shalini dutt henry tam 2014pgp346 secg

8/20/2019 Shalini Dutt Henry Tam 2014PGP346 SecG

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Henry Tam and the

MGI Team: AnalyticalReport

S U B M I T T E D O N 2 7 T H F E B R U A R Y

2 0 1 5

In partial fulllment of the WAC

Course

SUBMITTED TO: Dr. Amrita Josi

SUBMITTED BY:Sa!i"i D#tt

$%$&I S'(tio" %


2/10

1

Henry Tam and the

MGI Team: AnalyticalReport

S U B M I T T E D O N 2 7 T H F E B R U A R Y

2 0 1 5

In partial fulllment of the WAC

Course

SUBMITTED TO: Dr. Amrita Josi

SUBMITTED BY:Sa!i"i D#tt

$%$&I S'(tio" %


3/10

)ETTER OF TRANSMITTA)

*H'"r+ Tam a", t' M%I T'am-: A"a!+ti(a! R'ort

Feruary !"# !$1%

&rof' Amrita (oshi

Faculty# Written Analysis ) Communication Course

IIM Indore

*u+ect: A R'ort o" *H'"r+ Tam a", t' M%I T'am-

,ear Ma-am

As re.uested y you# enclosed is an analysis of the case entitled /Henry Tam and

the MGI Team0' The case encapsulates the predicament of Henry Tam# ho is faced

ith the decision of ho he can help his H2* 2usiness &lan team or3 to4ether

more e5ecti6ely in order to achie6e their immediate 4oal' In doin4 so# it hi4hli4hts

ho he must alance the di6ersity and con7icts ithin the 4roup and ma3e it or3

to their ad6anta4e'

I ha6e analy8ed se6eral options and put forard my recommendations in this re4ard

for your perusal'

*hould you ha6e any .ueries# I ill e a6ailale at your con6enience to discuss the

same ith you'

9ours sincerely

*halini ,utt

*ection G

!$1&G&;<

!


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Tale of Contents

Toi( $a/'

No.

Executive Summary Situation Analysis 5Problem Statement Options

Criteria for Evaluation Evaluation of Options 7Recommendation

Action Plan and Implementation

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=>ecuti6e *ummary

The case presents the predicament of Henry Tam# a second year M2A student at

Har6ard 2usiness *chool# and a di6erse team of professionals ith hom he is

collaoratin4 for H2*0s annual 2usiness &lan Contest' It outlines the di6er4ence

eteen creati6e and usiness professionals and their moti6ations and the 6arious

forms of con7ict that arise from lac3 of clarity in roles and di6ersity in a4e#

ac34rounds# nationalities and personalities' This report analyses ho con7ict can

e minimi8ed and di6ersity can e le6era4ed in order to allo such a team to or3

to4ether e?ciently and e5ecti6ely' My analysis proposes that Henry Tam and *asha

should ta3e on +oint leadership@ le6era4in4 Henry0s calm and composed aility to

inte4rate e6eryody0s 6ies and *asha0s ener4y to moti6ate the team@ and that

each indi6idual scope of decision ma3in4 e restricted to only those areas here

they can use their e>pertise to ma3e 6aluale contriutions' This seems to e the

est alternati6e to ensure that the team or3s harmoniously toards achie6in4their 4oal'


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Sit#atio" A"a!+sisHenry Tam# a second year M2A student at Har6ard 2usiness *chool# is in the process

of preparin4 a usiness plan for the annual H2* 2usiness &lan Contest in

collaoration ith Music Games International MGIB and ,ana *oiman# a atch@

mate' The to students ere selected y the founders of MGI@ *asha# I4or andRoman@ to rid4e the 4aps in their 3noled4e and formulate a usiness plan for the

product hich has een touted as a critical success ut a commercial failure' The

founders suse.uently also rou4ht on oard to others@ Ale> *arta3o6 from the

2er3lee Colle4e of Music and ,a6 Clar3 from MIT'

n paper# the team seems stron4' With e>pertise in sales# nance# usiness#

technolo4y and most importantly# music# the team is [email protected] in terms of

