INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT INDORE

Written Analysis and Communication

Case Analysis

Henry Tam and the MGI team

By: NIKHIL BHAGAT | 2014PGP228

Section C

To,
Abha chatterjee
Professor
Business Communication
IIM Indore
Subject: Submission of assignment report on Henry Tam and The MGI Team
Dear Madam,
This report is being submitted by Nikhil Bhagat, section C, on Henry Tam
and The MGI Team as part of the individual submission under the course Written Analysis
and Communication.
I have followed the format explained by you. I have analysed all the case
facts, identified the appropriate problem statement and evaluated the various alternatives to
arrive at the final recommendation. Action plan has been formulated for the recommendation.
Sincerely,
Nikhil Bhagat (2014PGP228)
Section C

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary.................................................................................................................4
Introduction..............................................................................................................................5
Problem Statement...................................................................................................................7
Analysis.....................................................................................................................................7
criteria for evaluation..............................................................................................................8
Possible alternative solutions..................................................................................................8
Proposed Alternative................................................................................................................9
STEP BY STEP IMPLEMENTATION..................................................................................9

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report was commissioned to examine the current issue facing HBS students and MGI
Co-Founders in the group they have formed to write a business plan for the company. The
primary purpose is to evaluate the lack of collaboration between them and generating a
feasible solution for building a consensus between them so that they can write their business
plan in a given time.
The report suggests various alternatives that could be considered to
tackle the situation like removing Sasha from the group, choosing a leader within the goup or
hiring a team manager from outside. These alternatives were then reviewed as per the
evaluation criteria parameters like building cohesiveness in the group and defining roles and
responsibilities clearly.
After reviewing all the alternatives on the above parameters, the report
recommends that an external manager should be hired for building the cohesiveness in the
team and defining roles and responsibilities clearly.

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INTRODUCTION
MGI (Music Games International) is a small start up company which was founded by
Alexander (Sasha) Gimpleson, Igor Tkachenko, and Roman Yakub in 2000. The company
was formed with an idea to produce original music and sound effects for Websites. The
details of co- founders are as follows:

Sasha (co founder)

MBA from HBS in 1987

Got extensive marketing, sales management
and buisness development experience

Igor Tkachenko
(co founder)

Music composer and pianist

winner of the Best Music Award and the
audience choice award at 3rd FIFI in France

Roman Yakub (co

- founder)

Internationally acclaimed music composer

Holds a doctor of Musical Arts in
Composition degree from Boston University

In fall 2001, MGI released its first commercial product, Tchaikovskys Nutcracker. The first
edition of the Nutcracker game was a critical success but a commercial failure. MGIs
product received high marks for quality and originality, but the company lacked the
experience and resources needed to effectively market and distribute the product. The
company needed a business strategy to make their product a commercial success. So, they
decided to participate in HBS business plan contest. Sasha sent an e-mail to the HBS students
who will like to join the company and help the company in writing the business plan.
The HBS business plan contest was started in 1996 as a vehicle
to educate and prepare students for future entrepreneurship opportunities. The official
requirement for the teams was to include at least one second year HBS MBA student. So,
MGI took Henry and Dana as a participants from HBS to join the group.

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Concentrated person
Calm and soft spoken person
Creative and analytical person
Acts as a leader
Motivatied and hard working personality
Focussed person
Goal oriented person
Persistent
Acts as a leader
Motivated and Hard working personality

Dana (HBS Student)

Henry (HBS
student)

Sasha saw Henry and Dana as Interns while they saw themselves as leaders and facilitators in
shaping the vision of the company. Sasha and Dana had negative chemistry and they did not
work very well together. Dana was business focussed and tries to approach the issues through
financial perspectives, while Sasha was more driven by creativity. Thats why the conflicts
came into picture between them. Sasha and Dana wants to place the product in education
sector while co-founders wants it to be placed in entertainment sector.
Three meetings held so far:

Dav Clark ( MIT, IT

Graduate ) joined the
group with MIT's
buisness plan contest
tensions in the group
increased
More debates and less
work

3rd Meeting

Unclear roles and

responsibilty
Different attitudes
towards the students
Conflicts between Sasha
and Dana

Alex Sartakov (Berklee

college of Music) joined
the group
unclear direction of the
comapny
conflicts between sasha
and Dana
Dana and Henry's
cooperation

1st Meeting

2nd Meeting

The deadline for the business contest is approaching and no significant progress has been
made. If the company continue to operate as it had so far. It had a little chance of putting
together a coherent business plan.
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PROBLEM STATEMENT

How can MGI co- founders and HBS students resolve their issues and work
together effectively as a team to write the business plan in given time?

