Music Games International is a small start-up company which was founded by Alexander (Sasha) Gimeplson, Igor Tkachenko and Roan Yakub in 2000. It was formed with an idea to produce original music and sound effects for Web sites. The company needed a clear business strategy to make things work. They decided to participate in a business plan contest but for that they needed people with education and knowledge necessary to write a business plan. Sasha wrote a letter for HBS students who would be willing to join the company and write a business plan together with them. The HBS business plan contest started in 1996. It was created for students to help them better prepare for their future careers. This contest was a chance for students to present their business ideas to experts and receive the feedback. In each team, there had to be at least one secondary-year HBS MBA student. Therefore, the MGI needed some students from the HBS. They invited Henry and Dana to join the group. Even though Henry and Dana were only HBS MBA second-year students, under particular circumstances they both acted as leaders of the group.
The main problem that I have identified is as follows; a group of talented and motivated people failed to work effectively as a team and use their collective potential. I have identified four problems that might be seen as the causes of the main problem in this case study. From the beginning the co-founders of the MGI were driven by a creative idea and enthusiasm but they lacked structure and a clear path to make this idea real. They concentrated on creation and promotion of their product but did not define the common vision, mission and values of the whole business. Subsequently, they failed to successfully organize their work, efficiently divide tasks and responsibilities, and form a good team to lead the company to success. In essence the company lacked the glue that would pull together the potential and knowledge of each individual to produce a cohesive result.