Please read the Case Study 'Dragon boat racing on the Thames' and answer ALL

Questions relating to the Case Study.

Dragon boat racing on the Thames FT

A pain is spreading down my arm. Twenty of us,

seated in ten rows, two to a bench, are paddling

furiously aboard a 40 ft dragon boat. It isa

disconcerting, not to mention exhausting, experience.

As we plough down the Thames in London's Royal

Albert Dock, we take orders froma helmsman and

keep time to a drum. It's almostas if we're slaves in a

galley, except we're supposed to be doing this for fun.

I'm racing with the Thames Dragon Boat Club, and I'm

quickly learning that perfectly synchronised paddling

is the key to survival. Without it there's no way to

generate speed through the water.

'Watch the strokes at the front of the boat and keep

in time with them,' shouts team coach Liam Keane,

seated beside me in the boat. 'Ideally, wewant

everyone's paddles entering and exiting the water at exactly the same time. You could have twenty

enormous beefcakes powering a dragon boat, but if they're not paddling in time with each other,

they won't be effective.'

'When people first start this sport, they just go for power,' Keane adds. 'But you need to get into a

team mentality. Get your timing locked in and feel the rhythm of the boat.' His voice starts to waver

as the helmsman suddenly barks out the orders to increase the pace, at which the 10-year-old

drummer, Amy, seated at the prow, ups the tempo accordingly. We've reached 65 strokes a minute,

which is close to race pace. My arms and shoulders are beginning to protest as the lactic acid

builds up, and my heart pumps wildly. Although each paddling action is identical, one has to

concentrate hard to get the timing and the angle of entry into and out of the water just right.

On more than a few occasions I catch a crab and splash the right ear of the female paddler in front

of me with ice-cold water. In due course I get my own dousing courtesy of the chap sitting behind

me, who is also a beginner. There's neither the time nor the spare breath to apologise. I'm told later

that we achieved a top speed of about 8 knots. With a full crew of experienced paddlers in a race

situation, this might reach 9 knots. The tight teamwork required and the simple technique make

dragon boating the perfect corporate team sport. 'Anybody can ,' Keane stresses. 'You can

put a bunch of novices into a boat and within ten minutes they're paddling. You couldn't do that

with rowing because it's more of a fine art. They might end up capsizing the boat.'

Paul Coster, the club chairman, insists that dragon boating is the truest of all team sports. 'The

camaraderie is so important' he says. 'We train together, we race together, we get drunk together.

That's why lots of companies It's great for team-building.'

Back on the water, our practice is beginning to pay off. Suddenly we all lock into the same rhythm

-20 paddlers in perfect unison. It almost feels as if we've ceased to be separate athletes and have

joined forces into a single entity, like a shoal of fish or a flock of birds. And for a blissful moment, I

forget the pain.

Is dragon boat racing the truest of all team sports?

Tight teamwork and simple technique make dragon

boat racing the perfect corporate team sport. Question 1

Explain how Dragon Boat Racing can use elements of Team Effectiveness model

to be an effective team. Describe how Dragon Boat Racing use Tuckman's stages

of team development model to build a winning team.

(2 marks + 4 marks)

Question 2

Discuss advantages and disadvantages of having informal groups in an organisation

with a diverse workforce. What are the challenges for a manager in managing

informal groups in a diverse workforce?

(4 marks + 4 marks)

Question 3

Define motivation. Describe how a manager can use position and personal power to

motivate employees, provide examples to support your response.