No Team is an Island: How Leaders Shape Networked Ecosystems for Team Success

2021 ◽  
pp. 000812562110417
Author(s):  
Inga Carboni ◽  
Rob Cross ◽  
Amy C. Edmondson

Today’s organizations rely on networks of dynamic systems of “agile” teams to get work done. Teams are distributed, transient, and loosely bounded in service of responsiveness and innovation. The key to this new way of doing work is managing the networked ecosystem in which teams are embedded. But in the context of leading multiple teams with fuzzy boundaries and shifting membership, the average overwhelmed manager quickly defaults to what is nearest in urgency: managing internal team dynamics and responding to internal customer demands. Drawn from field interviews with 100 top-performing team leaders, this article presents a framework-for-action to leaders who want to engage the networked ecosystem with intention and precision, including specific tactics for identifying and influencing high-leverage stakeholders.

Author(s):  
Lynn A. Isabella ◽  
Steve Jackson ◽  
Jack Hager

Someone wise once said, “A job worth doing is worth doing together.” Yet why is it so difficult to work together as a team? This case presents the story of a team whose relationships are strained and deteriorating in a business where teamwork is essential to the success of the business as a whole. Individual team members begin to care less and less about their ongoing employment with the company and this manifests itself through blatant insubordination, lack of focus on team success, and power plays against team leaders. Readers put themselves in the place of the protagonist who recognizes the situation needs addressing. This case is based upon real experiences, but the company and team members are disguised. It works well in modules on managing teams and will help students develop an ability to diagnose and design useful interventions for issues that teams encounter.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 48-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Jaushyuam Lai ◽  
Betsy D. Gelb

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a contributing factor – communication – within a team as well as with a client. Organizations that rely on key account teams for strategy implementation may find their “best laid plans” thwarted by communication problems associated with such teams. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on depth interviews and content analysis. The authors analyze what team members and team leaders say and count positive/negative terms about communication within teams and with clients. These counts of such terms as a proportion of interview length are compared to the actual team success. Findings Negative comments about communication within the team focus on difficulty and positive comments focus on support. Interestingly, however, the best indicator of whether a team has succeeded in selling its key account is the extent of negative expressions about communication from key account managers. Presumably, the structure of key account teams gives them an extra leadership burden, and the authors’ see a relationship between their perception of communication shortcomings and success or failure. Research limitations/implications The authors recommend investigating communication issues when strategy implementation depends on key account teams, but because this study is conducted using a qualitative method with one company, its results cannot be projected. The authors simply demonstrate what a company could learn from conducting its own study and comparing results to its sales success. Originality/value Little research has examined communication in key account teams or linked it to sales success.


Author(s):  
EVGEN PRIMOŽIČ

Na izbor članka je vplivalo dejstvo, da v organizaciji, kot je Slovenska vojska, premalo pozornosti namenjamo timskemu delu, čeprav je opredeljeno v normativnih aktih Slovenske vojske. Glavni cilj članka je prikazati pogoje za nastanek tima, kdaj se odločamo za timsko delo ter kateri elementi timskega dela so uporabni ali so lahko podlaga timskemu delu v Slovenski vojski (SV). Pri tem bom upošteval teoretična načela za oblikovanje timov in iz preučenih gradiv prikazal, kako in kdaj izbrati primerno strukturo skupine/tima, z opredelitvijo vloge posameznika v njej, vodje tima in pogojev, v katerih oblikujemo učinkovit tim. Paziti moramo na primer na klimo v timu in motivacijo za delo v timu, saj bomo le tako dosegli primerne rezultate. Namen članka je opozoriti na organizacijo, organiziranje in organiziranost, predvsem pa na dejavnike, ki vplivajo na dogajanje v timu, in na to, kako preprečiti negativne pojave v njem. Prikazal bom, kako se lahko rešujejo težave v procesu dela. Opozoril bom na teoretična načela pri oblikovanju timov ter opredelil, kateri elementi timskega dela so uporabljeni in so podlaga za izvajanje procesov v organizacijskih enotah Slovenske vojske. V sklepnem delu članka bom na podlagi izkušenj predstavil dejavnosti uveljavljanja timskega dela v Slovenski vojski s praktičnim primerom. Cilj pa je tudi prikazati pomembno vlogo vodilnega osebja oziroma vodij, ki sestavljajo in vodijo time. This article has been motivated by the fact that team work is not paid due attention, although it is stipulated by the legal norms of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF). The main purpose of this article is to show which requirements need to be met in order to build a team, which situations are appropriate for team work, and which elements of team work can be applied to observe as a basis of team work in the SAF. This article relies on theoretical principles that pertain to the formation of teams. Based on a study of relevant materials it recommends how and when we can determine an appropriate structure of a group/team, identify the role of an individual in a team, the team leader, and which conditions need to be fulfilled for a team to be successful. Good results can only be achieved in a good atmosphere and in a stimulating environment. This article describes the structure and organization principles of a team, in particular factors that influence team dynamics, and to show how negative developments can be prevented. It depicts how problems are being solved in the work process. In the conclusion, activities for the promotion of team work in the SAF are presented, based on a practical example. In addition, important roles of the management who compose teams and team leaders are summarized.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (02) ◽  
pp. 141-160
Author(s):  
Ahlem Omri ◽  
Younes Boujelbene

