Team Spirit

Toward greater performance of the group

Katerina Bezrukova Ph.D., Chester S Spell Ph.D.

Are We Facing the Death of Teams, or a Rebirth?

Before the pandemic, we were becoming more socially disconnected and belonged to fewer groups. What now?

The George Floyd Case

Police brutality: Is it a social pandemic?

The Runaway Train of Conflict

Conflicts often operate on a "tit for tat" basis with each round of retaliation getting worse. But does it have to be this way? Recent conflict management suggests a better path.

What Apollo 11 Can Teach Us About Team Building

Just when you think there is nothing more to learn from the legendary Apollo flights, there are more surprises.

What Are Faultlines and Why Are They a Big Deal for Teams?

Fractured groups, fractured jobs, and technological advances in the workplace.

Artificial Intelligence and Teamwork

The ups and downs of AI and why being able to manage teams will be even more important.

Starbucks's Diversity Training

How and when diversity training and other anti-bias efforts make a difference.

The Ethics of Engineering

Life is full of ethical dilemmas. We asked project teams of civil engineering students to respond to some of them while designing a toll highway.

The Future of Diversity Training

“I don’t like the racism and the name calling” said George W. Bush about the current political environment. What is the future of diversity training in today’s contentious climate?

Elections and Teams

Can research in groups and teams help us understand today's politics and the implications of Donald Trump's success?

Teams and Health in Space

Can six astronauts share a tiny apartment for 5 years without driving each other crazy? NASA and the emerging private space industry are searching for answers.

Can Diversity Training Help?

The racial tension currently raging on college campuses has triggered a national debate. But is universal diversity training the solution, as officials at Missouri and elsewhere suggest? Our research shows that many diversity training initiatives (not all) are misplaced in terms of their goals and how they go about trying to change attitudes.

The ‘Magic Potion’ of Team Chemistry

Different mixes for different teams? Research suggests that what’s good for chemistry in management teams might not be true for teams in other types of work.

How to Put Together a Winning Team

Some teams are built upon the shoulders of a ‘hero.’ Others are a collection of equals in getting work done. The different styles are on display right now in the NBA playoffs, and how well the players work together sometimes seems as much the story as their sheer individual talent.

How To Solve The Diversity Problem

Can tolerance between different religious groups and races be increased or is it just something “we have to live with?”

Team Chemistry in Major League Baseball

Back in March and before the season started, we predicted team chemistry based on our faultline algorithm and regression analysis for all 30 MLB teams. Now let’s see how we did.

Money or Group Love?

Can fundamental human drives for belonging to social groups overrun the power of money? As the recent election defeat of Eric Cantor shows, the answer is yes!

Reviewing Crunchies 2013 and Playing Defense

What happens when so much money is concentrated in the hands of so few? Remember the Occupy Movement? What about the 1 percent controversy? How the tech industry is responding when they are the target.

What Do We Really Know About Teams?

What happens when people think their team revolves around them? How much do endorsements really matter (depends on who you are!)? Is there any hope for Congress? These are just a few questions that were recently answered at the INGRoup conference in Atlanta.

MLB “Faultlines” Key to Improvement, Study Shows

How much does team chemistry matter? Do melting pot teams do better than ones where everybody is the same?

What Hath Technology Wrought?

Can the process by which people get attracted and “stuck” within a group help us to understand, for instance, how people like the Boston Marathon bombers or others like them become immersed in terrorist groups?

Uptons, Faultlines, and Team Chemistry

Egos, moodiness, and talent: Mixing the brew for team performance

Guns & Groups: Technology to the Rescue?

Could retinal recognition technology have prevented the Newton tragedy?

Teams, Elections, and Political Debates

Politics, fault lines, and presidential debates: Can group faultlines help us understand it all?

The Real Value of College: It Takes a Team (in a Room)?

What are the implications of a two-tiered future of academia where more students learn virtually with relatively fewer residing on campuses?

The Rutgers-Rowan Merger: Can You Make a Faultline Go Away?

We've all heard about corporations merging, but how about universities? What if they are very different; say one is a research-oriented school over 200 years old, another is a teaching school that became a university less than 20 years ago.

Is Mitt Romney Concerned About Me?

The Default of Faultlines: The US Debt Ceiling, Creativity, and Performance