Classical decision-making theory suggests that decisions made by an individual or a team of decision makers should lead to the same performance outcome. Conversely, behavioral decision-making theory argues that decisions made by teams result in superior micro or macro forecasts and performance outcomes. Our tests using mutual funds support the classical decision-making theory. The empirical results are time invariant and robust with respect to the selected index or model specification.

The attitudes and experiences of the health care team members involved in facial transplant surgery and patient care were explored in this study, which utilized a qualitative descriptive method. The Specific Aims of the study and the interview questions were guided by “Moore’s Ethical Criteria for Surgical Innovation.” Overall, the participants believed that the risk-benefit ratio of facial transplantation favored proceeding with the procedure in the clinical scenarios with which they had been exposed. The participant’s experience was challenging and rewarding, and they expressed personal fulfillment from the opportunity to be involved in the transformation of another human being’s life. Moreover, the entire effort exhibited highly effective team work which displayed esprit de corps, was guided by superior leadership, and illuminated the importance of the clinical, intellectual, and historical environment of the institution where the procedures took place. These components represent a “surgical innovation cluster,” a proposed framework for guiding surgical innovative efforts which represent major paradigmatic shifts in both scientific effort and social philosophy.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Community Psychology in the Department of Psychology, University of Zululand, 2001. / Health institutions are faced with a major task of promoting health, preventing and treating different kinds of illnesses in complex contexts. The large numbers of patients demand a high degree of team building and teamwork if these institutions are to be effective and efficient in service delivery. The present study seeks to develop a team building program which will assist in promoting teamwork. An hypothesis was formulated to investigate if a team building program would make any significant change with regard to health service delivery in a psychiatric context as perceived by staff and patients. A total number of 185 participants took part in the study. The population comprised 97 females and 88 males. There were 59 English, 7 Afrikaans and 119 Zulu speakers. Both staff and patients were offered questions relating to team functioning. The staff participants were further given questions relating to the manner in which teams are built. The team building program was informed by the ideas obtained from the responses as well as from literature. The team building program was then offered to the staff members. A statistical analysis of the results was undertaken and the results showed that the program was significantly effective in promoting teamwork as evaluated by staff and patients. / Human Sciences Research Council

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Psychology of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 1999. / The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the school management team in promoting a culture of teaching and learning. From the literature study it became evident that the culture of teaching and learning in many South African schools has almost disappeared in its entirety. Most of the schools of the former education departments responsible for black education are characterised by a high failure rate, early school dropout, lack of discipline, low morale and an anti-academic attitude amongst teachers as well as learners. To these schools very little has changed since 1994 when the new government came into power. It would appear that a culture of teaching and learning in these schools does not exists. The ongoing turmoil in these schools underscores, inter alia, the failure of school management teams in assuming responsibility for promoting a culture of teaching and learning. Promoting a culture of teaching and learning involves a collaborative act between school management, teachers and learners. Many stakeholders in education seem to be helpless when confronted with problems related to teaching and learning in schools. It often seems as if their hope rests in the initiatives of school management teams to promote a culture of teaching and learning. The members of school management teams, as educational leaders, therefore have a vital role to play in creating a culture of teaching and learning. Although it is generally believed that school management teams, as educational leaders, are responsible for promoting a culture of teaching and learning, the situation is far from satisfactory. The causes for the absence of a culture of teaching and learning can be attributed to factors concerning the learners, factors concerning the school environment, societal factors and problems concerning the homes of learners and their living environment as well as the lack of parental involvement in the formal education of their children. Members of school management teams should have no uncertainties as to their responsibilities as educational leaders. Principals, deputy principals and heads of departments are both educational leaders and managers and their primary task or responsibility is to ensure that effective teaching and learning takes place. For the purpose of the empirical investigation a self structured questionnaire for members of school management teams was utilised. The data obtained from the completed questionnaires were processed and analyzed by means of descriptive statistics. Findings confirmed that the school management team has a significant role to play in promoting a culture of teaching and learning. In conclusion a summary was presented on the findings of the study and the following are some of the recommendations that were made: The members of the school management team must inculculate positive attitudes and values in teachers and learners. All teachers should be governed by a code of conduct that will prohibit unprofessional behaviour. The management team must ensure the adoption of a code of conduct for learners.

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As the military has to react and respond to cyber attacks, they also are having to develop a way to apply cyber operations to the command and control hierarchy already in use. This thesis studies the requirements for a cyber command and control (C3) and conducts an experiment to test whether a C3 approach to red teaming helps users find more vulnerabilities. Since red teaming is similar in setting to the cyber operations setting, if the team finds that a C3 helps team members find more vulnerabilities, then a C3 environment can help the military better respond to cyber attacks. As a result of the experiment, the control team and the team using the C3 tied. However, participants surveyed indicated that using a C3 environment was more helpful than not using the C3 environment.

