1. Suzanne Howard and Donald Peterson phased in permanent cross-functional teams in Wichita. What types of teams are the “problem chats” and SPITS groups? What stage or stages of team development did these groups evolve through?
2. What role did Donald Peterson play in the success of the Wichita team-based productivity project? What style did he employ to help reduce conflict between labor and the professionals? Do you agree with Suzanne Howard that if she just had a Donald Peterson in Lubbock, the project would succeed? Explain your answer.
3. What advice would you give Suzanne Howard and her team for improving the employee involvement climate, containing costs, and meeting production goals at the Lubbock plant?

Several years ago, Acme Minerals Extraction Company introduced teams in an effort to solve morale and productivity problems at its Wichita plant. Acme used highly sophisticated technology, employing geologists, geophysicists, and engineers on what was referred to as the “brains” side of the business, as well as skilled and semiskilled labor on the “brawn” side to run the company’s underground extracting operations. The two sides regularly clashed, and when some engineers locked several operations workers out of the office in 100-degree heat, the local press had a field day. The company hired Suzanne Howard to develop a program that would improve productivity and morale at the Wichita plant. The idea was that it would then be implemented at other Acme sites.