Exec Summary Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Autor: acarriaga • November 14, 2016 • Case Study • 369 Words (2 Pages) • 1,770 Views
Page 1 of 2
Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc.
James
- A star engineer, technical, complex technical problems. Really large team. Issues with cohesion.
- Open work – some did it to do it, buy-in
- Face-to-face contact, see the groups evenly and see them more.
- Rotational hours to spread around the duties (time zones)
- Weekly conference calls: stuck to list of topics, firm start/end times (equity with agenda)
- Suggestion: have individual EE/mgr conversation to decide if Open Work arrangement is appropriate
- Suggestion: clear, well-understood, consistent protocol (to eliminate time change/ weekend/weekday issue)
- Suggestion: manager training, effective team communication, potential have semi-annual group meetings in-person, watercooler convos/favoring the Americans
- Suggestion: need new approach to staffing, James selected technical people/leftovers
UAE
- 11 people – not enough face-to-face contact, disconnected from company as a whole
- Progress takes longer because of developing relationships… dealing with 2 timelines
- Cultural problems… more work, perf evals, missing deadlines, Raul and Jamal interpersonal issues
- Middle east – dissatisfaction with the arrangements (stuff from the graphs)
- Suggestion: cultural sensitivity training, potentially move/replace team members
- Issue: company/country culture mismatch
India
- Raul and Jamal, Praveen and Nick interpersonal problems (Indian team not competent)
- 2nd class citizens – fewer agenda items, interruptions, issues were already addressed last
- Unhappy – customer maintenance, put out fires, no creative input
- Suggestion: clarify job roles, allow for creative input
U.S.
- 11 employees inherited from a start-up acquisition
- Rationalize compensation because of job security
- Unfair workload, French vacation laws
- Email threads: James favoring, making decisions without everyone
- Suggestion: Nick shouldn’t be Open Work, change approach to deadlines to accommodate UAE timeline
- Suggestion: definitely need cultural sensitivity training, they have a sense of entitlement
France
- Research: how rigid labor laws are during national vacation
- Disparity between American pay, issue of job security (except not really because they were contract workers)
Company overall
- Team staffing and compensation: world market, work is equitable pay is not
- James took the easy way to staffing
- Virtual teams: understanding the circumstances with time changes, culture
- Suggestion: meeting twice per quarter (8 times a year) rotating location to increase facetime; expose managers to other sites, maybe encourage more cultural awareness and understanding
- James is more reactive than proactive, spends most of his time in Santa Clara
...