Decision Making

Essay by keropy May 2005

download word file, 7 pages 0.0

Table of Content

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

2 THE SET UP OF A SELF DIRECTED TEAM (SDT) 3

3 DECISIONS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE GROUP 4

4 THE HOSTILE TAKEOVER 5

5 CONCLUSION 6

6 LITERATURE 8

Abbreviation:

CEO Chief Executive Officer

SDT Self Directed Team

Executive Summary

The following focuses on the group work and decision processes of group number three during the airline simulation. From the perception of the group members, group three has clearly won the game although the time was not enough to further verify the results. Group dynamics accelerated dramatically by the time the first group (number four) was acquired by a hostile takeover. Group three sought mutual understanding with the board members of the acquired group and it was anticipated that this group would overtake group number two in the next quarter. The assumption is that the reader is familiar with the details of the simulation.

The objective was to achieve a coherent group who could make decisions for the organization unencumbered by hierarchy.

The Set Up of a Self Directed Team (SDT)

After a short discussion the group decided not to install any hierarchical organisation and to decide on issues based on consensus. One of the reasons was to a preclude potential interpersonal conflict between two group members for group leadership. The group consisted of seven people, four of whom used to work together from earlier times. The other three joined in from an earlier MBA program. Nevertheless, the responsibilities were shared and strategy and tactics were discussed among team members. Appelbaum et al (1999, p.60) states that "the very act of bringing people from different backgrounds together may be the reason why they fail to achieve their objectives". However, this was not so in this case.

At the onset, the group...