3noled4e to ta3e on the challen4e posed y the product' Further# they seem to

ha6e a 4ood mi> of e>perience of the founders and current industry and mar3et

3noled4e of the ne# youn4er memers' Hoe6er# on further analysis there

appear to e deeper# more troulin4 issues hamperin4 the aility of the team toor3 producti6ely as a cohesi6e unit'

The rst issue is the attitude toards di6ersity ithin the team# hich seems to

promul4ate an Dus 6ersus them cultureE that can only reed animosity' This

di6ersity e>ists in the form of nationality# as in the case of the Russians 6iein4

themsel6es as separate from the Americans personalities# as re7ected in the

fre.uent friction eteen ,ana and *asha a4e# as can e seen in the reluctance of

the older# more e>perienced founders to accept the analysis and su44estions of the

youn4er memers and in terms of professional ac34round# hich appears to e

one of their 4reatest stren4ths on paper# ut is not su?ciently ein4 used to their

ad6anta4e'

The di6ersity in professional ac34round is also elie6ed to e the root of a

Dcreati6e 6ersus usinessE di6ide ithin the team@ for e>ample# Henry and ,ana are

more pra4matic and structured in their approach# hile the founders seem to fa6or

an unstructured rainstormin4 format for decision ma3in4' Further# there seems to

e a 4reat di6er4ence in each memer0s moti6ations ith re4ard to the pro+ect@

Henry# ,ana and ,a6 prioriti8e the competition# *asha# I4or and Roman are in it

more for the lon4 haul and hence are relati6ely unpertured y the duration of the

decision ma3in4 process' This ma3es arri6in4 at a mutually satisfactory decision

ma3in4 process e6en more di?cult'

The most serious prolem facin4 the team is the presence of con7ict' What had

started as healthy# necessary ar4uments aout the direction of the company and

the details of the plan no seems to e 4roin4 into dysfunctional con7ict that

seems personal# pittin4 4roup memers a4ainst each other and formin4 su@4roups

ithin the team' ot only do the moti6ations of the team memers seem

incompatile# there are also issues ith re4ard to ho the indi6iduals 6ie their on

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roles and those of others' For instance# *asha ostensily 6ies the H2* students as

interns# hile they 6ie themsel6es as leaders and facilitators# capale of ma3in4 a

si4nicant contriution to the company eyond the scope of the usiness plan' This

con7ict and confusion in roles further muddles the scope of each indi6idual0s

contriution# and is the cause of much of the frustration# friction and ine?cient

distriution of tas3s'

Finally# there seems to e no desi4nated leader ho can inte4rate and moili8e the

team0s e5orts in a sin4le direction and no clear structure in hich the team or3s#

hich is orryin4 4i6en the paucity of time and their limited pro4ress' As one of the

only ne memers hose e5orts and su44estions are respected and hose

temperament is credited ith holdin4 the team to4ether despite heated ar4uments#

Henry is a pi6otal memer on the team' With the deadline fast approachin4# and

ha6in4 in6ested hea6ily in the pro+ect already# he is faced ith the challen4e of

helpin4 his comple> team or3 to4ether etter# in order to accomplish its tas3 on

time'

$ro3!'m Stat'm'"tHo can Henry Tam est facilitate the or3in4 of the MGI team so as to le6era4e

their stren4ths and minimi8e their di5erences

Otio"sOtio" 1: Sideline Sasha and divide work between himself and Dana-

With the usiness plan due in three ee3s and all their e5orts in in6ol6in4 the

other memers earin4 no fruit# Henry can di6ide the or3 eteen the oth

of them and present the drafts of the usiness plan to the team' That is# they

can continue the practice initiated y them in their rst inad6ertent /coup0

a4ainst *asha# thus sidelinin4 the memer ho currently pro6ides the

4reatest resistance to their su44estions'

