Organisational Behavior: Effective Team Leadership for Product Launch

This report addresses the challenges faced by a team leader in managing a virtual and multicultural team to launch a new product within a tight six-week deadline. The primary issues include cultural diversity leading to communication difficulties, conflicts among team members regarding the project's mission, and a lack of synergy hindering decision-making. The proposed solutions involve initiating crisis meetings via video conferencing to clarify goals and responsibilities, establishing clear communication channels, implementing diversity training programs, and linking rewards to outcomes to enhance motivation. The report also emphasizes the importance of selecting effective team members and creating a conflict resolution mechanism to foster harmony and improve team performance. Ultimately, effective leadership, communication, and team building are crucial for overcoming these challenges and achieving successful product launches.

Running Head: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 0
Organisational Behavior

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Contents
Problem of Johnson...............................................................................................................................2
Solutions for product launch..................................................................................................................2
Selection of effective team....................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................4

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Problem of Johnson
On the role of team leader of virtual and multicultural team, Johnson is required to
provide the leadership in order to develop a new product within the six weeks. It has given a
normal break away of the normal product that usually requires three months to launch.
Therefore, the main problem lies in their team member that is one of the main challenges for
Johnson to create the synergy in the group. The synergy in the team member can help the
group to beat the deadline. Cultural diversity is the major factor of problem as it has led the
Johnson to use different styles of communication (Alhejji, Garavan, Carbery, O'Brien &
McGuire, 2016). In the virtual team, some members prefer written communication whereas
some prefers oral communication. In addition, due to the different geographical locations, the
response timings are also different.it is necessary to receive the urgent response while doing
any urgent task so that it can bring with effectiveness. It was the first issue that Johnson was
facing.
The second problem was the existing conflict among the three members in team. All
the arguments were about the mission of the group. These members were disagreeing from
the actual mission which was for every member. All the members have different idea about
the limitation in a team. This disagreement further hampered the synergy and unity in the
group. Due to the lack of synergy, it led the slower decision-making in the past. This will be
the big problem in launching the new product within the timeframe of six weeks. In addition
to all these, there are still conflicts related to adequate structure for the enhancement of unity
as well as teamwork in the group. Hence, there was no meeting held for all the members.
Solutions for product launch
The above-mentioned problems can be solved by taking various measures. It can
divide all the problems and can take short-term solutions. It will help in launching the product
within the time as planned. As a leader of virtual team-members, role of Johnson is to provide
effective guiding to its members. Conflict resolution and effective communication should be
the top priority of every leader (Dunn, Grannan, Raisinghani & Stalling). It can initiate a
meeting that will be attended by all the members. The meeting will held through video
conferencing in which the focus will be given on the crisis. With the help of this meeting, the
main goal of team and the responsibility of each member for the urgent matter will be

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conferred. Besides this, it will also discuss the specific rules for communication and feedback
that is agreed by all the members.
It should also show the short clip that assist the member in guiding toward the exact
development of product. The problem of different communication channel can be solved by
specifying one major channel of communication. There should be an official channel of
communication for allowing the members to consult with each other. “Mission conflict “can
be solved by deciding a specific mission of the team for the launch of new product. It is also
seen that these members are communicating from geographical location; therefore, diversity-
training programme will be sound for multi-cultural team (Jiang, Flores, Leelawong & Manz,
2016). This training program will ensure the members to learn effectively in a team of
different cultural background. Among all these, motivation plays an important role in leading
a virtual team. Linking of reward with outcomes tends to produce better output in specified
time framework.
Selection of effective team
All the solutions explained above are the effective measures to reduce the limitations
in a team for launching a new product. In the long run, effectiveness of virtual team is
determined by the selection mode and its formation. The first step for formulation of better
team is identifying a great leader. Leaders are the one who take the initiate for everything in a
team by recognising the skills and cultural gaps that exist in a virtual and diverse team that
are discussed by the Johnson (Liao, 2017). It is also essential for the leader of a team to
provide on the job training for the cultural and skills improvement within the members.
In the development stage, leaders must define the mission and values of team from the
onset. This will help the leader in getting only those members who do not have problem
regarding the mission of the company. It will generate a pool of skilled members in team. In
addition, all the members will be able to understand the concern and purpose that may be
addressed by those ( Erez & Shokef, 2015). Conflicts related to various issues definitely came
in leading a multicultural background team. Therefore, it is mandatory to create the “conflict
resolution mechanism” while formulating a team. This will help in effectively addressing the
potential conflicts that might occur in future. Team building skills is also one such measure
that helps the members in understanding its team in a better way. Therefore, the team is

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required to have structures for development as well as team building. It will promote the
harmony and synergy among the team members.
Conclusion
In the limelight of above discussion, it can be stated that a leader is required to face
various problems in managing the teams of different cultural background. For leading a team
effectively, synergy and harmony is the top most requirements. In multi-cultural team, the
idea of each members is different due to which if one member will be agree on some point
then other will surely disagree. Therefore, decision-making is the biggest problem that the
leader faces.
All the issues faced by the team member can be removed by acting appropriately.
Effective communication is a best technique to solve the conflicts lying between these
members. Video conferring proves to be best communication tool when teams are from
different locations. By taking a crisis meeting through video conferencing, members will
come to know the goals and responsibilities that are to be fulfilled by them.
It is clear that effectiveness of team will depend on the selection mode as well as
formulation. However, the formation of better team depends on the leader. In this way,
leaders should take the initiative for effectively leading the team. It should adopt effective
leadership style that encourage its team members to effectively participate in group.

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References
Alhejji, H., Garavan, T., Carbery, R., O'Brien, F., & McGuire, D. (2016). Diversity training
programme outcomes: A systematic review. Human Resource Development
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Dunn, S., Grannan, C., Raisinghani, M., & Stalling, H. (2015). Communication Strategies for
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International Conference on (pp. 364-373). IEEE.
Erez, M., & Shokef, E. (2015). Cultural Intelligence and Global Identity in Multicultural
Teams. In Handbook of Cultural Intelligence (pp. 195-209). Routledge.
Jiang, X., Flores, H. R., Leelawong, R., & Manz, C. C. (2016). The effect of team
empowerment on team performance: A cross-cultural perspective on the mediating
roles of knowledge sharing and intra-group conflict. International Journal of Conflict
Management, 27(1), 62-87.
Liao, C. (2017). Leadership in virtual teams: A multilevel perspective. Human Resource
Management Review, 27(4), 648-659.