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1 – 10 of over 6000Kengo Nawata, Hiroyuki Yamaguchi and Mika Aoshima
This study aims to examine how daily communication and transactive memory systems (TMSs) promote implicit team coordination, meaning when team members cooperate smoothly without…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how daily communication and transactive memory systems (TMSs) promote implicit team coordination, meaning when team members cooperate smoothly without engaging in explicit communication, in organizations. In TMSs, members share knowledge of who-knows-what with one another.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted with 216 teams consisting of 1,545 people in three organizations. The relationships among daily communication, TMSs and implicit coordination in the survey data and in team performance were analyzed using multi-level structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results confirmed a significant influence process model in which “daily communication → TMS → implicit coordination → team performance” at the team level. Therefore, as hypothesized, implicit coordination is positively related to team performance and daily communication has a positive relationship with implicit coordination through mediation by TMSs.
Originality/value
This study demonstrated the evidence of the relation between implicit coordination, TMS, team performance in organizational settings by using multi-level structural equation modeling.
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George Christopher Banks, Jeffrey M. Pollack and Anson Seers
Conceptualizations of work coordination historically assumed that work systems are put into place and that these systems shape the ability of workers to accomplish tasks…
Abstract
Purpose
Conceptualizations of work coordination historically assumed that work systems are put into place and that these systems shape the ability of workers to accomplish tasks. Formalization has thus long been invoked as an explanatory mechanism for work coordination. Recent studies have extended interest in emergent implicit and relational coordination, yet their underlying mechanisms of bottom-up coordination have yet to be explicated such that formal top-down coordination can be approached as a complementary mechanism rather than an alternative substitute. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the literatures related to coordination and routines, and extend analysis of bottom-up coordination toward an understanding of how it can be complemented by top-down formalized coordination of routines within organizations. Implications of this work, for both theory and practice, are discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual review was conducted.
Findings
By integrating the literatures related to coordination and routines, the authors extend analysis of bottom-up coordination toward an understanding of how it can be complemented by top-down formalized coordination of routines within organizations.
Research limitations/implications
From a theory-based point of view, in the present work, the authors integrated the literatures related to coordination and routines and arrived at the conclusion that bottom-up coordination can be complemented by top-down formalized coordination of routines within organizations.
Practical implications
The authors suggest that there is a need in the contemporary workplace for implicit, relational processes to enable individuals to continuously assess what changes are needed and adapt coordinated routines to accomplish the task at hand. This propensity will continue to increase as technology facilitates even more seamless communication among employees, organizations, and external partners.
Originality/value
For the first time the authors integrate the literatures related to coordination and routines, in order to extend analysis of bottom-up coordination toward an understanding of how it can be complemented by top-down formalized coordination of routines within organizations.
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Jeroen P. de Jong and Oana C. Fodor
The authors first examine the extent to which having an accurate understanding of and anticipate on one another’s work routines (defined as crossattuning) explains additional…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors first examine the extent to which having an accurate understanding of and anticipate on one another’s work routines (defined as crossattuning) explains additional variance of team performance above and beyond other implicit coordination concepts such as team familiarity and transactive memory. Furthermore, the authors aim to propose that social sensitivity interacts with team size and team longevity in supporting the emergence of cross-attuning.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first use a quasi-experimental design with 35 student-teams in Study 1 to test the discriminant validity of their construct. In Study 2, the authors use a field study with 66 work teams to test their hypotheses.
Findings
Study 1 shows that cross-attuning has a positive effect on team performance and that it explains additional variance above other implicit coordination-concepts. In Study 2, the authors confirm cross-attuning associates with supervisor-rated team performance and find that team social sensitivity is more positively related to cross-attuning in small teams with low longevity and in large teams with high longevity in comparison to large teams with low longevity.
Originality/value
The study of implicit coordination mechanisms in teams has primarily focused on having knowledge about other team members’ expertise and competencies and how teams cope with unexpected events. How teams deal with individual work routines – repetitive work-related behavior that is limited in considering alternative actions and the task environment – have received limited attention, despite the potential of these individual routines to thwart successful team task completion.
