MGNT 110 A4 Final Assessment – Neel Dhakaan (Student ID Number: 8427513)
Description:
In our management class (MGNT110), my team and I encountered challenges related to
managing conflict and fostering effective teamwork. One important problem that emerged
was the vagueness surrounding task allocation, hence resulting in unclear responsibilities.
Having clear expectations and understanding of one's role reduces pressure and uncertainty.
(Alexander Heinle, 2024, paragraph 6). Overall, for our analysis and presentation of the
Leadership Case Study ‘Clear Hear’, there was a lack of clarity regarding individual roles and
contributions. There weren’t any clear roles as to who was doing what, but rather work was
simply divided with the intention of completing it quickly. At the time, my teammates and I
were unaware that there was a disproportionate share of the workload, which could have been
because of ‘group think’ and limited discussion.
Businesses face significant risks when dealing with low-quality data, greatly affecting their
decision-making abilities (OnGraph Technologies, Medium, 2023, paragraph 1). As a group,
we faced many issues that affected our ability to make decisions as a group. For example,
there were multiple occasions where my group and I had inadequate or incomplete
information. We were often lost and unaware of the assignment that had to be completed in
class and this was mainly because none of us were paying attention. I believe that my group
and I have a low attention span for theory subjects like MGNT 110. For instance, we had to
submit an individual assignment about the person we were looking up to. Our tutorial teacher
had specifically explained where to submit it, but none of my group members were paying
attention. We eventually found out about the submission place after asking around other
classmates. I observed this in multiple cases and assignments, and I think this played a role in
most of the conflicts we faced as a group.
Interpretation:
Communication issues and unclear directions in large, distributed teams can be reduced by
having clear roles, which helps to avoid role confusion (Alexander Heinle, January 5, 2024).
Along with unclear responsibilities, a lack of communication and coordination was a major
problem that our group faced. This was particularly evident in our group activity where we
had to create a building structure using blue tac, straws, and toothpicks. There were unclear
responsibilities and task divisions, and this led to each member implementing their own idea
with no clear practicality. Hence, this resulted in our group failing to create the building
structure on time.
External factors are the uncontrollable elements that impact a business. Uncontrollable
factors such as the economy, politics, competitors, customers, and the weather can all impact
the performance of an organization (RJ Messineo, 2024, paragraphs 2 and 4). Similarly,
during our class, there were instances where two of my group members were absent for some
of the classes and this affected the quality of the coursework we submitted. For example,
during our week 9 tutorial class, we had to submit a design for a bottle where we applied the
SCAMPER model (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, put to other uses, Eliminate, and
Rearrange). Since two of my team members were absent, our idea was not particularly
creative compared to the other groups. This was because two members were absent and hence
there were fewer ideas pitched. Thus, this goes to show that changing external factors, that
cannot be controlled (such as the absence of my team members), will affect the quality of the
decisions made as a group.
Evaluation:
Although we did have some issues during the assignments, I would say that we were a great
team. My team was great at generating unique ideas to complete assignments, however when
time was short, we had to make completion our priority. Besides this, there wasn’t one leader
who was guiding our group, and we were using a democratized decision-making approach
where decisions were unanimously agreed on before they were implemented. I think this
played a role in preventing toxic relationships amongst my team members and it also allowed
unique perspectives to be heard before a decision was made.
Moreover, I was able to recognize the disproportionate share of the workload for Assignment
2 (Case Analysis and Presentation) by using ‘The Rational Model of Decision Making’. The
rational decision-making model involves individuals using facts, information, analysis, and a
systematic process to make decisions (Uzonwanne, 2016). I recognized that I was very
exhausted while working on the tasks I was assigned, and after inquiring, I noticed that my
group members were not particularly stressed about their tasks. With this information, I
decided to act upon it and negotiate the task distribution process and tasks allocated. After
evaluating, I realized that this was a good decision and helped in mitigating the conflicts
associated with a disproportionate share of the workload.
The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) evaluates how an individual behaves
during conflicts. Compromise involves a balance of assertiveness and cooperativeness.
(Thomas-Kilmann conflict MODE instrument, 1976). Initially, my response after realizing
that there was a disproportionate share of the workload (for the Clear Hear Leadership Case
Study) was to avoid the situation entirely and to preserve harmony within the group.
However, after properly evaluating this issue, I realized that this was unfair to me and that my
approach would not solve the problem at hand. Hence, I implemented a compromising
approach (according to the ‘Thomas-Kilmann conflict MODE instrument’), which involved
negotiating with team members to redistribute tasks more equally. In my opinion, this
approach created a more assertive and collaborative relationship with my team members, and
in the end, there was some equal distribution in the work.
Planning:
I have noticed that I generally tend to be a more cooperative team member who avoids
conflicts and tends to focus on fostering positive relationships. However, moving forward, I
intend to adopt a more assertive stance in addressing issues where there is an unequal work
distribution. Moreover, the democratized decision-making approach was a great decision that
our group made. By promoting open dialogue and collaboration, I believe that any team can
use diverse perspectives and skills to enhance the quality of the work that they are producing.
Besides this, to solve the problem of ‘unclear responsibilities’ in my future group work, I
intend to first discuss the strengths of my group members and based on that, then clarify who
will be responsible for the various tasks that need to be completed. This will greatly improve
communication and enhance the quality of output that a group produces.
References:
Alexander Heinle (January 5, 2024)) Zavvy.io: Why Role Clarity Should Be a Key Focus in
Your Organization - And How to Improve It. Available at: https://www.zavvy.io/blog/roleclarity#:~:text=Role%20clarity%20takes%20stress%20and,Tasks (Accessed at 17/03/2024)
RJ Messineo (March 14, 2024) Clear Point Strategy: How To Identify External Factors That
May Affect Your Strategic Plan. Available at:
https://www.clearpointstrategy.com/blog/external-factors-that-affect-abusiness#:~:text=The%20economy%2C%20politics%2C%20competitors%2C,all%20seem%
20within%20your%20grasp (Accessed at 17/03/2024)
OnGraph Technologies, Medium (August 8, 2023). Available at:
https://ongraphtech.medium.com/how-does-poor-quality-data-impact-business-decisions122a4f2f9c47#:~:text=Poor%20quality%20data%20poses%20significant,losses%20and%20o
bstructing%20business%20growth (Accessed at 17/03/2024)
Kenneth W Thomas, Ralph H. Kilmann (1976) ‘Thomas-Kilmann conflict MODE instrument’
Francis Uzonwanne (2016) ‘Rational Model of Decision Making’
Clegg, S, Komberger, M, Pitsis, T & Mount, (2019) Managing ET Organizations: An
Introduction to Theory and Practice, 5th edn, Los Angeles Sage. (Textbook)
Two theme courses chosen: (Week 6 – Managing Conflicts) and (Week 7 – Power and
Decision Making)