Business 492 Senior
Experience
Regina Eisenbach, Ph.D.
Jim Hamerly, Ph.D.
Jim’s family…
2
Some of Jim’s interests…
3
Regina’s family…
Placeholder for Regina’s photos
if desired..
Expectations
• Placeholder for Regina
The numbers…
This semester we expect to:
• engage ~220 students
• complete ~49 projects
• The program over 10 years
• Over 1,000 projects
• Over 4500 students!
numbers first, now…
emotion
Quiz 1
Grade Components
• Weekly quizzes (10% each)
30%
• CSU Business Assessment Test
10%
• Team Contract
10%
• Web CT Discussion Board
10%
• Company & Industry Research Report 30%
• Draft Letter of Engagement
10%
What you should have
accomplished to date…
•
•
•
•
Reviewed materials on WebCT
Participated in discussion boards
Formed a team
Reviewed the available projects
For next week…
• Team roster and Project Preferences &
Avoidances by 9AM Tuesday in WebCT
• Reading:
– chapters 7-11 of text
– library.csusm.edu/plagiarism (all 20 pages)
• Video: view all
• Discussion: Process Journal Week Two
• Team contracts due
Tour of WebCT
Matching Companies,
Faculty, and Teams
Matching Companies & Faculty
Company Candidates
Company A
Selected Companies
Appropriate
difficulty level
and relevance used
to select companies
Company A
Faculty Candidates
Faculty
expertise and
preferences used
to match companies
Matching Individuals into Teams
Students self-select
into Teams
Matching Companies, Faculty, Teams
Selected Companies
Company A
Student
Preferences &
expertise used
to match companies
Bus492 & 493 Timelines
BUS 492/493 Timeline
Fri 2/8
Mon 2/4
one week
to complete
Company/Industry
Report
Fri 2/1
493
Fri 1/25
Thur 1/24
Tues 1/22
Today
Mon 1/14
492
9 weeks
to define & complete
research
2 weeks
to complete
report
2 weeks
For preso &
report
5/15
5/5
4/28
4/21
4/14
4/7
3/31
3/24
3/17
3/10
3/3
2/25
2/18
2/11
Mon 2/4
BUS 493 Suggested Timeline
BUS 492
Spring 2008
Team Experience
• Think of the best teamwork experience
you have ever had. What made it work?
• Think of the worst teamwork experience
you have ever had. What made things go
wrong?
Five-stages of Group
Development1
 Forming: Members get to know each other, establish
ground rules
 Storming: Members test power structure, resist control
of group leaders, can show hostility
 Norming: Members work together, relationships and
camaraderie develop
 Performing: Members work to get the job completed
 Adjourning: Group may disband after meeting goals or
if members leave
1 Based
on Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M.A. (1977). Stages of small group development
revisited. Group and Organization Studies, 2, 419-427.
Characteristics of
Effective Teams
•
•
•
•
•
•
Clear Purpose
Participation
Civilized disagreement
Open communications
Shared leadership
Style diversity
•
•
•
•
Informality
Listening
Consensus decisions
Clear roles and work
assignments
• External relationships
• Self-assessment
Why Teams Fail
 Team tries to do too much too soon
 Conflict over differences in personal work styles
 Too much emphasis on results, not enough on team
processes and group dynamics
 Unanticipated obstacle causes team to give up
 Resistance to doing things differently
 Poor interpersonal skills (aggressive rather than
assertive communication, destructive conflict, win-lose
negotiation)
 Poor interpersonal chemistry/personality conflicts
 Lack of trust
Effective Task Oriented
Leader Behaviors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Orient the team toward task processes
Be sure meetings are organized
Discuss and confirm team goals
Identify what the team needs for its work
Help the team to divide the work
Make sure information is shared
Provide information and ideas
Encourage creativity and critical thinking
Test conclusions for ethicality
Effective RelationshipOriented Leader Behaviors
• Suggest and encourage positive norms
• Encourage the involvement of each
member
• Encourage trust and openness
• Help manage conflicts
• Make connections
• Create a sense of “teamness”
• Work actively to deal with team stress
Key Roles on Teams2
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Adviser – Encourages search for more information
Maintainer – Fights external battles
Controller – Looks at details, enforces rules
Producer – Provides direction and follow through
Organizer – Provides structure
Assessor – Offers insightful analysis of options
Creator – Initiates creative ideas
Promoter – Champions ideas after they are created
Linker – Coordinates and integrates
2 Based
on Margerison, C. and McCann, D. (1990). Team Management: Practical New
Approaches.
