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

Is your organization a true team or merely a collection of individuals more or less pulling in the same direction? Much as we might wish it, none of us can reach our goals without the help of others in our organization – and they need us to help them to achieve theirs.

This interdependence is a basic characteristic of organizations, yet it is only recently that managers, professionals, and employees have begun to appreciate the extent to which organizational success depends upon teamwork. This book provides a concise and powerful understanding of productive teamwork in organizations, with a practical model for developing methods and approaches for successful collaboration. Readers can understand and see how they can work together effectively with their colleagues, leaders, and organizational partners.

About the Authors

Dean Tjosvold is Chair Professor of Management at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, and Director of the Cooperative Learning Center. Simon Fraser University awarded him a University Professorship for his research contributions. He has published over 200 articles and fifteen books on cooperation and competition, managing conflict, leadership and power. He is past president of the International Association of Conflict Management and has served on several editorial boards, including the Academy of Management Review and Journal of Organizational Behavior. He is a partner in his family health care business in Minnesota.

Mary M. Tjosvold is the founder and CEO of Mary T. Inc., a family-owned organization that develops, owns, and manages rental housing, senior housing, human service programs, home health, and hospice services. She earned her Ph.D. in Education Administration from the University of Minnesota and later completed the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School. Since its beginning in 1976, Mary's various enterprises and companies have grown steadily and now have annual operating revenues in excess of $30 million with over 800 full- and part-time employees. Mary is an advocate and supporter of women in business and has been recognized in several publications as a leading Minnesota businesswoman. Active in community affairs, she serves on executive boards, and is past Chair of the Board of the American Refugee Committee. A leader in her field and a nationally known speaker, Mary T. has given presentations and conducted workshops on productive conflict, cooperation and competition, team organization, entrepreneurship, governance, ethics and corporate culture, and other topics for clients in diverse industries.