Team training in China: Testing and applying the theory of cooperation and competition

Abstract

The theory of cooperation and competition has the potential both to understand the conditions when organizational groups are productive and major ways to strengthen these groups. Work teams based in a high-technology company in Beijing, China, participated in a training workshop and a 2-month follow of feedback and development. Structural equation analyses of data taken before and after the workshop support the hypotheses. In addition, results suggest that the training and follow-up activities developed cooperative goals and constructive controversy. Findings also indicate that relationships among groups affected the productivity of individual teams. Results were interpreted as suggesting that cooperative goals and constructive controversy contribute to potent, creative, and productive teams in China and perhaps other countries as well. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.