Building the Team Organization: How To Open Minds, Resolve Conflict, and Ensure Cooperation

227 Pages·2015·1.397 MB·English

by  Dean Tjosvold, Mary Tjosvold (auth.)

Building the Team
Organization
How to Open Minds, Resolve Conflict,
and Ensure Cooperation
Dean Tjosvold and Mary Tjosvold
Praise for Building the Team Organization
“Dean Tjosvold has been a major contributor to the understanding of teams and
organizations through his original, important theoretical and research publications.
In this well-written book, he and Mary Tjosvold provide a brilliant and practical
discussion of everything one would want to know about teams whether you are a
social scientist, a practitioner, or simply a curious reader.”
—Morton Deutsch, E.L. Thorndike Professor Emeritus of Psychology; Director
Emeritus of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and
Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR) Teachers College, Columbia University
“Finally, we have two scholars who offer us the critical perspective and manage-
ment insights in developing an adaptive team organization that can lead us the
way in collaborating with the ever-evolving stakeholders of the 21st century, and
in meeting the ever-pressing challenge of a teamwork economy in the foreseeable
future.”
—Michael Y. K. Chan, Chairman, Cafe de Coral Group;
Chairman, Business Enterprise Management Center,
Hong Kong Management Association
“The truth is that you can’t expect to achieve extraordinary results all by yourself.  
Cooperative goals and open-minded discussions are what Dean and Mary help us
understand is what it takes to lead and be part of an extraordinary team, backed
up by solid research, their own and from other scholars, located in both the West
and East, providing key universal insights and many very practical  applications.
Full of insightful and pragmatic do’s and don’ts!”
—Barry Z. Posner, PhD, Accolti Endowed Professor of
Leadership, Dean (1997–2009)
Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University; co-author,
The Leadership Challenge and Making Extraordinary Things Happen in Asia
“A perfect blend of seasoned academic wisdom and proactive hands-on manage-
ment and leadership experience. The authors have themselves set a great example of
a productive team by building a highly inspiring product – an elegant model
of teamwork to be adopted by enthusiastic team builders all over the world. A
well-formulated global model of teamwork which can be applied in many group,
intergroup, and organizational settings. The authors have successfully used the
power of ‘docudrama’ with plausible characters and lively dialogues resonating
with human concerns and constructive humor.”
—Hasan Saraç, Business Consultant & Author or
Management Consultant & Author, Turkey
“Building the Team Organization is full of great advice for making teamwork in
organizations productive by emphasizing cooperative goals and open discussion. 
And importantly, all that advice is grounded in sound research, making the book a
resource for both students and managers.” 
—Jeanne M. Brett, DeWitt W. Buchanan, Jr. Professor of Dispute Resolution and
Negotiations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
“The book postulates that teams run an organization, not individuals. Positive
team dynamics are crucial to any successful organization. The book aptly identifies
various potentially destructive team conflicts and proposes pragmatic models to
turning them into constructive contributions. While easy to read, the book also
provides convenient lists of do’s and don’ts where appropriate.”
—Peter Lau, Chairman and CEO, Giordano International Limited
“Dean and Mary Tjosvold have written a remarkable book on how to build a team
organization. I especially like the breadth and depth of the book and their willing-
ness to address the most complex and difficult issues in team and organizational
building. It is a book that both students and professionals will continue to use
for years to come. The book, utilizing interesting case studies, takes the reader
through the process of building effective teams that cooperate with each other
in maximizing overall organizational effectiveness. While covering the theory
and research underlying team and organizational effectiveness in clear and easily
understood ways, the Tjosvolds give helpful, practical advice on how to implement
the knowledge into action. A ‘must-have’ book for anyone interested in team and
organizational effectiveness.” 
—David W. Johnson, Emeritus Professor, Educational Psychology,
University of Minnesota; Co-Director of the Cooperative Learning Center;
Emma M. Birkmaier Professorship in Educational Leadership at the University of
Minnesota (1994–1997) and the Libra Endowed Chair for
Visiting Professor at the University of Maine (1996–1997)
“This book is a blueprint for organizations striving to become more productive,
humane, and ethical. Easy-reading, based on modern management principles, and
with real-life examples it will create work places of dignity, meaning, and com-
munity for a global society.”
— Wayne Jennings, PhD, Leader of the chartered alternative
school movement, St Paul, MN
Building the Team
Organization
How to Open Minds, Resolve Conflict,
and Ensure Cooperation
Dean Tjosvold
Henry Y. W. Fong Chair Professor of Management,
Lingnan University, Hong Kong
Mary Tjosvold
CEO, Mary T. Inc, USA
© Dean Tjosvold and Mary Tjosvold 2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-349-59033-9
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, LondonEC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified
as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-59033-9 ISBN 978-1-137-47993-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137479938
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
To Margaret and Dale
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Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiv
Section I Productive Teamwork
1 Teambuilding is Necessary 3
2 What Makes Teams Eff ective? 17
3 Applying the Model: The Method Reinforces
the Message 31
4 Getting Started 47
Section II Building Team Relationships
5 Leadership for Teamwork, Teamwork for Leadership 65
6 Strengthen Cooperative Goals 80
7 Working Open-Mindedly 101
8 Managing Confl ict Constructively 120
Section III Making the Organization a Team
9 Teamwork with Customers 141
10 Team Organization: Departments Working Together 151
vii
viii Table of Contents
11 Partnering with Competitors and Government:
Moving to the Team Economy 170
12 Refl ection: Learning to be a Better Team 192
References 203
Index 215
Preface
Building a Team Organization will help you and your teammates learn
to work as a team. You can study our model of productive teamwork
together to develop a common understanding of the kind of team you
want to become. You can use this understanding along with the book’s
procedures and examples to develop methods and approaches so that you
and your team members succeed.
Teams may seem like a new idea that contemporary organizations have
recently discovered and now are harnessing to complete many vital tasks
from hiring chief executive officers (CEOs) to building 25-mile-long
bridges. But teams are our oldest, most adaptive social innovation. Our
ancestors came to understand that they could not only survive but flourish
in family and community groups. Later they realized that getting teams to
work with each other within organizations could be even more powerful.
We still use organizations to wage war and to make peace; we work, pray,
celebrate, and play in groups and organizations.
We have good reasons for relying on teams and organizations. Productive
teamwork enhances individuals as well as accomplishes important tasks.
However, teamwork is a “more for more” solution. Teamwork gives a lot
but it also requires a lot.
Leaders and team members often argue that developing teamwork is
so difficult because of motivation; people just do not want to work as
a team. They blame people’s inherent egotism and selfishness. We hear
about people who are “free riders” who care only about themselves in our
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