scholarly journals Mindful infrastructure as antecedent of innovation resilience behaviour of project teams

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 435-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R.A. Oeij ◽  
Tinka Van Vuuren ◽  
Steven Dhondt ◽  
Jeff Gaspersz ◽  
Ernest M.M. De Vroome
Keyword(s):  
High Reliability ◽  
Innovation Management ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Project Outcomes ◽  
Management Project ◽  
The One ◽  
Organizational Features

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether insights into high reliability organizations (HROs) are useful for innovation management teams. HRO teams can keep failure to a minimum level due to high alertness and resilience. Project teams working on innovation management could benefit from HRO principles and thus reduce their chances of failure.Design/methodology/approachA survey among in total 260 team members and team leaders of project teams in innovation management was conducted to study the relation between, on the one hand, organizational features of HROs (“mindful infrastructure”) and HRO principles (adjusted as “innovation resilience behaviour”, IRB), and on the other hand, between mindful infrastructure and IRB and project outcomes.FindingsFrom the results it could be concluded that mindful infrastructure associates with IRB, and that IRB has a mediating role in the relation between mindful infrastructure and project outcomes. Innovation management project teams can thus learn from the practice of HRO teams.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, HRO-thinking has not been applied to team behaviour in innovation management. A fruitful transfer of insights from the domain of safety and crisis management seems applicable to the domain of innovation.

Mindful infrastructure as an enabler of innovation resilience behaviour in innovation teams

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 334-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R.A. Oeij ◽  
Steven Dhondt ◽  
Jeff Gaspersz
Keyword(s):  
High Reliability ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Complexity Leadership ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Innovation Teams ◽  
Successful Innovation ◽  
Innovation Processes

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the principles of high reliability organisations (HROs), present in safety and crisis teams, as applied to innovation teams. Safety and crisis teams cannot fail, as failure leads to disaster and casualties. Innovation teams cannot fail either, as this harms the organisations’ competitiveness and effectiveness. Do HRO principles, rooted in mindful infrastructure, enable innovation resilience behaviour (IRB)? Design/methodology/approach A study of 18 innovation projects performed by project teams was carried out. A survey by team members/leaders of these teams was completed; team members/leaders of other projects were added to achieve a larger sample. Mindful infrastructure consists of team psychological safety, team learning, complexity leadership and team voice. The analyses assessed the teams’ mindful infrastructures as a causal condition enabling IRB. Findings Applying qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), the findings indicate that mindful infrastructure enables team IRB, which is a set of team behaviours indicating their resilience when encountering critical incidents. Teams apply different “paths” to IRB. Research limitations/implications The exploratory study’s generalizability is limited. The findings nonetheless indicate the usefulness of non-linear techniques for understanding different roads to successful innovation processes. Practical implications HRO principles are applicable by non-HROs. These require investments in organisational learning. Originality/value HRO studies fail to account for the antecedents of HRO principles. This study groups these antecedents of team behaviour into a mindful infrastructure. QCA has not been applied within the domain of HROs before and only scarcely within the domain of innovation teams.

How project managers can encourage and develop positive emotions in project teams

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Emil Berg ◽  
Jan Terje Karlsen
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Engineering Industry ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Signature Strengths ◽  
Positive Meaning

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.

scholarly journals Exploring the drivers of tensions in social innovation management in the context of social entrepreneurial teams

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1344-1361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Dufays
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Innovation Management ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Innovation Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Entrepreneurial Teams ◽  
The Social ◽  
Entrepreneurial Team

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify tensions that are emerging in the invention and implementation of social innovation by social entrepreneurial teams and highlights elements that influence the type of tension encountered. Design/methodology/approach Four cases are selected theoretically, studied individually, and compared to one another to identify tensions and patterns of tensions. Findings The findings reveal the predominant tensions related to goals and identity during social innovation invention and those related to time and knowledge during social innovation implementation. The size of the entrepreneurial team, the nature of the social innovation, and the interest orientation – that is, the overlap between entrepreneurial team members and beneficiaries – are found to play a role in the type of tensions encountered and their content. Research limitations/implications The chosen research approach limits the generalizability of the research results. Replication in other settings and with other types of social innovation is therefore encouraged. Originality/value In contrast to most existing studies, this research focuses on nascent social innovation projects borne by teams. It proposes that social-business tensions are not necessarily predominant in social innovation management. It suggests the importance of interest orientation as an underestimated factor in the study of social entrepreneurship.

