OVERHEAD REDUCTION TASK FORCE
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Evaluation of Dixon in setting up the task force
Since the team phenomenon has become very important in organization as means to solve critical problems, the idea of Dixon forming a task force to determine how to reduce overhead cost is a good one. Miller asserts in her article on group development that "teamwork is everywhere. More than ever before, organizations are recognizing the types of situations for which group work can provide a key competitive advantage" (Miller, 2003).
It was also a good idea to have Williams lead the task force since as the Controller, he has overall responsibility over the fiscal issues of the company.
Despite the fact that overhead cost reduction is considered by Dixon to be very urgent, I think it was a hasty decision she made to form the task force.
Since the composition of the task force is not indicated in the case, I will assume it was composed of all division managers. If this assumption is true, I think this poses a major problem for them to work as a cohesive team given the inter-divisional conflicts already existing at Countertop. This type of problem was identified by Denison in his analysis of what is referred to as cross-functional team (CFT). He cites the works of Hackman (1987, 1990) whose "model of team effectiveness conceptualizes the impact of organizational context on teams in terms of three main influences: (1) the design of the team and its task, (2) the transfer of information, resources and rewards to the team, (3) the existence of process assistance that can be provided to facilitate a team's work" (Denison, Hart & Kahn, 1996).
If nothing occurred to change the situation, on Monday the following might happen:
lots of questions will be asked by the members of the task force trying to seek further clarification and direction;
there will be hesitant participation from division managers since no division will readily agree to payroll reduction in his or her division;
suspicion, fear and anxiety might characterize their attitude since each team member will try to figure out who is out to sabotage their division;
there will be lots of complaints about the organizational structure at Countertop and especially from Erickson, the product development manager who has been complaining about the shortsighted view of the company and that Countertop "was too willing to sacrifice product quality to get more sales";
Graham Chase, the Marketing Manager might question why Williams was chosen to lead the task force since he thinks he is on the path to general management;
There might be initial attempts by the members to get to know each other better...