What Makes Teams Work: Group Effectiveness Research from the Shop Floor to the Executive Suite

Abstract

In this article, we summarize and review the research on teams and groups in organization settings published from January 1990 to April 1996. The article focuses on studies in which the dependent variables are concerned with various dimensions of effectiveness. A heuristic framework illustrating recent trends in the literature depicts team effectiveness as a function of task, group, and organization design factors, environmental factors, internal processes, external processes, and group psychosocial traits. The review discusses four types of teams: work, parallel, project, and management. We review research findings for each type of team organized by the categories in our heuristic framework. The article concludes by comparing the variables studied for the different types of teams, highlighting the progress that has been made, suggesting what still needs to be done, summarizing key leamings from the last six years, and suggesting areas for further research.

Work Groups and Teams in Organizations

“…Hackman (1992) viewed groups as contexts for individual behavior, an important perspective because teams in part enact Guzzo and Shea (1992) and Guzzo and Dickson (1996) reviewed team research in organizations. Cohen and Bailey (1997) and Sundstrom, McIntyre, Halfhill, and Richards (2000) provided focused reviews of work team effectiveness based on field research during the periods of -1996 to mid-1999, respectively. Finally, Gully (2000 presented an insightful assessment of team effectiveness research since 1985 that examines key boundary conditions.…”

Working Together versus Working Autonomously: a New Power-Dependence Perspective on the Individual-Level of Analysis

“…In our characterization of task autonomy, we remain close to the definition provided by Hackman and Oldham (1975) who described task autonomy as the amount of freedom and independence individuals possess in relation to their abilities to complete their work assignments. Task autonomy is an important aspect of work teams because it has been demonstrated to have a strong relationship with individuals' well-being (Van Mierlo, Rutte, Kompier, & Seinen, 2001), team cohesiveness (Man & Lam, 2003), and team performance (Cohen & Bailey, 1997). According to a recent study conducted by Molleman (2009) "the focus [of task autonomy research] has always been on task autonomy as perceived by the jobholder because it is assumed that it is primarily these perceptions that affect psychological phenomena such as attitudes and behavior" (p. 245).…”

L’identification collective d’opportunités

“…Des études comme celle de Bantel et Jackson (1989) et de Thornburg (1991) ont montré que l'hétérogénéité favorisait la créativité et l'innovation. Cohen et Bailey (1997) font un retour sur les différentes dimensions relatives au travail en groupe et soulèvent quelques formes de diversité pouvant avoir un impact sur la dynamique de groupe : diversité des compétences, diversité des expé-riences, diversité dans la provenance professionnelle, diversité de l'âge, diversité de niveau d'éducation. Les groupes composés d'individus présentant des différences dans leurs expé-riences professionnelles, connaissances, habiletés et compétences, seraient plus innovants que ceux dont les membres sont similaires parce qu'elles permettent d'aborder le problème avec plusieurs perspectives (Paulus, 2000).…”