Lumen and Absorb Teams at Crutchfield Chemical Engineering, The

Teresa M. Amabile; Elizabeth  Schatzel

Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2004 (Revised July 2007)

Lumen and Absorb Teams at Crutchfield Chemical Engineering, The

by Teresa M. Amabile and Elizabeth Schatzel

Abstract

Large discrepancies have developed between two elite technology development teams at Crutchfield Chemical Engineering in terms of motivation and creativity. To investigate, Paul Burke, director of corporate technology development, commissioned a study of the day-by-day dynamics within these teams (the Lumen and Absorb teams). Using 10 days' worth of electronic daily diaries collected from all members of the two teams, the study reveals rich information about team leader behaviors, team member thoughts and behaviors, team dynamics, and project progress. By summarizing both the diary data and personality data on both teams' members, the study presents Burke with a clear dilemma about enhancing and maintaining motivation and creativity in teams of high-level professionals working on challenging projects under difficult organizational conditions.

Keywords: Leadership; Managerial Roles; Projects; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives;

Format: Print

20 pages

Educators Purchase

Citation:

Amabile, Teresa M., and Elizabeth Schatzel. "Lumen and Absorb Teams at Crutchfield Chemical Engineering, The." Harvard Business School Case 804-118, January 2004. (Revised July 2007.)

In recent years, progress has been made toward AI Creativity, which I define as the production of highly novel, yet appropriate, ideas, problem solutions, or other outputs by autonomous machines. I argue that organizational researchers of creativity and innovation should invest significant energy in studying artificial intelligence and computer-assisted human intelligence, the ways in which they might yield creative breakthroughs, and how those innovations might impact—and be impacted by—workers, consumers, organizations, and society.

Over time, the field of creativity research has seen a gradual shift away from an almost exclusive emphasis on the creative person towards a more balanced inquiry that centers both on individual difference issues and questions about the nature of creative products and the conditions that facilitate the creation of those products. The consensual assessment technique (CAT) allows for the assessment of the relative creativity of products and is based on the assumption that a panel of independent raters, persons who have not had the opportunity to confer with one another and who have not been trained by the researcher, are best able to make such judgments. Over 40 years of research have clearly established that product creativity can be reliably and validly assessed based on the consensus of experts. Although creativity in a product may be difficult to characterize in terms of specific features, it is something that people can recognize and agree upon when they see it.

There have been dozens of high-profile mass shootings in recent decades. This paper presents three main findings about the impact of mass shootings on gun policy. First, mass shootings evoke large policy responses. A single mass shooting leads to a 15% increase in the number of firearm bills introduced within a state in the year after a mass shooting. This effect increases with the extent of media coverage. Second, mass shootings account for a small portion of all gun deaths but have an outsized influence relative to other homicides. Third, when looking at bills that were actually enacted into law, the impact of mass shootings depends on the party in power. The annual number of laws that loosen gun restrictions doubles in the year following a mass shooting in states with Republican-controlled legislatures. We find no significant effect of mass shootings on laws enacted when there is a Democrat-controlled legislature, nor do we find a significant effect of mass shootings on the enactment of laws that tighten gun restrictions.

Faculty & Research

Lumen and Absorb Teams at Crutchfield Chemical Engineering, The

Abstract

Citation:

About the Author

More from the Author