Teamwork and controversy in undergraduate management courses in Hong Kong : can the method reinforce the message?

Teams are increasingly recognized as critical for strategy, innovation, and other key organizational activities. This study used the theory of cooperation and competition to identify conditions that promote student team effectiveness in Hong Kong university undergraduate strategic management courses. Results from 70 teams across 12 classes indicate that groups with cooperative goals engaged in the open-minded constructive controversy; teams with independent goals avoided open discussion. Teams with a high level of constructive controversy rated themselves as effective; these teams also were rated as giving high quality presentations as measured by instructors’ marks but this result was not statistically significant. These results suggest that structuring cooperative teams can help students perform well in the classroom and may help prepared them to work in the emerging team organization.