Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) Safety Assessment Practice Test

What is a consequence of promoting competition among teams or departments?

1. Helps management set their own goals

2. Helps establish the baseline to set team goals

3. Is a reason to set measurable team goals

4. Is not a reason to set measurable team goals

The correct answer is: Is not a reason to set measurable team goals

Promoting competition among teams or departments can lead to a range of consequences within an organization. One potential outcome is that it might create a mindset where teams are more focused on defeating other teams rather than collaborating to achieve common organizational goals. When competition is overly emphasized, it can foster an environment of mistrust and impede cooperation among teams, which is essential for overall organizational success. Setting measurable team goals is important for aligning efforts towards common objectives, and competition should ideally serve to enhance this process rather than detract from it. When competition overshadows collaboration, it can fail to provide a meaningful framework for setting and achieving these measurable goals. Instead of promoting an environment conducive to collective success, it might lead to fragmentation and individualistic behaviors that do not benefit the organization as a whole. This understanding highlights the nuances of competition in a workplace and positions measurable team goals as avenues that thrive in supportive, cooperative atmospheres, rather than in competitive ones that might deter teamwork and shared accountability.