Anheuser–Busch InBev N.V. (AB InBev) is the largest global brewer with 25% global market share.

AB InBev owns the following brands:

• Stella Artois
• Beck’s
• Budweiser
• Shock Top
• Quilmes
• Brahma
• Labatt
• Alexander Keith’s
• Bass
• Natural Ice
• Busch
• Guaraná Antarctica
• Rolling Rock
• Jupiler
• Hasseröder
• Harbin Brewery
• Leffe
• Hoegaarden
• Hertog Jan
• Dommelsch
• Oranjeboom
• Staropramen
• Michelob
• Spaten, Franziskaner
• Löwenbräu
• Kokanee
• Tinkoff
• BagBier
• Клинское
• Сибирская корона
• Толстяк
• Премьер
• Рифей
• Жигулёвское
• O’Doul’s

The company has distribution rights for Bacardi and Monster Energy and owns 50 percent of Corona.

InBev is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev. The chief executive officer is Carlos Brito and the Board of Directors include:

• Allan Chapin
• Carlos Alberto da Veiga Sicupira
• Arnoud de Pret Roose de Calesberg
• Jean-Luc Dehaene
• Philippe de Spoelberch
• Jorge Paulo Lemann
• Roberto Moses Thompson Motta
• Kees J. Storm
• Peter Harf

InBev’s flagship brands are:

• Stella Artois
• Brahma
• Beck’s
• Leffe

Many business activities are built around teams and this approach has many advantages. Large projects or those which require diverse skill sets cannot be carried out by individuals. Team spirit can become an important motivating factor to drive a project or department forwards and shared responsibility achieves more effective work in a multi-skilled environment.

When a team is working at its peak it becomes a Gestalt, greater than the sum of its parts. In order to achieve this peak performance, careful attention must be paid to the structure of the group and to the process of individuals becoming part of that group.

In 1965, Bruce Tuckman published a theory outlining a four stage model of group development and behaviour. Very considerately, the four stages rhyme, making them much easier to remember. Tuckman’s Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing model is deceptively simple, covering developments in relationships, team capabilities and leadership styles over the lifetime of a team. In the 1970s, Tuckman extended his model to include Adjourning, the completion of a project.

Forming

The team is assembled and the task specified.

The main focus will be information gathering and research activities. Some time will also be spent planning. It is important not to prioritise the task over the social aspects of team building at this stage. A team that bonds now will perform better in the later stages. Ensure that time and space is given to icebreaking and the building of relationships.

Team members will be acting mostly as individuals. Unfamiliarity with other team members may lead to reticence. There will be a lot of questioning and testing of the leader’s authority and limits.

Much more direction will be required from the team leader at this stage. To establish authority, the leader may adopt an Authoritarian or Situational style. Effective Forming can be facilitated by clear communication of project objectives from the leader to team members. Ample time should be given for members to ask questions, and those should all be answered as promptly as possible to build confidence in the leader’s competence. Activities should be geared towards team interaction to aid bonding.

Storming

The team approaches the project and starts to generate ideas.

Team members will bring their expertise to bear on aspects of the project. Solutions will be suggested and discussed. Outline plans or specifications may be drawn up.

Relationships (good and bad), are formed and may become fixed. Power struggles emerge as team members weigh up alternative solutions. Cliques can be formed. Both these aspects can be counter-productive if not handled carefully. Alternatively, too much drive for consensus at this stage can also hinder progress.

The leader adopts a more facilitative style, allowing democratic decision making, but being prepared to have the final say if necessary to prevent destructive and time-consuming disagreements.

In some respects, this is when the group structure is at its most fragile. It is important that the team focuses on objectives, rather than personalities, or they may become stuck at the Storming stage. Roles may need to be reinforced or even redefined to ensure smooth transition to the next stage.

Norming

The team is working well and has come to a consensus about shared values and rules.

Larger decisions are made by the whole group, while delegation based on skills and roles lets team members contribute fully.

