RESOURCES: PUBLISHED ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS

How to Design Your Organization to Improve Team Performance
(Adobe Acrobat PDF)

by Tracy C. Gibbons, Ph.D.

This article was published in the Cutter IT Journal, Vol. 18, Number 2, February 2005, pp. 30-36. It can also be accessed at www.cutter.com/offers/teamperformance.html.

DEC’s “Other” Legacy: THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERS

This chapter was published in DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC: The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation, by Edgar H. Schein, Berrett Kohler Publishers, Inc., 2003.

Q&A: Getting IT security to reach company goals

Authored by columnist Marcia Wilson, CISSP, CEO of Wilson Secure, this article is based on her interview of Tracy Gibbons, President of CoastWise Consulting, about the importance of goal alignment to the success of IT and Security organizations and their customers. The article was featured in Computerworld (www.computerworld.com).

Workforce Collaboration: Building a Strong Team Foundation

By Tracy Gibbons, Ph.D. and Randi Brenowitz

This chapter was published in Information Executive, the publication of the Association of Information Technology Professionals, January-February 2002.

The ever-changing economy, technology, and global market demands are compelling enterprising organizations to manufacture products faster and cheaper without losing sight of their objective — selling product. Since today’s drivers of success are speed, cost, and quality, it’s important to consider who in the organization is responsible for keeping the process running smoothly. In most thriving enterprises the responsibility is delegated to teams that are expected to meet corporate goals through a collaborative effort. To that end, it is critical to create an environment that supports their efforts. Organizations that follow proven methods to enable workforce collaboration among people and their functions develop a vision in which everyone can subscribe. From an employer’s perspective this synergy provides for better interdependent working relationships among workers who ultimately produce better products.

Trust in Teams--And Why it Matters

By Tracy Gibbons, Ph.D. and Randi Brenowitz

This chapter was published in Understanding Teams, edited by Michael Welbourn, Prentice Hall 2001.

Trust is the willingness to believe that others will behave in reliable, predictable, non-hurtful ways. It is one of the most important conditions for healthy and productive relationships. It contributes to the sense of safety that allows us to let ourselves be known to others and to try new things. Without trust, we are more guarded in our interactions with others, less willing to share information or other resources, and reluctant to work collaboratively with others.

Designing and Using a Course in Organization Design to Facilitate Collaborative Learning In The Online Environment

By Tracy Gibbons, Ph.D. and Randi Brenowitz

This chapter was published in The Handbook of Online Learning, edited by Kjell Rudestam and Judith Schoenholtz-Read, Sage Publications 2001.

In today's computer-mediated economy, distance learning provides more than just an opportunity to unite students from different locations toward a common educational goal. It serves as a bridge from the often theoretical basis of academic studies to the real-world practices necessary for success outside university walls. With workers in both traditional and technology-based companies using computers and the Internet to accomplish their tasks, developing technological skills through learning by doing becomes increasingly important. In addition, people must learn how to engage one another on a personal level and develop mutual respect in an environment where face-to-face interactions are absent or scarce.

The Impact of Downsizing on Corporate Culture

By Tracy Gibbons, Ph.D. and Randi Brenowitz

This article appeared in Data Center Management, July/August 2001.

Only the luckiest businesses in any industry will survive their entire lifecycles without experiencing the wrath of what is euphemistically called corporate downsizing. Historically, the pre-, present and post-downsizing environment are never envied, and emotions run high. Regardless of the rung to which one has aspired, there's really no safe zone during a corporate downsize of any kind.

Workforce Collaboration: A By-Product of the Technology-Driven Marketplace

By Tracy Gibbons, Ph.D. and Randi Brenowitz

This article appeared in Mworld, the online periodical of the American Management Association, July 2001.

Technology has done wonders for American management. Yet the complexity of today's technology makes it impossible for any one person to know all of the intricacies behind a new product's design and development. Only 20 years ago, designing and developing a product were more of an individual effort, and organizational design centered on a hierarchical approach. Today companies have to accept that rapidly emerging technologies, a global marketplace and an increasingly competitive and complex business environment demand workplace collaboration.

Developing Virtual and Geographically Dispersed Teams in Cyberspace

By Randi Brenowitz and Tracy Gibbons, Ph.D.

This article appeared in the Conference Proceedings of the Organization Development Annual Conference, November 1998 and the proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Northern California Human Resources Association, October 2000.

Teams have become a way of life in most corporations. They are one of the few work arrangements that enable the knowledge and experience of many to be brought to bear on increasingly complex and difficult problems. But teams give rise to their own unique problems of joint decision-making, shared ownership, role clarification, etc., and not all members are equally skilled or predisposed to work in a collaborative way. When the challenges of virtual and remote teaming are added to the inherent organizational struggles over interdependence and collaboration, new problems are created and, therefore, new and creative approaches for supporting the work and interaction of teams become necessary.

They said it couldn't be done: OD success with knowledge workers

By Randi Brenowitz and Tracy Gibbons, Ph.D.

This article appeared in the Conference Proceedings of the
Organization Development Network Annual Conference, October 1996.

Although much team development work has been done in the U.S. in the past decade, very little of it has been successful with engineering organizations. We discovered and had to cope with some striking paradoxes that affect the probability of success when working with this population. The first is the difference between process work and workers, on the one hand, and knowledge work and workers on the other.

Doing Teams with Knowledge Workers: The Practitioners' View

By Tracy Gibbons, Ph.D. and Randi Brenowitz

This article appeared in Vision/Action, the Journal of the Bay Area
OD Network, Fall 1995.

The San Francisco Bay Area is a virtual laboratory of knowledge worker organizations. Increasingly, our field is recognizing that interventions which succeed with process-intensive organizations that do repetitive work are inadequate for those whose focus is knowledge work--which requires creativity, inventiveness, speed, and collaboration. We are two experienced practitioners, one internal and one external, who have together implemented major change in a knowledge worker environment.

The "Peace Corps" Model of OD: A Values-Based Model for Building Collaborative Work Environments in Engineering Organizations

By Randi Brenowitz and Tracy Gibbons, Ph.D.

This article appeared in Vision/Action, the Journal of the Bay Area
OD Network, Fall 1997.

It's easy to talk about values and ethics in our work when we feel encouraged to bring our values to the client. What happens, however, when the client system is built on a value base different from the OD consultant's? We are not talking about being afraid to leave your laptop in someone's office, or of unethical behavior, but rather of the work-related value system of most Silicon Valley engineers.

Developing Transformational Leaders: A Life Span Approach
(Adobe Acrobat PDF)

by Bruce J. Avolio, Ph.D. and Tracy C. Gibbons, Ph.D.

This chapter was published in Charismatic Leadership: The Elusive Factor in Organizational Effectiveness, edited by by Jay A. Conger, Rabindra N. Kanungo and Associates, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1988.

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