Chapter 13
The Fun Team
Carolyn M. Anderson and Heather L. Walter
Case Overview
BC Financial Services, a Fortune 500 company, is a financial services business, headquartered in the Midwest with multiple call centers located throughout the U.S. In this case, Alex Smart, founder and president, rules under a conservative philosophy. Ed Parker, a long time employee of BC, is second in command as comptroller and Alex’s personal friend. The president asked Chris Johnson, a MBA graduate with excellent communication and group skills, to lead the Internet group to a number one position in e-business market share. Pat Kiniski is a trusted coworker and friend of Chris who provides social support. Lei and J.T. are new hires at BC who spearhead the move to create a unique group cultural identity with a foosball table, carpet, furniture, and paint. All is not as great as the group had hoped it would be, when Ed Parker refuses to permit the expenditures necessary for the formation of the group’s new identity.
Learning Objective
This case provides a means for students to: (a) examine how an organization’s culture and environment present barriers to micro groups in the creation of their unique culture; (b) recognize that changing from autonomous control to empowering groups to act on their own vision can be a challenging step for leaders facilitating organizational change; and (c) appreciate the role of nonverbal communication in groups and organizations.
Keywords and Definitions
Camaraderie—the cohesiveness a group of individuals develop as a result of friendship and from being colleagues. It is the hope that micro groups within an organization will develop a healthy degree of cohesiveness, collegiality, and camaraderie.
Conservative philosophy—a conservative philosophy towards organizational management stemming from the classical approach to leadership. Classical leadership orientations focus on control, power, and decision making being held primarily at the top of the organizational hierarchy.
e-commerce or e-business—e-commerce involves businesses, which operate, at least partially, on the Internet.
Foosball table—foosball is a table game (similar to pool or air hockey) that simulates a soccer-type game. The “players” are attached in opposing rows to rods, which players can manipulate to work the game.
Group culture—a shared sense of values, beliefs, and visions held by group members.
Innovative ideas—those that are creative, new, and unique.
Market share—the percentage of an industry that a company controls in terms of customer base.
Key Case Concepts
Change management—change management is the process of managing, facilitating, and/or coping with changes in an organization’s structure or culture.
Macro culture—Macro culture is a term used to suggest that the organization holds a set of shared values, beliefs, and visions. This culture has many possible mini or micro cultures as subsets of the organization.
Micro culture—Micro culture is the shared values, beliefs, and visions held by a subgroup within a larger organization with a culture. The subgroup may form its own micro culture, but only within the confines and context of the larger macro culture.
Chapter 13 Questions
1. How would you describe the culture of Chris’ Internet group? What particular examples indicate the culture?
2. Did the “Fun Team” make a good decision for a playground environment?
3. Should Chris have communicated with Ed before approving invoices for a foosball table, carpet, furniture, and paint?
4. What can the Internet group do in light of the obstacles they face?
5. As leader of the Internet group, what steps can Chris take to help the group battle for their rights to change?
6. How does structuration theory explain the forming of the Internet group’s culture?
7. Can a micro culture conflict with the macro culture? What implications might this type of conflict have on the organization as a whole? To the group? What obstacles exist for any structuring micro culture?
8. What leadership theories apply to Alex? Chris? Are the differences in core management philosophy productive or destructive to the organization? To Chris’ group?
9. This case was written with both Chris and Pat being men. Would the social support relationship between Chris and Pat differ if they were both women? Or mixed sex?
10. What communication strategies should the Internet group use to confront obstacles by the organization?
11. In what ways does nonverbal communication allow us to understand culture in organizational groups? The organization as a whole?
References and Resources
Barnett, G. A. (1988). Communication and organizational culture. In G. Goldhaber & G. Barnett (Eds.), Handbook of Organizational Communication (pp. 101–130). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Fitzgerald, T. H. (1988). Can change in organizational culture really be managed? Organizational Dynamics, 17, 4–15.
Frost, P. J., Moore, L. F., Louis, M. R., Lindberg, C. C., & Martin, J. (1991). Reframing Organizational Culture. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Hutch, M. J. (1993). The dynamics of organizational culture. Academy of Management Review, 18, 657–693.
Poole, M. S. (1999). Group communication theory. In L. R. Frey (Ed.), D. S. Gouran & M. S. Poole (Assoc. Eds.), The Handbook of Group Communication Theory & Research (pp. 37–70). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Deal, T., & Kennedy, A. (1982). Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Eisenberg, E. M., & Goodall, H. L., Jr. (2001). Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint (3rd. ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press.
Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Boston: Harvard School Press.
Martin, J. (1992). Cultures in Organizations. New York: Oxford University Press.
Martin, J., & Siehl, C. (1983). Organization culture and counterculture: An uneasy Symbiosis. Organizational Dynamics, 3, 52–64.
Poole, M. S. (2003). Group communication and the structuring process. In R. Y. Hirokawa, R. S. Cathcart, L. A. Samovar, & L.D. Henman (Eds.), Small Group Communication: Theory & Practice (8th ed). Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing.
Epilogue
The foosball table remains on the fourth floor of BC Financial Services, mainly as a conversation piece. Despite Ed’s insistence, the table was unable to be returned and thus the Internet team got to keep it. The expenditures for paint, furniture, and carpet for the workspace were not approved as the team had hoped they would be. As expected, the refusal of the larger culture to permit this group to carve out their own micro culture left the members deflated and resentful.
Today, the group composition of the Internet team is quite different. After two years, only one of the original members of the team and Chris are still there. Over the two intervening years, the Internet team has grown to over 60 members, so large that Chris often has difficulty remembering everyone’s name. The unit, itself, has been a successful arm of the organization, and continues to grow because of the demand for technological advancement. Members, however, come and go on a regular basis. Chris has heard the members refer to their positions as, “just a job . . . until something better comes along.” Similarly, Chris is just biding time until a better opportunity somewhere else becomes available.