Organizational Behavior Monday, June 18, 2012
After reading through this case several times it’s still both interesting and frustrating how such a talented group can be held back because of their emotions while competing in a sport based on physical strengths. The Army Crew team was hand selected by Colonel Stas Preczewski, Coach P, and split into the traditional Varsity and JV teams. Although the Varsity team was comprised of the eight strongest rowers they were consistently outperformed by their “weaker” counterparts on the JV team. I believe the Varsity team loses to the JV team because they cannot come together as a whole; each member is focused primarily on himself. Throughout the case there are …show more content…
Coach P needs to create an environment for effective group development with each person recognizing that he as an individual will only truly succeed by working with and relying on his teammates; a key milestone for any team. Finally the team must adopt a system of group responsibility instead of individual blame. Although I feel the season could have turned out very differently if Coach P would have taken a more active role and intervened earlier, the race on Tuesday must go as planned. The JV team shouldn’t be punished for becoming a cohesive group and should be rewarded for a successful season by being allowed to compete at Nationals as a team. Coach P should tell the Varsity boat the following: they made progress last night by getting their feelings out to each other, they will compete one final time as
a team, and, “Prove to yourselves and everyone else that for one race you can act as one unit and reach your boat’s full potential.” Coach P must accept the damage is done this year, let the two teams compete as they are accustomed to, then regroup and make adjustments going in to next year to create more successful boats. Comparing the Army Crew team to other types of organizational teams is tough because in no other sport are eight people working together in unison; assessing an individual during competition is especially difficult. However, there are similarities when looking at relay teams such as in track or