Group 3: Group Consensus Report • Frontus, Lisa • Gibson, Michael • Harris, Diedre • Kageni, Angela • Lindeman, Candice • Scott, Rhonda • Turner, Shad

Liberty University [pic]201220 Spring 2012 BUSI 520-B03 LUO January 22, 2012
Group Consensus Report Group Description: The group has seven members with varying degrees of professional expertise in strategic marketing. That expertise ranges from backgrounds in the non-profit sector to occupational therapy, financial analysis, logistics, international consultancy, and corporate management. The specific work expertise related to marketing that is relevant to this class is also varied with some members having strong expertise in marketing, sales and business and financial relations, while others have had no experience at all in marketing. This sets up the members for an interesting working relationship. All have had ample experience doing group work in past classes at Liberty University. The group is dynamic in nature. All in all, the individuals are go-getters who work well both as managers and as team members or followers. There seems to be a common work ethic where all members have a strong sense of initiative and are autonomous and self-motivated. While clearly acknowledging that no one is perfect, all seem committed to strive for excellence. Most of the members are process oriented and there is a strong sentiment that the tasks, guidance and specific roles for each individual in the group will need to be clear at all times. All members work reasonably well under pressure, but some members feel that stress is best avoided by being more prepared and timely. All members are deemed hardworking, responsible, and dependable by their employers. A majority clearly dislikes tardiness and “freeloaders” – important qualities that should help the group keep to the deadlines and nurture a sense of responsibility for tasks assigned. Communication Expectations: The group will keep to clearly specified deadlines. If extra communication (other than what is set out on the DB by the lecturer or team leader) were required, the team leader will say so beforehand, via the DB and the LU email address, and in good time. Almost all members have full-time jobs and two live in different time zones, an 8-13 hour time difference from those based in the USA. To be consistent, group members will check the group discussion board at least once a day to allow a 24-hour response time for postings. A response time that is beyond 48 hours for postings that need responses from the entire group will be deemed unacceptable. To be fair however, the person posting will have to say what needs a response from the entire group, or not. All ongoing group discussions will be posted on the “Compilations and ongoing discussions” DB. This will be the primary forum for group discussions. Group members will therefore limit use of the LU email addresses unless an issue is urgent. The team leader will provide guidance should any urgent issues arise. She is accessible via her LU email address, her personal email address angela.kageni@gmail.com or her cell number: +254722622727. The group would prefer not to have conference calls or online chats because of the time difference. Behavioral Expectations: To ensure a successful completion of the project, group members should have a collective understanding of what is expected for each group assignment. Each group member will be responsible for his or her own studies, research, and quality of work. That work needs to be to the quality and standards relevant for graduate level work. To facilitate this collective understanding, at the beginning of each relevant week, the group leader will spell out what is understood as the tasks for the week and then will follow up with clearly assigned tasks to each individual. The “task list” will be sent out via the group ongoing discussion DB. Preferably, the “tasks list” will be posted latest by Monday morning 11amET each relevant week. Each individual will then accept his/her assignment by posting a confirmation. Any member who wishes to swop topics with someone else may do so; but that swop is solely the responsibility of those doing the swopping, not of the team leader. The team leader will then review the submissions made, do a compilation and post the draft. The group may have a round of discussions via the DB to gather consensus for each group work. Final comments by members should be handed in by Friday night 11:59pm ET. That leaves a full day for any wrap up. The final “modifiable” draft will be done by the team leader by Sunday 11:00hrs (11amET). The team leader will post each final weekly group assignment for the lecturer on the relevant assignment DB by 3pm Sunday ET. "Flexibility" Expectations: Unavoidable circumstances such as a death in the family, an unexpected business trip, or a child being born are part of life. Group members agree to this. Also, most group members have strenuous jobs, family responsibilities, and some travel a lot. However all group members also agree that they have made a commitment by enrolling for this course and therefore each person is responsible for the tasks assigned to him or her, regardless of his or her work constraints. Each will make every effort to complete all their work in the allotted time and at the quality expected. Should something extremely important and unavoidable come up such as illness that is incapacitating, the group should be informed of it in good time before a set deadline is reached so that the task is reassigned. But there is consensus that “free passes’ are few and that freeloaders are unacceptable. Performance Expectations: All individual and group work/ assignments posted on the DB should be MBA-level writing. Comments or efforts to seek clarification that are posted on the ongoing discussions board can be less formal. All group members want a top grade of no less than an A minus for any group work done, and all are willing to work for it. Expectations about Timelines: Tardiness will have an impact on how well the group is able to operate. Any work completed earlier than expected will be highly appreciated to help the group do its work smoothly and lower the stress levels of the team leader. All are clear also that a deadline of 7pm will mean that members will have done the work and submitted it before 7pm. To submit work after 7pm or to submit incomplete work at 7pm will be considered late and therefore unacceptable. Final Submission: The final project submission should to be posted at least 3 days before the Friday deadline in week 8. Group members want to be able to approve the project submission and want that each student submitted an “I approve” reply to that final submission. The individual portions of the group project will be well researched and any submissions (including references) made to the team leader will follow APA rules. Conflict Resolution: Disagreements are natural and will be handled calmly, openly, clearly and respectfully. No one should feel that he or she couldn’t share a comment or concern. The whole point of learning is by raising questions. An individual who disagrees with something should make a post in a brief and clear way on the ongoing discussions DB (as a separate subject line) and responses should be made by replying under that specific thread until a consensus is reached. A vote will not usually be needed where a majority is saying the same thing, but if needed, the team leader can ask for a vote. The team leader will then confirm that the “offended” party is satisfied with the final “verdict’ given. Anything that the group cannot handle can then be escalated to the Lecturer.