A new production team has been formed by taking experienced high achievers from existing teams within the factory. The members of the new team have not been required to learn any new skills, and the machines used are identical to those used in their former teams. The team's production supervisor is a longtime employee of the organization but has not previously worked with any members of the new team. Despite the abilities and previous individual achievements of the individual team members, management is surprised by the mediocre performance of the new team. The best approach for the production supervisor to improve performance would be to:
- Increase pressure on the team through higher goals and reprimands.
- Replace the individuals on the team.
- Provide opportunities for the team members to socialize with each other.
- Do nothing now because it is too soon to draw any conclusions.
Answer(s): C
Explanation:
As the team members work and socialize, cohesiveness will be enhanced because of the opportunity to discover commonalities and share experiences. However, performance may or may not improve as cohesiveness increases. Improvement is also contingent on the group's performance norms. A cohesive group enforces norms. Thus, if norms are high, greater cohesiveness should result in better performance.