The Grid and Group Culture of TIBCO - Essay Example

Being high on the grid (the extent to which an individual is influenced by the need for rules and regulations

),

they were able to command and take charge of the situations, and being low on the group (the extent to which the individual is influenced by group values

) facilitated that they could maintain interest but

objective perspective to the project and people.

The Business Review roles (under the Business Process Teams) were assigned to people who were more of Individualist (low on group low on the grid) so that they can use their knowledge and experience in decision-making. Some of the members were taken from the Board of Directors, to add credibility and authority for the task. The Power Users and Business System Analysts were Egalitarians (high on the group and low on-grid) and hence they could work comfortably in groups. Same for Wilson’s technical team.

Davis’ Change Management team, especially the chosen Focus Group, again falls under the Egalitarian division: they thrived on cooperation, collective work, and teamwork for bringing about a concerted change. Any deadlocks faced by them were cleared by Rex, who can be classified with the Hierarchies.

At TIBCO, there were a few Fatalists too, (like the few who left) who could not change their apathetic attitude and were unable to streamline themselves with the changing environment. However, they were few and were greatly outnumbered by the other, more positive staff.

By the consent of the Tiger Team, an almost no-individuality culture was fostered (space arrangement in the Tiger Den). This went a long way in developing the esprit de corps, and even making the non-cooperative streak of the Individualists fade away.

Above all, though the project was driven by a top-down approach, the sub-cultures (how do workers interact with each other at their levels), and nuances of relationships between co-workers were adequately harnessed. The sheer vigour, from Rex Martin to the lowest rung, became infectious, fostering creativity and creating a comfort zone even amid the urgent deadline - adding to the organization’s success.