Case Study Analysis: Should Peter Salvage The Vigor Team?

The Case Study Analysis

I) fearsome threesome,

In this case study analysis, fearsome threesome, was a team which was developed in order to awaken the sleeping dog of the Vigor skin care industry. This team was made up of three people: Josh Bartola, Peter Markles, and Sandy Fryda. Heimbouch, (2001 p.1) every member of this team had a different I dears tabled during their meetings. At the end of the first four years of working together, each individual was able to perform past their ability by turning the division into a leader. Unfortunately, the fearsome threesome began to fall due to problems of manufacturing and other key setbacks in the team.

ii) The contribution of each team member of the fearsome threesome into the success of Vigor brand.

In the team, Peter was the leader brought from a big consumer goods industry with the aim of revitalizing the vigor skin care. Peter had previously worked for 15 years and his experience lead to a major contribution. Peter had several names in the hierarchy of leadership like the manager of the national accounts, the manager of the global accounts, he was named the vendor of the tear twice by one of the retail chain giants and now he is the vice chair of the division. Peter loved utilizing his skills in order to produce the best outcome. Though Peter did not possess MBA degree, ‘’ his street smart, hard work and people skills more than made for what he lacked in advanced degree”. Peter despite having all the leadership skills, (Armstrong, 2018 p.12) the success he achieved could not be possible without his teammate’s abilities and ideas.

Josh was the major piece of the fearsome threesome team. He had acquired his own name called the founder of snap, which was a small cosmetic industry unlike peter before coming to vigor skin care, he had past experience. Josh got involved in the company after he was able to transform his own company into a winning one without even a single experience as per the research. He was creative with great knowledge as well as enthusiasm, hence the greatest asset of the team. His creativity and knowledge could not be touched because he was fiercely independent, naïve and a creative entrepreneur at the same time. Finally, there was a long time vigor marketer by the name Sandy. She had a full knowledge concerning the company and all that was going on. She says ‘’ I know where the bodies were buried” Heimbouch, (2001p.2). She had the same motive of making things work better for the company like Peter. Therefore she also played a significant role in the organization. Every member of the group contributed to a different I dear which motivated each other right from internal issues to leadership and creative brains, hence helping the team move the company into a large profit-making industry.

Evaluation of whether it was unrealistic for Peter to assume that the team will produce the same success by having the same energy and motivation

iii) Other contributors to the successful building of ageless vigor management team

The purchase of the snap was the main factor which contributed to the success of this team. The purchase of Josh small cosmetic industry gave the team the basic idea of where to start from and to work with Josh who was a real entrepreneur. Heimbouch (H 2001 p.3) Sandy’s uncanny ability to anticipate corporate headquarters contributed to the team success. She played a role of political advisor due to the fact that before the coming of Peter and Josh, she knew the company very well.

Evaluation of whether it was unrealistic for Peter to assume that the team will produce the same success by having the same energy and motivation.

The fact that Peter did not possess the degree in MBA, the reason could still lie in his hands. He poorly managed that. To me, I don’t think it was unrealistic that Peter assumed the fearsome threesome team will continuously have the same energy level and motivation. I believe it wasn’t planned from the start to end, and it’s due to this that the team got hurt when they started experiencing manufacturing problems (Daft, and Marcic, 2016 p, 1). To me, Peter acted immortally because manufacturing issues are always present in the industries which the team was to find a way of handling them. If Peter was having leadership skills, (Katzenbach & Smith 2015 p.13) all plans of product manufacturing, transportation of products to the store and on how to maintain proper communication with all the stakeholders could be present from the beginning. If truly he was a good leader, he could have realized when those issues within the team started to show up. The problem could have been fixed as earlier as possible through a meeting so that all of them could on the same page. What we see is that Josh is getting well with his life while sandy is getting bored and tired is when Peter is realizing. To me, that was getting late.

iv)To get the product line back on track and the fearsome threesome, someknowledge, skills, personal attributes, and experience is required.

According to Kerzner, and Kerzner, (2017 p.6) Planning is a skill need to bring back the management team and the products line on the truck. It seems planning is lacking in this case and that is why there is a fallout of vigor ageless products and manufacturing cutbacks. To Peter, leadership skills are what is required and maturity. Planning a meeting with the fearsome threesome team to inquire whether they still want to be part of the company or they want to stay. That should be the starting point of peter so that he can take the next action of acquiring another team or hiring an expert who is well in uniting the team and reviewing the company annual report to detect if any change has occurred since then.