Otio" 2: Involve everybody and strictly compartmentalize roles-

Henry can ta3e the lead in inte4ratin4 and in6ol6in4 the hole team and then

assi4n specic roles to them on the asis of their .ualications and s3ills'

This ill eliminate the need to run e6ery aspect of the plan y e6ery memer

in detail# as each memer ill ta3e decisions relatin4 to specic aspects of

the usiness plan in the area in hich their e>pertise is most e6ident and

respected y the others'

Otio" 4: Involve everybody and assign specic roles with slight

overlap- This option en6isions Henry and *asha ta3in4 on +oint leadership

roles# and actin4 as an inte4rators and facilitators' It di5ers from the pre6ious

alternati6e in that it assi4ns multiple roles to each indi6idual# since each

person has multiple s3ills and areas of e>pertise' It ill still in6ol6e

compartmentali8in4 the or3 to a certain e>tent# as it ill restrict each


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memer0s scope of participation to only those roles here they can add

rele6ant 6alue'

rit'ria 6or Ea!#atio"

Quality of Decision Making !"#$ It is imperati6e for the process to

yield a result that pro6es successful and 6iale' This is important oth forthe H2* students@ ho ha6e in6ested a lot of time and e5ort already@ and

for the MGI founders@ ho ha6e in6ested a lot of money and e5ort

themsel6es# and participated in the competition to see it nally pay o5' To

achie6e this# the decisions that are ta3en and outlined in the plan need to

e of the est possile .uality'

Minimization of %nhealthy &on'ict !"#$ - There seems to e a lar4e

amount of con7ict arisin4 out of poor communication and the elief of

memers that other parties0 6ies are unfounded and ased on a lac3 of

3noled4e and e>perience' This sort of con7ict is unhealthy and can

undermine the team0s decisions rather than etter them# and hence needs

to e eliminated'

(everaging )*pertise !+#$ @ The team has a di6erse 4roup of

professionals# each of hose e>pertise can pro6e in6aluale and the lac3

of hich has led to the product0s failure in the past' either has complete

3noled4e aout the product and mar3ets y themsel6es# and so it is

crucial for Henry to facilitate a structure hich can use and inte4rate

e6ery memer0s stren4ths to produce the est possile usiness plan'

,bility to Meet usiness .lan Deadline /"#$ Within three ee3s#

almost the entire usiness plan needs to e laid out' Thus# an alternati6e

that allos the memers to or3 to4ether e?ciently and complete the

plan in time is important' This should not# hoe6er# e at the cost of thethree parameters mentioned ao6e# and hence has een 4i6en lesser

ei4hta4e'

Sustainability beyond usiness .lan &ompetition /"#$ 2oth

Henry and ,ana ha6e in6ested a lot of their time and e5ort into this plan

as they are e>cited y the possiility of or3in4 for this start@up after their

M2A' Thus# Henry should also ensure that he does not saota4e this lon4

term possiility in the process of tryin4 to complete the plan .uic3ly'

Ea!#atio" o6 Otio"s=ach parameter has a minimum score of 1 and a ma>imum score of %# 1

representin4 least fa6orale and % representin4 most fa6orale'

Otio"s 8#a!it+ o6D'(isio"

Mi"imi9atio" o6U"'a!t+o"i(t

)''ra/i"/E;'rtis'

A3i!it+ toM''t B&$!a"D'a,!i"'

S#stai"a3i!it+3'+o", B&$!a"

Fi"a!S(or'

"


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Maperience as ell as limited 3noled4e of the industry'

Further# it ould do little# if anythin4# to minimi8e the con7ict that arises ith

*asha# ho disa4rees ith their recommendations' This ill further ma3e it

di?cult for them to +oin the company in future@ one cannot ecome part of an

or4ani8ation ha6in4 undermined and sidelined one of its foundin4 and central

memers'