Little research on Entrepreneurial Teams (ET) has sought to understand how team processes may influence organizational outcomes. In this paper, we unite upper echelon theory to provide a deeper understanding of which entrepreneurial team dynamics, directly, or indirectly through decision quality, result in entrepreneurial team success. In order to do so, we build upon data collected from 225 entrepreneurial teams from Sfax region. Based on structural equation modeling, the findings demonstrate that shared leadership among entrepreneurial teams indirectly and positively affect ET success, and that decision quality mediates the relationship between ET communication and ET success. Our research contributes to the upper-echelons theory and ET literature by drawing attention to the team dynamics and social interaction between team members, and their implications for entrepreneurial team success.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haydn Shaughnessy

Purpose To facilitate the cultural and technical changes that are a hallmark of successful digital transformation, a few leading-edge firms have adopted the principles of FLOW-Agile. 10; 10; 10; Design/methodology/approach The FLOW framework formalizes a visual representation of a company’s adaptive value-seeking process being implemented by Agile teams. 10; Findings In FLOW-Agile, the aim is to make all processes visible on the walls of operating units and to allow employees to collaborate in constant process redesign so they are continuously defining the best way to get work done. Practical implications A case example shows how Paddy Power Betfair, an online betting site, initiated a completely new system of open, visual and collaborative project and process design that now serves more than 3.5 billion application program interface (API) requests every day. Originality/value For leaders to guide their companies through the transition to digital culture, a sea change for established businesses, they must be able to understand and explain that culture in the context of the values and the flows of work that make digital-age companies successful. To facilitate the cultural and technical changes that are a hallmark of successful digital transformation, a few leading-edge firms have adopted the principles of FLOW-Agile, an adaptation of the Agile framework designed to enable small teams to accomplish rapid iterations of customer-focused projects in a networked system. The FLOW framework formalizes a visual representation of a company’s adaptive value-seeking process being implemented by Agile teams.


Author(s):  
E. Naranjo

Equilibrium vesicles, those which are the stable form of aggregation and form spontaneously on mixing surfactant with water, have never been demonstrated in single component bilayers and only rarely in lipid or surfactant mixtures. Designing a simple and general method for producing spontaneous and stable vesicles depends on a better understanding of the thermodynamics of aggregation, the interplay of intermolecular forces in surfactants, and an efficient way of doing structural characterization in dynamic systems.


2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 68-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine S. Shaker

Current research on feeding outcomes after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) suggests a need to critically look at the early underpinnings of persistent feeding problems in extremely preterm infants. Concepts of dynamic systems theory and sensitive care-giving are used to describe the specialized needs of this fragile population related to the emergence of safe and successful feeding and swallowing. Focusing on the infant as a co-regulatory partner and embracing a framework of an infant-driven, versus volume-driven, feeding approach are highlighted as best supporting the preterm infant's developmental strivings and long-term well-being.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 243-249
Author(s):  
Ronja Weiblen ◽  
Melanie Jonas ◽  
Sören Krach ◽  
Ulrike M. Krämer

Abstract. Research on the neural mechanisms underlying Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) has mostly concentrated on abnormalities in basal ganglia circuits. Recent alternative accounts, however, focused more on social and affective aspects. Individuals with GTS show peculiarities in their social and affective domain, including echophenomena, coprolalia, and nonobscene socially inappropriate behavior. This article reviews the experimental and theoretical work done on the social symptoms of GTS. We discuss the role of different social cognitive and affective functions and associated brain networks, namely, the social-decision-making system, theory-of-mind functions, and the so-called “mirror-neuron” system. Although GTS affects social interactions in many ways, and although the syndrome includes aberrant social behavior, the underlying cognitive, affective, and neural processes remain to be investigated.


2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 172-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence A. Pervin

David Magnusson has been the most articulate spokesperson for a holistic, systems approach to personality. This paper considers three concepts relevant to a dynamic systems approach to personality: dynamics, systems, and levels. Some of the history of a dynamic view is traced, leading to an emphasis on the need for stressing the interplay among goals. Concepts such as multidetermination, equipotentiality, and equifinality are shown to be important aspects of a systems approach. Finally, attention is drawn to the question of levels of description, analysis, and explanation in a theory of personality. The importance of the issue is emphasized in relation to recent advances in our understanding of biological processes. Integrating such advances into a theory of personality while avoiding the danger of reductionism is a challenge for the future.


1996 ◽  
Vol 41 (10) ◽  
pp. 1002-1003
Author(s):  
Esther Thelen
Keyword(s):  

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