Team Learning: A Theoretical Integration and Review

With the increasing emphasis on work teams as the primary architecture of organizational structure, scholars have begun to focus attention on team learning, the processes that support it, and the important outcomes that depend on it. Although the literature addressing learning in teams is broad, it is also messy and fraught with conceptual confusion. This chapter presents a theoretical integration and review. The goal is to organize theory and research on team learning, identify actionable frameworks and findings, and emphasize promising targets for future research. We emphasize three theoretical foci in our examination of team learning, treating it as multilevel (individual and team, not individual or team), dynamic (iterative and progressive; a process not an outcome), and emergent (outcomes of team learning can manifest in different ways over time). The integrative theoretical heuristic distinguishes team learning process theories, supporting emergent states, team knowledge representations, and respective influences on team performance and effectiveness. Promising directions for theory development and research are discussed

The influence of a collaborative procurement approach using integrated design in construction on project team performance

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to study the influence of procurement on the performance of integrated design teams. Design/methodology/approach – The research paradigm is based on Russian socio-constructivist approach to activity theory. Activity theory, as opposed to natural or social science, is a design science approach that focuses on the context aspect of project. A triangulation of qualitative research methods is used to investigate the dynamic of integrated teams in two different procurement contexts. Findings – The paper is conclusive regarding the influence of procurement on team efficiency. It demonstrates that traditional procurement processes reinforce socio-cognitive barriers that hinder team efficiency. It also illustrates how new procurement modes can transform the dynamic of relationships between the client and the members of the supply chain, and have a positive impact on teamperformance. Practical implications – The paper demonstrates first that problems with integrated design team efficiency are related to context and not process – they are not technical but socio-cognitive; second that fragmented transactional contracting increases socio-cognitive barriers that hinder integrated design team performance; third that new forms of relational contracting may help to mitigate socio-cognitive barriers and improve integrated design team performance, fourth that changing the context through procurement does not address the problem of obsolete design practices. Originality/value – The paper brings together theories of production in lean construction and social learning as a rival approach to traditional project management theory for demonstrating the importance of context on team performance

Understanding collaborative supply chain relationships through the application of the Williamson organisational failure framework

Many researchers have studied supply chain relationships however, the preponderance of open markets situations and ‘industry-style’ surveys have reduced the empirical focus on the dynamics of long-term, collaborative dyadic relationships. Within the supply chain the need for much closer, long-term relationships is increasing due to supplier rationalisation and globalisation (Spekman et al, 1998) and more information about these interactions is required. The research specifically tested the well-accepted Williamson’s (1975) Economic Organisations Failure Framework as a theoretical model through which long term collaborative relationships can be

The U.S.-Iran Track II Dialogue (20022008): Lessons Learned and Implications for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's Grantmaking Strategy

From 2002 through 2008, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) supported a Track II dialogue involving influential American and Iranian citizens, co-organized and co-facilitated with the UnitedNations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), under the able leadership of Ambassador William Luers. Recognizing that the U.S.-Iranian relationship presents perhaps the most important and troubling foreign policy challenge facing both countries, the Track II dialogue was launched in December 2002.The purpose of this paper is to examine the RBF's experience with the practice of Track II dialogues in light of other experiments with similar dialogues both as a conflict prevention and management tool and as an important component of a peacemaking strategy

A Mixed Methods Approach to Using Collaborative and Proactive Solutions with Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders while Applying the Self-Determination Theory

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) that lack social skills and problem solving have stronger features of depression, higher drop-out rates and struggle with peer relations. With such an emphasis on academics in high school, students still need strategies taught to compensate for skill deficits in problem solving, relationship- building and choice making. This pragmatic mixed methods study used pre-and post-assessment data from the self-determination theory and examined the implementation of collaborative and proactive solutions through focus groups of teachers and mental health practitioners that work with students with EBD in a special education high school. While quantitative data was not significant, focus group findings specified changes in restructuring the current schedule, trust, time, buy-in and predominantly leadership implications. Recommendations for future studies include additional data sets to be included in the study; choosing elementary or middle school student populations; and applying a leadership frameworks at the onset of implementing collaborative and proactive solutions. Limitations of this study consisted of a small sample size and typical limitations of a focus group. This study adds to current gaps in high-school students with EBD, self-determination, and collaborative and proactive solutions

The impact of inter-organizational management control systems on performance: a longitudinal case study of a supplier relation in automotive.

This study investigates whether appropriate management control design of supplier relations is associated with better performance. Although management control systems (MCSs) are found to be contingent on situational characteristics, it remains unclear whether this contingency fit contributes to performance. In order to illustrate the existence and refine the dynamics of the fit-performance association, we perform a longitudinal case study of an exemplary automotive manufacturer-supplier relation that was subject to considerable change and severe performance difficulties in the course of time. As proposed, case findings show that if the supplier is incapable of dealing with changed contingencies, a MCS contingency misfit is associated with poor operational performance. However, this misfit is only temporal, as the manufacturer adapts the MCS to fit the changed supplier relation and regain operational performance. In addition, the longitudinal study suggests that trust and basic formal control (control continuously exercised under all circumstances) are complements, while trust substitutes for extra formal control (control set up on top of basic formal control). Finally, the data indicate a timing difference in the substitutive relation: the building up of extra formal control proceeds gradually, while the lowering happens almost immediately.management control; trust; performance; supplier relationships; manufacturing; contingency theory; case research; automotive;