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Arwen H. DeCostanza, Katherine R. Gamble, Armando X. Estrada and Kara L. Orvis
Unobtrusive measurement methodologies are critical to implementing intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) for teams. Such methodologies allow for continuous measurement of team states…
Abstract
Unobtrusive measurement methodologies are critical to implementing intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) for teams. Such methodologies allow for continuous measurement of team states and processes while avoiding disruption of mission or training performance, and do not rely on post hoc feedback (including for the aggregation of data into measures or to develop insights from these real-time metrics). This chapter summarizes advances in unobtrusive measurement developed within Army research programs to illustrate the variety and potential that unobtrusive measurement approaches can provide for building ITS for teams. Challenges regarding the real-time aggregation of data and applications to current and future ITS for teams are also discussed.
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Min Zuo, Jiangnan Qiu and Jingxian Wang
Online collaboration in today's world is a topic of genuine interest to Internet researchers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of group knowledge heterogeneity…
Abstract
Purpose
Online collaboration in today's world is a topic of genuine interest to Internet researchers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of group knowledge heterogeneity (GKH) in open collaboration performance using the mediating mechanisms of group cognition (GC) and interaction to understand the determinants of the success of online open collaboration platforms.
Design/methodology/approach
Study findings are based on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), the formal mediation test and moderating effect analysis from Wikipedia's 160 online open collaborative groups.
Findings
For online knowledge heterogeneous groups, open collaboration performance is mediated by both GC and collaborative interaction (COL). The mediating role of GC is weak, while the mediating role of COL is strengthened when knowledge complexity (KC) is higher. By dividing group interaction into COL and communicative interaction (COM), the authors also observed that COL is effective for online open collaboration, whereas COM is limited.
Originality/value
These findings suggest that for more heterogeneous large groups, group interaction would explain more variance in performance than GC, offering an in-depth understanding of the relationship between group heterogeneity and open collaboration performance, answering what determines the success of online open collaboration platforms as well as explaining the inconsistency in prior findings. In addition, this study expands the application of Interactive Team Cognition (ITC) theory to the online open collaboration context.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose a general micro-theoretical framework that helps to understand the embeddedness of trade unions within the European system of industrial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a general micro-theoretical framework that helps to understand the embeddedness of trade unions within the European system of industrial relations, and the consequences of this embeddedness for industrial relations outcomes. First, starting from the paradoxical observation of a trend towards homogeneity within a complex, multi-layered European industrial relations system consisting of heterogeneous and autonomous agents, the paper aims to explicate the mechanisms which produce these similarities. Second, the paper seeks to analyse potential mechanisms for transnational trade union cooperation and, third, it concludes by outlining its applicability as the basis for methodological approaches which enable realistic and policy relevant analyses.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is conceptual and focusses on the development of a general micro-theoretical framework which captures European industrial relations actors’ behaviour and outcomes. It integrates theoretical and empirical accounts from differing social science disciplines and from various methodological starting points on trade union action and interaction into one general micro-theoretical framework.
Findings
Starting from a typology of trade union goals, the authors show how various social mechanisms lead to interdependencies between trade unions and review empirical evidence for their consequences. The authors, then, identify a set of motives for transnational cooperation that would allow outcomes that are in line with trade union objectives.
Originality/value
Against the background that previous studies on trade union action and cross-national interaction have paid less attention to the puzzling stylised fact that industrial relations outcomes are mimicked by heterogeneous and autonomous agents actors in different countries, the authors address this research gap by developing a novel general micro-theoretical framework for the analysis of transnational trade union action and interaction in order to better understand the underlying causal mechanisms for the common behaviour and outcomes of autonomous actors.
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Kevin C. Stagl, C. Shawn Burke, Eduardo Salas and Linda Pierce
As operational environments become increasingly fluid, organizations are turning to teams as a proven performance arrangement to structure complex work. Teams are ubiquitous in…
Abstract
As operational environments become increasingly fluid, organizations are turning to teams as a proven performance arrangement to structure complex work. Teams are ubiquitous in modern organizations because they can be used to create synergies, streamline workflow, deliver innovative services, satisfy incumbent needs, maximize the benefits of technology connecting distributed employees, and seize market opportunities in a global village. Teams are also increasingly used because coordinating the “…activities of individuals in large organizations is like building a sand castle using single grains of sand” (West, Borrill, & Unsworth, 1998, p. 6).
Eleni Georganta, C. Shawn Burke, Stephanie Merk and Franziska Mann
The purpose of this study was to explore the team process-sequences executed within and across performance episodes and their relation to team performance. In doing so, this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore the team process-sequences executed within and across performance episodes and their relation to team performance. In doing so, this effort responds to the call for examining the temporal and dynamic aspects of teams.
