Leadership Case

In the case study ‘Managing a Global Team’, Greg James is the Global Manager of Sun Microsystems, Inc.; a large IT multinational which provides complete network and systems technology solutions to companies. For the past year he has led a diverse customer implementation team consisting of 45 highly skilled individuals based in the US, France, UAE and India. Under his elected Open Work Program much of his team either work from their homes, or under a flexible option, alternating between working at home or in their domestic office. Despite his hopes of this virtual team being effective, with globally localised customer interaction; he has overlooked the fundamental cultural and work differences between members. Recently these underlying problems have come under scrutiny following the disastrous mishandling and breach of the HS Holdings Group contract. The key issues facing James’s team are formidable and include; a lack of solidarity with no shared goals, a lack of cultural empathy, poor communication, a lack of accountability, and unequitable work expectations.

My analysis will address these problems by arguing that the ultimate responsibility for the group’s mismanagement lies with James and his inexperience in global leadership. To do so I will use the MBI model developed by Maznevski & DiStefano (2000) where I will analyse how the role of diversity plays out in the dynamics of the group by applying the framework for mapping cultural dimensions, developed by; Hofstede (1980; 1991).Following this I will address what role the ‘Open Work’ environment played in the case. I will then examine how best to bridge the in-group differences and finish by analysing methods of integration incorporating short and long term recommendations for James and his team.