Walt Disney Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Walt Disney Company - Essay Example In general the team had pretty good track record of delivering the assigned tasks on time with exception of some minor incidents. The team had strengths and weaknesses that affected the performance of the group. One of the strengths of the team was that it did not waste any time in choosing a topic for the project. This enabled the team to quickly start working on the topic. Another strength of the team was its communication process. The team often utilized emails to communicate with each other. The use of emails was very effective because it allowed the members of the team to exchange information instantly. The members of the team communicated well during meetings. The organization of the team was also very good. Everybody was assigned their own part so we would not have any incidents. The teammate that worked the hardest in the team was Jay. He did more work because every one emailed their part to him and he had to connect and correct all of them before making the final paper. He d eserves a lot of credit for his tremendous work efforts. The weaknesses of the team can be best described by evaluating the work behavior of the members. Shane did a pretty good job, but one time he submitted his part late. Despite his mistake the team was not hurt. The weakest link on the team was Alana. Alana was a problematic teammate that often acted unprofessionally with her antics. Alana contributed fairly to the topic, but it seemed like she always choose the easy part to do. My assessment of Alana is that sometimes she did not take the work seriously. She often laughed at all times about any topic whether it was good or bad. She did not seem to realize that her antics were annoying to the group. She also had the bad habit of nail biting. Another thing is she acted like a child when she kept knocking her pen on the table nonstop during the class and group meeting time. My role in the group was to bring up ideas and make some suggestions at the time we choose topic. I also sub mitted my work on time despite the fact that I had a hard time due to personal problems. I had to come back to my country due to an emergency to resolve a problem. If the team had to work together again next semester I would make changes by establishing ground rules to follow during the team’s initial meeting. I would also increase the amount of meetings during the project to improve the planning and the communication process. The team achieved a coordinated effort. This was accomplished by meeting regularly and by each member being accountable for their actions. The leadership function of the team was not clearly defined, but the team member that showed the most leadership was Jay. I also informally provided leadership to my team by leading through example. I always supported my teammates during the project. I helped my teammates by giving them ideas on how to proceed with their assigned tasks. I was able to build a sense of trust with most of my teammates except with Alana. Her childish behavior made me think she would be an irresponsible teammate. In the end she actually delivered her assigned tasks and performed a fair job. Since leadership roles were not clearly defined by the team I can honesty say that the team exercise did not help me that much in building my leadership abilities. I did not feel compromised by the team because the work was evenly distributed. The team did not experience any major conflicts that would have compromised the project deliverables. The tasks performed by the group were

PetMeds Transformation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PetMeds Transformation - Case Study Example The set of variables are grouped into transformational and transactional factors (Falletta, 2005). This paper focuses on the seven transactional variables, such as structure, tasks and skills, management practices, systems and policies, work unit climate, motivation and individual needs and goals. Burke-Litwin Model defines the organizational structure as an arrangement of functions and people into specific areas and levels of responsibility, decision-making authority, communication and relationships (Falletta, 2005). Such structure shall support the organization's mission, goals and strategy in order to achieve competitive advantage for the firm (Porter, 1985). PetMed Express can be considered as a mechanistic organization that follows the functional departmentalization structure. The company has highly specialized departments with high formalization and a clear chain of command. The company's structure supports its cost leadership strategy by increasing consistency and reducing cost through centralization and management control (McShane, 2001). The company currently has 248 full time employees distributed into four departments of customer care, warehouse, pharmacy and corporate departments. The customer care department consists of customer care representatives in a call center environment while the warehouse department consists of supervisors and associates. The pharmacy department employs pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and support. The corporate department is composed of accounting, legal, marketing, information technology, purchasing and human resources. Below is the organizational diagram of PetMed. (PetMed Express, 2009) Figure . PetMeds Organizational Chart In order to be effective in serving the customers demand, PetMeds employed 143 people in customer care and marketing, 58 people in pharmacy, and 34 people in warehouse and purchasing. Therefore, the structure of human resources in the company is aligned with its mission of delivering exceptional service, savings and convenience to its customers while maintaining a corporate strategy of cost advantage. Tasks and Skills and Motivation The business success of PetMed Express is attributed to the core competencies of their customer care, warehouse and pharmacy department. According to Prahalad and Hamel (1990), the core competencies of a company are the collective learning in the organization that involves communication, involvement and deep commitment to working across organizational boundaries. Therefore, the core competencies provide potential access to a wide variety of markets and make a significant contribution to the customer benefits of its products. The Burke-Litwin Model describes tasks and skills as the behavior required for task effectiveness which includes specific skills and knowledge required to accomplish work (Falletta, 2005). The tasks and skills of an individual coupled with its motivation, or heightened behavior to achieve goals, have a significant impact on organizational performance and productivity. In other words, an empowered and motivated employee will perform its duties and responsibilities when his tasks and skills are matched with the job requirements. The human resource management has an extensive recruitment and selection strategy that identifies the needs of the job as well as the competency of the employee. The bulk of the