Henry Tam/MGI Case

2

Case overview

The MGI case investigates a team that is comprised of – members who are involved in order to participate

in a school contest and – members who are trying to start a real business.

Our goal: Conduct a thorough diagnosis of the MGI team’s processes in order to guide our recommendations for how Henry Tam can help his team.

3

Background Three former Soviet Union émigrés (Sasha, Igor,

Roman) have an innovative music puzzle game. Good reviews but poor sales

Contact 2 HBS students (Henry, Dana) to participate in a business case competition

Also contact MIT student (Dav) for MIT business case and Berkeley School of Music student (Alex) as music industry consultant

4

Henry Tam & Music Games International Alexander "Sasha" Gimpelson, co-founder,

member of Music Educators' National Conference. Mr. Gimpelson graduated from Columbia University School of Engineering, and had Harvard University MBA.

Igor Tkachenko, co-founder, is an award-winning composer and pianist with an international reputation.

Roman Yakub, co-founder, is an internationally acclaimed composer with rich experience in both traditional and electronic/computer composition.

Henry Tam, HBS MBA student, with background in investment banking & business development

Dana Solman, HBA MBA student, with background in finance

Dav Clark, MIT Brain & Cog Science grad student, with expertise in wave form visualization & software. Interest in creative uses of music.

Alexander Jan Sartakov, Berklee College of Musch student with major in Music Business Mangement and Music Production. Expertise in computer music applications. Cast of Characters

Team (2003) Team (2007)

5

Questions about the case

What were the strengths of the MGI team?

What is your evaluation of the MGI team’s process?

What were the root causes of the team’s process problems?

Were the differences among the team members a liability or an asset?

What could Henry have done earlier to avoid the team’s problems?

At the end of the case, what actions could Henry have taken to increase the team’s effectiveness?

http://www.interactiveclassics.com/index.html

6

Class discussion

What are the team’s strengths? What is your evaluation of the MGI team’s process? What are the causes of any problems? What could the team done early to avoid problems? At the end of the case, what could Henry have done

to increase team effectiveness?

7

Diversity is a double edged sword

Diversity on job-related dimensions seems to – Bring more ideas & skills into a group– Increase contact with stakeholders outside the group– Increase innovation and problem solving– Decrease internal communication quality

Diversity of many types of diversity (including functional area)

– Increases tension & conflict– Decreases cohesion

Effects seems to decline with tenure

8

Williams & O’Reilly Review of Group Diversity

9

Distinguishing Between Task & Relationship Conflict

Task conflict– To what extent are there differences of opinions regarding the task

in your work group – How frequently are there disagreements about the task you are

working on in this work group,– How often do people in your work group disagree about the work

Relationship conflict– Sample items for relationship conflict include How muc friction is

present in your work group, – To what extent are personality clashes present in your work group,

How much anger is present in your– How much emotional conflict is there in your work group

10

De Dreu & Weingart:Meta-analysis on conflict, team performance & satisfaction

Both types of conflict associated with poorer satisfaction & performance

Average correlations, corrected for unreliability Task conflict X relationship conflict = .54 Task conflict X member satisfaction = -.32 Relationship conflict X members satisfaction = -.56 Task conflict X task performance = -.20 Relationship conflict X task performance = -.25

Average correlation broken down by type of conflict and type of outcome

K = 30 studies, > 2,000 respondents

11

How do you deal with diversity-related conflict?

Communication, especially early on– To understand differences in language– To understand others assumptions & values– To identify clear, superordinate goals

Argue about issues, not personalities

12

What Do You Do About It? Recategorization

– Super-category – circle of inclusion– Find cross-cutting categories– Find superordinate goal– Identify common enemy

Declassify– Methods to get members to think of others as

individuals, not exemplars of their groups– Contact hypothesis – get to know others in

context of equal status and communication Mutual differentiation

– Acknowledge differences– Emphasize complementary

Gaertner, S. L., Dovidio, J. F., Banker, B. S., Houlette, M., Johnson, K. M., & McGlynn, E. A. (2000). Reducing intergroup conflict: From superordinate goals to decategorization, recategorization, and mutual differentiation. Group Dynamics, 4(1), 98-114.

13

Circles of Inclusion

Rust Belt Bible Belt

USA

Cleveland/Browns

Pittsburgh/Steelers

Terrorist