Overcoming cross-organizational barriers to success in offshore projects

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Likoebe Maruping ◽  
Arun Rai ◽  
Ruba Aljafari ◽  
Viswanath Venkatesh
Keyword(s):  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Service Level ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Software Project ◽  
Transition Processes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Project Outcomes ◽  
Mediating Mechanisms ◽  
Organizational Work

PurposeAdvances in information technology coupled with the need to build resilience against disruptions by pandemics like COVID-19 continue to emphasize offshoring services in the software industry. Service-level agreements (SLAs) have served as a key mechanism for safeguarding against risk in offshore service arrangements. Yet, variations in service cost and quality persist. This study aims to open up the blackbox linking SLAs to offshore project outcomes by examining (1) how the provisions in these contracts affect the ability of project teams – the work unit primarily in charge of producing the offshored service – to achieve their objectives and fulfill client requirements and (2) how differences in contextual factors shape the effects of these provisions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors incorporate the role of organizational work practice differences to understand the challenges that 270 offshore project teams faced in coordinating and integrating technical and business domain knowledge across organizational boundaries in offshore arrangements. The examined offshore IT projects were managed by a leading software vendor in India and several of its US-based clients over a three-year period.FindingsThe authors demonstrate that organizational work practice differences represent a barrier to offshore project success, and that project team transition processes are an important mechanism for overcoming these barriers. Moreover, the authors find that transition processes represent key mediating mechanisms through which SLA provisions affect offshore project outcomes.Originality/valueThe study findings shed light on how SLAs shape software project teams' balance between activities aimed at meeting client needs and those aimed at containing costs.

When Can Negativity Mean Success? Gender Composition, Negative Relationships and Team Performance

2020 ◽  
pp. 104649642095944
Author(s):  
Bret Bradley ◽  
Sarah Henry ◽  
Benjamin Blake
Keyword(s):  
Team Performance ◽  
Role Theory ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Gender Composition ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Successful Team ◽  
The One ◽  
Negative Relationships ◽  
Better Than

Teams are often plagued by internal discord, such as negative relationships, which can impede successful team performance. While most teams eventually encounter negative relationships, we have limited knowledge on how teams manage this negativity. In this article, we expand scholarship on teams by exploring an inherent team characteristic, gender composition, to assess its role in how teams cope with negative relationships. On the one hand, social role theory suggests that teams comprised of more women will perform better in the presence of negative relationships. On the other hand, theories and evidence on personality and individual differences suggest that teams comprised of more men will perform better in the presence of negative relationships. We studied 151 student project teams, and found that teams of mostly women performed better than teams of mostly men, when negative relationships existed among team members. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.

scholarly journals Interpretive structural model of trust factors in construction virtual project teams

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukhwant Kaur Sagar ◽  
Olugbenga Timo Oladinrin ◽  
Mohammed Arif ◽  
Muhammad Qasim Rana
Keyword(s):  
Structural Model ◽  
Matrix Multiplication ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Virtual Project ◽  
Interpretive Structural Model ◽  
Trust Factors ◽  
Virtual Project Teams

Purpose Organisational dependence on virtual project teams (VPTs) is growing dramatically due to the substantial benefits they offer, such as efficiently achieving objectives and improving organisational performance. One of the major issues that influence the effectiveness of VPTs is trust building. This study aims to determine the key factors of trust in VPTs and design a model by identifying the interrelationships among the trust factors. Design/methodology/approach Focus group discussion was used to gather data on factors affecting trust in VPTs and their interrelationships. Interpretive structural modelling (ISM) was used to establish the relationship among the factors. Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification analysis was conducted to identify the driving power and the dependence power towards effective VPTs in the construction sector. Findings The finding revealed that “characteristics of team members” (such as ability, integrity, benevolence, competence, reliability and professionalism) is the most significant factor for building trust in virtual team members. Some factors were further identified as having high driving power, while others were defined as having high dependence variables. Practical implications The findings will assist construction managers and practitioners dealing with VPTs identify the factors influencing trust among team members. Taking cognisance of the factors that influence trust will enable them to design more effective virtual team arrangements. Originality/value As the first research of its kind using ISM technique, the study offers insights into interrelationships between trust factors in the construction VPTs. It provides guides for construction managers on the effective management of trustworthy VPTs.

