A study of 178 graduate students in organizational behavior assessed their learning style with Kolb's Learning Style Inventory. Factors that affected effective teamwork included motivation, attitude toward group work, learning style, and valuing other people's learning styles. (SK)

Today's companies are looking for managers who are independent and have the courage of their convictions. Although companies want leaders who will speak their minds, the new leaders must be team players who are devoted to helping to realize the chief operating officer's vision. (JOW)

For 345 Asian participants in adventure learning, the cultural value of collectivism was negatively related to changes in task participation and social support. Changes in these two teamwork attitudes predicted similar changes in team spirit and organizational identification. Adventure learning might produce higher attitude changes in Western…

Interviews with female employees of a clothing company moving to lean production and teamwork indicate that Taylorism is being reinvented in the contemporary workplace. Restructuring produces higher productivity but greater work pressures and lower wages, despite rhetoric about autonomy, job satisfaction, and workplace democracy. (Contains 57…

Describes how one school district transformed its cleaning program to increase efficiency, improve performance, and reduce errors and training time. Equipment cost savings and other benefits experienced from the new cleaning program are revealed, as is how the district overcame worker resistance to change. (GR)

Teachers should engage in active, collaborative, creative problem solving with their colleagues and students when developing solutions to common behavioral problems. Children communicate through their behaviors and need to learn more positive alternatives. Teachers should help students make successful transitions, create a sense of control, follow…

Parent-teacher action research (PTAR) empowers both groups to define their own problems and collaborate on solutions. Schools with PTAR teams have developed mutually respectful working relationships that can positively influence children's learning. (SK)

Reviews historical trends and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, problems in the use of interdisciplinary teams, varying degrees of team member participation and satisfaction, concerns about the team decision-making process, and implications of the special education team mandate for the training of gerontology professionals. (SK)

Presents a technique for structuring cooperative learning that enables teams to work together meaningfully on in-class exercises. Includes incentives for students to assist one another, team role survey, skills and duties of team members, and a description of the exercises and the cooperative learning principles they are designed to develop. (SK)

Five teams of postgraduate business students in three countries participate din a business strategy simulation game using e-mail and videoconferencing. The pilot study showed the need for technical support and a game administrator and the importance of making simulated competition conditions as realistic as possible to enable transfer of learning.…

Describes the University of Hartford's All-University Curriculum, which includes 25 interdisciplinary courses, most team taught. Addresses institutional buy-in, resources, team formation, conflict resolution, institutional policies, and ongoing development. (SK)

Describes how parent teacher conferences in elementary schools in Tacoma, Washington, differ from traditional conferences by starting early in the schools year, being held at least twice a year, lasting about 40 minutes, including students, developing goals using conference information, and involving parents and students in developing goals to…

A loose group of individuals working on a task differs from an effective team on nine factors: clearly defined goals, priorities, roles and responsibilities, self-awareness, leadership, group dynamics, communications, content, and infrastructure. Ways to eliminate barriers and speed formation of effective teams could be based on those factors.…

A longitudinal study of factors influencing success or failure of workplace innovations such as teamwork was carried out in two German firms. Success factors included having a team mentor; integrating training, supervision, and implementation of the innovation; and training trainers. (SK)

Defines a virtual team as a group of people who are working on the same business issue but are located at different geographic sites and rely mainly on some form of technology to facilitate the work discussion. Discusses benefits of virtual teams, including reduced travel costs and organizational efficiency; defining roles; selecting technology…