Recognition of each other’s strengths and contributions leads to greater group cohesion. Relationships are strengthened and teams may start to initiate social activities outside of work.

The leader may step back a little at this stage as team members start to share the leadership responsibility for parts of the project. He should maintain an overall view of the project.

Complacency is a danger, as everything begins to run more smoothly. There should still be a focus on objectives to ensure that the project is driven forward. Timescales and resourcing should be carefully monitored to ensure this focus.

Performing

The team is able to perform to a high level with minimum intervention from management.

The team behaves more strategically and is able to perceive the wider view of what they are trying to achieve. Dissent occurs, but is seen as a positive contribution to the decision making process, as there is a high level of respect between members. There is a focus on personal and professional development at this stage and team members may be looking for official accreditation of skills gained during the project, or further training to widen their role next time.

Team members look out for each other and there is a high degree of autonomy. The team requires only criteria, not instructions, from the leader and is able to work towards those independently. Teams may strive to exceed expectations.

The leader who has successfully brought a team to this stage may now take a more Laissez-faire approach. In a high functioning business, this leader would now be able to adopt a monitoring role for this team and turn his attention to building a new team for a new project.

Many teams never reach this stage and become stuck at an earlier, lower performing stage. Effective leadership is perhaps the most important factor in ensuring that teams do perform. The flexibility to adjust style appropriately to team development stages and the ability to recognise the stage the group is in are the hallmarks of a leader who will get the best from teams working under him.

Adjourning

Tuckman added this stage (which some call Mourning) in the 1970s, to describe the end of the project and the break-up of the team. Team members, particularly if they have become close, may find this stage unsettling and even threatening as they look at the next project with uncertainty. It is often appropriate for an organisation to arrange some kind of celebration to mark the successful completion of a project and to thank members for their valuable contribution towards that success.

The chief skills of a Project Manager are leadership, management, organisation, team-building and communication.

Leadership

In order to be successful, a project manager must have both leadership and management skills. Leadership involves communicating the objectives and vision of the project to team members and stakeholders; displaying courage and confidence; inspiring the team; taking charge and leading with energy and by example; and promoting creativity, coordination and teamwork in order to reach the project’s goals. Management involves administration: the disciplined, methodical application of project management processes in planning and controlling a project.

Organisation and team-building

Organisational planning and human resource management are key skills for a project manager, since assembling a project team and providing the environments in which they will coordinate their activities are often project management responsibilities. A project manager usually negotiates with other levels of management which people will participate on a project. The team of people who will participate must have the skills to perform the work in addition to sufficient time and appropriate tools and materials. Once a team is assembled, the project manager will assign project roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships. Depending on project length, the project manager may also plan team development, training or team-building activities in order to achieve effective project performance.

Communication

A key skill for a project manager is the ability to communicate well. Project coordination is key to project success in that stakeholders have a need to understand project activities and outcomes from their point of view, and often provide input to project decisions as well. Depending on the nature of the industry, project managers may have to coordinate teams and stakeholders who speak different languages or are located at great distances. Communications planning includes identifying appropriate communication methods for various stakeholders, which could include face to face meetings, telephone or video conferences, e-mail, instant messaging and formal or informal reporting. Project managers also identify which meetings should take place at various levels of the project, including management and technical meetings. The methods of communication for coordination of project activities, and the reporting requirements of stakeholders are also planned. While a project is in progress the project manager is responsible for distributing information and reporting on progress and performance, in addition to the coordination of project team members and resources.

Responsibilities

A Project Manager’s responsibilities are the management of a project’s scope, schedule, budget, quality and risk.

Scope management

Scope management involves planning, defining, verifying and controlling the features of the product or service created during the project. For example, on a construction project, the scope includes the components of the building to be constructed. On an information technology project, the scope includes the features of the hardware component or software which the project is building. Often during a project there is pressure to increase or change the functions. The project manager is responsible for ensuring that a scope baseline has been set, and for controlling change in an orderly manner by obtaining proper authorization and approval for changes in scope.

