¶ … Team building' has long been a popular managerial philosophy, designed to unite employees on the lower levels of the corporate ladder with a common purpose and eliminate individualistic competition. But now, according to "C.E.O. Evolution Phase 3" by Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times, the C.E.O as team-builder is the current new, fashionable management template for even the upper ranks of management. The article cites recent debacles at Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, corporations run by capable individuals who lacked the "ability to make people feel like they're working together," (Schwartz 2007). Although Citigroup's C.E.O increased revenue, he also alienated key people, and after the firm experienced financial losses, his name was first on the list to fire, as the shareholders cleaned house.
For a firm to succeed today is necessary: "to make sure the top hundred people know that they're in this together, that their fates are correlated...That's what it will take to succeed in this century" (Schwartz 2007). Xerox is praised as a firm with an unpretentious C.E.O. who was able to make crucial organizational changes without alienating key people. This shift in philosophy is being seen in term of how MBA curriculums are being restructured. The Yale School of Management has completely revamped its curriculum to deemphasized individual disciplines like finance and marketing and replaced it with a "team-oriented approach" (Schwartz, 2007).
The article suggests that in the future, top managers will adopt an increasingly participatory and less dictatorial approach. It may also toll the death knell, at least for the time being, of the authoritarian CEO, as exemplified by Citigroup's E. Stanley O'Neal. If the MBAs of today are learning the value of team-building, soon this approach will be evident, not simply in the conference rooms, but in the most exalted boardrooms of the top firms.
Works Cited
Schwartz. Nelson. "C.E.O. Evolution Phase 3." The New York Times. 10 Nov 2007.
10 Nov 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/business/10leaders.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
