Appendix 3. Comparative analyses of ib and ltw teamwork

Component

Team/Term 1 (International business)

Team/Term 2 (Leadership&Teamwork)

Participants

5 (3 nations – 3 Chinese)

5 (4 nations – 2 Chinese)

Participants with work experience

1

2

Language proficiency

Fluent English

Purpose

To make 3 group tasks (2 non-marked presentations and 1 marked group assignment)

To make 1 non-marked group project (presentation) for an assignment including the analysis of the team work

Number of meetings

5

In progress

Settings

Informal (common room or PG hub)

Informal (lunch site or PG hub)

Ways/ rules of interaction

Verbal (turn-taking and body language varied among participants),

written (on a facebook group page).

Verbal and written (universal norms of communication and politeness).

Leadership style

Managers were changed according to projects:

1. presentation 1 – Chinese participant 1 responsible for making ppt (democratic style, each person responsible for 1 part of the presentation);

2. presentation 2 – Chinese participant 2 responsible for making ppt (democratic style, each person responsible for 1 part of the presentation);

3. group project – manager not selected: non-Chinese responsible for final draft of the paper, Chinese participant 3 responsible for making ppt (democratic style, people responsible for their parts in the final writing, final draft to be done taking into consideration all comments posted on facebook and discussed all together).

Female democratic leadership with an obvious latent leader (taking notes, uploading tasks on facebook, setting deadlines, delegating rights to complete tasks according to team members’ interests and abilities)

Type of management

Result-oriented

Process-oriented

Teambuilding initiatives

Not supported by the team (only working meetings; final dinner after final presentation)

Supported by the team (first meeting at lunch time – identifying team members’ interests and abilities)

Usage of humor

Not noticed

Initiated by the leader

Difficulties in teamwork

1. team refused to make the first presentation in class due to health problems on one of the team members;

2. joint miscommunication in doing the final project (frequent code-switching among Chinese participants, shouting, inattentive attitude towards comments on facebook, inadequate writing communication/inadequate attitude towards message forms)

Not noticed

Group work outcomes:

Professional feedback

Best group result in the IB module

Strong presentation and well-maintained relationship

Personal feedback

Happy with results

Happy with the teamwork done