Exploring the impact of team-building strategies on social loafing in Ashesi University student teams
Date
2022-05
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Abstract
Despite the importance of developing team-based competencies, students in
higher education institutions engage in social loafing during their academic teamwork
experiences. Various researchers have proposed team-building strategies as a remedy.
However, these strategies' effectiveness has been debatable, with little insight into the
why behind the conclusions. Therefore, this study sought to qualitatively explore the
phenomenon as it occurs in Ashesi University using Tuckman's Stages of Group Formation as the guiding theoretical framework. The study employed semi-structured
interviews to gather in-depth information from twenty-five participants comprising
twenty students and five faculty of Ashesi University. The interviews addressed: (1) faculty and students' perception of social leafing in student teams,
(2) the strategies
they initiate during each team-formation stage, and (3) the strategies' impact. Through
a thematic analysis, the study found that the strategies employed in Ashesi University
student teams are role clarification, feedback systems, and interpersonal relationship-building.
However, the central insight from this study was that these strategies are more
effective when they are executed in sequence to provide a mutual reinforcement than when they are executed individually. Thus, the study recommended that higher
education institutions shift the focus to sequential strategy execution instead of
individual strategy execution.
Description
Undergraduate thesis submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, May 2022
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Undergraduate Thesis
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Keywords
collaborative learning