Topic: managent

Order Description The case 11- A: Distribution at Hewlett-Packard. The case 12-A : Stop and GO at J.C Penney Company. The case 13-A: Get Healthy or Get out. The case 14-A : Social Network Gone Wrong. process could maximize efficiencies. The team designed a 405,000-square-foot facility and specified the precise equipment and layout of the operation. For example, sort-ing machines can sort more than forty-five pieces a minute, enabling the company to process more than sixty thou-sand products each day. Inventory is now stocked after it's received in the warehouse in minutes—rather than the nearly eight days it previously took. Packing and crating is done with the assistance of robotics. Workstations for employees were redesigned to reduce their involvement in handling products. And a special shipping dock is equipped such that shipments can be held and their weights deter-mined right up to the moment that Federal Express backs up to the dock. The cargo is then immediately placed into the trucks and the drivers are sent to the airport. As the. FedEx drivers head to the airport, they use their cell phones to call in the cargo's weight and drive to a waiting aircraft—and the cargo is off to the customer. Was Loretta's team successful? Yes. The new dis-tribution facility is getting its orders filled within the Case 11-B: Bullying in the Locker Room The team locker room was a tough place for everyone, but especially for new players like Thomas. As part of a culture designed to "toughen up" players, every player felt free to harass every other member of the team. Slurs and taunts were hurled openly on the field and in the locker room with seemingly no topic being off limits. To an outsider it would appear that many of the players were being bullied by stronger, more senior, members of the team. However, these same players often commented that although "things were done in a humorous and maybe off-color way, they were not intended to make anyone feel bullied or abused or anything of that nature" and actually stemmed from the desire to develop a culture of locker-room "brotherhood," not bullying. Thomas felt differently, and even though the teasing and vulgar banter went on between him and all the players, with references to sex, drugs, violence, and bawdy behav-ior, often in a jocular tone, he still felt uncomfortable. Often complaining to his parents and friends that bullying and harassment at the hands of his teammates caused him "significant emotional distress," everyone was surprised when he abruptly left the team, was briefly hospitalized, and then underwent counseling for emotional issues. His teammates commented that Thomas should have toughened up and not let the "sticks and stones" break his bones. They felt that as far as some of the words that were used toward him, he should have been more confi-dent and secure in his sexuality, not letting anything that anybody" called him or said to him affect his need to go Chapter 11 Developing Groups 317 four-hour limit as contractually required. Additionally, by consolidating the previous six independent facilities into one operation, productivity has risen by more than 33 percent. RESPONDING TO THE CASE 11-14. Why do you think a team was needed for the design of a complex project like the distribu-tion center for HP? How would you classify this team? 11-15. Do you believe that the advantages accrued from specialization (see Chapter 4, "Organizing") are lost or diminished when individuals from different specialties are put together on a team? Discuss. 11-16. Do you think Loretta Wilson's team achieved its objective? Explain. Source: Based on T. Feare, "Speeding HP Orders 'Out the Door in Four,'" Modern Materials Management, May 1999, 40-43. about his business and do the best he could for the team. Teammates went on to say that, "bullying was not the appropriate term for what happened because nobody physically harmed him or made him do anything and he always had an option to say yes or no. It was never like he got bullied and was in fear for his life." Privately some of his coaches commented that he shouldn't have kept the situation to himself and should have let others know how he felt. The coaches and even some of his teammates felt completely blindsided because everybody wasn't aware of the extent of the taunting. In fact, since Thomas was also sending messages back and forth and kind of joking with them, everyone thought he was in on the joking and they didn't see the situation for what it was. RESPONDING TO THE CASE 11-17. Thomas' coach survived the fallout but was heav-ily criticized for claiming he was unaware of the fraternity-house behavior happening in the locker room. Is it reasonable to believe a coach or any supervisor responsible for creating and monitor-ing the workplace environment could not know what was happening in their organization? Why or why not? 11-18. Discuss the topic of group norms as related to this case. How might revising the group norms improve this situation?