Teamwork and Motivation

Vanita Johnson
BUS 520
Dr. Kimberly Millier
July 19, 2013

Assignment 3: Teamwork and Motivation
Due Week 7 and worth 200 points

Imagine that you are the owner of a small manufacturing company. Your company manufactures a commodity, widgets. Your widget is a clone of a nationally known widget. Your company’s widget, WooWoo, is less expensive and more readily available than the nationally known brand. Presently, the sales are high; however, there are many defects, which increase your costs and delays delivery. Your company has fifty (50) employees in the following departments: sales, assembly, technology, and administration.
Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:
Many CIOs automatically assume money is the most powerful motivator. It’s not. Managers sometimes forget that sincere appreciation for a job well done, coupled with challenging work opportunities, can be a better motivator than money.

There are some culture issues as well when scoping out good motivational actions. Be aware of cultural differences if you have employees who were born and raised in other countries. For example, in many other countries, people have more vacation time than is typical in America, so perhaps more vacation time or comp time would be a powerful reward or incentive. Job security and inexpensive perks that publicly demonstrate appreciation, such as a reserved parking space, might also serve well.

Putting meat into the plan
Whatever you decide on in your plan, make sure that you make goals measurable and rewards public. Jeff Paddison, CIO for a global contract manufacturing company in Canada, explained that he tracks major milestones for projects and internally publishes project status as a way to motivate staff. He also publishes a chart that tracks IS accomplishments relative to IS strategy. The object is simplicity coupled with exposure. “The staff knows that their efforts are seen by the business leaders and the completion of the milestones supports the strengthening of the infrastructure of our business.”

In tough times with limited