Team Contract Exercise
• Assignment – use the information from
these slides and your OB courses to
develop your own team contract
Team contract discussion
Regina placeholder
Advice from prior students
•
•
•
•
•
Form a good team with good team habits
Plan well, and set deadlines for every task
Get ahead, stay ahead, don’t procrastinate
Deal with conflict early
Keep detailed notes from each advisor and
sponsor meeting
• Work hard, enjoy your project, stay positive!
My team w as able to plan effectively
0.6
0.5
0.4
faculty
0.3
students
0.2
0.1
0
Strongly
disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly
agree
Students have adequate w riting skills
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
faculty
students
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
Strongly
disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly
agree
Students possess the needed critical thinking skills
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
faculty
0.2
students
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
Strongly
disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly
agree
Faculty - Student Ratings
Students are able to plan effectively
Faculty agreed less than
students to statements
in the red areas
Students have adequate writing skills
Students possess the needed critical thinking skills
Students are able to adequately manage the project
Students are able to adequately manage their team
Students have adequate pre-requisite knowledge
The final project definition approximately matches the initial project definition
Project proposals are at an appropriate level of difficulty
Projects are sufficiently defined when I first see them
The sponsoring company contact communicates effectively with the team
The sponsoring company provides adequate support to the team
Students agreed less than
faculty to statements
in the blue areas
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
The sponsoring company contact communicates effectively with the faculty
1.5
Student “Good Practices”
At the start of the project:
• Ensure that your team, faculty adviser, and company contact all have the
same understanding of the projects' definition and objectives.
• Decide upon a dominant communication mechanism with your team mates
(face-to-face, WebCT, email, blog, IM, phone, etc.).
• Recognize that the bulk of the project must be completed in ~8 wks, not 16.
Throughout the project:
• Expect communication problems, misunderstandings, and missed
commitments and deal with them immediately. A delayed response is the
germination of problems to come.
• Meet weekly with your faculty adviser. Always prepare an agenda for every
meeting, in advance of the meeting. Issue meeting minutes immediately
afterwards.
• Communicate weekly with your company sponsor through your designated
team contact.
Faculty “Good Practices”
At the start of the project:
• Meet on-site with the sponsor contact before the start of BUS 492, to be
clear on roles and expectations.
• Meet with the team in advance of the first meeting with the sponsor contact,
also to be clear on roles and expectations.
• Go with the team to the company for the first meeting. This is largely to help
the team leave that meeting with reasonable goals and objectives, so that
the team does not over-promise.
• Immediately following the initial meeting with the sponsor contact, meet with
the team for another half-hour to debrief and ensure that everyone shares a
common understanding of what happened and what are next steps.
Throughout the project:
• Meet weekly with the team members.
• Speak at least monthly with the company contact.
• Encourage student team to apply "Student Best Practices".
For next week…
• Team roster and Project Preferences &
Avoidances by 9AM Tuesday in WebCT
• Reading:
– chapters 7-11 of text
– library.csusm.edu/plagiarism (all 20 pages)
• Video: view all
• Discussion: Process Journal Week Two
• Team contracts due
Informal feedback
Write a “2 minute” journal to be handed in
immediately
The journal should briefly summarize:
• Major points learned
• Areas not understood or requiring
clarification
40
Class Break
Students without team
assignments please gather in the
front of the room