Utilizing Team Member Expertise Under Pressure

GROUP COMMUNICATION: CASES FOR ANALYSIS, APPRECIATION AND APPLICATION, pp. 143-148, Laura W. Black, ed., Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2010

Posted: 17 Apr 2011

See all articles by Heidi K. Gardner

Heidi K. Gardner

Harvard Law School

Erin McFee

Harvard Business School; Organizing for Health

Date Written: October 1, 2010

Abstract

Pressure intensifies on a strategy consulting team as they deliver a critical project, and the team manager faces a dilemma about her changing role on the team. Although she had been the key decision-maker in the early weeks of the project, Julia Narino now finds that her team increasingly discounts her deep client expertise while deferring to the senior partner’s more generalized contributions. Trouble arises because the client expects the team to deliver a highly customized solution that absolutely requires Julia’s expertise. This case presents an opportunity for students to analyze two prevailing aspects of organizational life: working in teams and working under pressure. This case also offers a platform for instructors to introduce the concept of threat rigidity to the class and explore some of the team behaviors that result from this condition.

Keywords: Performance pressure, threat rigidity, teams

Suggested Citation

Gardner, Heidi K. and McFee, Erin, Utilizing Team Member Expertise Under Pressure (October 1, 2010). GROUP COMMUNICATION: CASES FOR ANALYSIS, APPRECIATION AND APPLICATION, pp. 143-148, Laura W. Black, ed., Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1811887

Heidi K. Gardner

Harvard Law School ( email )

1563 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Erin McFee (Contact Author)

Harvard Business School ( email )

Soldiers Field Road
Morgan 270C
Boston, MA 02163
United States

Organizing for Health ( email )

14 Maple Avenue, Suite 200
Morristown, NJ 07960
United States

HOME PAGE: http://rippelfoundation.org/

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