4. Discuss recommendations before t he class. Nominees from the musical affi nity groups should discuss their recommendations before the class. Those not on the TWT should observe the process and take notes on what happens in this meeting. Effective managers recognize that organizational culture is an important, often critical element of organizational health and performance. But recognizing and understanding culture, especially its less visible aspects, is often quite challenging. This exercise will give you some practice in recognizing cultural differences and the challenges and opportunities that managers face as they work with diverse cultures.

Suppose that major music recording company SonyBMG has announced plans to hire several college students to form a team that will invest in the “next big things in music.” The selected students will be paid $50,000 per year for working part-time. SonyBMG will also allocate up to $10 million for hiring artists, producing records, and so on based on the team’s recommendations.

The new team has been dubbed the Top Wave Team

(TWT). If TWT’s recommendations are fruitful, the company will sign each member of the team to $150,000 fulltime contracts. The company also plans to keep the team together, and to give members bonuses and promotions based on their group performance.

Your class has been chosen as the representative college class. The music company is now asking you to form affi nity groups by musical preferences in your class (for example, a Country Music group, an Urban / Hip-Hop group). Each group will nominate one of its members to receive the fi rst $50,000 internship as a TWT team member at SonyBMG. The new TWT group will meet and discuss initial plans and investment recommendations, and then your class will discuss the process and outcomes