Multilevel influences of team viability perceptions

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 19-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Lopes Costa ◽  
Ana Margarida Passos ◽  
M. Clara Barata

Purpose – The purpose of this article was to examine how individual positive emotions and team work engagement (TWE) relate to the perceptions of team viability. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 254 teams (N = 1,154 individuals) participated in this study, and a multilevel analysis was conducted of the effects of individual and team-level factors. Findings – The multilevel analysis results suggest a partial compensatory effect. High levels of individual positive emotions and high TWE are associated with a positive effect on the perceptions of team viability. Simultaneously, being part of a highly engaged team has a protective effect on perceptions of team viability, when individuals experience low levels of positive emotions. Research limitations/implications – As the study was conducted with teams involved in a management simulation, generalizing the results to “real world” teams must be done with caution. Practical implications – Nonetheless, these findings have important implications for managers of work groups. They highlight the need to consider collective states of work groups as relevant for their effectiveness, and suggest that promoting positive interactions between team members may result in gains in team viability perceptions, mostly when individual emotions are less positive. Originality/value – We consider both individual and collective affective experiences at work, and focus on a less studied outcome, team viability. Additionally, we empirically demonstrate the relevance of collective states of teams for team members’ individual perceptions, as a top-down influence mechanism.

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 206-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Lopes Costa ◽  
Ana Margarida Passos ◽  
Arnold B. Bakker ◽  
Rafael Romana ◽  
Cláudia Ferrão

Purpose The aim of this study is to describe work-engaged teams in terms of interpersonal interaction. Design/methodology/approach Six teams (N = 31 individuals) were videotaped during a decision-making task, for one hour. Based on a priori defined categories, the authors coded the videos in terms of the degree of interaction between team members, the physical distance between members, the degree of team’s activation and the valence of their interaction. The videos were also coded in terms of motivational and affective processes. Team work engagement was assessed using questionnaires. Findings Highly engaged team members work physically close and have an increment on their interactions up until the task’s temporal midpoint. They have an initial peak of activation and show more positive emotional valence in the first and the last moments of the task. The most interpersonal processes used are affective. The worst performing team had the highest initial interaction levels followed by an abrupt decrease both in their levels of interaction and in their levels of activation. Simultaneously, they present higher peaks of positive emotional valence. Practical implications Although engaged teams are essentially characterized by the presence of positive interactions, it is fundamental to alternate more “exited” and fun moments with more task focused ones and collective interaction moments with individual work. Originality/value This study answers to Kozlowski and Chao’s (2012) call for studying emergence in a more direct way, using qualitative analysis of video data.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Emil Berg ◽  
Jan Terje Karlsen

Purpose – This study provides insight into how project managers can use leadership tools to encourage and develop positive emotions among the project team members toward greater overall project success. The purpose of this paper is to provide the engineering industry with a closer look at how positive emotions can create good team member relations, reduce stress, develop clearer roles, creativity and joy at the workplace. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data were obtained using in-depth interviews of three experienced project managers. Findings – The empirical data give insight as to how project managers can use their signature strengths. Additionally, the data also show how they can evolve and draw on positive meaning, positive emotions and positive relations. Various examples of positive meaning, positive emotions, positive relations and signature strengths have been identified and discussed. Research limitations/implications – Future research should apply a more comprehensive research design, for example a survey using a larger sample, so that these findings may be generalized. Practical implications – The paper contributes to portray and analyze positive psychology in a project management setting. Additionally, the paper assists understanding the connections among positive meaning, positive emotions, positive relations and signature strengths by presenting and discussing a model. Originality/value – This research extends current understanding of how project managers use their signature strengths to encourage and develop positive emotions in project teams.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Dórdio Dimas ◽  
Teresa Rebelo ◽  
Paulo Renato Lourenço

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to contribute to the clarification of the conditions under which teams can be successful, especially those related to team learning. To attain this goal, in the present study, the mediating role played by team members’ motivation on the relationship between team learning conditions (shared learning beliefs and team learning support) and members’ satisfaction with the team was analysed. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study with a multilevel design was carried out. Data concerning learning conditions, motivation and satisfaction were obtained from a survey among 398 employees working in 71 teams that perform complex tasks from 24 companies. A multilevel analysis was conducted. Findings – Overall, the results showed that both team learning conditions – shared learning beliefs and team learning support – had a significant positive effect on members’ satisfaction, which was mediated by members’ motivation. Originality/value – The proliferation of groups in the organizational setting has set new challenges for organizational research. In fact, more than ever it is necessary to study the conditions under which teams can be successful. Our findings put forward the relevance of creating conditions in the team to learn to increase team effectiveness, namely, in terms of team members’ satisfaction.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna Janhonen ◽  
Sara Lindström

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the routes of team goal attainment through individual and social mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a qualitative thematic analysis of interviews, annual reports and observations of team meetings conducted within a Finnish department store. Findings – The key findings of our analysis are three fold. First, we identified four routes to team goal attainment: team leadership, one’s own work, customer service and team work. We propose that for team members, these routes to goal attainment are more important than the organizational goals of sales and reputation themselves, since sales and reputation may be too far removed from the team’s everyday work. Second, both individual and social mechanisms are needed for team goal accomplishment. This finding highlights the importance of the social identity perspective in binding individual and collective motivations together. Third, teamwork in our case department store is somewhat affected by non-participative conventions, but many employee-involving practices can also be identified. These employee-involving HRM practices offer the employees a voice, and give the teams and team supervisors sufficient power in work organization. Research limitations/implications – The limitations of this study are mostly due to the qualitative case study design which hinders the generalization of the results. The wide perspective of the study can also be seen as a limitation. Practical implications – The results suggest that HR professionals and line managers should be more aware of and support the processes through which teams and team members attain organizational goals. This requires detailed knowledge of the processes – routes to team goal attainment – at the shop floor level. Originality/value – This study highlights the interconnectedness of individual and team level attributes in retail team work, and proposes the perspective of social identity theory as a lens for analysis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nandan Prabhu K.P. ◽  
Lewlyn Rodrigus L.R. ◽  
Ramana Kumar K.P.V. ◽  
Yogesh P. Pai

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of workplace spirituality (WS) in the relationship between team transformational leadership (TTL) and team viability (TV) under the theoretical lens of the theory of optimal distinctiveness of identities. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted quantitative, cross-sectional research design at the team level of analysis among 141 software development project teams that belonged to 22 information technology (IT) organizations in the Indian IT sector to evaluate the effect of TTL behavior on TV under the conditional presence of WS. Findings This research has found empirical evidence to show that TTL is positively associated with TV or the team members’ desire to be a part of future performance episodes of their team. However, this research has shown that the relative effect of WS on the relationship between TTL and TV is weaker in those teams that experience higher levels of WS than those teams that experience lower levels of WS. Originality/value This research’s originality exists in its team-level conceptualization of WS, a gap in prior research addressed by this paper, in order to evaluate the interactive effects of team-level conceptualizations of transformational leadership and WS on TV. Further, this paper’s originality stems from the explanation of TV as the result of desirable balance between team members’ needs for within-team inclusion and within-team differentiation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin N. Torres ◽  
Wei Wei ◽  
Nan Hua

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to uncover how emotions change (or remain constant) throughout the course of the vacation experience. Although the importance of affective experiences has been recognized in the literature, the momentary effects of each stage of the vacation on the overall appraisal of the experience deserve more attention. Design/methodology/approach A survey instrument was developed using the PANAS scale. Customers were asked for their emotions at different points of their vacation. Data were analysed using multinomial logistic regression, correlations and path analysis. Findings The results indicate that it is possible for guests to experience different affective states at different parts of the vacation experience. Furthermore, it is also likely for each service experience to impact the next service, in spite of the apparent distinction between them. Finally, the researchers noted the tendency of consumers to recall mostly positive emotions, thus raising the possibility of various kinds of memory biases in recalling a vacation experience. Originality/value Emotions are by their very nature momentary. Consequently, these affective states can change over time, especially over a vacation spanning several days. Therefore, the present research contributes to the literature, in that it measures emotions at various points in time, determines the impact of emotions towards one service provider on the next and ascertains the impact of said emotions on the overall vacation experience.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 415-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mette Sandoff ◽  
Kerstin Nilsson

Purpose This study aims to explore challenges arising from the development of teamwork in a new organizational structure, based on the experiences of the staff involved. Design/methodology/approach An explorative and qualitative approach was used, with individual interviews as the data collection method. These interviews were analyzed using qualitative and interpretative analysis with a modified editing style. Findings The results describe how the lack of essential organizational prerequisites for teamwork and the absence of the leadership qualities needed to facilitate teamwork contribute to difficulties in working in a team-orientated way. Shortage of information among the team members and few scheduled meetings signify insufficient coordination within the working team. Without a team leader who can keep things together, read the team members’ needs and support and guide them, team work is difficult to uphold because the members will need to seek support elsewhere. Assumed synergies from working together as team member experts will be thwarted. Originality/value This study contributes knowledge about the difficulties in creating team-orientated cooperation in a new organizational structure when leadership as well as structures and processes supporting team work are absent. The challenges described are drawn from the experiences of the staff concerned, providing insights to form a basis for theoretical and practical discussion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1459-1467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherese Y. Duncan ◽  
Raeesah Chohan ◽  
João José Ferreira

Purpose This paper aims to explore, using the employee lens of business-to-business firms, word use through brand engagement and social media interaction to understand the difference between employees who rate their employer brands highly on social media and those who don't. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a textual content analysis of posts published on the social media job evaluation site glassdoor.com. LIWC software package was used to analyze 30 of the top 200 business-to-business brands listed on Brandwatch using four variables, namely, analytical thinking, clout, authenticity and emotional tone. Findings The results show that employees who rate their employer’s brand low use significantly more words, are significantly less analytic and write with significantly more clout because they focus more on others than themselves. Employees who rate their employer’s brand highly, write with significantly more authenticity, exhibit a significantly higher tone and display far more positive emotions in their reviews. Practical implications Brand managers should treat social media data disseminated by individual stakeholders, like the variables used in this study (tone, word count, frequency), as a valuable tool for brand insight on their industry, competition and their own brand equity, now and especially over time. Originality/value This study provides acknowledgement that social media is a significant source of marketing intelligence that may improve brand equity by better understanding and managing brand engagement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1163-1180
Author(s):  
Piotr Wójcik ◽  
Krzysztof Obłój ◽  
Aleksandra Wąsowska ◽  
Szymon Wierciński

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the emotional dynamics of the corporate acceleration process, using the systems psychodynamics perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies inductive multiple case study of embedded 10 cases of corporate acceleration, covering both incumbent and startup perspectives, occurring in the context of a corporate accelerator.FindingsWe find that (1) the process of corporate acceleration involves three phases, each of them is dominated by a different emotional state (hope, anxiety and acceptance), triggering different behavioral responses; (2) as a means to deal with negative emotions, entrepreneurs and corporate acceleration program's team members develop different mechanisms of dealing with contradictories in subsequent acceleration phases (defense and copying mechanisms), which are reflected in their behaviors. Coping mechanisms with goal reformulation (i.e. refocus from the officially declared “open innovation” goals toward mainly symbolic ones) is an effective strategy to manage negative emotions in third phase of the acceleration.Research limitations/implicationsOur sample is limited to two relatively similar accelerators established by telecom companies, and therefore, our theoretical and practical conclusions cannot be generalized.Practical implicationsWe supplement the studies of corporate accelerators that imply how to design them better and improve decision-making rules with recommendation that in order to improve their effectiveness in terms of learning and innovations, their managers need not only to learn how to manage structural and procedural differences but also how to overcome social defenses triggered by corporate–startups cooperation.Originality/valueBy documenting a multidimensional impact of acceleration process, and especially shedding light on psychodynamic aspects behind such liaisons, this paper contributes to richer understanding of corporate–startup relationships, typically examined through a rationalistic lens of strategy literature. The study contributes to interorganizational research and open innovation literature, by showing that corporate acceleration process is marked by phases based on the type of emotions intertwined with the nature and dynamism of its life cycle. It indicates how these emotions are managed depending on their type.


Database ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal M Fadlelmola ◽  
Kais Ghedira ◽  
Yosr Hamdi ◽  
Mariem Hanachi ◽  
Fouzia Radouani ◽  
...  

Abstract African genomic medicine and microbiome datasets are usually not well characterized in terms of their origin, making it difficult to find and extract data for specific African ethnic groups or even countries. The Pan-African H3Africa Bioinformatics Network (H3ABioNet) recognized the need for developing data portals for African genomic medicine and African microbiomes to address this and ran a hackathon to initiate their development. The two portals were designed and significant progress was made in their development during the hackathon. All the participants worked in a very synergistic and collaborative atmosphere in order to achieve the hackathon's goals. The participants were divided into content and technical teams and worked over a period of 6 days. In response to one of the survey questions of what the participants liked the most during the hackathon, 55% of the hackathon participants highlighted the familial and friendly atmosphere, the team work and the diversity of team members and their expertise. This paper describes the preparations for the portals hackathon and the interaction between the participants and reflects upon the lessons learned about its impact on successfully developing the two data portals as well as building scientific expertise of younger African researchers. Database URL: The code for developing the two portals was made publicly available in GitHub repositories: [https://github.com/codemeleon/Database; https://github.com/codemeleon/AfricanMicrobiomePortal].


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