In this assignment you will take on the role of a team manager.

In this assignment you will take on the role of a team manager.

In this assignment you will take on the role of a team manager. The team is multi-cultural and it is facing a major management crisis. You will use the details of the scenario found in the Guide file. Then, identify and research key course ideas and principles to write a plan. The essay is your action plan for managing the team.

This assignment uses a business scenario, and you apply theory. Your research assignment task is to write an action plan.(For information about how to organize or format the plan, see a later section).

Approximate page length: Estimated length 6-8 pages

Business Scenario:

You have recently been assigned to lead a 6-person team working on a new healthcare product that could revolutionize the treatment of diabetes. The product would allow glucose readings to be taken without any needles or skin pricks. Obviously, if the product is successful, the team and you stand to earn bonuses, promotions, and industry recognition. However, you are being asked to lead the team because under the former leader, the project team missed several critical deadlines and costs have spiraled out of control.

The team all works out of an office in Maryland. They are:

• John – 43 year old (African-American, born in Bowie, MD)
  Julie – 51 year old (Chinese-American, born in the District of Columbia)
  Jinsoo – 27 year old (Korean, a recent immigrant from Seoul)
  Shahid – 32 year male (Iranian, emigrated to the US when he was six)
  Harpreet – 30 year old female (Indian, emigrated 10 years ago)
  Tom – 63 year old (Caucasian-American, born in Los Angles and recently moved to MD)
• You as the manager and your personal/professional background are likely to impact leading the team

Shahid and Harpreet joined the team 3 months ago. The rest of the team has been together for 3 years.

The new product is due to be delivered for beta testing six months from now. Today was your first day on the job. You have spent the entire day talking to each team member separately. Here is what you have discovered so far:

Shahid and Tom have been in conflict for several weeks over how to approach the design of a critical piece of the product. John and Julie are so disillusioned that they are job hunting, but each has unique skills that you do not wish to lose. Jinsoo tends to isolate himself when there is conflict, which decreases his productivity. Tom believes that the rest of the team is cutting him out of the picture because of his age and lack of interest in using Google hangouts or docs, to create options for brainstorming. Tom would rather just talk about his ideas. You were also briefed by the general manager, who shared that the former team leader had been fired due to unethical practices such as taking bribes from vendors. However, the team members didn’t know that and really liked the former leader; they are angry that he is gone.

Writing the Plan

Using your new course knowledge of multicultural teams, cultural values, and course content modules, write an action plan to get this team back on track. The plan provides specific steps based on course topics. For a suggested approach to report sections, see “Content Factors” of the Evaluation Rubric below.

Most action plans require the following: overview or introduction; summary of the problem(s); a review of important background (such as cultural factors) goals for the plan, specifics of communication strategy, a schedule, and an overview of your resources/role as team leader.

Unlike most business project reports, please include in-text cites of sources in this assignment. Here’s why: Whenever you write a paper in a course, your task is to show that you understand resource material and that you can apply it to specific situations.In-text citations “signal” that you are continuously reading and thinking about application.