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Chapter 2 Collaboration Information Systems
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Receiving Critical Feedback

design overcomes that hazard, but your chief financial officer (CFO) is concerned about possible
litigation in the event there is a problem. Your corporate counsel is investigating the best way to
overcome the county’s objections while limiting liability. Meanwhile, a local environmental group
is protesting your site because it believes the site is too close to an eagle’s nest. Your public relations
director is meeting with these local groups every week.
Do you proceed with the project?
To decide, you create a working team of the chief engineer, the CFO, your legal counsel,
and the PR director. Each of those people has different education and expertise, different life
experience, and different values. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that they are paid
by your company. That team will participate collaboratively in ways that are far different from your
experience so far. Keep this example in mind as you read this chapter.
Bottom line: The two key characteristics of collaboration are iteration and feedback.

Q2-2 What Are Three Criteria for Successful

Collaboration?

J. Richard Hackman studied teamwork for many years, and his book Leading Teams contains many
2
useful concepts and tips for future managers. According to Hackman, there are three primary
criteria for judging team success:
• Successful outcome
• Growth in team capability
• Meaningful and satisfying experience

Successful Outcome
Most students are primarily concerned with the first criterion. They want to achieve a good
outcome, measured by their grade, or they want to get the project done with an acceptable grade
while minimizing the effort required. For business professionals, teams need to accomplish their
goals: make a decision, solve a problem, or create a work product. Whatever the objective is, the
first success criterion is “Did we do it?”