Day 1
Risk in Strategic Decision-making: Do Teams Help or Hurt?
Discuss difficulties inherent in managerial decision-making. Analyse a time-constrained situation and make a decision - both individually and as part of a small group. Case discussions focus on 'how that decision was made,' the willingness of individuals to consider different information, and the flexibility with which they and the team approach a choice between decision options.
Activity: Analyse and discuss the Carter Racing case
Team Formation: Task, Composition and Performance
Examine the factors that lead individuals and team members to withhold their expertise and information from others. Identify the behaviours that leaders must model that will facilitate access to the unique information, skills and abilities of team members.
Activity: Prepare, conduct and debrief the "Murder Mystery "
Day 2
Group Process and Decision-Making: The Inner Workings of Successful Teams
Explore ways to encourage team members to contribute their expertise and information to the betterment of the team. Examine which aspects of team leadership and team structure can influence the willingness of team members to contribute. Explore ways for leaders to turn spectators into participators.
How One Can Influence the Many: "Twelve Angry Men"
Focus on the dynamics of social influence in teams. Using the context of trial jurors who must arrive at a guilty or not guilty decision, examine how interpersonal, procedural and coalitional tactics can influence both the process and the outcome of group decision-making. Review why understanding these influence tactics can improve your own decision-making process and ability to predict and respond to other group members' attempts to influence you.
Activities:
Reviewing the Evidence: Evaluating Your Team's Process in Solving the Murder Mystery
Analyse the videotape of your team's performance in solving the Murder Mystery exercise, focusing on both successful and less-successful strategies. Present a summary of your team process, its successes and failings, as well as a short video clip example that illustrates the highs and the lows of the group's performance.
Activities:
Day 3
When Teams Go Wrong: Value Destruction in the Race for Corporate Control
Examine the psychological and economic factors that led to the ill-fated acquisition of NCR by AT&T. An excellent example of the difficulties inherent in corporate mergers - even for large corporations with considerable resources - the AT&T merger case illustrates many of the issues we have explored in previous sessions and highlights common traps to avoid in order to make the right decision.
Activity: Analyse and discuss the case study "For Whom the Bell Tolls: Value Destruction in the AT&T/NCR Merger"
One to the Many: Influencing Team Performance and Implementing Change
Examine how managers influence their work groups' productivity. Explore how to use your understanding of influence tactics to improve both your decision-making skills and your ability to predict and respond to other group members' attempts to influence you. Build on the learnings from the Tanagram exercise to understand how to implement change in teams.
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