Points out that a significant element of an individual′s life is through groups and that there are many different aspects of groups in organizational life. Holds that the informal influence a group exerts on individual members through socialization, enforcement of norms and development of...

Operant technologies have been criticized as being too micro‐oriented and simplistic to apply to the complex problems and interdependent issues associated with major organizational change and development efforts. Describes an organization change and development effort in an international...

With the growth in teamworking, organizations are increasingly turning to team role models in the hope of enhancing the effectiveness of their teams. However, such models can be both expensive to buy‐in and administer. Examines significant similarities between the two major team role models...

Presents the faces model, a new model of team development which describes teams using five common patterns, called “faces”. The model assumes that teams wear one face, then move to wearing another in a somewhat random order, unless members proactively drive their teams to wear a face or...

This paper outlines the authors’ experience of working with international cross‐cultural teams, and is an attempt to address the question about how international organizations can give rise to a sustainable capability in which generations of teams build on each other’s experience. The...

What does it take to be a manager? In practical, day‐to‐day terms, most people with that title do not really know. Many are lifted from the ranks of technical workers, told they are managers, perhaps even given some objectives, and left on their own. This article suggests that a manager...

When an organization needs to use scenarios as a framework for logically discussing internal and external issues, it should be aware of the two predominant causes of failure of scenario projects: (1) a lack of agreement on the purpose of the effort; and (2) a lack of understanding about how...

This article deals with the difficulty of creating a “leadership team.” Increasingly, organizations are finding it unworkable for a single almighty leader at the top to understand the full complexity of the business, build consensus throughout the business, and call all the shots. Instead,...

Describes an approach to maximizing team performance which integrates traditional business methods with those of the performing arts. Defines the ACE team as aligned, creative and exploring, and explains how the ACE Team Star Profile can be used to create a visual profile of a team′s strengths...