Competition Vs Team-work

I was recently reading a diary entry by one of the students from Cranfield School of Management http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/mba/yourlife/entry.asp?id=676

Which one is better? Competition / Teamwork???

Most of us will answer, it depends what reference you are putting in...

But going along with the context as specified above.. I think Team-work in better!!! Why?

Competition sets up a benchmark amongst peers and the one on top will try to retain his/her position nad will do whatever he/she can to retain that position! Hence, in most of the cases, learning is reduced in form of scoring and good marks and NOT knowledge. With team-work, knowledge is distributed and shared which might not lead to good marks in the end, in few cases, but when actual situation arises, one can exercise his / her learning better than the person who has studied for marks / scores and NOT actual learning and sharing!

Moreover, one of the major aspects on MBA is Networking, with Competition one tends to cut corners with few vis-a-vis with team-work, everyone is a team-member and move ahead as a team.. a close co-ordination required!