Henry Tam and MGI Common Purpose Problem
Katzenbach and Smith define a team as a small number of people with complementary
skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for
which they hold themselves mutually accountable.1 Per this definition the four main elements
which make team process to function are: common commitment and purpose, performance goals,
complementary skills, and mutual accountability. Though MGI team had a great complementary
skills, it lacked common purpose, performance goals, and mutual accountability which was the
root-cause of poor team process.
The MGI teams failure to agree upon common team goals resulted in team segregation
and meaningless meetings. The divided team failed to agree upon the target market (Education
vs. Entertainment) to choose for the business plan. As stated in the case The main point of
contention revolved around the marketing of MGIs product MGI founders had thought of
their music puzzle primarily as an entertainment product.2. As noted by Henry but given the
nature of the product and its stage of development, Dana and I saw very little chance of success
in marketing it as entertainment. From a competition and capability standpoint, it seemed that
education was the way to go.3 This indecisiveness also explains the MGI team norm of
constant brainstorming without progress. As noted by Dana The brainstorming sessions were
great at first, but they went on too long, and there was no implementation. The founders kept
raising lots of ideas and wanted to pursue all possible avenues. Henry and I tried to establish a
1 Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith, The Discipline of Teams, page 3
2 Jeffary T. Polzer, Henry Tam and the MGI team, HBS Case 9-404-068, page 11
3 Jeffary T. Polzer, Henry Tam and the MGI team, HBS Case 9-404-068, page 12
process for choosing one alternative out of eight or ten divergent visions4. Without a clear sense
of goals and direction, the team could not function cohesively. This contributed to the delays in
completing the business plan. Because of this dysfunctional team process, MGI team didnt have
an initial draft of business plan that was due in just three weeks.
Henry can still rectify the MGIs team process by addressing the root causes of the teams
problems. Per Eisenhardt, Focus on facts5 encourages one to debate critical issues, not argue
out of ignorance. Henry should re-enforce the Focus on facts tactic to support his stance on
Education target market and to obtain consensus with the founders. Henry must establish clear
short-term and long-term goals for the team. The short-term goal must be to complete the
business plan for the HBS contest, while the long-term goal must be to successfully launch and
grow MGIs business. He should realign team efforts toward these common goals and encourage
collaboration.
As noted by Heath To solve the coordination problem, organizations must divide a task
and then integrate the components6 in the Coordination neglect research paper, task division and
integration is important to achieve coordination. To make fast progress, Henry should bring in
some structure and break the business plan into the following sections:
Target Market analysis and estimated market share;
Market data based on customer research and customer response analysis
Operations model;
Marketing strategy;
4 Jeffary T. Polzer, Henry Tam and the MGI team, HBS Case 9-404-068, page 10
5 Kathleen M. Eisehardt, How Management Teams can have a good fight, page 2
6 Chip Heath, Coordination Neglect: How lay theories of organizing complicate
coordination in organizations
Financial projections;
Growth plan;
PowerPoint or summary of the proposed business
Henry should have Dana, Roman, and Dav complete the market analysis, Financial and
Growth plan sections. Sasha, Igor, and Alex should complete Operations model. Henry should
complete the marketing strategy, PowerPoint summary, and consolidate the business plan.
As noted by Katzenbach Specific performance goals that flow from the common
purpose. Compelling goals inspire and challenge a team, give it a sense of urgency. They also
have a leveling effect, requiring members to focus on the collective effort necessary rather than
any differences in title or status"7, setting performance goals is an imperative for team process.
Team (rather than individual) accountability practice is helpful to achieve team coordination.
By setting performance goals for the team members and having team accountability in place,
Henry should be able drastically improve the teams effectiveness.
7 Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith, The Discipline of Teams, page 2
