HK Warehouse Organisational Behaviour

While teamwork comes with immense benefits, it constitutes disadvantages that cannot be overlooked. In that case, the HK warehouse case study will be used to analyze the pros and cons of teamwork towards organizational success. The analysis will begin with a brief description of the case study's background. The HK warehouse case study relates to a team created in Hong Kong with the aim of launching the first luxury warehouse in Asia. Ideally, any team working with a positive force promotes organizational success while negative energy not only leads to business losses but also the dissolution of the business. LN took it upon himself to set the business plan as well as to prepare the middle management team that would assist him to run the business.

Later in 2010, MF was recommended by NF to introduce JK into the company. Being a successful Hong Kong entrepreneur, JK exchanged business ideas with both LN and NF. Later in 2010, TR, MF's long-term friend was appointed as the chairman of HK warehouse. The whole team was headed by MF, who was considered as the main shareholder. Notably, LN felt humiliated by TR on a regular basis in front of other team members. Protecting LN necessitated NF and JK to behave disrespectfully during meetings. In one year, the firm was experienced financial hardships, which derailed business operations and led to the stagnation of the firm. To save the business, HK warehouse was sold with a loss of $ 70 million. Importance of teamwork in an organization 1.

Since then organizations have been striving to apply the approach in various ways. Organizations believe that developing strong production and managerial teams would promote higher performance and increase the level of satisfaction among employees. Today, teamwork has become the norm in each organization attribute to its immense benefits that cannot be overlooked. Katzen and Smith (1993) hold that the relationship between a team and organizational success lies in performance. Relating to the case study, HK warehouse was made up of a self-managed team. Lack of proper clarification of roles promoted conflicts that became impossible to solve. Notably, MF developed a team but failed to define individual roles and expectations that led to the confusion, which resulted in a conflict of power and reduced motivation.

The disorganization wasted not only the cognitive resources but also substantial resources that could be converted into a meaningful project. Issue and problem of teamwork Power Consistent with research in organizational behaviour, the most commonly used definition for the constructed power has been adopted. Power relates to the control over valuable resources (Lecture Reading). As such, it is essential to understand when and why power may harm a team, which can be possible by analysing the theoretical viewpoint regarding power and team performance. Theoretical reviews on power in teams suggest that power can have both a positive and negative influence on the performance and results produced by a team (Lecture Reading). A new theory suggests that the same reason that makes power look great for individuals in the same reason that makes power appear problematic for the team.

However, when benefits accrued by power are salient, the team may become obedient to the individual in power. Conversely, when teams face resource threats, the team may become sensitive to issues about power, which may lead to power struggles. For example, the conflict between LN and TR may be considered as an emotional one since the two always found themselves holding opposing viewpoints and perceptions towards the other. Differential working approaches may have also contributed to the conflict between the two individuals. In that case, both parties may end up feeling frustrated upon failure to reach a workable solution. Other causes of conflict can be poor communication and loosed morale. Regarding communication breakdown, team members may experience misunderstandings attribute to individual expectations.

Individualism Notably, teams may lose its effectiveness due to single individuals becoming dominative. These people insight others to follow them in the name of finding a mutual consensus. Instead of seeking the ideal course of action, team members may choose to move towards the path considered ideal by one or two members. Individualism is a vice to success since group decisions may be sacrificed for an individual's idea of what is right. Although group decisions may fail to achieve the shared goal, it is important to note that individual choices are also not better. The use of group dynamics is essential in understanding misunderstandings and conflicts suffered by team members. Intra-group dynamics Intra-group dynamics are the fundamental processes that influence the development of norms, goals, relationships, and roles that characterize a particular group.

A state of interdependence often exists amongst group members. It is through the interdependency that individual behaviours, opinions, attitudes, and experiences are influenced by other members. The dynamics of the HK team was determined by how each member defined the boundaries of the team. Issue problem related to both Group conflicts may witness group members favouring the in-group over the outgroup. Showing favouritism towards own group necessitates explicating adverse reactions towards the outer group (Lecture Reading). The conflict can escalate to prejudice and discrimination. However, intergroup competitions can be harmless and more so in situations where there is a limited conflict that only leads to relative generalizations and mild competitive attitudes. Diagnosis Notably, people hold different opinions under different circumstances. Maintaining a healthy balance should be the priority of each group member.