Addressing the Challenges of Groups and Teams
Ignaz Schwinn founded Schwinn in the 1890s (Witte, 2004). The company gained popularity during the Depression by developing durable and stylish bicycles (Witte, 2004). Then, during World War II, the company experienced employment growth much as other factories during that time, which helped increased the median family income (Witte, 2004). Suring this time, Schwinn bicycles became a sign of doing well in the middle class and the bikes accounted for one in every four bikes being sold in the United States (Witte, 2004). Schwinn further gain popularity in the 1970s as an exercise fad took place (Witte, 2004). Due to globalization within the industry, imports begin to enter the market with bicycles that were cheaper and made to suit the changing consumer needs and wants (Witte, 2004). Schwinn, however, did not change how their bikes were made. Schwinn management would have benefited from a team formed to address the issues of globalization.
Effectiveness of a team
Schwinn management could have benefited from a team formed with the task of dealing with globalization and the changes within the industry. A team is a small group of people whose members have a common purpose, interdependent roles, and complementary skills (Yukl, 2006). Management would have first determined the task for the team, and the type of team needed to achieve the task. In this instance, a self-managed team would have been appropriate to deal with globalization within the bicycle industry. Self-managed teams are usually responsible for producing a certain type of product or service (Yukl, 2006). In this type of team, management’s authority is turned over to the team members (Yukl, 2006). Members of a self-managed team have similar backgrounds. Schwinn management could have formed the team from production management. These people are knowledgeable on costs and other assembly line factors that would have helped management embrace the globalization... [continues]

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