Discuss the right composition of the problem-solving

Question

1. Discuss the right composition of the problem-solving team:
   1. Decide on the number of members of the problem-solving team. Specify functions and roles of its individual members. Give reasons for your choices.
   2. Do you prefer appointing its leader or keeping the team self-managed? Explain why.
   3. How will your coordinate your activities, make your decisions and handle your occasional disagreements? How will you organise your reporting to Board of Governors?
   4. How will you measure each team member's performance? Do you prefer measuring the performance of each individual and/or of the group as a whole? Why?
   5. What sort of individual and/or group rewards do you recommend? Explain your reasons.
   6. Presume that very few of the team members meet with each other. What methods do you recommend to increase their mutual trust and open communication?

Specify the implementation plan.

2. Elaborate into your goals in terms of:
   1. Purchasing/leasing/outsourcing hardware versus purchasing/licensing software (including its multilingual versions).
   2. User and administrator training.
   3. Your priorities in all above issues.
   4. The forms of collaboration of your company with the supplier; ways of communication and your liaison officer(s).
   5. Set up deadlines and responsibilities of the problem-solving team's members.
3. Prepare your negotiation strategy with your suppliers (see items 2.1 and 2.2). Anticipate your opponent's position concerning:
   1. To what degree its position to the above items might correspond to your interests.
   2. Is your opponent eager to accept your proposal? Why or why not? What points of your proposal are potentially difficult to negotiate for him?
   3. What sort of penalties will you ask for violating the conditions of the agreement?
   4. Who will supposedly represent the opponent? What is his/her/their decisional power in the partner's organisation?
   5. Develop a list of actions you might conceivably take if no agreement is reached (i.e. so-called Plan B).