The present study explored the impact of the individual difference, goal orientation, on the team intervention, debriefing, thus contributing insight into a previously unexplored component behind debriefing effectiveness. Three sub-dimensions of goal orientation were examined in terms of their influence on debriefing: learning goal orientation, performance-prove goal orientation and performance-avoid goal orientation. The outcomes investigated included elements of a successful debrief: self-correction, self-promotion and speaking up behavior. A sample (N=69) of undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida individually completed a goal orientation self-report measure and participated in a team debriefing session within their three-person teams. The audio-recorded debriefing videos were transcribed and coded line-by-line to indicate the presence of the outcome variables. Hierarchical multiple regressions were utilized to analyze the direct relationships between the specific goal orientation sub-dimensions and hypothesized outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Adverse events and medical errors plague the healthcare system. Hospital acquired infections and teamwork are some of the biggest contributor to these adverse outcomes. In an effort to mitigate these problems, administrators and clinicians alike have developed mechanisms, such as telemedicine. However, little research has been conducted investigating the role of telemedicine on teamwork -- a fundamental component of quality patient care. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the impact of telemedicine on teamwork behaviors and subsequent teamwork attitudes and cognitions during a common medical task, rounds within the Trauma-Intensive Care Unit. To this end, rounds were conducted with and without telemedicine. During this 60 day period, 16 clinicians completed three surveys and 34 rounds were video recorded. The results of this study suggest that the relationships between teamwork attitudes, behaviors, cognitions, and outcomes are differential impacted under conditions with and without telemedicine. More specifically, telemedicine is associated with an increase in attendance and communication density. Meanwhile, it does not significantly impact teamwork attitudes or cognitions. The primary implications of these findings indicate that telemedicine is not the solution for improving all teamwork elements but yet it is not a complete detriment either

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka arbetsgrupper inom äldreomsorgen och därmed söka kunskapi eventuella faktorer som kan eller inte kan utgöra välfungerande arbetsgrupper. Kan samma gruppinneha fler faktorer? Den tidigare forskningen visar på hälsans aspekter för den välmåendemedarbetaren samt vad som kan skapa hållbar arbetsmiljö. Den lyfter även ledarskapets effekter för enarbetsgrupp samt kopplingar till maktstruktur och hur det ses vara mer lärande i anknytning till ettintersektionellt perspektiv. Tidigare forskning belyser likaså riktiga team och vad pseudo teamkarakteriseras genom olika faktorer inom grupper. Data som analyserats har tagits fram genom trefokusgruppssamtal med tre deltagare inom varje fokusgrupp där alla nio deltagare arbetade inomäldreomsorgen. Fokusgruppsträffarna hade som utgångspunkt deras arbetsvardag för att övergå tillgemensam diskussion gällande upplevelsen av faktorer att utgöra välfungerande arbetsgrupp. Därtilldiskuterades även upplevelsen av faktorer som kan inverka negativt på välfungerande arbetsgrupper.Materialet har analyserats i en tematisk analys samt inom teori i anslutning till teamperspektiv och fyragruppdefinitioner inom team samt med stöd av fyra dimensioner där team ställs emot pseudoteamperspektivet. Resultatet från studien indikerar på faktorer där gemensamma mål, tid för dialog ochkommunikation inom arbetsgrupper kan ses vara relevanta för en välfungerande arbetsgrupp, olikaledarskapsfaktorer ses också ha sin påverkan för en grupp. Studien pekar även på de faktorer som kananses vara avgörande kriterier kopplat till negativ inverkan för den välfungerande arbetsgruppen. / The purpose of this study is to investigate work groups in elderly care and thus seek knowledge ofpossible factors that may or may not constitute well-functioning work groups. Can the same groupcontain more factors? The previous research shows the health aspects of the healthy employee andwhat can create a sustainable work environment. It also highlights the effects of leadership on a workgroup and links to power structure and how it is seen to be more learning in relation to anintersectional perspective. Previous research also highlights real teams and what pseudo teams arecharacterized by different factors within groups. The data was analyzed through three focus groupdiscussions with three participants in each focus group, where all nine participants worked in elderlycare. The focus group meetings had as a starting point their everyday work life to move on to a jointdiscussion regarding the experience of factors to constitute a well-functioning work group. In addition,the experience of factors that can have a negative impact on well-functioning work groups was alsodiscussed. The material has been analyzed in a thematic analysis and in theory in connection with the2team perspective and four group definitions within teams and with the support of four dimensionswhere teams are set against the pseudo-team perspective. The results of the study indicate factorswhere common goals, time for dialog and communication within work groups can be seen to berelevant for a well-functioning work group, various leadership factors are also seen to have an impacton the team. The study also points to the factors that can be considered as decisive criteria linked to thenegative impact on the well-functioning work group.