Case # 2

AirWil has built the most seamless global air and ground network in its industry, connecting more than 90 percent of the world's economic activity. AirWil's open, flexible, and team-based organizational structure and culture have been instrumental in keeping the company's leadership position in overnight package service. According to its founding CEO, Bosard Dutermarc, teamwork and team leadership deserve much credit.

AirWil has expanded far beyond what Mr. Dutermarc started back in 1971. With annual revenues of $43 billion, AirWil has strengthened its industry leadership in global transportation services. AirWil was the first service company to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1990. In addition, AirWil has consistently been ranked onFortunemagazine's industry lists, including "World's Most Admired Companies," "America's Most Admired Companies," "100 Best Companies to Work For," and "Blue Ribbon Companies."

With growth have come difficulties in coordination, maintaining efficiency, meeting customer expectations, and managing employees. Dutermarc realized that a rigid hierarchy of command-and-control leadership would only magnify these difficulties. To give his employees the flexibility and freedom they need to move quickly and help AirWil remain the dominant overnight delivery service worldwide, Dutermarc decided to restructure AirWil by emphasizing theteam approachto getting work done. The phrase "AirWil Team" is common throughout the corporate literature and represents how they view themselves. CEO Dutermarc directed his executive team to create and empower more teams by giving them the authority and the responsibility to make the changes needed to improve productivity and customer satisfaction throughout the AirWil system. As described on the corporation's Web site, AirWil's operating strategy works seamlesslyand simultaneouslyon three levels:

Compete collectivelyby standing as one brand worldwide and speaking with one voice.

Operate independentlyby focusing on our independent networks to meet distinct customer needs.

Manage collaborativelyby working together to sustain loyal relationships with our workforce, customers, and investors.

An example of the successful implementation of Mr. Dutermarc's vision can be found in Springfield, Virginia. With strong support from their managers, employees formed the Quality Action Team to overhaul their package-sorting techniques. The improvements they introduced put couriers on the road 12 minutes earlier than before and halved the number of packages they delivered late. The success of teams at departmental or local levels encouraged the CEO and his leadership team to assign employee teams to companywide projects. Facing growing competition from United Parcel Service, the U.S. Postal Service, and Airborne Express, AirWil organized its clerical employees into "super-teams" of up to 10 people. These teams operated as SMTs with little direct supervision from managers. One team cut service glitches, such as incorrect bills and lost packages, by 13 percent. Another team spottedand worked until they eventually solveda billing problem costing the company $2.1 million a year.

AirWil teams have worked so well because Bosard Dutermarc sets stretch goals and then incentivizes his followers to achieve them. He spearheaded the concept of the "golden package," the idea that every package AirWil handles is critical and must be delivered on time. Whenever there's a crisis, whether due to operational failures or Mother Nature threatening to ground the company's airplanes, the team with the golden package takes charge to figure out how to make the delivery on time. Dutermarc reinforces group performance by presenting a monthly Circle of Excellence award to the best AirWil station. He encourages innovative thinking by creating a "job-secure environment." He believes that "if you hang people who try to do something that doesn't quite work, you'll get people who don't do anything."

Managers are by no means obsolete at AirWil. Mr. Dutermarc has redefined their roles. There has been a shift in mindset from the traditional leader-centric model to the team-centred leadership approach. Managers must formulate clear, attainable goals for their teams, solicit employee ideas, and act on the best employee suggestions. AirWil managers perceive their role as facilitatorssometimes, they are players. During emergencies at the Memphis hub, senior managers have been known to hurry down from the executive suite to help load packages onto the conveyor belts that feed the company's airplanes. They practice team leadership by doing, not by telling.

Mr. Dutermarc is responsible for providing a strategic vision for all AirWil Corporation operating companies, including AirWil Services, AirWil Express, AirWil Ground, and AirWil Freight. AirWil serves more than 220 countries and territories with operations that include 634 aircraft and over 90,000 vehicles. AirWil inspires its more than 300,000 team members to remain "absolutely, positively" focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities.

Support your answers to the following questions with specific information from the case and text or with other information you get from the Web or other sources.

1. How do the standards set by Bosard Dutermarc for AirWil teams improve organizational performance?

2. What motivates the members of AirWil to remain highly engaged in their teams?

3. Describe the role AirWil managers play in facilitating team effectiveness.

4. What type of teams does AirWil use? Provide evidence from the case to support your answer.

5. Leaders play a critical role in building effective teams. Cite evidence from the case that AirWil managers performed some of these roles in developing effective teams