Stacy Sullivan

MGMT 591

Professor Carr

Case Study Week #3

Building a Coalition

September 21, 2014
Building a Coalition


First off, we are dealing with a couple different issues. The Washington, DC.
Public school system, just as most school systems, has seen a decline in student
performance over the recent past. A few of the issues are truancy, low student
performance and crime. Just when a new, up and coming teacher or faculty
member gets there, they tend to burn out as they are met with harsh realities in
the classroom.

Part 1 Group Development
There are 5 stages in the development process of a group and each one plays
an important role as you progress into becoming a fully functioning group.

1. Forming Stage The group is starting to form.
2. Storming Stage Intragroup conflict, resist constraints
3. Norming Stage Relationships develop, demonstrate cohesiveness
4. Performing Stage Fully functional, performing the task at hand.
5. Adjourning Stage for temporary groups, wrapping up activities.
In my opinion the group is stuck in the forming stage as they are still talking
about the different candidates to put together to assemble the group. There has
already been one group assembled, between the Woodson Foundation and the
Washington, D.C. public school system and they have decided to form another
group to focus on developing an experimental after school program. If all parties
involved understood the group forming process, things might flow a little more
smoothly. They would understand that the group would need to include people
that were willing to work together to assist in bringing back the quality of
education. As I understand there is a process in reaching the final destination,
the members that are selected to participate in the group also need to
understand they were chosen for a reason.

Part 2 Problem Identification
As with any group, there is always going to be conflict to some extent. In this
case, there are three different groups from which the members of the group are
going to be pulled from. The Woodson Foundation, the School system and a
parental group, The National Coalition for Parental Involvement in Education
(NCPIE) will all be supplying members to the group. The first issue I see and
probably the most important one is that the school system has already mentioned
that any new jobs that are created need to be unionized and will operate in a
manner that is consistent with current school board policies. The school district
is concerned they will lose control of the new operations if they are not holding
the most dominant position. Second, and probably just as important, would be
the demographic diversity issues of the affected regions. Most of the schools
population is African American, along with Caucasians and Hispanics. The
NCPIE typically has the same make-up of the student population, obviously as
they are the parents of the students in the school system. Where the problem
comes in, the Woodson Foundation, based in northern Virginia, is predominantly
made up of Caucasian professionals. The concern might be that the Woodson
Foundation will not completely understanding the demographic concerns of the
affected community.

Part 3 Retrospective Evaluation
Looking at the first issue I listed above, unionizing the new positions can be
beneficial to some and possibly detrimental to others. Understanding that this is
an experimental after school program, the teachers which are supplied might
possibly be paid, but they should be acting on their own behalf and not
necessarily as employees of the school anymore. The benefit would simply be
having a certified teacher helping out with the children. Allowing them to become
a union might negatively impact the performance as they would want set hours to
work, they would want to all be paid the same, the list could go on.
Second, and maybe just as important, would be the diversification issue. It is
possible that the management staff coming from Woodson Foundation might not
completely understand or be able to interact with the student population as they
are predominantly African American. Having a somewhat diverse leadership
team would allow for better communication, better interaction, increased comfort
factor for some students (possibly). The NCPIE representatives could be an
asset in this area and provide great representation for the students.



Part 4 Reflection
Standing on the outside looking in, there are some areas that I feel might need to
be looked into a little more than others. Managing diversity can be very
challenging, and something that has often proven nearly impossible. As a school
system and Woodson Foundation, I would start with a clear set of objectives, a
clear, predetermined outcome and the steps in which they are going to take in
order to achieve success. Being that the after school program is going to be
experimental, the door is open to almost anything. I would ensure the people
chosen to lead this experimental group are not only supported by the community,
but they are genuinely interested in making a change to the school systems
deficiencies. Once the group is chosen, they would each be given made aware
of the direction in which the group is headed and if they arent able to work within
the set parameters, maybe someone else needs to be chosen.

Message to the Development Team
Building a team that can effectively work together does not happen by accident.
It takes a while for a team to be able to work cohesively, productively, and
efficiently together. Cohesive teams become successful when members work
cooperatively as they share goals and resources to accomplish their objectives.
Productivity is achieved because they work out ways to resolve conflicts instead
of constantly disagreeing among each other. Efficiency is achieved because
when it comes to assigning tasks and assignments, the basis is the individuals
skills, abilities, and interests. Therefore, managers have a crucial role in
choosing, developing, and leading teams that work together.