Institute of Rural Management Anand

PGDM-RM42 – Term I – End Term Examination

Individual and Group Behavior (IGB)
21-10-2021
Abhishek Malhotra, Roll Number: P42003

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Windsor Spitfires suffered a major setback in the year 2005, when two of its hockey
players team Steve Downie and a rookie player Akim Alieu were caught in a hazing incident. This
created a controversy in media as well as among the fans of Windsor Spitfires.

In 2006, new owners came and announced that a new era would begin for the team. They
formed a new ownership group comprising of two former NHL players Bob Boughner and Warren
Rychel and a local businessman Peter Dobrich. All three were well respected members of the
community and as someone who could be looked upon as role models by the players in the team.
This change quickly bore fruits for the Spitfires as they were able to create a healthy family
environment for the whole team. All three Bob, Warren and Peter encouraged team synergy by
promoting synergy through open communication, various get togethers and community service.
They acted as Transformational leaders for the whole team. When Mickey was appointed as team
captain for Spitfires he further amplified this process of transformational leadership. He emerged as
a role model for the whole team. He would place his team interest before himself and would go an
extra mile to help his teammates. This created strong bonding among the team and its players.

After Mickey’s untimely death, whole team struck together as a group to share their
emotions and supported each other. For their upcoming season 2008-2009, Windsor Spitfires
named Joshua Bailey as the team captain and appointed Greg Nemisz, Adam Henrique and Henry
Young were named as upcoming captains. The expectations of fans were very high from this
upcoming season. Thinking about the expectations and current season, Peter considered signing a
star player with an enormous amount of talent for the team. However, given his selfish personality
and attitude, he feared that signing him in the team might adversely affect the overall team
cohesion. He was confused as to whether talk to his partners about actively pursuing the star player
or he should rather focus on the core of the team that is already in place.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

The Windsor Spitfires hockey team was a part of Ontario Hockey League since 1975-1976
season. In 2005, the club was caught in a controversy involving two players of its hockey team
Steve Downie and a rookie player Akim Alieu. This incident received attention from national and
international media outlets which had a negative impact on the image of Windsor Spitfires and also
on their fans. This made them realize about the problems in the organization that were there and

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 Institute of Rural Management Anand
PGDM-RM42 – Term I – End Term Examination
Individual and Group Behavior (IGB)
21-10-2021
Abhishek Malhotra, Roll Number: P42003

what repercussions could occur as result lack of effective leader and communication among the
team.

From 2006, the owners started overhauling the current structure of the team. They replaced
the current owner of the team with an ownership group comprising of former NHL players Bob
Boughner and Warren Rychel, and a local businessman Peter Dobrich who were well respected and
were involved in various charity work in the region. They took charge of various ownership
verticals in the team. Bob took charge of the bench; Warren would look after the players and Peter
would take care of the business side of the team. All in all, they formed a Core-team specializing in
various aspects of Windsor Spitfires. For them the goal was to develop individuals such that they
become leaders and this helps them achieve whatever the goal they wanted to achieve. They wanted
to create a climate of trust, empathy for all, and strong bonding within the team among its players
and work towards a common goal. For this they encouraged an open-door policy communication
whereby any players can without hesitation talk about their problems and get them resolved at the
earliest. This helped the players appreciate the fact that the management is listening to them and
their feedback was heard. Various team activities were also organized like small get together after
games and participation in community work which also were instrumental in building strong team
cohesion and team efficacy. All three owners Bob, Warren and Peter were themselves looked upon
by the players as role models because they themselves were involved in the community service, had
strong community relations and Bob and Warren were former players themselves. In a way they all
were Transformational leaders, they would give guide each player, give them advice and treated
each player equally.

In 2007, when Mickey became the Spitfires team captain, he further exemplified these
leadership behaviours. As described by his coaches and teammates he was a popular candidate for
the role and an all-around leader. He was the one that his teammates would turn to whenever they
got stuck or needed some advice and he too placed his team before him and cared for his
teammates. He was described by his coach Boughner as a follow as I do type leader. Because of his
role as a transformational leader everyone felt included and this created a strong team bonding. The
ownership group too felt that there were many qualities with Mickey that the organization
prescribed to.

