Daniel Levi is a retired professor in the Psychology and Child Development Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California. He holds an MA and a PhD in environmental psychology from the University of Arizona. He has taught classes in teamwork, environmental psychology, and organizational psychology. His teamwork class was designed primarily for engineering and business students. He has conducted research and worked as a consultant with factory and engineering teams for a variety of technology companies. In addition, he has worked on international team research projects in Europe and Asia.Dr. Levi’s research and consulting with factory teams primarily focused on the use of teams to support technological change and the adoption of just-in-time and quality programs. This work examined a variety of team issues, including job redesign, training, compensation, supervision, and change management approaches. His work with professional teams primarily was focused on engineering design teams. These projects examined the use of concurrent engineering, self-management, and the globalization of teams. The topics of this work included the impact of information technology on teams, facilitation and training needs for professional teams, and the impacts of organizational culture and leadership.Early work on the book was sponsored by an engineering education grant from NASA. This project focused on the development of teamwork skills in engineering students working on multidisciplinary projects. It led to the development of cases and activities for learning teamwork skills and research on teamwork training and evaluating and rewarding student teams. Additional research on student teams examined gender and cross-cultural issues, social support within teams, and bullying and hijacking in student teams.David A. Askay is a professor in the Communications Studies Department and faculty fellow in the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. He earned an interdisciplinary PhD in organizational science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His teaching focuses on small group communication, organizational communication, and innovation. Dr. Askay’s research examines communication, technology, and teamwork. His recent projects include exploring group decision-making with artificial intelligence, investigating the socialization of online gig workers, and studying the reception of public health information generated by digital avatars. He was awarded an STTR grant to collaborate with the U.S. Air Force and Unanimous AI on improving teamwork using an artificial intelligence platform. Additionally, Dr. Askay helps coordinate an annual interdisciplinary hackathon, bringing together teams of students to develop innovative solutions to local challenges.