Design/methodology/approach
Data (i.e. observations and audio recordings) was collected from the stand-up meetings of three high-performing Scrum teams across six points in time during two consecutive performance episodes (i.e. beginning, midpoint, end). After content coding the data, lag sequential analyses was used to examine patterns of executed team processes to determine whether particular process-sequences occurred significantly different from others.
Findings
Teams shifted between transition and action phase processes during performance episodes. During and across performance episodes, process-sequences primarily consisted of transition processes. When teams executed process-sequences consisting solely of action phase processes, their focus was on monitoring processes.
Research limitations/implications
This study hopes that the findings here will serve to spur researchers to more fully investigate the relationship between process-sequences and team performance across various team types. However, limitations (e.g. small sample size, unknown point of teams’ life cycle and focus on explicit team processes) should be taken into account when building on the present findings.
Originality/value
This study contributes to a better understanding of the temporal and dynamic nature of team processes by analyzing how the team process and process-sequences occur across time. In addition, this study moves beyond most studies that assess team processes as static retrospective perceptions and consider their natural ordering.
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Aziz Yousif Shaikh, Robert Osei- kyei, Mary Hardie and Matt Stevens
This paper systematically reviewed research work on drivers of teamwork, which will reinforce construction work teams to enhance workers’ safety performance. This study adds to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper systematically reviewed research work on drivers of teamwork, which will reinforce construction work teams to enhance workers’ safety performance. This study adds to the existing but limited understanding of teamwork drivers on construction workers’ safety performance. This paper presents scholars and industry-based professionals with critical initiatives that have to be implemented in organisations to get positive results in safety while working in teams with an emphasis on systems drivers of teamwork on safety performance at the organisational level, which will help in providing information on the functioning of the teams and contribute towards improved safety performance of team workers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study aims to systematically examine the existing body of knowledge on drivers of teamwork by analysing 53 publications from the years 1997–2021. The Scopus search engine was used to conduct a systematic review and germane publications were collated.
Findings
According to the findings of the review, since 1997, there has been a burgeoning concern in the research of drivers of teamwork and its impact on workers’ safety performance. After performing a systematic review, 37 drivers of teamwork were identified. The top five drivers are effective communications, team workers’ relations, leadership, shared knowledge and information, and team training. Moreover, it was noted that the United States and Australia have been the international regions of focus for most of the research in the area of drivers of teamwork from the years 1997–2021. The 37 drivers of teamwork are distributed into six major socio-technical components: people drivers; culture drivers; metrics drivers; organisational and management practices and procedures drivers; infrastructure drivers and technology drivers.
Practical implications
The results reported present research scholars and professional practitioners with an overview of the drivers of teamwork that could be implemented in the construction industry to streamline potential implementations and improve safety performance of construction workers.
Originality/value
A list of teamwork drivers has been developed to ratify potential empirical research in the area of construction safety. The results would contribute to the existing but restricted understanding of drivers of teamwork in the construction industry.
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Wensheng Lin, Guangbin Wang, Yan Ning, Qiuwen Ma and Shuyuan Dai
Megaproject performance measurement (MPM) has received great attention in the project management community, but it primarily focused on the design of performance measures or…
Abstract
Purpose
Megaproject performance measurement (MPM) has received great attention in the project management community, but it primarily focused on the design of performance measures or frameworks. Yet, whether MPM utilization can improve megaproject performance and how project actors use MPM to improve megaproject performance is less well understood. This study aims to investigate whether and how the use of MPM can contribute to better megaproject performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Through the lens of the lever of control, this study conceptualizes MPM utilization as diagnostic use and interactive use. A holistic research model and related hypotheses integrating MPM use, project complexity and megaproject performance were established. The model was validated using a partial square-structural equation modeling method.
Findings
Based on 214-megaproject data collected through a questionnaire survey in China, the results show positive effects of diagnostic use and interactive use on megaproject performance. Both, however, have substitutional interaction effects. The moderating results suggest that the higher project complexity weakens the positive effects of MPM utilization on megaproject performance.
Originality/value
This study advances megaprojects performance measurement and management literature by validating the value of MPM utilization on performance. It also presents practical implications for project managers to improve performance by appropriate MPM utilization.
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