Hence, when Mickey died a leadership vacuum was created which needed to be filled. For
this the Spitfires brought in professionals, set up support groups and encouraged players to provide
emotional support to each other. For their next upcoming season Spitfires named Joshua Bailey as
the team captain and appointed Greg Nemisz, Adam Henrique and Henry Young were named as
upcoming captains. The Spitfires had high expectations for the next upcoming season from its fans.
They were ranked as the top team in the Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 rankings (Canadian Hockey
League 2008a). Given the situation Peter Dobrich was considering availing the services of a star
player who possessed enormous amount of talent. But there were problems about his selfish

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 Institute of Rural Management Anand
PGDM-RM42 – Term I – End Term Examination
Individual and Group Behavior (IGB)
21-10-2021
Abhishek Malhotra, Roll Number: P42003

personality and attitude of entitlement that were particularly concerning Peter. He was in a dilemma
as to whether he should talk to his partners about actively pursue the star player or should he focus
on the core of the team that is already in place?

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE

To maintain and promote environment of hard work, cohesion, efficacy and family
atmosphere among the team and its players in the long-run.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

It is known that star player which Peter is considering has an enormous amount of talent but
he also possesses selfish personality and an attitude of entitlement. Given this information, the
problem statement should be as to whether Peter Dobrich should maintain the team that is already
in place or should he try to convince his partners to actively pursue the talented superstar.

DEFINING CRITERIA

1. To maintain the culture of strong cohesion, synergy, efficacy and family atmosphere among
the team players.
2. To maintain a good public image of team among the fans of Windsor Spitfires.
3. To perform as per the high expectations of fans in the upcoming season.

GENERATING ALTERNATIVES

Alternative 1: Peter should focus on the maintaining the core of the team that is already in
place. He should not recommend his partners to peruse the star player given the issues with his
attitude and personality.

Alternative 2: Peter should recommend his partners to peruse the star player, since he
possesses a wealth of talent and gives them a better chance of performing as per expectations in the
upcoming season.

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 Institute of Rural Management Anand
PGDM-RM42 – Term I – End Term Examination
Individual and Group Behavior (IGB)
21-10-2021
Abhishek Malhotra, Roll Number: P42003

EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES AGAINST THE CRITERIA

Alternative 1: This alternative satisfies all the criteria on which we are making the
decision. The synergy and cohesion that is there in the team will remain intact. Since all players in
the team is inspired from their late leader Mickey and are working together to achieve a specific
goal, hence public image of the team is good and intact. Additionally, the team has is able to
perform despite Mickey’s absence. They won the game in Mickey’s absence by 5-0, which shows
that the team believe in itself when it comes to winning. Therefore, despite not roping in the star
player, the Spitfires can be fairly confident about their upcoming season.

Alternative 2: This alternative doesn’t satisfy the criteria mentioned. If the star player is
roped in the Spitfires, it can adversely affect the team dynamics, cohesion and the family
environment. Since personality of players play a very important role in the team, the star player’s
selfish personality and his attitude of entitlement is not of any help for the team. This type of
personality and attitude is a direct threat to the team morale and to individual player satisfaction. In
teams there is no “I”, rather team works on concept of “WE” i.e., there is a common goal for the
whole team instead of individual goal.

Moreover, the star player also shows lack of enthusiasm in dealing with the media and fans.
This could prove to be a threat to the good public image Bob, Warren, Peter and their late former
captain Mickey has worked so hard to over the years to build. In addition to it since hockey is a
team sport not individual, despite the talent that the star player possesses, it couldn’t guarantee that
the team would be able to perform better with him. Instead, the selfish personality and attitude of
entitlement of the star player can hamper other players performance as well.

ACTION PLAN

Peter Dobrich should refrain himself from signing the new player. He along with Bob and
Warren should strategize on how to extract the best performance from the team that is already built
by him, Bob, Warren and Mickey over the years. This gives him a better chance to ensure team
morale and cohesion is well maintained while the performance of the team is also well managed.

CONTINGENCY PLAN

The star player could be roped in, provided that if he adheres to the values that Windsor
Spitfire and its each member prescribes to. It should be clearly stated in the contract the ethics,
behaviour and attitudes that is expected from him. First the Contract of 1 year should be made with
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 Institute of Rural Management Anand
PGDM-RM42 – Term I – End Term Examination
Individual and Group Behavior (IGB)
21-10-2021
Abhishek Malhotra, Roll Number: P42003

him, which is liable to be cancelled if the star player’s personality and attitude adversely affects
team dynamics. If he is able to show through his behaviour that he contributes to the team morale
and cohesion then the contract could be extended further.

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