelings and ideas. For example, when coordinating the sequence of the slides and who says what. I openly discussed with my teammate Nicole, who is also responsible on the same part I took part in. We figured out the logistic and everything worked out for our presentation. Through learning about power in OB221 and experiencing the usage of it in my team, I now have a deeper understanding in how to leverage my power and utilize it for the better of my team.


3. You are a manager in a telecommunications company that has a skilled and experienced customer service workforce. In the past, the workforce provided routine, basic types of customer support but now the company is undergoing a change in strategy to become the world’s leader in customer service. This means you need to encourage your employees to perform nonroutine tasks, such as solving unique customer problems and meeting special needs with the company’s product. Identify and apply a specific leadership theory or model (e.g., situational leadership, transformational leadership, path-goal leadership) to identify the most appropriate leadership style and behaviors you should use in this situation. Be sure to fully explain your answer and why this approach is likely to be effective. (worth 20 points; 2,000 character limit)

4. At the beginning of the semester, you wrote a self-assessment paper that discussed your work-relevant personality, preferences, motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. You also set a personal goal for yourself. Look back at your paper and analyze the following questions:

• What have you learned about yourself in OB221, particularly from your team project experience?
• Do you believe you achieved the goal you set for yourself? Why (or why not)?
• What three specific recommendations (for yourself, not your teammates) can you implement to harness your strengths, mitigate your weaknesses, and improve your performance on your next team?

Draw upon relevant OB frameworks, course concepts, examples/evidence, and team/class experiences to support your analysis and recommendations. Your recommendations should identify specific, measurable actions that you will take going forward to increase your effectiveness on teams. Overall, your essay should demonstrate an understanding and commitment to being a more productive and valued teammate going forward as a foundation to becoming a successful manager and leader. (worth 40 points; 4,500 character limit)