Chattanooga Ice Cream Case
Introduction
The Chattanooga Ice Cream case shows a decline in sales for 5 consecutive years. The Division is headed by Charles Moore. Although Charles Moore was successful in leading teams he seemed to have major issues with this team of vice presidents. According to the Harvard Business Review Chattanooga Ice Cream Case the team was very dysfunctional; they exhibited a lack of trust, high in conflict, disrespectful of each other and exhibited avoidance issues with accountability. Team members seemed to always lay blame to other member. Moore needs to be more assertive in dismissing the ways of the past and the loss of Stay & Shop business needs to be put aside. Moore needs to give clear direction and assign responsibilities to each team member. Moore needs to convey that team cohesiveness is a must and this will go a long way to help ensure no further loss of business. This paper will examine how Moore’s leadership approach contributed to the teams’ dysfunction, discuss what the group of employees themselves could do to better understand the perspectives of each other and their boss as well as make recommendations about Moore should do now to help his team work together and manage conflicts more effectively.
Why The Chattanooga Ice Cream Team Is Dysfunctional The Chattanooga Ice Cream team is dysfunctional for several reasons. Some of those reasons include an absence of trust, avoidance, and not being accountable. Also, there is a lack of commitment amongst some managers. Moore is also looking for buy-in from all members for group decisions. There was no clear cut rule as to how decisions were going to be made. Simply put Charles Moore failed to incorporate clear operating rules. Week Fours Lecture – Building High Performance Teams suggests that “when managers agree on ground rules in advance, the team are much more likely to run efficiently,” this is especially true with the Chattanooga Ice Cream team. The Wisdom of Teams states that “it is important
The Chattanooga Ice Cream case shows a decline in sales for 5 consecutive years. The Division is headed by Charles Moore. Although Charles Moore was successful in leading teams he seemed to have major issues with this team of vice presidents. According to the Harvard Business Review Chattanooga Ice Cream Case the team was very dysfunctional; they exhibited a lack of trust, high in conflict, disrespectful of each other and exhibited avoidance issues with accountability. Team members seemed to always lay blame to other member. Moore needs to be more assertive in dismissing the ways of the past and the loss of Stay & Shop business needs to be put aside. Moore needs to give clear direction and assign responsibilities to each team member. Moore needs to convey that team cohesiveness is a must and this will go a long way to help ensure no further loss of business. This paper will examine how Moore’s leadership approach contributed to the teams’ dysfunction, discuss what the group of employees themselves could do to better understand the perspectives of each other and their boss as well as make recommendations about Moore should do now to help his team work together and manage conflicts more effectively.
Why The Chattanooga Ice Cream Team Is Dysfunctional The Chattanooga Ice Cream team is dysfunctional for several reasons. Some of those reasons include an absence of trust, avoidance, and not being accountable. Also, there is a lack of commitment amongst some managers. Moore is also looking for buy-in from all members for group decisions. There was no clear cut rule as to how decisions were going to be made. Simply put Charles Moore failed to incorporate clear operating rules. Week Fours Lecture – Building High Performance Teams suggests that “when managers agree on ground rules in advance, the team are much more likely to run efficiently,” this is especially true with the Chattanooga Ice Cream team. The Wisdom of Teams states that “it is important
References: http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/02/22/5-keys-to-dealing-with-workplace-conflict/ Retrieved May 19, 2013 Harvard Business Review Case: “Chattanooga Ice Cream Case” http://humanresources.about.com/od/workrelationships/tp/rebuild-work-trust.htm Retrieve May 19, 2013 Indian Streams Research Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, April 2013)” Johnson, Rick, “Solving Team Dysfunction,” Supply House Times Katzenbach & Smith, “The Discipline of Teams” Lencioni, P (2002) By: Shearouse, Susan H., “Conflict 101: A Managers Guide to Resolving Problems so That Everyone Can Get Back to Work,” In: Conflict One Hundred and One. New York: American Management Association. 2011. eBook.