Reference no: EM133409611

Case Study: Angel is a new manager at International Workplace Designs (IWD), a virtually networked company. She is tasked with creating a virtual project team that will adapt an existing workstation for South American clients. IWD has been in business for 20 years and has many long-time employees who have worked in this hybrid company. The departments are: Finance (mostly virtual), human resources (outsourced), manufacturing at headquarters in Toledo, Ohio; engineering (half virtual, half in Toledo), marketing (mostly virtual), sales (virtual), and customer service/Installation (mostly virtual). The company has two manufacturing plants outside the U.S., in Guadalajara, Mexico, and in Panama. In her first session with the team she has composed, there have been a lot of problems, in-fighting, and power struggles. Her team is a mixture of departments from different levels of experience.

Her boss, Rolf, was apprised of the chaotic situation and has asked you as an independent coach to provide some coaching assistance to help Angel motivate and create a diverse high-functioning team to get the job done.

To compose her team, Angel selected people from the following departments: engineering, marketing, sales, and customer service/installation.

She has related the following information to Rolf:

When I started, I put together a team consisting of Paul, an engineer/designer from Providence, Rhode Island, who had 2 years of experience; Owen, an engineer/designer from Canada who had 5 years of experience; a new marketing person from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Bob, a salesperson with 10 years of experience from Southern California; and Tom, a customer service/installer from Nevada with 3 years on the job.

I tried to delegate tasks as soon as I began to lead the virtual meeting to avoid conflict, but from the start, there was bickering back and forth. I do not understand what happened. The team was diverse, but everyone was not on the same page. Finally, at the end of the session, I told everyone that this team was disbanding and I would re-think this project.

Questions:

• Explain what the new manager's role should be for this project.
• Assess the diversity and multiculturalism of the team the manager disbanded. Was this team genuinely diverse? Support your answer by explaining how one or more concepts in The Diversity Challenge apply.
• Recommend what the manager can do to ensure a more diverse team while addressing multiculturalism. How will diversity and multiculturalism benefit the team and the results? What challenges will multiculturalism present in the team, and how can they be resolved? Provide your reasoning.
• Examine the selection process needed for the formation of this team. Support your answer by explaining how one or more concepts in The Diversity Challenge and Effective Delegation and How to Assign Work apply to this scenario.
• Analyze and explain how you will coach the manager so she can more effectively delegate, motivate, and provide support to the new team she ultimately creates. Support the answer and provide references