Interdependence and fit in team performance management
Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate a proposed prescriptive model for the design of effective combinations of performance goals and pay‐for‐performance plans for the performance management of teams.
Design/methodology/approach
The idea underlying the model – in which task, goal, and reward interdependence and their fit play a dominant role – is that a pay‐for‐performance plan should support the team goals and the goals of individual team members as well as support the way in which team members need to cooperate. To obtain a first notion on the model's validity, it was applied to evaluate a pay‐for‐performance plan for management teams at a large IT company. This evaluation consisted of an in‐depth study of three management teams, using a case study methodology.
Findings
Combinations of fit among type of team, performance goals, and pay‐for‐performance plan (established by a fit between the interdependence constructs and/or by an overlap in the content of the goal and pay indicators) are more effective than combinations of misfit.
Research limitations/implications
The case study was limited to intra‐team interdependence relationships and did allow for a analysis of the separate effects of a fit between the interdependence constructs versus content fit.
Practical implications
This study shows that pay‐for‐performance plans should not be designed in isolation, but rather in alignment with performance goals and existing task interdependencies.
Originality/value
This is the first study to investigate the three inter‐dependence constructs in conjunction in a field setting.
Keywords
Citation
van Vijfeijken, H., Kleingeld, A., van Tuijl, H., Algera, J.A. and Thierry, H. (2006), "Interdependence and fit in team performance management", Personnel Review, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 98-117. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480610636812
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited