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Full-Text Articles in Organizational Behavior and Theory

The Impact Of Team Member Familiarity On Communication Media Use And Subsequent Project Performance, Priscilla Arling, Hongjiang Xu Jan 2016

The Impact Of Team Member Familiarity On Communication Media Use And Subsequent Project Performance, Priscilla Arling, Hongjiang Xu

Priscilla Arling

This study explores how team member familiarity is related to the communication media used in the completion of projects and how that use impacts project performance. We surveyed 148 university undergraduate students who were enrolled in information systems courses. The students worked on projects in teams of 3 to 4 students. The results suggest that prior collaboration with current te am members, as well as a stude nt’s class year, are related to what communication media are used. The influen ce of team member familiarity and class year varies by the type of media used. We also find that higher …


Generational Diversity Can Enhance Trust Across Boundaries, Michele Williams Jul 2015

Generational Diversity Can Enhance Trust Across Boundaries, Michele Williams

Michele Williams

In interorganizational project teams, generational diversity among team members undermines the experience of trust within demographically similar dyads but enhances the experience of trust within demographically dissimilar dyads.


Collective Failure: The Emergence, Consequences, And Management Of Errors In Teams, Bradford S. Bell, Steve W. J. Kozlowski Mar 2015

Collective Failure: The Emergence, Consequences, And Management Of Errors In Teams, Bradford S. Bell, Steve W. J. Kozlowski

Bradford S Bell

The goal of the current chapter is to examine the emergence, consequences, and management of errors in teams. We begin by discussing the origin and emergence of errors in teams. We argue that errors in teams can originate at both the individual and collective level and suggest this distinction is important because it has implications for how errors propagate within a team. We then consider the paradoxical effects of errors on team performance and team learning. This discussion highlights the importance of error management in teams so that errors can prompt learning while at the same time mitigating their negative …


The Effect Of Virtuality On Individual Network Centrality And Performance In On-Going, Distributed Teams, Priscilla Arling, Mani Subramani Mar 2012

The Effect Of Virtuality On Individual Network Centrality And Performance In On-Going, Distributed Teams, Priscilla Arling, Mani Subramani

Priscilla Arling

For distributed teams to succeed, individuals must interact successfully within team social networks. To understand individual performance in distributed teams, we consider a multi-dimensional view of individual virtuality and its relationship with centrality in the team’s face-to-face network and ICT network. We leverage social network theory and hierarchically analyze data from 254 individuals in 18 teams. We find that members with higher dispersion are less central in the face-to-face network while those with higher ICT use are more central in the ICT network. Centrality in the ICT network, but not centrality in the face-to-face network, is positively related to performance. …


Slippage In The System: The Effects Of Errors In Transactive Memory Behavior On Team Performance, Matthew Pearsall, Aleksander Ellis, Bradford Bell Jul 2011

Slippage In The System: The Effects Of Errors In Transactive Memory Behavior On Team Performance, Matthew Pearsall, Aleksander Ellis, Bradford Bell

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] Although researchers have consistently shown that the implicit coordination provided by transactive memory positively affects team performance, the benefits of transactive memory systems depend heavily on team members’ ability to accurately identify the expertise of their teammates and communicate expertise-specific information with one another. This introduces the opportunity for errors to enter the system, as the expertise of individual team members may be misunderstood or misrepresented, leading to the reliance on information from the wrong source or the loss of information through incorrect assignment. As Hollingshead notes, “information may be transferred or explicitly delegated to the ‘wrong’ individual in …


Work Teams, Bradford S. Bell, Steve W. J. Kozlowski Jul 2011

Work Teams, Bradford S. Bell, Steve W. J. Kozlowski

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] Teams serve as the basic building blocks of modern organizations and represent a critical means by which work is accomplished in today's world. Therefore, significant research during the past few decades has been focused on understanding work team effectiveness. This entry looks at the history of this research and what it says about team types, team composition, team development, team processes, and team effectiveness.


Work Groups And Teams In Organizations, Steve Kozlowski, Bradford Bell Apr 2011

Work Groups And Teams In Organizations, Steve Kozlowski, Bradford Bell

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] Our objective in this chapter is to provide an integrative perspective on work groups and teams in organizations, one that addresses primary foci of theory and research, highlights applied implications, and identifies key issues in need of research attention and resolution. Given the volume of existing reviews, our review is not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, it uses representative work to characterize key topics, and focuses on recent work that breaks new ground to help move theory and research forward. Although our approach risks trading breadth for depth, we believe that there is much value in taking a more …


The Language Of Bias: A Linguistic Approach To Understanding Intergroup Relations, Quinetta M. Roberson, Bradford S. Bell, Shanette C. Porter Apr 2011

The Language Of Bias: A Linguistic Approach To Understanding Intergroup Relations, Quinetta M. Roberson, Bradford S. Bell, Shanette C. Porter

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] This chapter explores the role of language in the relationship between diversity and team performance. Specifically, we consider how a linguistic approach to social categorization may be used to study the social psychological mechanisms that underlie diversity effects. Using the results of a study examining the effects of gender, ethnicity and tenure on language abstraction, we consider the potential implications for team processes and effectiveness. In addition, we propose a revised team input-process-output model that highlights the potential effects of language on team processes. We conclude by suggesting directions for future research linking diversity, linguistic categorization and team effectiveness.


Who Benefits From Teams? Comparing Workers, Supervisors, And Managers, Rosemary Batt Jan 2010

Who Benefits From Teams? Comparing Workers, Supervisors, And Managers, Rosemary Batt

Rosemary Batt

This paper offers a political explanation for the diffusion and sustainability of team-based work systems by examining the differential outcomes of team structures for 1200 workers, supervisors, and middle managers in a large unionized telecommunications company. Regression analyses show that participation in self-managed teams is associated with significantly higher levels of perceived discretion, employment security, and satisfaction for workers and the opposite for supervisors. Middle managers who initiate team innovations report higher employment security, but otherwise are not significantly different from their counterparts who are not involved in innovations. By contrast, there are no significant outcomes for employees associated with …


Work Organization, Technology, And Performance In Customer Service And Sales, Rosemary Batt Jan 2008

Work Organization, Technology, And Performance In Customer Service And Sales, Rosemary Batt

Rosemary Batt

The author analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Total Quality Management and Self-Managed Teams, as compared to mass production approaches to service delivery, among customer service and sales workers in a large unionized regional Bell operating company. Participation in self-managed teams was associated with a statistically significant improvement in self-reported service quality and a 9.3% increase in sales per employee. When combined with new technology, teams boosted sales an additional 17.4%. These effects persisted over time. Total Quality Management, by contrast, did not affect performance. This study represents a “strong test” of the efficacy of teams because theory predicts weak …


A Study Of Exchange And Emotions In Team Member Relationships, Marie T. Dasborough Dec 2007

A Study Of Exchange And Emotions In Team Member Relationships, Marie T. Dasborough

Marie T Dasborough

In this article we aim to generate theory about how individuals perceive their relationships with team members, and their emotional experiences within the team member exchange (TMX) process. Findings from qualitative and quantitative analyses are presented, with data collected from 25 full-time employees working within five teams in two organizations. The qualitative results reveal a variety of exchanges that occur within the team member relationships, including relationship-oriented exchanges and task-oriented exchanges. Team members highlighted the importance of friendship within the team context, and that they experienced positive and negative emotions in response to their TMX relationships. The quantitative results also …


Team-Member Exchange And Commitment To A Matrix Team Dec 1998

Team-Member Exchange And Commitment To A Matrix Team

L. A. Witt

No abstract provided.