Meso-Foundations of Interorganizational Relationships: How Team Power Structures Shape Partner Novelty

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1385-1407
Author(s):  
Trevor Young-Hyman ◽  
Adam M. Kleinbaum
Keyword(s):  
Interorganizational Relationships ◽  
Partner Selection ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Project Outcomes ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Intensive Work

Novel external partnerships are valuable but risky, and scholars have examined the organization- and individual-level determinants of firms’ decisions to pursue these new relationships. Yet, in organizations performing complex and knowledge-intensive work, decisions about interorganizational relationships are often made within teams. We characterize these decisions as a two-stage process in which a team member proposes a partner and other team members respond, supporting or challenging the proposal. As novel partnerships are risky, and power is a key determinant of risk-taking propensity, we argue that the power of team members—both those who initiate proposals and those who respond—will shape the likelihood that the team will pursue a novel external partnership. Using personnel data from project teams in an automated equipment design and build firm, we find that the effect of power on the likelihood of novel partner adoption depends on both the type of power and the role of the person in the decision process. Novel partner selection is more likely when those initiating proposals hold formal structural power but less likely when initiators hold informal power. Both the formal and informal power of the initiator’s teammates attenuate the effect of initiator power, such that the more power one’s teammates have, the less one’s own power will affect the likelihood of novel external partner selection. Finally, we provide evidence that these effects on likelihood of novel partner adoption are as materially consequential for project outcomes as other strategic choices available to project teams. These findings have implications for the intraorganizational determinants of interorganizational networks.

Information systems project team members: factors for high performance

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Moura ◽  
Caroline Dominguez ◽  
João Varajão
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Project Team ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Design Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
The Individual

PurposeThe main aim of this study is to contribute to the discussion on the factors that can influence the high performance of information systems (IS) project team members, from the individual perspective. This study also allows both IS project team members and their managers to have a thorough picture of high-performing project teams, helping them improve team design, management and performance in today's demanding business environment.Design/methodology/approachTo address the research questions, the authors carried out an exploratory case study of a small-sized holding company and a qualitative analysis of the data.FindingsResults show a set of perceived factors that can influence (facilitate/hinder) the high performance of IS project team members. “Proper reward systems” was the most mentioned facilitating factor. “Negative affectivity” and “Lack of competence” were the two most referred as hindering factors. Most of the perceived factors are classified in the literature as non-technical.Originality/valueBesides being among the very few empirical studies consolidating knowledge on the high performance of IS project team members, this paper extends the authors' previous research (done at the team level) to the individual team member level (as opposed to the team or organizational levels). In spite of IS being a highly technical industry, this study came across mostly human-centered factors transversal to different professionals (IS and non-IS) involved in project teams.

How entrepreneurial team heterogeneity impacts decision-making performance? An input-process-output approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhipeng Zhang ◽  
Li Zhu ◽  
Gong Chen ◽  
Lu Shang ◽  
Qiuyun Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Interaction ◽  
Team Decision Making ◽  
Team Heterogeneity ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Entrepreneurial Team ◽  
Team Decision

Purpose Existing studies mostly rely on the static characteristics of team members, and there is still a lack of empirical investigation on how entrepreneurial team members make decisions through dynamic team process and how team members’ cognition influences team decision-making. The purpose of this study is to validate how entrepreneurial team heterogeneity affects team decision-making performance from the perspective of dynamic team process. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the theory of input-process-output model, this study proposed and examined the mediating role of team interaction as well as the moderating role of proactive socialization tactics in the relationship between entrepreneurial team heterogeneity and decision-making performance. Based on a sample of 162 entrepreneurial teams that include pairing superiors and subordinates, hierarchical regressions and moderated mediation tests were used to test the hypotheses. Findings The research results show that the heterogeneity of entrepreneurial teams is positively correlated with both team interaction and decision-making performance. Team interaction plays a mediating role between entrepreneurial team heterogeneity and decision-making performance; information seeking of proactive socialization tactics moderates the impact of entrepreneurial team heterogeneity on team interaction. Originality/value Contributing to the literature on entrepreneurial team decision-making performance, this study identifies that proactive socialization tactics with a high level of information seeking can help entrepreneurial team members respond to environmental and organizational changes more effectively during team development and increase the effectiveness of team interaction. This finding helps us better understand the mechanism and context under which entrepreneurial heterogeneity may enhance the team’s decision-making performance.

Investigating the relationships among team emotional intelligence, trust, conflict and team performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 120-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azadeh Rezvani ◽  
Rowena Barrett ◽  
Pouria Khosravi
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Scale Construction ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Conflict ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to enhance understanding of the relationships among team emotional intelligence (EI), trust in team, conflict in team and team performance.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 389 team members from 84 project teams in large-scale construction projects was surveyed.FindingsFindings showed that team EI is positively associated with team performance. In addition, trust and conflict in the team mediate the association between team EI and team performance.Practical implicationsThe ability to perceive one’s own and others’ emotions significantly increases the likelihood of team performance by increasing trust in a team and reducing conflict. Therefore, managers can use these findings to boost team performance and reduce conflict in their teams.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the better understanding of the relationship between team EI and team performance in large-scale construction projects. In addition, this research is an empirical investigation into the mediation variables linking EI to team performance.

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