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The purpose of this paper is to research factors like task-orientation and collectivism and to examine the relationship between them and goal-setting as research construct. This research investigates the phenomena of team goal-setting in a selected sports organisation. Therefore 49 players from three Portuguese elite male handball team were selected for the study.

Three well-known questionnaires were employed to determine the relationships between the above factors in a case setting. Task- and ego-orientation in Sport Questionnaire, the Jackson Psychological Collectivism Measure and the Goal-setting in Sport Questionnaire.

The results reveal that the team and players are task-oriented, collectivist and possessing professional and personal goal habits. The correlations between questionnaire outcomes indicate that, when the team wants to set goals, it should consider the players’ orientation and the team’s collectivism. Thus team goal-setting is more than only goal-setting, because of the need for task-orientation and collectivism.

The research was conducted using three teams in a specific sports and thus cannot be generalised to the general sports environment. Yet, certainly the strength of the findings indicate that the results and conclusions may be used in a wider sports or business setting.

This research paper should provide managers and coaches with insight into the complexity of team goal-setting. It also should provide insight into the chosen process related to human resources.

The paper adds and demonstrates to the literature on team goal-setting the importance of task-orientation and collectivism as goal-setting mediators.

Research testing a complex process model, incorporating moderating and mediating mechanisms associated with virtual team (VT) performance, remains rare. This paper aims to introduce trust climate as a crucial boundary condition for high performance in VTs. It also aims to propose a moderated‐indirect model such that the relationship between team goals and task performance is mediated by task cohesion and the relationship between team goals and task cohesion is moderated by trust.

Hypotheses are tested using a longitudinal design with a sample of 50 teams.

The proposed moderated‐indirect model is confirmed. The model explains the indirect relationship between team goal setting and performance transmitted through task cohesion, which is dependent on the level of trust climate.

Although hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal setting, common source bias might be a potential problem for some of the observed relationships. Future research could build on this model for further investigations on more complex theoretical models for VT performance.

This research suggests that managers should emphasize the development of team trust at early stages of collaboration in a VT to reach high performance outcomes.

For VTs, trustful working environments should become even more important in the future, supporting team members' satisfaction in working in VTs.

Through this study, a complex process model for VTs was developed and trust climate established as a prominent context factor for VT success.

Introduction Most management by objectives (MBO) programmes feature a one‐on‐one dialogue between a subordinate and superior about individual goals and goal attainment. However, the emphasis on this two‐person relationship, the clarification of individual goals in hopes of enhanced motivation and performance and the review of individual performance against objectives may represent some lost opportunities for increasing organisational performance. In fact, it may at times be counter‐productive. Our purpose is to identify some elements missing from many MBO programmes, to review the history of group or team approaches to goal setting, to speculate on why one‐on‐one approaches dominate the literature on MBO, and to suggest conditions for making team approaches to MBO most useful.

Servant leadership is a new follower-centric style of leadership. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the project leaders’ servant leadership style on project team effectiveness via team goal clarity and team process clarity within the project-based organizational context.

A total of 58 teams working in 3 project-based organizations participated in the survey study. Team members rated their project leaders’ servant leadership style, team goal clarity and team process clarity in the project, while leaders evaluated team effectiveness. Hypotheses were tested using multi-level structural equation modeling.

Results suggested that servant leadership had a positive and significant impact on project team effectiveness via team goal clarity and team process clarity.

The study examined the influence of servant leadership as a team leadership approach within a project context. As a multi-level design, the study also identified the team-specific mechanisms (team goal clarity and team process clarity), which could help accomplish team effectiveness.

Describes a field experiment conducted in a US automotive parts manufacturing plant to explore the impact of team goal setting, feedback and problem‐solving activities on product defect rates. Two manufacturing cells were randomly selected, with one cell serving as the treatment group and the other as the control group. The treatment group employed a team defect‐reduction goal‐setting approach, received daily performance feedback, and developed a group problem‐solving mechanism as part of the experimental treatment. The control group was physically isolated from the treatment group and performed their work under the organization’s traditional operating structure. The treatment group achieved a statistically significant reduction in product defect rates compared to the control group over the 15‐month period of this study. Discusses the implications of this study and suggests that a combination of team goal setting, feedback and problem‐solving practices can improve product quality and can be used as a starting point for an overall quality improvement effort.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between self‐leadership behaviors in a self‐managed work team environment and relevant organizational variables, i.e. supervisory trust, decision‐making, feedback and team goal setting.

