BBMM103: Management Principles - Case Study Assessment Answer

Can business management learn from the management of an elite sporting team?

During 2010 and 2011, Ange Postecoglou led the Brisbane Roar football (soccer) team to 36 consecutive matches without a loss — along the way winning consecutive grand finals and breaking the record for the longest unbeaten streak at the top level of any football code in Australian history. The previous record for unbeaten matches had been set way back in the 1930s in rugby league. Postecoglou was the manager (the term more commonly used in soccer to describe a coach) of the Roar team. Although set in a sporting context, examining how Postecoglou and his Roar team achieved this feat provides many parallels and potential lessons for business. Concepts of team leadership, planning, strategy, human resource management and organisational culture change were all evident in this extraordinary sporting success story.

The Brisbane Roar was a founding member of the premier Australian A-League soccer competition in 2005. The team achieved moderate success in the early years of this elite competition, highlighted by qualifying for the finals series in the 2007– 08 and 2008– 09 seasons, although they subsequently lost in the preliminary finals in both cases.

Shortly after the 2009– 10 season started, then– manager Frank Farina (a high-profile former Australian ‘Socceroo’ national team manager) was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and suspended from the club. His contract was subsequently terminated less than a week later.  Like any company with an embarrassing change of CEO, a crisis loomed. Ange Postecoglou, the former Australian under-20 national team manager for six years, was recruited to take over. Unforgettably, Postecoglou’s first season in charge in 2009– 10 ended as the worst in the club’s history, with the Brisbane Roar finishing the season in second-last place.

However, the 2010– 11 season saw a complete turnaround, with the Roar winning the A-League grand final against the Central Coast Mariners in front of a record crowd of more than 50 000. In the following season, the team repeated its grand final success, defeating the Perth Glory and in the process becoming the first team to ever achieve this ‘back-to-back’ feat in the highly competitive A-League.

Leading a project group within a high-performing organisation has some similarities to the management and coaching of an elite sporting team. A professional soccer team such as the Brisbane Roar is a manager-led team within a larger organisation, with the manager responsible for managing goals and processes, including selecting team members and interfacing with the organisation.  But a manager-led team is also cross-functional, as team members have to be skilled in their individual roles within the team as well as in related roles in order to operate interactively and productively.  This type of high-performance team is common in organisations, and includes factory assembly teams, surgery teams and military teams.

Questions

1. Identify the key aspects of team leadership, planning, strategy, human resource management and organisational culture outlined in this case.

2. Applying this sporting case example to a business team context, what do you think are key elements of change management?

3. Postecoglou seemed to set up a smoothly running and successful operation during his time at the Roar. His job title was that of manager, although the case argues that he was more of a leader. Do you agree with that assessment? Why or why not, and what is the difference between the two?
4. Explain the disadvantages and advantages of cross-functional teams. Provide an example of a cross-functional team situation at the Brisbane Roar.

5. Sporting teams rise and fall, and inevitably will drop out of finals contention. What do you think the Brisbane Roar (includes manager and team) can do to maintain its success? Consider the SMART principle of planning and also the strategic tool, SWOT analysis.

6. According to the Blake Mouton Leadership Grid what type of leadership style does Postecoglou exhibit? Explain your answer with evidence from the case study.

7. Of the four types of culture, which one do you think the Brisbane Roar best represents. Explain the your answer with evidence from the course that aligns with the definition of the type of culture you have chosen.

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