The purpose of this study is to build a conceptual framework to explain the influence of team building among elementary school teachers to improve teacher morale. This framework is intended as the foundation for a team building model to provide principals and teachers with a guide for implementing sound team-building activities into inservice training and throughout the school year. What are the best practices for implementing team building and how can these practices encourage teachers to have a more positive outlook on their profession? The variables include school environment, school climate, different principals, principal changes, years of teaching experience, teaching and planning time, school populations, and types of student programs at the school. This qualitative case study was conducted using interviews of administrators and teachers from 7 public elementary schools located in Southern Appalachia to discover how teambuilding activities influenced their perceptions of teacher morale. School observations captured the climate of the schools and each school's School Improvement Plan (SIP) and Staff Development Plan were examined. The researcher coded transcripts into themes, patterns, and the following conceptual constructs: (a) communication, (b) change, (c) building community, (d) acknowledgement, (e) work morale, (f) time, (g) team building, and (h) teamwork. Findings confirmed that administrators and a majority of the teachers showed evidence of high morale. The administrators reported that team-building activities at their school promoted open communication and a positive working environment. Ninety percent of the teachers discussed that team building brought the faculty together and improved communication and the overall climate of the school. Ten percent of the teachers interviewed came from 2 schools that had vertical team meetings during their planning time. They complained that vertical team meetings were a waste of time. For the most part team-building activities incorporated in the schools influenced keeping teacher morale high. Many teachers welcomed opportunities to work with their coworkers on school decision-making teams as well as in off-campus socializing.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether an instructor’s intentional effort to build community in his/her classroom results in a higher sense of classroom community among students. This study also examined what types of community building activities were conducted by each instructor and measured the students’ responses to each different activity. This was intended to establish a preliminary set of best practices for creating classroom community. A two-part questionnaire, including an adapted version of the Classroom Community Scale, was administered to instructors (n=5) and students (n=113) enrolled in two or four unit courses at California Polytechnic State University. These courses were designed to introduce students to their chosen majors. One-way analysis of variance, and two-proportion tests were used to determine the relationship between instructor intentions and student sense of classroom community, and the differences in student sense of classroom community between courses. Findings indicate that what course a student was in was the significant factor in determining sense of classroom community. Additionally, students accurately perceived their instructor’s intent to create classroom community.

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Title: Changing of social cohesion through courses in nature Aims: Aim of the study is to provide a comprehensive perspective on the topic of changes of the social cohesion of groups after the course activities in nature. Methods: Methods used in the work are text analysis with secondary data analysis. Results: An analysis of available sources revealed that the odds of outdoor activities have a positive effect on the development of social cohesion among work groups as well as groups of adolescents and sports teams. The work also deals other benefits of outdoor activities courses. Key words: social cohesion, team building, outdoor education, sociometry, group, team

This research is concerned with the educational process within an outdoor centre involving groups of primary school children. It studies group interaction between the participants in a natural setting by taking a holistic approach, giving an account of their outdoor learning experience in the context of a group. It appears that there is little focus on groups in the outdoors, even though most outdoor programmes involve groups. Most of the research done on groups is quantitative and laboratory based. Such traditional approaches have been challenged, as empirical limitations and theoretical problems have been identified. It is argued that a study of group interactions within a natural environment, such as the outdoor classroom, would allow for a more insightful understanding of the phenomena involved, and it could also shed light on the outdoor educational process, which has been neglected by research in outdoor education. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used as part of an ethnographic approach. This enabled the collection of varied data, which resulted in a thick description of the phenomena explored. The findings show that the concept of team building is central to the philosophy of the outdoor centre and of its staff. The activities, which are used as learning tools, are group orientated. Teamwork is seen as essential for the learning experience at the outdoor centre. The study also revealed that the different approaches of the participants influenced the way learning was constructed. The two main themes that have emerged were empowerment and control. The empowering approaches offered support and encouragement to the participants, allowing for collaboration and cooperation to exist between them, which enabled learning to be more effective. The controlling approaches were characterised by a lack of dialogue between the participants, which interfered with the learning experience, by not creating an environment where the participants could work together as a group. A social aspect of learning was thus identified, which emphasised the importance of viewing learning as a joint process. The research shows that a well-designed process does not always result in the participants achieving the ‘desired learning outcomes’. The teachers/facilitators need to be aware of the impact that their approach may have on the learning experience of the participants.