Otio" 2: With each memer assi4ned a clear role ased on his or her s3ill set#

the team ould e>pedite decision ma3in4 and reduce unnecessary discussion'

Further# as each memer ould e or3in4 on an area hich others

ac3noled4e his e>pertise in# there is li3ely to e relati6elyB less cross@

.uestionin4 of the 6alidity of decisions or unhealthy con7ict' It could also e

e>tended eyond the competition# as this alternati6e does not sideline any

memers' Hoe6er# this alternati6e could eliminate scope for discussion# that is#

healthy con7ict' It also does not fully le6era4e e6ery memer0s s3ills@ some of

them ha6e 3noled4e and e>perience in more than one domain'

Otio" 4: With each memer ta3in4 on a fe roles that they can add rele6ant

6alue to# and minimi8in4 their in6ol6ement in those that they are not

3noled4eale aout# the decision ma3in4 process is li3ely to yield the est

possile outcome and ma3e the most of each person0s s3ills' It is also li3ely to

yield a or3place dynamic that can minimi8e unhealthy con7ict and e

sustained eyond the competition# as is detailed elo'

R'(omm'",atio": Otio" 4Henry has already emer4ed as a potential leader in the process of formulatin4 the

usiness plan as he is calm and assured# and pro6ides analytical sustantiation to

each of his ideas@ therey ein4 one of the fe ne memers ho has 4ained the

respect of each of the others' *asha# on the other hand# has alays een pi6otal to

the MGI team and has een instrumental in moti6atin4 the team to or3' To4ether#

their leadership could 4et far etter results than y pittin4 one a4ainst the other'

Further# alloin4 e6eryone to contriute to e6ery decision has only pro6ed time@

consumin4 and has yielded no results thus far' It seems more prudent# therefore# to

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restrict each indi6idual0s span of in7uence to only those areas in hich they ha6e

rele6ant 3noled4e' ot only ould these decisions e more fruitful# they are li3ely

to e more respected and add more 6alue to the usiness plan and to MGI' nce the

process ecomes more 6isily fruitful# con7ict is li3ely to reduce' A more e?cient

decision ma3in4 process ould also increase the li3elihood of the plan ein4

completed on time'

A(tio" $!a" a", Im!'m'"tatio"

• =ach memer can e allocated certain decision areas ased on their s3ills'

For e>ample# Ale># ,a6# I4or and Roman can e allotted the responsiility of

renin4 the product# *asha and Henry can contriute to de6elopin4 the

mar3etin4 campai4n and ,ana can de6elop a plan for nancin4 the 6enture

in consultation ith *asha'

• Further# each memer can ta3e on additional roles ased on their traits and

temperament' For e>ample# Ale> can act as a mediator eteen the

musicians and usiness students# *asha can inte4rate the team y

moti6atin4 them# Henry0s calm and composed attitude and the respect he

has 4ained can help him act as a facilitator# etc'

• *ince a lot of deate and discussion has already occurred aout the product#

memers no seem su?ciently informed to ta3e decisions ith re4ard to it'

Issues ithin a particular decision area should e resol6ed y the people

desi4nated to it' In case it cannot e resol6ed# memers can le6era4e the

e>pertise of any other indi6idual in another decision area' Restrictin4 the

team si8e and increasin4 speciali8ation ith allo them to tailor the decision

ma3in4 process to the issue at hand'

• The secondary roles ta3en on y memers ill help minimi8e con7icts'

• =ach memer must start 6iein4 themsel6es as part of the MGI team and notas indi6iduals elon4in4 to a particular school# industry# ac34round# a4e@

4roup or nationality' It seems that thus far# the founders ish to portray a

Dunited frontE in front of the ne memers# and ta3e decisions ithout

consultin4 them' *ince their immediate futures are no tied to4ether# it is

important for them to stop ma3in4 this distinction and communicate on a

re4ular asis ith re4ard to e6ery decision that is ta3en'

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shalini dutt henry tam 2014pgp346 secg

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