Forskning om teamarbete har bedrivits sedan mitten av förra seklet och detta arbetssätt har blivit relativt vanligt på de flesta arbetsplatser idag. Tidigare studier har påvisat att heterogena team har bättre förutsättningar än homogena team att lyckas producera kreativa idéer och lösningar. Detta är av stor vikt eftersom kreativitet bidrar starkt till innovationsförmågan som företag behöver för att utvecklas och överleva i dagens konkurrensutsatta klimat. Dock finns det få studier som beskriver vad som pågår inom team när de är kreativa. Därför ämnar vi beskriva hur arbetsprocessen ser ut i ett heterogent team som arbetar i en miljö som kräver att medlemmarna inte är rädda för att testa nya idéer. Syftet är således att beskriva hur teamet drar nytta av heterogeniteten för att producera kreativa lösningar. Detta åstadkommer vi genom att göra en fallstudie på ett forskningsteam som arbetar i en kontext med många okända parametrar. Det framgick tydligt att medlemmarnas olikheter i expertis gynnade den kreativa processen och hjälpte teamet att se möjligheter som de skulle missat om de hade samma expertis. Genom att analysera problem utifrån sina olika spetskompetenser, och med stöd från en handledare som uppmanar till att våga bemästra det okända, lyckas teamet skapa en bred kunskapsbank som de personligen anser gynnar teamets kreativa förmåga.

This thesis has been conducted at Volvo Bussar AB under a period of ten weeks. Within the organization Volvo, the work is conducted with leaders and teams on every level; from production to top management. They have three tasks, besides executing their daily work, they are expected to actively work on improving their individual work as well as themselves as persons. The two latter are future value adding activities for the organization. When doing so, however, it has been noticed that they often lose the grasp of their daily work. The question that consequently arises is why this happens. Is it because of lack of time or it is because the co-workers do not have the competence and simply do not know how they are to execute the three tasks? Or, is it because the motivation to execute the three tasks is not enough? With this in regard, the statement of issues for this bachelor thesis were the following: how can the conditions for leaders and the team be improved, in order for them to execute these three tasks. To find out why the execution of these three assigments did not always succeed, the decision was taken to conduct a survey and interview study in real life and at the plants. The aim for this was to find differences and similarities between the plants, and based on this, develop recommendations for improvement. Before the interviews and surveys were implemented, a lot of facts where gathered with the purpose of creating a solid foundation to compare the results with. One pilot interview was also done before the real ones to process the questions. The plants which were selected to participate were Braås (Volvo Construction Equipment), Borås (Volvo Bus Corporation) and Skövde (Group Trucks Operations). After the interviews and surveys were conducted, compiled and analyzed, areas of improvement could be made clear. The thesis contains a number of recommendations in different areas for Volvo Bus Corporation in order to improve the current conditions of the team and the leaders. Areas for improvement are communication, diversity and development. Furthermore, we recommend the Volvo Group to place the team and their professional development in focus. The development team will be enriched with knowledge and find it easier to meet their leaders. All this contributes to conditions for improvement of the three tasks. Finally, the Volvo Group should aim to work more with the monitoring of leadership and also develop a strategy for how to respond, include and support agency staff.

Målet med undersökningen var att finna insikter om arbetsgruppens verklighet. Syftet: att forma en förståelse för hur en grupp förhåller sig till sin uppgift, sin funktion som team och sina teamroller. Vi ville även belysa hur inflytandet i gruppen tar sig uttryck och vilka motivationsfaktorer som fanns inom gruppen. I resultat och analys visar det sig att gruppen vi arbetat med är ett team. Vi upptäcker mönster i rolltagande och formar förståelse för uppdragets position i teamets tolkning av sin uppgift. Vi sittar närmare på teamets upplevelse av inflytande och hur det påverkas av ansvarsfullhet och ledarskap. Det visar sig att teamets gemensamma motivation främst handlar om uppdragets meningsfullhet. Uppgifterna kompletteras med chefens synvinkel och med våra egna reflektioner och tankar om framtida förändringar. Vi fann att den röda tråden i vårt resultat var att gruppens liv i hög grad styrs av vilka förväntningar som existerar från individen, från gruppen och från ledning. Tolkningen av vad som förväntas, spelar stor roll för individernas anpassning i gruppen och för hur gruppen förhåller sig till sitt uppdrag.

For years social workers have been involved in the investigation of sexual abuse of children. This involvement of social workers is therefore no new concept. In the involvement of social workers in this field there has been a close relationship between social workers and especially the judiciary for several years. Apart from the legal profession other professional role players are also involved in the investigation of the sexually molested child. This research focuses particularly on the different roles of the members of the multidisciplinary team during the investigation of sexual abuse of children. A multidisciplinary team approach brings together different role players in this way to make use of the knowledge and strengths of all to the benefit of the victim so that effective service can be rendered. The researcher is of the opinion that if the multidisciplinary team acts in a more efficient way, more prosecution of sexual crimes committed against children could be brought about. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

In the areas of Project Management and Knowledge Management, past and current literature have included studies on the project and project team levels, but a specific focus on the role of the Project Manager in managing knowledge within the team has not yet been explored. In order to add to the discussion and close the gap, this research illustrates how knowledge is created within the project team environment, and the specific role the Project Manager plays in the process. By combining a modified model of Nonaka’s SECI Knowledge Creation Theory and the role of the Project Manager, this research shows how PM’s act as a “mixing valve” in the flow of knowledge in a dynamic, multi-directional, process within the project team environment. By developing this view, this research contributes to the knowledge management literature by describing a more dynamic SECI Model of knowledge creation than previously discussed. It contributes to the project management literature by applying the SECI process model of knowledge creation to the field of project management, and the specific actions of the Project Manager when acting within the project team environment. By outlining these actions, this research identifies possibilities for future research in measuring knowledge creation.

For years social workers have been involved in the investigation of sexual abuse of children. This involvement of social workers is therefore no new concept. In the involvement of social workers in this field there has been a close relationship between social workers and especially the judiciary for several years. Apart from the legal profession other professional role players are also involved in the investigation of the sexually molested child. This research focuses particularly on the different roles of the members of the multidisciplinary team during the investigation of sexual abuse of children. A multidisciplinary team approach brings together different role players in this way to make use of the knowledge and strengths of all to the benefit of the victim so that effective service can be rendered. The researcher is of the opinion that if the multidisciplinary team acts in a more efficient way, more prosecution of sexual crimes committed against children could be brought about. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

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Prior literature on conflict in teams has generally established that team heterogeneity (vs. homogeneity) influences the extent to which conflict occurs in teams. However, to date literature has not examined different types of culturally homogeneous teams’ experience of team conflict and its effect on team identity. In two field studies, I look at the effect of team cultural composition and conflict on team identity (Study 1) and the effect of team cultural composition on the tendency to engage in conflict over time (Study 2). Consistent with the literature on culture and dialectical reasoning that suggests East Asians are better able to tolerate contradictions and mixed emotions which usually accompany conflict situations, my results revealed that conflict did not affect East Asian teams’ identity, but it negatively impacted North American teams’ identity. Further, my results revealed that North American teams reported higher levels of conflict during the initial team interaction, but East Asian teams reported higher levels of conflict during later team interactions. I discuss contributions to theory on team conflict and identity and implications for managing culturally homogeneous North American and East Asian teams.