Victorious and Hierarchical: Past Performance as a Determinant of Team Hierarchical Differentiation

Hierarchies emerge as collectives attempt to organize themselves toward successful performance. Consequently, research has focused on how team hierarchies affect performance. We extend existing models of the hierarchy-performance relationship by adopting an alternative: Performance is not only an output of hierarchy but also a critical input, as teams’ hierarchical differentiation may vary based on whether they are succeeding. Integrating research on exploitation and exploration with work on group attributions, we argue that teams engage in exploitation by committing to what they attribute as the cause of their performance success. Specifically, collectives tend to attribute their success to individuals who wielded greater influence within the team; these individuals are consequently granted relatively higher levels of influence, leading to a higher degree of hierarchy. We additionally suggest that the tendency to attribute, and therefore grant more influence, to members believed to be the cause of success is stronger for teams previously higher (versus lower) in hierarchy, as a higher degree of hierarchical differentiation provides clarity as to which members had a greater impact on the team outcome. We test our hypotheses experimentally with teams engaging in an online judgement task and observationally with teams from the National Basketball Association. Our work makes two primary contributions: (a) altering existing hierarchy-performance models by highlighting performance as both an input and output to hierarchy and (b) extending research on the dynamics of hierarchy beyond individual rank changes toward examining what factors increase or decrease hierarchical differentiation of the team as a whole.

The effect of freedom of relevant choice on the 7-m throw in university students practicing handball

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of freedom of relevant choice, that is, associated with performance success, on the motor learning. Forty players of both sexes (21.2 ± 2.4 years) participated in the study and were divided into four experimental groups: alternated, random, choice, and yoked. The task was the Handball 7-m throw, in specific right and left side throw. Participants performed five blocks of six throws in the practice phase and, after 30 min, another six throws in the retention test. A mixed model analyses of variance (ANOVA) were run with data from the performance success and consistency rates considering first and last blocks of acquisition and retention block as repeated measures. Groups were analyzed as independent variables by considering their interaction with sex (4 × 2 × 3 (groups × sex × blocks)) and time of practice (4 × 4 × 3 (groups × time of practice × blocks)). Results showed that the alternated and choice groups presented superior rates of performance success to the random and yoked groups. The findings of this study allowed us to conclude that learning was benefited by the alternated and choice conditions compared to the random and yoked conditions.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPECIFIC MOTOR SKILLS AND PERFORMANCE SUCCESS IN FOOTBALL PLAYERS

The main aim of this research was to determine to which degree the system of variables used to evaluate specific motor skills correlated with the system of variables used to evaluate successful performance in football play. The study was conducted on a sample of 170 senior football players. There were 16 predictor variables to assess specific motor skills and eight criterion variables to assess successful performance. A canonical correlation analysis was applied in the statistical procedure to determine the relationships (correlations) between these spaces. Correlations were established between the investigated spaces with four pairs of canonical factors, and it has been shown that situational motor skills have high correlations with performance success in the game of football (Can R.=0.71, on average). It is indicated that the participants whose performance in football play was more successful also had better situational motor skills and that the mechanism for structuring movement is shown to be of great importance for the successful performance of tactical and technical elements in football players.

Performance Behavior of Participatory Water Institutions in Eastern India: A Study through Structural Equation Modelling

The paper examines the nature and performance of participatory water institutions in eastern India using structural equation modelling. There is a crisis in the management of water in India, and this is often not about having too little water but about managing it poorly. It is now being widely recognized that engineering structures and solutions are not enough, and having effective water institutions is critical. These are urgently needed in eastern India for helping lift the region out of low incomes and poverty. However, creating good institutions is complex, and in this context, the fundamentals of new institutional economics, and management governance theory have suggested the importance of a number of key factors including five institutional features and eight rationalities. Based on this, a study was conducted in eastern India, sampling from the states of Assam and Bihar, covering 510 farm households across 51 water institutions. In order to understand and map the relationship and pathways across these key factors, a structural equation model is hypothesized. In the model, the five institutional features are considered determinants of the eight rationalities, and the rationalities are considered determinants of four performance goals. The performance on the goals determines the overall performance/success of the institution. Besides this, the institutional features and rationalities can also directly influence performance on the goals and the overall performance. The model is tested with data from the survey and different pathways that are robust are identified. The results can provide useful insights into the interlinkages and pathways of institutional behavior and can help policy and institution design for delivering more robust performance. The results show that one of the most important factors determining overall performance/success is technical rationality, and this deserves great attention. It includes technical expertise, sound location and quality of structures and equipment, and good maintenance. However, success is also strongly linked to performance on production/income goals, equity, and environment goals. These are, in turn, strongly related to achievement of economic, social, technical, and organizational rationalities, which call for attention to economic aspects such as crop choice and marketing, besides social aspects such as inclusion of women and poorer social groups, and organizational aspects such as member involvement and regular meetings. Further, the institutional features of clear objectives, good interactions, adaptive, correct scale, and compliance are important for achievement of almost all rationalities through various pathways, and should be strongly focused on in all the institutions.