This current study investigated a possible extension to existing transformational leadership models used during organisational change programs. Researching the literature provided some preliminary evidence there was a need to include a potential extension to transformational leadership models. The original models of transformational leadership involved looking at the staff members from an organisational perspective, whereas the potential extension, concerns the human aspects of organisational change. The potential new extension consists of four components: communication, team building, stress and coping and inter-group conflict. This possible extension to the transformational leadership models appeared to be an exciting addition as it addresses important human resource issues experienced during organisational change. The present study sought to further investigate whether these four components indeed were warranted and whether its components actually contributed to successful organisational change. The research methodology was exploratory, qualitative and based on a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss 1967). Using an embedded case study method, in-depth convergent interviews were undertaken in four hospitals undergoing considerable organisational change. Twenty-six managers, executives and staff were interviewed. It was found that the change managers themselves were enthusiastic about implementing change but were unable to offer effective support for staff. Staff and managers said that communication within the hospitals during the period of change was poor. Similarly there was a paucity of accurate information being disseminated. Managers and staff also revealed that they had experienced considerable stress during the period of change and they needed help in order to cope effectively. Varying levels of inter-group conflict were reported in all the hospitals studied and managers reported that changes were not being implemented appropriately. However, efforts at team building were non-existent in two of the hospitals studied. These findings provide strong support for managers and leaders to pay increased attention to communication, team building, dealing with conflict and managing stress during times of increased change. This study suggests that a potential extension of the four components could be added to, and thereby strengthen, the transformational leadership models of organisational change.

本研究乃是以經濟部所屬國營事業第一波民營化名單，包括中鋼、中船、中工、中化與台機等五家公司為對象，探討團隊特性（協調性、合作性、相互支援性、目標與績效衡量、意見及決策參與、溝通管道、領導風格）與組織變革（民營化）態度之間的關係。因為現代社會環境變動既刻烈又快速，組織乃一開放系統，為求組織的生存與發展，必須與所處環境保持一種動態的平衡，因此變革勢所難免。如何使員工願意接納組織所進行的變革、如何消弭或減緩員工抗拒變革的心理，有何模式及解決之道，這些均值得探討。而在推動變革的過程中，如何使受到影響的員工能有效參與，利用團隊的力量，發揮團隊的綜效(synergy)，促動組織順利進行變革，這是組織的領導者或管理者所應面對的主題。在今日複雜多變的企業競爭下，「團隊合作」已成為愈來愈受歡迎的管理策略，經由集思廣益，可以強化創新及創造的能力，提高競爭優勢。未來成功的組織是一種強調不斷學習、不斷創新、扁平化、開放的「學習型組織」，而團隊是組織學習的基本單位，如何建立高效能的團隊則是另一項管理者所要面對的課題。實證研究在探討團隊特性與民營化變革之間的關係，以做為團隊是否可適用於組織變革過程的實證支持。結果發現兩者之間有一定的相關性存在。經由理論分析、實證調查、深度訪談三種研究方法的運用，得出幾點研究發現：1.團隊的「目標與績效衡量」、「意見及決策參與」、「溝通管道」、「領導風格」等特性與組織變革（民營化）態度中的「支持民營化變革」有關2.團隊的「合作性」、「相互支援性」、「目標與績效衡量」、「意見及決策參與」、「溝通管道」、「領導風格」與「抗拒民營化變革」態度有關3.團隊的「目標與績效衡量」特性與「採中立觀望態度」有關。本研究綜合各項研究結果提出以下研究建議：一．在民營化變革方面：1.加強民營化政策及法令的宣導2.使員工參與民營化變革事項的規劃工作3.工會積極扮演溝通協調角色4.給予員工第二專長訓練及轉業輔導5.民營化專業顧問的利用6.企業文化及形象的重塑7.鼓勵員工優先認股或由員工接辦民營化後的業務。二．管理實務方面：1.組織變革應以策略為導向2.遵循計畫性變革的步驟3.重塑扁平化的團隊式組織架構4.利用外部顧問促動變革的產生5.最高主管的支持6.組織變革應以組織文化的變革為基本。