The Reflective Statement

Conclusions from the case study.

In conclusion, leadership is the most key role in ensuring success. The three members made the company realize good profits even though they seemed not to be a good team. If all members of a team are aiming towards achieving a certain set of goals, they will end up contributing to useful ideas that will be of help toward achieving the company objectives (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017 P.9). It is also important as a leader to be sensitive about the operation of the team and the company at large. Finally, planning cannot be avoided at any level since it is the apex of success. A company cannot achieve without planning and forecasting the future.

Understanding groups and managing teams

Salas, et al (2015 p 599) a group can be defined as two or more interdependent or interactive individuals who partner in order to achieve a common set of objectives, with each member being assigned a role, for instance, the big player, the gorilla, the spotter among other roles. Groups can be formal or informal. Formal groups are those developed by an organization with the aim of aiding in achieving the organizational goals. While the informal groups are natural groups occurring the business set up or workplace aiming at forming a friendship or achieving common interests, (De Board, 2014 p.65).

In today’s business world, managers have come to the realization that it is only a team-based approach that they are able to produce better products at a lower cost and also increase their sales. Bolman, and Deal, (2017 p.11) although the aspect of team creation is seen not to be successful at the end, well planning of various activities will help reinvigorate team productivity and put them in a better position in the organization of dealing with the rapid change in the business environment. One might have several experiences of working in a team, but without the planning aspect and leadership skills as well as approaches to problem-solving, the team might not be effective in the future, (Cameron and Green, 2015 p.43).

The major behavior concepts of the group are first, the roles, those are the behavior patterns needed of any member who joins the group. The group will be required to adjust to the roles in group so that they are able to move on the same page. Secondly, the norms. This is recognized and acceptable standards which every member should have. In the business context, each group member is required to possess common set norms. For instance, performance oriented, dress codes among others. Thirdly, the conformity is where a group is required to adjust their behaviors in order to match with their norms. There is a status system which means position, ranking in a group and understanding important factors. Finally the size of the group and group cohesiveness. It is important to understand the degree of group unity sharing a specific set of goals, (Sessa and London, 2015 p.3).

The organizations are adopting the team best approach after founding out that teamwork is more flexible and responsive to the changing environment than the traditional departments. They can quickly collect, deploy, disband and refocus. A work team is a group containing members working on a specific set goal by use of their individual as well as mutual accountability, positive synergy, and their recommendable skills. While workgroup interacts only on the basis of sharing information and making decisions that will help each other perform effectively and efficiently in their job. They do not involve in joint efforts. Levi, (2015 p.18) the use of teams in the organization is helping to generate much output without increasing the inputs used.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the concept of working as a team requires cooperation among employees, information sharing, differences confrontation and do away with personal interests for the purposes of achieving the set objectives. Managers or leaders, therefore, are required to build teams that are effective through understanding the performance and satisfaction influences, (Randel et al 2018 p.190). The challenge that managers are facing is associated with global team management and understanding when are the teams not the solution.

References

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Levi, D., 2015. Group dynamics for teams. Sage Publications, pp. 10-25.

Sessa, V.I. and London, M., 2015. Continuous learning in organizations: Individual, group, and organizational perspectives. Psychology Press, pp 1-6.

Salas, E., Shuffler, M.L., Thayer, A.L., Bedwell, W.L. and Lazzara, E.H., 2015. Understanding and improving teamwork in organizations: A scientifically based practical guide. Human Resource Management, 54(4), pp.599-622.

Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers pp.40-48.

De Board, R., 2014. The psychoanalysis of organizations: A psychoanalytic approach to behaviour in groups and organizations. Routledge, pp 62-68.

Randel, A., Galvin, B., Shore, L., Ehrhart, K., Chung, B., Dean, M., & Kedharnath, U. (2018). Inclusive leadership: Realizing positive outcomes through belongingness and being valued for uniqueness. Human Resource Management Review, 28(2), 190-203. Doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.07.002

atzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2015). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press, pp 8-17.

Heimbouch, H., 2001. Should this team be saved?. harvard business review, 79(7), pp.31-8.

Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 6-15.

Daft, R.L. and Marcic, D., 2016. Understanding management. Nelson Education pp.1-7.

Armstrong, D., 2018. Organization in the mind: Psychoanalysis, group relations and organizational consultancy. Routledge, pp 10-14.