Schedule planning

Projects are often constrained by time and a project manager’s responsibilities include schedule management. Tasks in this area include planning for a project by defining the activities and their dependencies and sequence during the project as well as estimating their duration. If a project has a stakeholder-required completion date, but the estimate shows that the activities will run beyond this date, then the project manager will have to negotiate with the stakeholder either to extend the required completion date or to reduce the project’s features and responsibilities. Project managers are normally responsible for setting a project baseline schedule which stakeholders assist in creating and to which all agree. While the project is operating, the project manager must control the schedule by reviewing progress and taking action to ensure that project milestones are met. In order to meet the project schedule, project issues must be tracked and managed to resolution. Such tracking involves understanding the relative importance of project issues and how they will affect the project schedule; understanding who is able to resolve each issue and understanding the way in which issues are escalated during a project.

Budget management

The project budget is another constraint to which the project manager is often held accountable. In the planning stages of a project, the cost of project resources must be estimated, including the cost of labour for project team members, equipment needed to perform the project and the materials needed to construct the product. Again, the project manager must ensure that a baseline budget is set for the project, and that changes are approved and communicated. During project execution, spending is measured by tracking the budget used to date and taking action to control costs and keep them within approved levels.

Quality planning

A factor which must be considered by project managers is the quality of the resulting product or service. Quality planning involves determining which standards are relevant to the project and determining how they should be satisfied. While a project is in progress, quality assurance involves evaluating overall performance of the project at defined intervals to provide confidence that the project will meet the needed standards. Quality control, by contrast, measures individual project results to determine if they comply with specific quality standards, and identifying ways to improve quality. The project manager must be aware of the quality required by the stakeholders, and negotiate appropriate budget and schedule to be included in order to achieve quality.

Risk management

Risk management is a further responsibility for project managers. Risks are events which may occur during a project which, should they occur, will adversely affect the project. The project manager is often responsible for identifying project risks and quantifying the potential likelihood and outcome in order to select risks events that warrant a planned response. Risk mitigation involves planning responses to risks events. Risk control involves responding to risks events which occur. For example, in an industry where there is a great deal of competition for skilled staff, there could be a risk that a key project team member will leave before the project is complete. Risk mitigation involves planning for such an eventuality by identifying activities that would take place if the event occurred.

Many project managers choose to receive their project management degree online if they are working as a freelancer. This gives them the ability to work and receive an education simultaneously.

When faced with a difficult task, we often seek the ideas and insights of a number of individuals. Attacking a problem with a group rather than an individual provides additional perspective and an opportunity to piggy-back on each other’s ideas. Despite the popularity of using teamwork to make decisions, it may not always be the best idea. While brainstorming sessions are assumed to be valuable because they elicit a variety of individual opinions, this doesn’t always work as planned.

In fact, the pressure of a group setting in the workplace can actually lead to individuals withholding their views because they feel their ideas run counter to those of the group. Because of this mistaken assumption, team members will agree to an idea they are not in favour of. This practice of refusing to object to an unfavourable idea is commonly referred to as the “Abilene paradox,” or “groupthink.”

Such situations commonly occur in the workplace because of the many consequences that may be associated with breaking ranks – possible loss of promotions, embarrassment in front of a superior, or simply earning the reputation that one is “not a team player.” As a result, employees are more willing to conform to an idea they find distasteful than to assert their opinion and risk being criticized. And while this is a complex social problem, it can be handled through effective communication.

