This paper aims to explore how team processes relate to employee team learning that leads to innovation in higher education (HE) and provides leaders with an adaptable model with…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how team processes relate to employee team learning that leads to innovation in higher education (HE) and provides leaders with an adaptable model with recommendations for implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
This research was guided by theories of experiential learning, action learning and organizational learning, as well as change theory and design thinking. The process and results are grounded in mixed methods action research including document analysis, interviews, observations and surveys. Team-level data were analyzed using content analysis, process analysis, frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha and Wilcoxon signed-rank.
Findings
Universities struggle to prioritize proactive approaches to serving students. This research indicates teams engaging in frequent welcoming, ideating, synthesizing and mentor-seeking behaviors developed higher quality and more innovative proposals for organizational improvement when compared with teams engaging in these behaviors less often. Team member individual innovative ability increased at a statistically significant level after participation.
Research limitations/implications
This research is based on one HE setting in the USA.
Practical implications
The model used in this study could be adapted to fit a variety of contexts especially in HE. Findings could inform training development to facilitate team learning that leads to innovative action.
Originality/value
This study adds to the existing learning organization and HE administration literature by expanding on the role of team behaviors in effective team learning by considering team processes over time. This research adds to a paucity of literature related to employee team learning in HE.
Details
Keywords
Teresa Rebelo, Paulo Renato Lourenço and Isabel Dórdio Dimas
The research on virtual team leadership does well to describe the skills that are needed to guide and direct effective teams. However, what is presupposed in the previous research…
Abstract
Purpose
The research on virtual team leadership does well to describe the skills that are needed to guide and direct effective teams. However, what is presupposed in the previous research is that virtual teams have assigned leaders. That is, leaders were either management, appointed by management or were chosen by the team itself. Yet in today's global economy not all virtual teams have assigned leaders, instead many virtual team leaders emerge on their own to direct the group's actions. The purpose of this paper is to examine which emergent leadership competencies most impact virtual team effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a mixed method study where both a participant survey and content analysis of actual participant messages are used to determine the competencies of emergent virtual team leaders. The research participants for the current study were required to work in assigned teams on organizational case analyses. At the end of each case, teams presented their solutions in the form of final recommendations designed to fix the problem present in the case.
Findings
Results indicate that not only do leaders emerge in virtual teams, but in most cases multiple leaders emerge. Results also show that the model that best describes team effectiveness includes the competencies of asking questions, cognitive and creative ability and vision setting.
Originality/value
The contribution of the current study is that it extends the research on emergent virtual team leadership by introducing the idea that this type of leadership is often a collective action among individuals. It also advances a model of emergent virtual team leadership as a practice of communication. The better emergent virtual team leaders are at communicating to team members the more effective the team will be in completing tasks and projects, which in turn can lead to a more effectively functioning business unit.
Details
Keywords
Wilfred Ashworth, John Byon, Frank M Gardner, Tony Preston and Steve Kirby
AFTER 17 years continuous service as a LA Council member it seemed strange to me to attend the first council meeting of 1979 as NLW'S reporter.