Leading a Multicultural Team through a Change Process - Essay Example

?Introduction I have been assigned to lead a six person team whose composition is made up of a diverse group of professionals. Diversity refers to the state of having people who are from different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization (Merriam-webster, 2013). The team is working on developing a new health product that will revolutionize the treatment of diabetes. Innovation is a key factor that leads to business success. It is extremely important for the company to be able to launch the product into the marketplace. The members of the team have been given financial incentives such as bonuses upon successful completion of the project. They also stand to earn promotions and industry recognition. My task is to get this team on the right track, since the former team leader was fired due to his inability to meet deadlines and comply with the stipulated budget for the project. Stakeholders The company – The firm has invested millions of dollars in the development of the project. Even though information regarding the amount of money the firm has invested is not available to me right now I can assume the firm spent millions of dollars developing this drug due to the fact that the average cost of creating a new drug is approximately $862 million (Adams & Brantner, 2006). Shareholders – Successful completion of the project will positively impact the price of the common stocks of the company. If the project fails the money spend on the project will become a sunk cost. A sunk cost is a cost that cannot be changed by any present or future decision (Weygandt, Kieso, & Kimmel, 2002). If the project becomes a sunk cost the firm will lose its entire investment which will have the effect of deteriorating the price of the common stocks of the company. Diabetes patients – Diabetes is a serious disease that affects 230 million people worldwide (Medicalnewstoday, 2006). This new drug will improve the quality of living of these patients. John - a 43-year-old African American, man, born in Bowie, Maryland Julie - a 51-year-old Chinese-American woman, born in the District of Columbia Jinsoo - a 27-year-old South Korean man who immigrated from Seoul Tom - a 63-year-old white American, born in Los Angeles, California, who recently moved to Maryland Darius - a 32-year-old Iranian man whose parents brought him to the United States when he was six years old Harpreet - a 30-year-old Indian woman who immigrated 10 years ago Issues The work team faces a variety of issues that are affecting its performance. For starters the team is very mad that its former leader was fired. They do not know that their leader was fired due to the unethical action of taking bribes from vendors. During the early stages of my tenure with the team I have to accept that there is going to be resistance to change from the team. Resistance to change is a very bad occurrence because it slows down the innovation process. Another problem with the team is a lack of teamwork. The team is also suffering from cultural conflict. It seems as if the personal agenda of each member has become more important than the project itself. Darius and Tom have been in conflict over how to approach the design of a critical piece of the product. There is low morale among some of the team members. John and Julie are so disillusioned that they are job hunting. Losing these two members is not an option for the company since they hold key technical skills that are needed to successfully complete the project. The productivity of Jinsoo has decrease due to the conflict that exists among the team members. Tom, the oldest team member, believes he is been discriminated due to his advance age. Another issue is that Darious and Harpreet were added to the team just three months ago. Their entrance completely changed the composition of the team. Currently the newly formed group is in the storming stage of group development. The storming stage is a period of high emotionality and tension among group members (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2003). A final issue that the team faces is that the company has place a six months deadline to start beta testing the new drug. Alternative solution Solving the problem in this group is going to require a lot of time effort from me and the other members of the group. There is not one single action that can fix the problem, thus the alternative solution will integrate a variety of strategies in other to resolve the problem. I must implement change management techniques to alter the behavior of the members of the team. Since there is no harmony among the members I must find a way to increase teamwork amid the players. The first step that I will take is to implement an action that will help the members get to know each other through socialization. This will be done by arranging several informal meetings. These meetings will take place in restaurants, sports bars, and recreational parks. I want the team members to have fun together. During these informal meetings we will not talk about work. The purpose of these informal meetings is for the team members to get to know each other at a personal level. Due to the time constraints I will arrange three gatherings during a two week period. The second solution that I will implement to change the actions of the team is to improve communication. Good communication is imperative towards the success of a team. Each member of the team will be given a company sponsored smartphone to keep in touch with each other. They will also be mandated to open a Skype account. Skype is the world’s leading software for video calls. A video call has a more personal touch than a regular phone. I will arrange a weekly meeting each Saturday at 6:00 P.M. The members of the team will join in a video conference using the Skype software. A third action I will take is to provide the members of the team with cultural training. The members of the team have to learn that the differences in culture can be an asset instead of a liability for the company. Diversity can help improve the creativity of a team. Currently the team is not taking advantage of the unique experiences that each member brings to the table. A fourth action that will be taken to improve the performance and communication within the team is the creation of a feedback box. The members of the team can provide anonymous feedback on any issue they feel needs discussion. I will check the feedback box daily and will discuss any issues that a member identifies during the Saturday video call meeting. Conclusion Teamwork and cooperation is imperative towards the success of a team. Often teams face conflict when a team has a diverse composition of people. Diversity is actually a virtue that companies can take advantage of. “Workplace diversity inches closer to becoming a business necessity instead of a banner that companies wave to show their commitment to embracing differences and change” (Mayhew, 2013). The proposed alternative solutions to solve the conflict in the team should help create a bond of trust among the participants of the group. The ultimate goal for the team is to achieve synergy in order to improve its performance. Synergy occurs when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts (Schermerhorn et al. 2003). Once the team starts working as a cohesive unit, it should not have any problem complying with the company’s six month deadline for beta testing of the new drug. References Adams, C., & Brantner, V. (2006). Estimating the cost of new drug development: Is it really $802 million? Health Affairs, 25(2), 420-428. Mayhew, R. (2013). Why is diversity in the workplace important to employees? Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/diversity-workplace-important-employees-10812.html Medicalnewstoday.com (2006). Diabetes cases rise from 30 million to 230 million in 20 years. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/44967.php Merriam-webster.com (2013). Diversity. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diversity Schermerhorn, J., Osborn, J., & Hunt, R. (2003). Organizational behavior (8th ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Weygandt, J., Kieso, D., & Kimmel, P. (2002). Accounting principles (6th ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Read More