Franklin Equipment Limited, Case Study Example

Franklin equipment limited (FEL) company engages in making rock-crushing types of equipment in construction of highways and dams. Currently, it has started expanding its market to other provinces in Canada. It has landed a rock-crushing project in the Middle East called Project Abu Dhabi. They have a new project manager who, after interviewing some managers he has found they have personal differences and cannot work together on the same project.

FEL uses the expertise and availability basis to assign managers to new projects. This means the available project managers and those whose projects are almost complete will be assigned new starting projects. They use the expertise criterion to allocate the project managers, ensuring their services meet their customers’ unique expectations like design and fabrication. The company’s customer requirements may vary due to terrain, weather conditions, and rock characteristics. The company selects the best-equipped managers to oversee their areas of specialization like product design, fabrication, delivery, and installation at the client’s location. Assigning managers to the project team using this criterion has some benefits like time-saving, ensures timely delivery, and cost-saving.

Since the company assigns the best project manager and team well equipped with the knowledge, there is minimal time consumption. The team does not consume time on referrals and training of the new and less knowledgeable team members. The manager oversees the project to ensure its smooth flow and timely delivery or completion. They use their managerial roles to organize and boost the team’s morale and monitor the progress of the project to ensure customer satisfaction. The criterion also helps in a cost-saving that is reducing the amount of money spent on wastages. Through the managers’ planning, cost estimating, developing the budget, and supervision, the company, achieves timely delivery of the project with minimal or unnecessary costs (Driskell et al., 2018). Although FEL uses the manager assigning criteria, the company has not realized the importance of team members’ unity. The company’s resulting problems include the project manager does not choose who to be in the team. Also, some team members may not be comfortable working with each other, leading to conflicts, misunderstandings, and time wastage. A project achieves adequate success when the team comprising people work can work in unity regardless of their differences.

Working together with the team members on international projects is important, as it will assist in achieving the projects’ success. Working together will help create a culture of unity that will continue existing even after the completion of the project—working in international projects may sometimes be challenging if they are a team that does not cooperate and practice teamwork. The team may encounter different cultures and languages that not every member is well conversant with. Working as a team on Project Abu Dhabi will have the following advantages to the team members and the company at large, international ties and referrals, understanding other cultures, and increased chances of creativity and problem solving.

The success of the international project through teamwork may increase the chances of future referral projects internationally. Many international companies may be interested in the company’s services, and eventually, the company will widen its scope. In addition, the project’s success will give confidence to the international company regarding their project management and may offer FEL similar projects in the future. Through cooperation and proper communication, team members will understand their different cultures (Couch & Rose, 2020). While working together as a team, members well conversant with the locals’ culture in Abu Dhabi will assist other team members in understanding and interacting effectively with them. It will help the team members learn diverse creativity and problem-solving methods, as it is very diverse in different parts of the world. They will learn how the locals view different problems, and the approaches used to solve them, thus increasing their knowledge. Therefore, working as a team on international projects is important. It will bring unity, cooperation, and communication to the team, create a good profile for the company and widen the team members’ knowledge.

Jobe is faced with the dilemma of lack of cooperation between Rankins and Perry. Having worked on a previous project together that had a lot of misunderstanding between them; they cannot work along towards the success of Project Abu Dhabi. Issues like personal differences may lead to a lack of cooperation among team members, which may affect their productivity and morale, leading to deteriorating workplace culture, costs overruns, loss of the business, and unhealthy competition. Unhealthy competition leads to negativity and strained relationship in the workplace. In this case, Rankins and Perry are practicing unhealthy competition. Each feels equipped with more knowledge and smarter than the other does. Perry feels he is more experienced than Rankins as he has been in the company for a longer time, while Rankins feels he is smarter than Perry having a degree, unlike the latter, who does not. The two blame each other for personal issues like alcoholism and family matters. The project will incur high costs. The two-lack cooperation since there will be work redundancy, time wastage leading to untimely project completion. None will be willing to support the success of the other therefore ensuring their downfall. Failure of timely and successful completion of the project leads to poor company profile, thus causing business and future referrals. Therefore, it is important to ensure a project team members work harmoniously and united towards the project’s success regardless of their differences.

Jobe should recommend that Jobe has a meeting with Perry and Rankins and discuss their issues to learn and understand each other, face their issues and work together to solve their differences. He should also recommend strengthening their unity, positive mindset, establishing rules and purpose, exercising together, ensuring each individual knows their goals and avoiding fighting for credit (Tripathy, 2018). He should ensure a positive mindset is promoted as it helps in creating a supportive and caring environment. It will help them feel empowered to solve and feel positive towards any issue. He should also establish rules and clearly state the purpose of the team. They should be allowed to share their opinions.

Gatenby should set rules and guidelines to be followed as they air their issues, share their opinions, and share them with the team members. Jobe should recommend the two engage in recreational and exercise activities together. Recreational activities help strengthen teamwork by creating a positive mindset and learning the capabilities of one another in the outside normal working environment. Gatenby should also ensure the two clearly understands their roles in the project. Although each has their personal goals, they should understand it should contribute and be directed to the project’s overall success. He should ensure everyone is accorded credit where he deserves it, and no one should fight over others’ credit. In this case, Perry should be credited for having a lot of experience in the company and Rankins for having a degree.

In conclusion, teamwork is essential in the performance and productivity of a project as it ensures smooth operations and success. In the above case, Gantenbly should work towards creating and maintaining teamwork among his team members. He should solve the differences between Perry and Rankins and ensure their differences do not interfere with their contribution to the project.

References

Couch, S., & Rose, S. (2020). Coaching culturally different members of the international business teams-the role of cultural intelligence. International Coaching Psychology Review, 15(1), 59-80.

Driskell, J. E., Salas, E., & Driskell, T. (2018). Foundations of teamwork and collaboration. American Psychologist, 73(4), 334.

Tripathy, M. (2018). Building quality teamwork to achieve excellence in business organizations. International research journal of management, IT and social sciences, 5(3), 1-7.