Though difficult, you can reap the advantages of group decision-making or brainstorming sessions while actively discouraging groupthink. One effective strategy for avoiding the Abilene paradox is using anonymous idea submission. Instead of having team members shout out ideas, begin a brainstorming session by introducing the problem or concept at hand and then distributing paper for writing down ideas. After a pre-determined period of time, collect the paper and record the ideas on a whiteboard or posterboard, so that ideas remain anonymous but are still presented. This will encourage members to think outside the box without fear of personal criticism. At this stage, you may either openly discuss the ideas or initiate a second round of written responses. Either way, you will be able to minimize the pressures of publicity yet still take advantage of a variety of viewpoints and the opportunity to build off of one another’s ideas.

Another method to avoid the Abilene paradox also involves maintaining anonymity; instead of during the idea-generation process, though, implement it during the voting or decision-making stage. It is during the actual decision-making process that the pressure to conform becomes the most overwhelming, so letting employees approve or disapprove of an initiative with a high level of privacy will encourage them to voice their true opinions.

Building awareness of the issue can also eliminate conformist thinking. Let your employees know that this phenomenon is real and carries with it worse consequences than anything that would result from a simple difference of opinion. Be sure to stress the fact that your company values diverse input, as innovation usually comes from breaking the mould. But also realise that your actions speak louder than words; rewarding employees who speak up in a constructive manner and voicing your appreciation for creative ideas will let employees know that “rocking the boat” isn’t going to push the company – or their career – off course. In fact, going with the flow can produce a much less favourable outcome.

The cognitive approach to learning insists that even though learning can be inferred from behaviour, it is separate from the behaviour itself. This is very different from the behavioural approach, which measures learning in terms of relatively permanent changes in behaviour. The cognitive approach is defined as a relatively permanent change in cognition occurring as a result of experience. Learning represents a change in the content, organization, and storage of information in the brain. Individuals possess a set of cognitive structures for understanding their environment and how it works. They decide what is important to learn and learn through techniques and strategies they feel comfortable with.

The cognitive approach to learning involves two critical processes: accommodation and assimilation. Accommodation is the process of changing our cognitive map, or our view of the world, to correspond with our experience in it. It occurs through the creation of categories in our mind to accommodate experience that does not fit into existing categories. Assimilation is the incorporation of new experience into existing categories, and the modification of those existing categories to make the new information fit.

The cognitive approach suggests that the learner controls learning. The trainer and the learning environment facilitate that process to a greater or lesser degree. This implies that self-paced or correspondence training could be a viable option, as cognitive learners do not require reinforcement to motivate them to learn. However, if the trainee does not have any motivation to learn the new material to begin with, the cognitive theory suggests that reinforcement will not change their level of enthusiasm for the course, so it is important for the delivery and design of training to incorporate adult education principles to motivate trainees to learn.

The learner’s role is active, self-directed, and self-evaluating. This means the trainer will most likely spend less time lecturing, and more time will have to be devoted to activities, discussions, and group work. The trainer’s role is as facilitator, coordinator, and presenter. The trainer should not tell the trainees what to do; rather they should guide the trainees in discovering the correct solutions and ways of thinking. The training content is problem or task oriented. The training climate is more relaxed, mutually trustful, respectful, and collaborative.

Learner motivation is more internally motivated; therefore, if the trainee has no motivation to learn, it will be difficult to impossible for the trainer to motivate them. Also, instructional goals are collaboratively developed and activities are interactive, group and project oriented, and experiential. This means that more class time will be devoted to activities and discussions, which are generally harder to control and to plan for time. With more interactive training, it is also more difficult to involve large groups. When using the cognitive approach to learning, it is better to train smaller groups so that each individual has a chance to participate in the interactivity that is so important to cognitive learning.

The behavioural approach measures learning in terms of relatively permanent changes in behaviour, unlike the cognitive approach, which insists that even though learning can be inferred from behaviour, it is separate from the behaviour itself. The behavioural approach suggests that learning has only taken place if the learner displays behaviour related to the new learning.

The behaviourist approach claims that the environment controls learning, in that people respond to stimuli in their environment, and their response, or behaviour, is positively or negatively reinforced. Continue reading ‘Behavioural Approach’