Creating High Performance Teams: Applied Strategies and Tools for Managers and Team Members

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415538416 ISBN 13: 9780415538411

Publisher: Routledge, 2015

Creating High Performance Teams is an accessible and thorough new introduction to this key area of business education. Written by teams experts Ray Aldag and Loren Kuzuhara, this book provides students with both a firm grounding in the key concepts of the field and the practical tools to become successful team managers and members. Built on a solid foundation of the most up to date research and theory, chapters are packed with case studies, real-world examples, tasks and discussion questions, while a companion website supports the book with a wealth of useful resources for students, team members, and instructors.

Centered around an original model for high performance teams, topics covered include:

• Building and developing effective teams
• Managing diversity
• Effective communication
• Team processes – meetings, performance management
• Dealing with change and team problems
• Current issues – virtual teams, globalization

With its combined emphasis on principles and application, interwoven with the tools, topics, and teams most relevant today, Creating High Performance Teams is perfectly placed to equip upper-level undergraduate and MBA students with the knowledge and skills necessary to take on teams in any situation.

About the Author:

Ramon J. Aldag is a professor in the Department of Management and Human Resources at the Wisconsin School of Business. He holds the Glen A. Skillrud Family Chair in Business.

Loren W. Kuzuhara is a teaching professor in the Department of Management and Human Resources at the Wisconsin School of Business.

Review:

‘Aldag and Kuzuhara have written the book I've been wanting: beyond its thorough coverage of the latest teams-related literature, it provides skill-building exercises, and plenty of examples from work organizations; it is engaging to read and filled with practical wisdom. Students and managers of teams will love it.’

Marianne J. Koch, Associate Dean and Professor of Management, Golden Gate University, USA

‘Aldag and Kuzuhara have created an exceptional framework for understanding and building high performance teams. Each chapter builds incrementally to facilitate student insight and adaptive behaviour within teams. The footnotes/references and callouts for cases are a great resource for further analysis by the learners. To me the chapter on Socializing, Building Trust, Training, Motivating, and Leading Teams provided significant wisdom into the challenges of sharing, communication, and authentic trust amongst members of a team. Too often integrating these concepts into a textbook falls flat; but not with this text.’

Michael J.D. Sutton, Associate Professor, Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business, Westminster College, USA