Question #1: How do the standards set by Fred Smith for Federal Express teams improve organization performance?
FedEx establish a standard of commitment to total quality service and also the company was ranked consistently as Worlds Most Admired Companies, 100 Best Companies to Work For and other such awards. So from the beginning high standards were set and now in the increasing adjustable and competitive business environment FedEx has to set new standards in order to maintain all those achievements.
Frederick W. Smith organizes the company in eight business units. Splitting the company in eight business units made much easier to control the efficiency of each business unit. Also this reorganization allowed a better managing of the employees.…show more content… The most important characteristic is the fact that Self Manage Teams have a higher decision making authority. The simple fact that team members are involved in the decision-making process has two immediate effects: team members are highly motivated because they have a sense of belonging and ownership in one’s work and they feel responsible for the result of their decision.
Another characteristic of Self Manage Team is that team member’s roles are exchangeable. This has in my opinion two consequences: one is that the company is able to return much more from its employees potential and second, the employees are much more motivated because trough this role changes they have the opportunity to do new tasks and avoid to be bored.In FedEx the use of Self Manage Teams retained a high level of employee’s engagement. Quality Action Team and the superteams are clear examples of Self Manage Teams usage in order to increase efficacy but also to possess all employees involved and…show more content… According to case, FedEx was organized superteam. These teams were self-managed and had little supervision from the managers. Such teams were directly involved in solving problems which saved a lot of money and improved company efficiency and profitability. In order to have Self Manage Team performing effective he had to build the work environment needed for this team. People are usually afraid to take responsibilities also the teams are afraid. In order to minimize this he had to build a job-secure environment so, that people are not afraid to take decisions even if sometimes the results are not very good.
Team-Centered Decision-Making Model
The team-centered approach empowers team members to make decisions and follow through. Advocates of the team-centered approach argue that empowerment results in a more dedicated, energetic, and creative workforce. Managers are by no means obsolete at FedEx. Smith has redefined their roles. There has been a shift in mindset from the traditional leader-centered to the team-centered leadership approach.
Question #4: Leaders play a critical role in building effective teams. Cite evidence from the case that Federal Express managers performed some of these roles in developing effective