Leading a Multicultural Team through a Change Process Essay

Leading a Multicultural Team through a Change Process - Essay Example The company – The firm has invested millions of dollars in the development of the project. Even though information regarding the amount of money the firm has invested is not available to me right now I can assume the firm spent millions of dollars developing this drug due to the fact that the average cost of creating a new drug is approximately $862 million (Adams & Brantner, 2006). Shareholders – Successful completion of the project will positively impact the price of the common stocks of the company. If the project fails the money spend on the project will become a sunk cost. A sunk cost is a cost that cannot be changed by any present or future decision (Weygandt, Kieso, & Kimmel, 2002). If the project becomes a sunk cost the firm will lose its entire investment which will have the effect of deteriorating the price of the common stocks of the company. Diabetes patients – Diabetes is a serious disease that affects 230 million people worldwide (Medicalnewstoday, 2006). This new drug will improve the quality of living of these patients. John - a 43-year-old African American, man, born in Bowie, Maryland Julie - a 51-year-old Chinese-American woman, born in the District of Columbia Jinsoo - a 27-year-old South Korean man who immigrated from Seoul Tom - a 63-year-old white American, born in Los Angeles, California, who recently moved to Maryland Darius - a 32-year-old Iranian man whose parents brought him to the United States when he was six years old Harpreet - a 30-year-old Indian woman who immigrated 10 years ago ... d to Maryland Darius - a 32-year-old Iranian man whose parents brought him to the United States when he was six years old Harpreet - a 30-year-old Indian woman who immigrated 10 years ago Issues The work team faces a variety of issues that are affecting its performance. For starters the team is very mad that its former leader was fired. They do not know that their leader was fired due to the unethical action of taking bribes from vendors. During the early stages of my tenure with the team I have to accept that there is going to be resistance to change from the team. Resistance to change is a very bad occurrence because it slows down the innovation process. Another problem with the team is a lack of teamwork. The team is also suffering from cultural conflict. It seems as if the personal agenda of each member has become more important than the project itself. Darius and Tom have been in conflict over how to approach the design of a critical piece of the product. There is low morale amo ng some of the team members. John and Julie are so disillusioned that they are job hunting. Losing these two members is not an option for the company since they hold key technical skills that are needed to successfully complete the project. The productivity of Jinsoo has decrease due to the conflict that exists among the team members. Tom, the oldest team member, believes he is been discriminated due to his advance age. Another issue is that Darious and Harpreet were added to the team just three months ago. Their entrance completely changed the composition of the team. Currently the newly formed group is in the storming stage of group development. The storming stage is a period of high emotionality and tension among group members (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2003). A final issue that the