ANALYSIS
1.

2.

3.
4.

5.

6.

The case clearly indicates that that Sasha and Dana has negative chemistry. They
didnt work very well together. There was a lot of friction between them. Dana looked
at things like a finance specialist- a wide lens, very broad view. Sasha, in her eyes,
was just a salesperson- not a visionary, even though Sasha had her same degree.
The greatest differences within the team as rooted in national or ethnic origins,
sometimes attributing behaviours among the MGI founders to cultural stereotypes.
The greatest divide in the team came from the contrast between the creative impulses
of the Musicians and the more pragmatic approach of the HBS students.
The team also lacked human resource management. There was a lack of structure and
clarity in defining roles and responsibility.
MGI co- founders were driven by a creative idea and enthusiasm but the lacked
structure and a clear vision to make their idea happening. They failed to successfully
organize their tasks, divide work efficiently, delegate responsibilities and form a good
team to lead company to success. When new members joined the group, tasks and
roles were not defined clearly and incoherent structure continued to drive the
activities the MGI group.
There was also a lack of effective communication between the group members.
Sashas motivations were not clear to Henry and Dana when he recruited MIT student
into the group.
After observing the three meetings, it becomes clear that there was no formal clear
leader in all the meetings. The individuals acted on self-imposed demands rather than
on the demands of the company. Igor and Roman cared only about their creative ideas
and brainstorming sessions, Sasha thought that he can lead the company himself, the
HBS students wanted to gain experience, Alex was a silent observer while Dav
wanted to prepare the business plan for the MIT business plan contest.

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CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

The criteria for evaluation will be based on the following points
1. The evaluated solution should develop cohesiveness between the group so that they
can work together effectively for the benefit of the company
2. The members should converge their individual objectives into one common goal
3. The solution should be such that that the tasks and responsibilities of each member in
the group should be clearly defined.

POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

1. Remove Alexander (Sasha) Gimpleson from the group
This alternative would probably will solve the basic problems of communication and working
in team resulting from Sashas poor communication skills, conflict handling and his leader
attitude without taking in consideration the other group members. But it could also have
serious consequences as Sasha is one of the core members and it is not easy to restrict him
outside the Group.
Pros
Healthy communication in the team
Conflicts will be less
Less brainstorming and more work
Proper team culture

Cons
Removing of core member
Losing out experienced member in buisness
False signal to other co -founders

2. Appoint someone as a leader within the group

This alternative of choosing a member within the group as team leader can improve
collaboration between the team members and solve conficts. But it will not be possible to
attain consensus in such a short time to find the group leader between themselves.

Pros
Conflicts will be resolved
Improved communication among the team
Progress in the business plan writing
Clear roles and responsibilities
.

Cons
Unable to achieve consensus in such a group
Might evoke hatred from other members
towards the leader
Chances group will respond more negatively

3. Recruit a Team manager from outside having an industry expertise

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This alternative will provide an external person with proper industry expertise capable of
solving the conflicts between the members and lead them towards the common goal. In this
he will acts as a neutral leader and thus less conflicts within the group. But there is less
amount of time available to hire a team manager
Pros
Improved communication among team
Neutral leader, so no biasing

Cons
Less time available for recruiting
More complex group with addition of new
member

Less conflicts will be there

Progress in the business plan writing

PROPOSED ALTERNATIVE
Recruit a Team Manager from outside
The outside manager can resolve the issues of the group more easily by acting as a neutral
leader. He can convert the team into unified team. He will be like an observer who will define
clear task and responsibilities and direct all the members to work for one common goal. So,
there will be no biasing towards any particular group member

STEP BY STEP IMPLEMENTATION

Following Steps should be followed while recruiting a team manager from outside
1. The team manager must have an industry expertise
2. After joining the group, he should look into the situation and problems prevailing in
the group
3. Then , he should define roles and responsibilities of each group member
4. He should reduce conflicts and try to channelize the skill level of each individual into
common goal.

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