Data were collected on‐site over a period of three days from employees working in a non‐union paper mill located in a small rural community in the northwestern region of the USA. The survey was completed by 141 employees, representing a 99 per cent response rate. Self‐leadership, supervisory trust, decision‐making, feedback and team goal setting were measured using different scales.

The results indicated that supervisors, who give feedback, and who are perceived as trusting, and encouraging innovative behaviors contribute to the development of self‐leadership behaviors of rehearsal, self‐goal setting, self‐criticism, self‐reinforcement, self‐expectation and self‐observation. In addition, providing team training, fostering communication within the team, and allowing the team members to make work related decisions also enhance the movement toward self‐management.

The study relied on self‐report data, thereby allowing for the possibility of same source bias. However this is a common problem with cross‐sectional designs.

The paper is of value in pointing out that a different approach to leadership is required in a self‐managed work team environment, and by suggesting that building trust, fostering communication within the team, giving feedback and encouraging goal setting, innovative behaviors, and decision‐making can contribute to the development of self‐leadership behaviors important to the success and effectiveness of self‐managed work teams. Organizations should therefore through training programs encourage the development of these behaviors.

Groups, goals and organisation development — the literature has tended to recommend a one‐to‐one MBO. Now consider the team approach.

This paper aims to explore the role of goal‐oriented attitudes and behaviors as antecedents of conflict management and the subsequent impact of conflict management on team outcomes in virtual teams. Of particular interest is the role of “commitment to team goals” as a predictor of successful conflict management and the subsequent impact of conflict management on team outcomes.

This paper describes the results from a quasi‐experimental study examining the relationships among commitment to team goals, conflict management and team outcomes in virtual teams. First, it provides an in depth review of relevant empirical findings. Next, it describes a study examining the relationships between three sets of variables: commitment to team goals; conflict management; and team outcomes (performance and attitudinal) in the context of virtual teams. Data were collected from 141 students grouped in 39 teams size 3 to 4 that were part of four cohorts of an Engineering Management course.

The results provide some preliminary evidence that conflict management mediated the relationships between goal commitment and team outcomes. Results suggest that commitment to team goals is a significant predictor of successful conflict management. Findings also suggest that teams that are more actively involved in preventing and solving their conflict experience a significant increase in the relationship between commitment to team goals and team performance, suggesting that use of effective conflict management can support team effectiveness in the context of virtual teams. Finally, limitations and suggestions for future research are presented.

This paper sheds some light into the role conflict as a mediator on the relationship between goal commitment and virtual team effectiveness. It provides preliminary evidence that conflict management plays a critical role in enhancing virtual team effectiveness.

To describe the conduct and outcomes of a field experiment in a US manufacturing facility using goal setting and feedback as productivity improvement tools.

Initial studies were conducted to determine a baseline of performance. A two‐month field experiment was utilized to test and measure productivity. The field experiment involved the implementation of changes to three manufacturing cells for a six‐week period and the training of supervisors and staff. Researchers performed the collection of data, implementation of changes and training of workers.

Findings suggest that goal setting and timely feedback will lead to improved work performance, greater efficiency, and the establishment of more challenging goals. In addition, findings suggest that information systems which facilitate goal setting and feedback are more effective than traditional supervision systems at improving performance.

Several limitations of this study should be noted. First, the time frame for the intervention was limited to two months. A longer data collection period could ensure the longevity of the conclusions of this analysis. Second, all subjects received verbal feedback followed by the addition of graphic feedback. Therefore, sequence effects cannot be ruled out. On an overall basis, though, the findings of this study can clearly be applied to a wide range of manufacturing organizations

The study is useful for all managers seeking a competitive advantage through improved productivity. It provides significant insight into ways to improve productivity through the use of goal setting and performance feedback implemented by information systems.

This paper fulfills a need for insight into methods for improving productivity, as well as offering practical aid to managers in the manufacturing industry.

Give teams clear goals, a model for success, and constant support.