NETW 583 Week 6 Case Study ; Magna International’s Carbon Fiber “Lightweighting” Project

NETW583 Strategic Management of Technology Case Study: Magna International’s Carbon Fiber “Lightweighting” Project Professor M. BulejeKeller Graduate School of Management Mario Smith How would you characterize the structure of the core team used by Magna for the lightweight project? What do you think are the pros or cons of this type of team for this project? As outlined in our textbook, there are several characteristics of heavyweight teams. The first of which is that the team members are removed from their functional departments so that they may be collocated with the project manager. Second, the project manager is typically a senior manager who outranks functional managers, and have significant authority to command resources, and evaluate and reward team members. Third, the core group of team members is often dedicated full-time to the project. It is this combination of factors that help ensure that the team has strong cross-functional coordination and communication, and that team members are committed to the development project. Finally, heavyweight teams are usually temporary. The lightweight project meets all of these characteristics, so it is my opinion that this is the structure under which the team operated. Heavyweight teams have many advantages such as: focus on product/process broad set of skills available set a clear mission cross-functional perspective commitment Conversely, some of the disadvantages include: clash with functions agitation of senior management make other employees feel like “second class” may not excel in all components be too general want even more power What do you think the benefits and costs were of Magna’s team working across three different geographic locations? Do you think those benefits