Recommendation
As part of this work, it is recommended that four employees be selected to serve on the Southwest Transit marketing team. N is chosen as the first recommended candidate since this project requires quick and high-quality solutions; therefore, strong personalities are required. N possesses high competence and ambition, giving himself entirely to the cause without being distracted by gossip. As a team member, she has the most crucial ability to listen to the interlocutor, although she can be influenced. Out of the list of six candidates for this project, unfortunately, W is not suitable because of his perfectionism, which threatens the timing of the project.
Despite her competence and strategic approach that could be useful in this project, M risks getting depressed and missing out on essential details. Given the potential adverse psychological effects of N, M, and K, they may be criticized, but K is more motivated because she is a beginner and not busy with Ph.D. preparation. Demonstrating experience falls to the lot of B, who has gone with the company since its inception. A mature and experienced employee will prevent the emergence of conflicts, guide the team towards the result and bring an understanding of the goals and specifics of the company.
K and S are a new force in the company. As a result, the choice of these two candidates was the most difficult, since the project requires ambitious people, but without work experience in the company, choosing them for a responsible project is risky. Both employees are recent but full of energy and ambition, which is vital for making difficult decisions. S is dependent on the result, but this campaign has a chance to influence the company’s sales and become noticed and recognized. She is also a strong team player, which will promote cohesion, openness, and trust. K is psychologically not so open, but rather the opposite.
However, it is easily adaptable and able to work under high pressure, as this project is limited in time. Although she has a craving for perfectionism, which will be challenging to achieve in the limited time frame, and this fact can lead to conflicts within the team, her knowledge and abilities are worth more than the potential danger of conflict. In addition, it can be resolved either through the experience of B or through friendship with S, who is also a newcomer to the company.
Team
Making a selection decision is always a rather tricky, multi-criteria task. In this case, a team has come together in which a balance of experience and ambition is observed and high competence and complex knowledge of each specialist, which is undoubtedly the team’s strong point. The hardest part is to come to a psychological consensus when building potential situations and conflicts between employees and slowing down work efficiency.
While the professional skills of each specialist may be manifested due to their ambition or experience and knowledge of the company’s processes, as in the case of B, it is pretty challenging to regulate the psychological characteristics of each employee within the framework of a responsible project. Thus, exposure to criticism, the likelihood of a hostile atmosphere in the team are its potential weaknesses. However, increased motivation, even in the case of the most experienced employee, who is not long before retirement, will contribute to the overall result and justify these risks.
Motivation Theories
These employees’ motives and psychological characteristics correspond to the McGregor Y-theory, which affirms job satisfaction and recognition of their activities as applicable, as in S, and the desire to succeed and improve the results of their activities like other employees. Therefore, in order to maintain motivation, several rules must be followed. According to this theory, employees should receive the necessary information promptly and as a whole; otherwise, they risk feeling humiliated (Velmurugan & Sankar, 2017). In addition, the team must also be notified of any changes, even positive ones.
Team oversight is required in order to assess the quality of work, while employees must maintain some degree of autonomy to unleash their full potential. According to the acquired needs theory, employees need to see the result of their work, which within the framework of this project requires its strategic planning and breaking down into small tasks (Rybnicek et al., 2019). In addition, working together is always less enjoyable than personal achievement, and therefore it is necessary to divide these tasks between four employees.
Conflict-resolution Strategies
Given that potential conflicts are one of the weaknesses of this team, strategies should be worked out immediately. First, competition is potential, as most employees want to prove themselves and have great ambition. Secondly, if the leadership needs to intervene in the conflict, and this is possible only in case of a threat to the efficiency and mental health of the team, then it will be necessary to use a structured method, which implies a clear explanation of the parties to the conflict of their functions and tasks; a specific table of rights and obligations.
Leadership Strategies
Given the above strategies, leadership must adopt a position between liberal and democratic, leaving employees with a measure of autonomy, but maintaining control over the overall situation. In this regard, it is recommended to use the approach of Mitchell and House, combining the instrumental and supporting style, since this task requires new and fresh solutions, which the management has not yet accepted, but at the same time the necessary control in the form of schedules, performance standards, but with the preservation a certain autonomy of employees (Bickle, 2017). The result is an achievement-oriented style, characterized by setting a rather laborious goal for subordinates, expecting that they will work to the fullest extent of their capabilities. The manager encourages the subordinate to constantly improve the individual result while maintaining confidence in working in a team effectively.
Conscious Capitalism
The initial goal of a marketing project ultimately looks like a pursuit of profit or gain. The fight against competition stimulates the market, but one of the team’s most important goals will be to identify tasks that will meet not only economic interests but also social and environmental responsibility. Moreover, by investing ethics in the leading goals, missions, and vision of the company as a whole, the team will not only find it easier to find the right tasks, but this fact will develop a humanistic approach to employees, which will increase their involvement (Frémeaux & Michelson, 2017). Within this team, where two employees are newcomers, will allow them to demonstrate the high social responsibility of the company.
Stakeholder Orientation
The life and human foundations of the business are independent, but it is in the interests of companies to forge this connection. Most large companies now carry out a set of social responsibility activities within the team and in a more global sense and for the protection of the environment. These actions are carried out to preserve the reputation and lead to a sustainable business, creating more and more stakeholders.
Values
The work done allows us to collect a list of values that form an extraordinary vision of the company, based on which it is possible to form the company’s mission and project objectives, which will be focused not only on net profit and the fight against competitors but also to meet the values of conscious capitalism. Such values, which are formed by motivational and leadership theories, focus on stakeholders, including consistency, informing, trust, encouraging initiative, humanistic approach, social responsibility, involvement, satisfaction, the team’s mental health, and saving the positive atmosphere.
Positive Impact
This approach will allow the team members to receive tangible recognition for their work, which is critical for S. Recognition will avoid criticism for K and add confidence to her. In the case of a positive attitude, N will not conflict with his colleagues, and B will adapt to teamwork and not take on so many tasks. Naturally, the company will be able to get positive results from the marketing project and increase sales. However, by applying the above values, the positive impact will extend beyond economic success and provide necessary experience across the company’s entire structure, from employees to executives. The company’s reputation can be increased, which will attract the attention of customers, qualified employees, and investors.
References
Bickle, J. T. (2017). Developing remote training consultants as leaders—Dialogic/network application of path‐goal leadership theory in leadership development. Performance Improvement, 56(9), 32-39.
Frémeaux, S., & Michelson, G. (2017). The common good of the firm and humanistic management: Conscious capitalism and economy of communion. Journal of Business Ethics, 145(4), 701-709.
Rybnicek, R., Bergner, S., & Gutschelhofer, A. (2019). How individual needs influence motivation effects: a neuroscientific study on McClelland’s need theory. Review of Managerial Science, 13(2), 443-482.
Velmurugan, T. A., & Sankar, J. G. (2017). A comparative study on motivation theory with Maslow’s hierarchy theory and two factor theory in organization. Indo-Iranian Journal of Scientific Research, 1(1), 204-208.