the managing team structures

In the case of Wal-Mart

The company first introduced teams with the aim of expanding the e-commerce network. In order to compete with Amazon and Whole Foods, the company consolidated its technology units (Lindner, 2016).

Teams bring a variety of talents

Collaboration within a company has the ability to produce the desired result. Manager-led teams are one of the categories of teams seen by Wal-Mart. The manager’s job is to set team goals, delegate tasks, and track team results. Wal-Mart, too, has cross-functional departments. The e-commerce platform was designed by a task force at the firm.

Wal-Mart faced the problem of intra-team conflict

When merging technology innovation groups with information system divisions. There was a disagreement on the type of technology to use due to different ideas and team culture. Wal-Mart overcame this problem by holding a meeting to discuss the issue and encourage the team to cooperate towards achieving the organization’s goals (Berfield, 2015).

Another problem included minimizing evaluative pressure

In a manager-led team, the leader has sole authority to evaluate the progress of the team. Increased evaluative pressure tends to decrease motivation and inhibit performance (Peterson, 2015). The organization overcame this problem by encouraging its leaders to use legitimate authority and avoid over attention.

Learning Activity #2

Both the manager-led teams and cross-functional teams have been successful in creating the new Wal-Mart technology unit. According to Bergdahl (2010), the teamwork has helped the organization in aligning functional areas with services. With a team culture, every member focused on enhancing the services offered to customers. The organization has a team that prevents it from offending customers with controversial products (Peterson, 2015). A range of ideas and skills ensured high performance and delivery of high-quality products to customers.

References

Berfield, S. (2015, Nov. 24). How Wal-Mart keeps an eye on its massive workforce. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-walmart-union-surveillance/

Bergdahl, M. (2010, Sept. 21). How the HR division at Wal-Mart drives the company’s success through people. HR Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/how-the-hr-division-at-wal-mart-drives-the-companys-success-through-people

Lindner, M. (2016, January 19). Wal-Mart combines its e-commerce and tech teams. Internet Retailer. Retrieved from https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/01/19/wal-mart-combines-its-e-commerce-and-tech-teams

Peterson, H. (2015, Apr. 2). Wal-Mart CEO reveals the company’s 8 biggest problems. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/wal-marts-ceo-reveals-8-main-problems-2015-4?IR=T

Peterson, H. (2015, Oct. 30). Wal-Mart has a team assigned to keep the company from offending customers. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-has-a-swat-team-to-prevent-the-company-from-offending-customers-2015-10?IR=T