This current study investigated a possible extension to existing transformational leadership models used during organisational change programs. Researching the literature provided some preliminary evidence there was a need to include a potential extension to transformational leadership models. The original models of transformational leadership involved looking at the staff members from an organisational perspective, whereas the potential extension, concerns the human aspects of organisational change. The potential new extension consists of four components: communication, team building, stress and coping and inter-group conflict. This possible extension to the transformational leadership models appeared to be an exciting addition as it addresses important human resource issues experienced during organisational change. The present study sought to further investigate whether these four components indeed were warranted and whether its components actually contributed to successful organisational change. The research methodology was exploratory, qualitative and based on a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss 1967). Using an embedded case study method, in-depth convergent interviews were undertaken in four hospitals undergoing considerable organisational change. Twenty-six managers, executives and staff were interviewed. It was found that the change managers themselves were enthusiastic about implementing change but were unable to offer effective support for staff. Staff and managers said that communication within the hospitals during the period of change was poor. Similarly there was a paucity of accurate information being disseminated. Managers and staff also revealed that they had experienced considerable stress during the period of change and they needed help in order to cope effectively. Varying levels of inter-group conflict were reported in all the hospitals studied and managers reported that changes were not being implemented appropriately. However, efforts at team building were non-existent in two of the hospitals studied. These findings provide strong support for managers and leaders to pay increased attention to communication, team building, dealing with conflict and managing stress during times of increased change. This study suggests that a potential extension of the four components could be added to, and thereby strengthen, the transformational leadership models of organisational change.

This thesis deals with teambuilding in connection with management of changes in clinical practice and in manager practice. The executives in nursing are registered nurse managers, bearers of changes in quality of nursing care. Courses of teambuilding are a part of educational programmes for development of managerial skills of nurses. Teambuilding means both, team education or building of a team, and training focused on support of mutual confidence and team cooperation. A combination of methods of qualitative and quantitative research was chosen to elaborate the empiric part of the paper. The objective of a qualitative part was to find out, how much are the teambuilding courses used in practice and what is the benefit of the courses for the team. The data were obtained by means of a half-standardized interview with 6 respondents who took part in the teambuilding course. Three hypotheses were set on the basis of these interviews. These hypotheses became then a background for the second stage of the research by means of quantitative method. The objectives of quantitative research were to survey nurse managers´ awareness of possibilities of team education, to find out whether the nurses are interested in courses and to reveal obstacles in realization of teambuilding courses in medical facilities. By means of questionnaires for ordinary nurses and for nurse managers we achieved the objectives. The hypothesis about the awareness of nurse managers of the course was not proved. The second hypothesis about the interest of ordinary nurses in teambuilding courses was not proved either. The lack of financial resources was mentioned as the most frequent obstacle for realization of the course. During the collection of the data for the research in management in nursing, a lack of publishing activities of nurse managers was revealed. A lot of interesting information was obtained thanks to the interviews with nurse managers. Publishing of the experience of sister managers with leading and managing nursing teams would become significant contribution and inspiration for other nurses in practice.

The goal of the diploma thesis was an analysis of an influence of team-building activities on motivation, performance and loyalty of employees in the Národní Pokladnice s.r.o.. The answers on the previous questions was found out by questionnaires among the employees of the company. The answers on the previous questions were found out via questionnaires among the employees of Národní Pokladnice s.r.o. company. The fact that the employees are more loyal due to team-building activities I can confirm on the grounds of the questionnaires as well as the team-building can have an impact on work performance derivatively thanks to pleasant working conditions, nice group of people and good relationships. The work relationships and motivation are topics full of contradictions in theory as well as in practise. In spite of that, the respondents tend to an opinion that the relationships are motives for them. A partial goal was to suggest a better way of organization of the event in the future or to decide whether to hold the event at all. The employees evaluate last events very positively and they are looking forward to the next one. I recommend to keep the general thought of the event but to diversify particular activities more in accordance with a difficulty.