Enhance Teamwork Outcomes Through Guanxi

Abstract

According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (April 2011), team assignments are increasingly prevalent in business schools. Not only are they ubiquitous, they are critically important, as our university’s strategic plan states, “collaboration and teamwork are the keys to creating successful leaders.”[1] Despite this prominence, teamwork assignments are often flawed, particularly by students who free-ride on the efforts of others and neither contribute nor learn from the projects. We suggest faculty seek insight from the Asian concept, guanxi, to improve the quality of team dynamics and project outcomes.

[1] http://www.philau.edu/strategicinitiatives/dec.htm