LUMEN & ABSORB TEAMS AT CRUTCHFIELD CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

1. Case Presented by :
Bharat Lakhwani
Bhupendra Nath Tiwary
Pradeep Sukumar
Saunak Mukherjee
Shubham Goswami
Suryadipta Guha

2. CRUTCHFIELD CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
 Headquartered at Geneva – manufactures
various products through engineering workflows.
 Mission – to explore new technologies and
product categories
• The Polymer department consisted of
five teams. Out of those two were
 Lumen Team
 Absorb Team

3. THE PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS
 THE LUMEN TEAM
- Develop multilayer sheets of crystals for electronic
monitoring equipment.
- To be used in low illumination conditions
• THE ABSORB TEAM
- To use licensed materials to develop a hybrid organic-
inorganic fiberboard
- Enable superior heat absorption properties.

4. THE ISSUE !
 Annual HR Study - Bad News
 Overall invention disclosures, patent applications, &
new product launches were down
 The survey also indicated bad news on employee
motivation
 Significant difference in motivation levels between
the two teams

5. ANALYSING THE ISSUE
 Burke approaches the VP - Kohler to seek an
advice
 The VP - Kohler then advices Burke to hire a HR
Consultant to study the problem

6. ANALYSING THE ISSUE
Joanna McKinty – HR Consultant
 Looks into the scenario of both the Lumen
and Absorb teams
 A view into the intrinsic motivation
and the team dynamics

7. THE DIARY STUDY – Methods &
Techniques
 Collection of diaries from every team member,
for every workday over a span of 2 weeks.
 Confidential individual information to be aggregated
into a set of conclusions and recommendations.
 Mission was to –
 Improving team effectiveness.
 Detailed look at the inner workings in an
organization.

8. Usage of Personality Scores from HR
Department
 Each person’s score would be evaluated on a Work
Preference Inventory.
- a questionnaire which describes a persons
intrinsic motivation
• The idea for the study :
- To observe inherent differences among individuals
rather than intra-team functionality

9. METHODS & TECHNIQUES
 Questions on qualitative and quantitative issues.
- To what extent did you feel challenged by your
work today?
- You enjoyed your work today?
 Allowing employees to give her the information they
felt was important rather than requesting information
from them.
- This would create a respond as if they were writing
a diary.

10. Reviewing the Data
 Responses to diary forms
 Methodology of detailed analysis adopted
Forming a story
Stories described confidential information
 Specific factors addressed
Intrinsic motivation
Creativity
Overall effectiveness

11. Reviewing the Data Contd..
 Quantitative study
Daily intrinsic motivation levels
“Motivational orientation personality trait” Score
 Intrinsic Motivation items
 Feelings of involvement
 Enjoyment
 Interest
 Challenge in work

12. Reviewing the Data Contd..
 Personality differences among people
WPI Scores were used

13. LUMEN TEAM - Characteristics
 The team leader Max appreciates and values the
suggestions of the team members
 The team members complement each other and are
ready to share the responsibilities of other members of
the team
 The leader guides the team members appropriately
and also gives them scope to use their creative ideas

14. LUMEN TEAM - Characteristics
 Max also used to take up the team’s issues to the
management
 The team members valued and supported the actions
of the team leader
 The team had the willingness to put the extra hours to
accomplish their tasks

15. ABSORB TEAM - Characteristics
 The team leader Chip
 lacked prioritization of activities
 delved too much into his team member’s work
 didn’t make much efforts to motivate his team members
 failed to understand the problems of his team members
 hastened the marketing of the products
 lacked team spirit

16. ABSORB TEAM - Characteristics
 The Absorb team had a grossly divided opinion among
themselves
 Often felt their leader to be pessimistic as a result of
which they lacked confidence in their team leader

17. RECOMMENDATIONS
 Clarity in work allotment
 Reviewing time should not be too long
 Optimum supervision
 A leader should not be politically motivated

18. RECOMMENDATIONS
 Understand the requirements completely before
starting a work
 The leader has to be assertive in his communication
with the management
 Team members should have open communication
among themselves and also with the team leader

19. RECOMMENDATIONS
 The leader should be appreciative of team members’
efforts
 Delegation of work should be done in a effective
manner
 Leader should give consideration to consensus among
team members

20. THANK YOU!