Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear: Bringing the Executive Team Together
Blake Sports Apparel is a U.K.-based sporting apparel manufacturer that partners with larger brands to produce licensed merchandise for retail markets. Under the leadership of founder and CEO Cameron Barker and his executive team, Blake Sports Apparel achieved 28% YoY growth, signing licensing deals with two major industry partners. Despite this success, the executive team exhibited dysfunctional team dynamics, including mistrust, poor communication, and the inability to collaborate. Individually, team members were entrepreneurial and talented, but, as production grew, lack of coordination and cooperative decision-making resulted in delayed product launches and the inability to meet customer demand.
This case provides details on Blake Sports Apparel’s executive team processes, including norms, behaviors, and decision-making. In particular, the case focuses on communication and cohesion within the team and the effectiveness of meetings. The case also describes how the team design affects performance and the role of the CEO.
This case provides details on Blake Sports Apparel’s executive team processes, including norms, behaviors, and decision-making. In particular, the case focuses on communication and cohesion within the team and the effectiveness of meetings. The case also describes how the team design affects performance and the role of the CEO.
Keywords: Management Teams; Groups and Teams; Performance Effectiveness; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Communication; Cooperation; Decision Making; Leadership;
Citation:
Groysberg, Boris, Tricia Gregg, and Katherine Connolly Baden. "Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear: Bringing the Executive Team Together." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 418-086, June 2018. (Revised June 2018.) View Details