Mattel Ivy Ross, Mattel's Head of Design and Packaging for Its

question 102

Multiple Choice

Mattel Ivy Ross, Mattel's head of design and packaging for its girls division, needed a new toy that was part construction set and part craft kit. Ross built a team from various departments (designers from research and development, model makers from production, copywriters from marketing, etc.) and assigned them the task of developing the new toy. The twelve members of the team were freed from all other duties so they could concentrate on developing this new toy. During their first week together, members were exposed to different ways of thinking. One of the hardest things the group had to deal with was the lack of structure. It took participants nearly two weeks to realize that there was no schedule for their activities. The strength of the team lay in its members' abilities to build on each other's ideas and to trust one another. Refer to Mattel. Mattel was able to make effective use of teams because ____.

• A)the group had a clear purpose
• B)rewards were available for individual performance
• C)the job could be done by individuals working independently
• D)the resources needed to create a new toy were not available
• E)groupthink provides valuable input

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Definitions:

Transnational Company

A multinational corporation that operates across multiple countries, maintaining significant operations and management in more than one country.

Centralized Authority

An organizational structure where decision-making and control are concentrated at the top levels of management, with little delegation of authority to lower levels.

Ethnocentric

Viewing one's own culture or ethnic group as superior to others and judging other cultures by one's own cultural standards.

High-Context

Refers to cultures or communication styles where much of the information is implicitly understood through context, non-verbal cues, and background knowledge, rather than explicitly stated.