Publications

May 2004
Teaching Note

Henry Tam and the MGI Team (TN)

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Teaching Note to (9-404-068). View Details

August 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Teaming at Disney Animation

By: Amy C. Edmondson, David L. Ager, Emily Harburg and Natalie Bartlett

Jonathan Geibel, Director of Systems at Walt Disney Animation Studios (hereafter referred to as Disney Animation), walked through the workspace occupied by the group he had been tasked to lead. Geibel knew he was part of a creative and magical environment. The Disney... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Creativity; Organizational Structure; Animation Entertainment; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States

August 1972 (Revised September 1976)
Background Note

Understanding Another Person, Part I: The Individual Frame of Reference

By: Anthony Athos and John J. Gabarro

Personality theory. The individual frame of reference. View Details

Keywords: Perspective; Relationships; Identity

June 2024
Article

The Diversity Heuristic: How Team Demographic Composition Influences Judgments of Team Creativity

By: Devon Proudfoot, Zachariah Berry, Edward H. Chang and Min B. Kay

Despite mixed evidence for the relationship between demographic diversity and creativity, we propose that observers hold a lay belief that demographic diversity increases creativity and apply this lay belief in judgments about teams and their creative work. Across... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Race; Gender; Groups and Teams; Perception; Creativity

Find at Harvard

1 Aug 1983
Conference Presentation

The Cognitive-Affective Cross-Fire in Negative Self-Concept Individuals

By: R. Ely, W. B. Swann and J. Griffin

March 1997 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Business Teams at Rubbermaid, Inc.

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Dean Whitney

Rubbermaid, a consumer-products company widely praised for its innovation, has instituted a company-wide experiment to stimulate innovation even further. The experiment consists of creating small cross-functional business teams within each division, with each team... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Innovation Strategy; Groups and Teams; Innovation and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Consumer Products Industry; United States

November 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams

By: David A. Garvin and Elizabeth Collins

Key topics include team design, team management, job design, employee empowerment, implementing change, and high performance workforces. In 2004, John Amasi, the director of production for a manufacturer of plastic pipe, introduced the concept of self-directed teams... View Details

Keywords: Work Force Management; Employee Empowerment; Motivation; Motivation and Incentives; Leading Change; Employee Relationship Management; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Manufacturing Industry; Texas

Web

Team - Entrepreneurship

supports 20-25 Rock Summer Fellow teams with up to $1,500 in seed capital, matched mentors, and facilitated workshops as they race to Demo Day where teams pitch their ventures... View Details

01 Apr 2022
News

How Can Individual People Most Help Ukraine?

August 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

C&S Wholesale Grocers: Self-Managed Teams

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Tejal Mody and David Ager

Rick Cohen, president and CEO of C&S Wholesale Grocers, is trying to decide whether and how to implement the self-managed teams concept in his warehouse. Eight months earlier, C&S had begun to act as principal wholesaler to A&P throughout New England, a decision that... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Decision Making; Labor Unions; Growth and Development Strategy; Distribution Channels; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; New England

31 May 2004
Research & Ideas

How Team Leaders Show Support–or Not

the creative ideas the team might have generated if given more latitude. Without that creative thinking, the team's performance suffered, likely reinforcing James's basic tendency to micromanage and closely... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

19 Apr 2022
Cold Call Podcast

What Role Do Individual Leaders Play in Corporate Governance?

Keywords: Re: Aiyesha Dey

2004
Working Paper

Team Learning and the Radical Diversity-Performance Link

By: Robin J. Ely and David A. Thomas

March 1990 (Revised April 1991)
Case

Chase Manhattan Bank (C): The Individual Bank

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

Find at Harvard

September 1990 (Revised March 1991)
Case

Mod IV Product Development Team

By: Anne Donnellon and Joshua D. Margolis

Focuses sharply on a crossfunctional product development team at Honeywell's Building Controls Division. Traces the history of teams at the division, which introduced them as a response to intensifying competition and the need for faster development. Reveals the... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Management Teams; Product Development; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Competitive Strategy

03 Jun 2020
Blog Post

Jeff Surette and Mike Peters: A Winning Team at TB12

Neither Jeff Surette (MBA 2010) nor Mike Peters (MBA 2017) expected to be drafted onto a team with Tom Brady after business school. However, the perspectives, experience, and skills they each brought to the... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

September 2024
Article

Backstage Matters: Collective Energy and Information Sharing on Global Teams

By: Wenjie Ma, Leslie A. Perlow and Eunice Eun

It is well documented that information sharing – which is central to team effectiveness – is complicated by cultural and geographical factors. However, little is known about the process of information sharing between subgroups within global teams. Building on Goffman’s... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Groups and Teams; Geographic Scope

03 Oct 2017
Sharpening Your Skills

7 Effective Ways to Lead Teams

following articles from our archive address several topics: why "teaming" is so important; the types of managers who make the best team leaders; temporary teams versus standing teams; what we can... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2011
Chapter

The Contribution of Teams to Organizational Learning

By: Kathryn S. Roloff, Anita W. Woolley and Amy C. Edmondson

Organizational learning theorists have proposed that teams play a critical role in organizational learning (Senge, 1990; Edmondson, 2002). Indeed, as organizations become increasingly more global, teams are formed to leverage knowledge, to increase efficiency, and to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Groups and Teams; Learning