Leadership Challenges and Dysfunctions in Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear

Problem and Analysis

Task:

Leadership comes with many challenges. You need to motivate, inspire and encourage your teams to work toward common goals. This assignment offers you an opportunity to apply what you have been learning about leadership to a complex business situation. It is designed to help you synthesize the leadership practices we have studied so far into informed recommendations that address the challenges presented in the case.

For this two-part assignment, you will evaluate how leaders can ensure collaboration and cohesiveness among all team members. You will also demonstrate your ability to lead (e.g. appraise, evaluate, interpret, etc.), through this case analysis. Be sure to consider suggestions from your reading of Lencioni's, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Additionally, this case analysis should incorporate concepts and examples from the course lectures, discussions, videos, readings, and DiSC and TKI results.

NOTE: Assignment 2 is broken down into two parts. You will submit Part 1 (Problem and Analysis) of this assignment in Week 7 and Part 2 (Executive Summary, Revisions to the Problem and Analysis, and Recommendations) in Week 10.

Part 1: Problem and Analysis

This assignment will help to integrate these topics with the materials from Weeks 1-3 of the course. As you work on the assignment, be sure to make use of all that we have learned from Week 1 through Week 7, e.g., personal leadership style, the DiSC, TKI, etc.

Instructions

1. Read the case, Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear: Bringing the Executive Team Together
2. Write a 4 – 6 page paper to address the following:
a. Risk to the Business: Despite the success of the business and the talent of individual team members, the Executive Team at Blake Sports Apparel suffers from a number of dysfunctions that are impacting the business. What are the biggest risks this business is currently facing? Explain your position and cite specific examples from the case to illustrate the potential impact of these risks.

b. Successes: It’s a natural tendency when exploring team dysfunction to focus only on the negative; however, Blake Sports Apparel and this Executive Team have a long track record of wins and high performance. Summarize the key successes and positive characteristics of this organization. What are the strengths of the Executive Team?
c. Analysis: Explore the possible causes for the team’s dysfunction, using the questions below to guide you. Include specific examples from the case to support your analysis.
i. How might the company’s early entrepreneurial success have sown the seeds for dysfunction as the business grew?
ii. How would you characterize the level of trust, communication and information sharing among this group?
iii. In what ways do alignment (or lack of alignment) around goals and incentives impact team performance and cohesion?
iv. In what ways are the current team structures and decision making processes impacting the business?
v. In what ways do CEO Cameron Barker’s leadership style and history with the company contribute to the team’s dysfunction?
Professional Formatting Requirements:
• Includes headings and subheadings, with one-inch margins on all sides. See the Sample Professional Paper under Course Documents for an example.
• References must be included and provide accurate information that enables the reader to locate the original source. Application and analysis of course materials and resources is expected, and additional research is welcome.