Case Study
Summary of the case
ABC Insurance Company has started business in 1990.It has grown quickly over the last 20 years and now has 3 regional offices in the UK. It employs 300 people with the majority employed as Sales Consultants who sell home and personal insurance policies over the telephone. The Company culture is very much about team working, sharing in success and valuing each individual’s contribution to ensure the continuing growth and profitability of the organization. Peter Smith has been with the company for 8 years and has recently been promoted to Sales Manager, based at the Birmingham office and he has management responsibility for 20 Sales consultants. The previous manager of this team of Sales consultants
…show more content…
Then experienced hands will help freshers in their work * Conduct informal meetings once in a month where employees can share their grievances ideas & opinions without any fear
Conclusion
The case can be concluded that an organization that succeeds in reaching its targets therefore necessarily has to inculcate the culture of teamwork in its human resources. Without teamwork and mutual understanding between teams of employees, the organizational juggernaut can never grind its wheels like a well-oiled machine in perfect symbiosis between the different subsystems that comprise it.
Answers to given questions
1. Using relevant theoretical models describe and analyze the characteristics of successful teams and their importance to the organization?
Characteristics of successful teams
* The team must take responsibility and accept credit for its actions as a group and not individually. * Teams must be committed to a common purpose and goal. * Teams must be provided clear expectations and adequate resources to accomplish its goals. * The team must be able to communicate effectively with each other. * Team members must encourage new ideas from others. * Members of the team must be trustworthy. * Members of the team must put the team’s goals ahead of
Teamwork cannot be demanded. Everyone involved must discuss and understand what the goal is and what is required of them. Teams should have traits such as goals and objectives, empowerment, trust, authentic participation, innovation, creativity, risk taking and leadership. (Temme and Katzel, 1995)
It is essential to have teamwork within a company. Companies who have embraced the concept of teamwork have reported increased performance in work production, problem solving and it has stimulated new growth. This group project approach has improved employee morale and increased input when managed correctly. The benefits of teamwork can make a positive effect in the company that incorporates this type of teamwork approach.
In today’s complex and ever changing environment, organization continue to experiment with new forms of team development. Some of the most successful teams bring together employees with different talents and perspectives. In this research report, my aim is to have a clear and deep research on teamwork and how it affects businesses so that I can help Tina and Frank who is coming back from overseas to start their own business. Before could anybody start their business, it is very important to learn certain aspects. Team work is one among them. I have included some of the important information I collected through my research in order to help Tina and Frank succeed in their business.
Effective February 7, 2013, SeaBright Insurance Company (“Seabright”), a Seattle-based insurance company specializing in workers compensation, entered into run-off. In 2012, Enstar Group Limited (“Enstar”), a run-off specialist, purchased SeaBright. SeaBright continues to manage existing claims but no longer writes new or renewal business, which means that premium activity has slowed down. In 2015, a major change occurred when all of SeaBright’s net liabilities (i.e. loss reserves associated with its prior workers comp business) were shifted to an Enstar affiliate, Clarendon National Insurance Company, through a reinsurance agreement. Circumstances that led the company to run-off: SeaBright was placed into run-off driven by weakened underwriting performance associated with reserve strengthening actions for accident years 2007 through 2009, primarily related to increasing medical cost trends. Additionally, SeaBright was facing marketplace challenges associated with its geographic and coverage lines expansion. Seabright has had to deal with significant pressure from its workers comp book developing adversely year-over-year and having to liquidate investments to satisfy claims and expenses. The reinsurance contract with Clarendon did provide major relief but SeaBright still remains a going concern and without premiums coming in and asset base rapidly shrinking, its solvency status as an insurance company remains questionable. The key now is to track the level of credit risk
ABC will assume the risk and expenses of construction overruns. Refer to ASC 840-40-55-2 for Criteria for Determining Whether the Lessee Should Be Considered the Owner of the Asset Under Construction. The risk will increase if the Landlord does the construction. The Landlord has little to no incentive to keep costs within the agreed tenant improvement amount since the Landlord does not have to pay for any excess. For this reason, it may be preferable for ABC to suggest another way to handle tenant improvements.
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." This quote was from Andrew Carnegie. I wondered why an American industrialists quote could add onto my story. But once I finished expanding this paper I realized that this paper has everything to do with those very words.
Having an organization in which everyone is committed to finishing the job will have great value. Working in a team based organization will help members not only respect one another but also provide members to recognize each members worth or contributions. It is possible to achieve success the demanding market without compromising one’s ethical principles yet it can be down by promoting corporate social responsibility.
We would include all employees’ even managers to cooperate better and work as a team. We would also recommend that the staff be properly trained in certain departments. For instance I would recommend the staff have an organization training therefore customers don’t go unnoticed for a long period of time and important documents immediately considered.
Characteristics of effective teamwork include clear purpose, informality, participation, listening, civilized disagreement, consensus decisions, open communication, clear roles and work assignments, shared leadership, external relations, style diversity, and self-assessment. (p. 307), and high performance teams have attributes which includes participative leadership, shared responsibility, aligned on purpose, high communication, future focused, focused on task, creative talents, and rapid response. (p. 323)
This fable was a great way to promote the importance of a team and its functions. This book had many highlights throughout the context and I would highly recommend it to leaders of a corporation or of that of a team like setting. This book offered many great implications of the model and how to use it in many diverse settings when trying to build and manage successful teams.
Kreitner and Kinicki (2013, pp. 307, 323) also wrote that effective teamwork depends on clear purpose, informality, members’ participation, listening, civilized disagreement, consensus decisions, open communication, clear roles and responsibilities, shared leadership, effective external relations, style diversity, and self-assessment, while high-performance teams are created through participative and shared leadership, alignment on purpose, effective communication, future-orientation, task-focus, creative talents, and rapid response. In addition, some industry articles suggested the following criteria for effective teams: diversity, clear goal, effective communication, trust, ownership, job competencies, leadership competencies, morale, and operations metrics (“Characteristics,” n.d.; “Evaluation criteria,” n.d.).
In today's society some corporations have achieved success by replacing the hierarchical boss-subordinate relationship with that of an empowered work team. Many corporations know the value of a high-performance team. A high-performance team has a great deal to offer to the organization. In a team environment, people are not managed, controlled or supervised. They are led by their mutual vision of the organization's purpose and goals. Teams surpass individuals working alone, especially when performance requires several abilities, verdict, and active involvement...
In the government-sponsored organization of Skills for Tomorrow it is important that employees and management realize that effective team management is the key to successful operations. Having a more effective team in place will create a more successful organization by
| * Members participate equally in decision-making, but each member understands that the leader might need to make the final decision if the team can not come to a consensus agreement.
No matter the personalities, effective teambuilding is an ongoing process. As a manager, it is up to you to constantly evaluate and be prepared to tweak the process when needed so that team members feel valued, heard and rewarded. Let’s take a look at the common elements shared by effective, productive teams.