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Army Crew Case Analysis Essay example

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Army Crew Team Case Analysis

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…

Essentially the team was

told not to address their problems with each other in a face to face manner which in turn generated hostility and resentment. The lack of unity resulted in the Varsity team thinking of “me first” instead of team first; this brings to mind Coach K’s saying how the fist is much stronger than any individual finger. Simply put, the Varsity team couldn’t get over their own egos and come together as one unit and their Coach didn’t make the proper adjustments to increase team cohesion. It should not have taken Coach P long to realize the Varsity boat had no leaders, no sense of trust amongst its members, and several team disrupters; “the whole was less than sum of the parts.”As mentioned above, Coach P should have firmly taken control of his team and put discipline measures in place with those not getting on board with his system. He should have pushed open communication and encouraged everyone to admit their mistakes which would be assessed objectively; to grow the team. In contrast, members of the Varsity do not want to admit to their mistakes and are self-centered, “I’m the one who is carrying the boat.” There is no way actions like these are going to build a strong team. Coach P should have intervened once he realized the drastic difference between the two boats showcased by JV emails, “We’re rowing for every guy in that boat because we

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