**Case Study: Shell Enhances Team Performance and Cross-Cultural Understanding**

Shell is a major global energy organization that has operated in Australia since 1901. It finds, develops, and supplies about one-third of Australia’s petroleum requirements to over 50,000 customers. A challenge for Shell is enabling members of a multicultural oil refinery team to achieve stronger engagement, affiliation, and improved performance. This involves addressing factors influencing team effectiveness, such as misunderstandings arising from differences in communication styles, decision-making preferences, and cultural backgrounds.

The team needed an engaging learning framework to develop agreed goals for improving interactions and performance. They participated in a process involving individualized assessment and feedback of personality profiles, an experiential workshop designed to address team interactions, and agreed approaches for communication, conflict management, and utilizing diversity to achieve business objectives. The process led to increased trust among team members, allowing constructive use of personality-type differences and improved performance and efficiency, resulting in tangible cost savings.

Rob Hart, the manager of Shell’s learning division in Australia and Oceania, is aware of the challenge of achieving optimal performance with diverse work teams. He conducts development programs and interventions to improve individual and team effectiveness measurably. Almost 75% of Shell’s consulting work focuses on team dynamics. Shell, as a global organization, employs over 104,000 people in 110 countries from diverse cultural backgrounds, personalities, and skills. Rob works with both operational staff at oil refineries and corporate office professionals, needing to offer flexible solutions, as he occasionally faces resistance from groups who may view him as just another 'head-office-based consultant.'

**Source:** Hellriegel, D., Slocum, J., Jackson, S.E., Louw, L., Staude, G., Amos, T., Klopper, H.B., Louw, M., Ootshuizen, T., Perks, S. & Zindiye, S. 2012. *Management: Fourth South African edition.* Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa.

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**1.1 You are requested to assist Rob and advise him on how to ensure the success of the global virtual team at Shell. What advice will you give Rob? Explain.**

*Note: Use examples from the case study to indicate your understanding of the subject matter. (7 points)*

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**1.2 Comment on the advantages of global virtual teams.**

*Note: Use examples from the case study to indicate your understanding of the subject matter. (5 points)*

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**1.3 In an adaptive organization such as Shell, which type of team would be the most suitable? Explain. (2 points)**

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**1.4 Normally, at the performing stage, strategies are developed for improving performance. Effective teams such as Shell can become inactive over time, with initial enthusiasm dwindling or suffering from groupthink.**

*Explain what is meant by groupthink and under which circumstances groupthink will be likely to increase. (8 points)*