L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier, au niveau d’équipe, les antécédents de l’innovation au travail, ainsi que le rôle de la diversité sur ces relations. La diversité des attributs des membres des équipes est généralement étudiée comme un déterminant des résultats d’équipe. Cependant, nous proposons qu’elle puisse également avoir un rôle contextuel complexe. Avec le but d’évaluer ces idées, plusieurs études ont été menées dans : une organisation du service postal Italien (1) et une organisation militaire Italienne (2). Nous avons montré une relation positive entre la diversité d’âge et la créativité d’équipe (Chapitre 2, Article 1). Cette relation était plus forte pour des niveaux plus élevées de perception du climat d’inclusion au travail que pour les niveaux les plus faibles. De plus, la diversité peut également avoir un effet modérateur entre les facteurs d’équipe et l’innovation. Plus précisément, une relation positive a été mise en évidence entre le système de mémoire transactif et l’innovation d’équipes militaires et cette relation était modérée par la diversité de grade (Chapitre 3, Article 2). A des niveaux plus élevés de diversité de grade dans l’équipe, l’effet de la mémoire transactive sur l’innovation devenait non significatif. Enfin, nous avons montré que la diversité modère également d’autres déterminants de l’innovation d’équipe. Pour des niveaux de diversité d’âge faibles l’élaboration d’information relevant à la tâche à médié la relation entre la valeur organisationnelle perçue d’innovation et l’innovation d’équipe (Chapitre 4, Article 3). En complément, des analyses et études supplémentaires ont été réalisées afin d’étudier de manière plus approfondie les déterminants de l’innovation ainsi que le rôle, le type, et les effets de la diversité dans les équipes. Pour conclure, ces résultats montrent l’importance d’étudier les interactions entre la diversité et les facteurs déterminants de l’innovation dans les équipes de travail. / The objective of this dissertation is to study the team-level antecedents of innovation at work, as well as the role of team diversity’s in these relationships. The diversity of team member attributes is generally studied as an input of team outcomes; however, we argue that it can also adopt a more complex contextual role. With the purpose of evaluating the determinants of team innovation, several studies were carried out on: an Italian postal service organization (1) and on an Italian military organization (2). We found a positive relationship between age diversity and team creativity (Chapter 2, Article 1). This relationship was stronger at higher levels of perceived age inclusion climate than at lower levels. Additionally, diversity may also have a moderating effect between team-level factors and innovation. More precisely, a positive relationship was identified between transactive memory system and military unit innovation, and this relationship was moderated by grade diversity (Chapter 3, Article 2). At higher levels of military grade diversity, the effect of transactive memory on innovation became non-significant. Finally, we showed that diversity also moderated the effect of other team-level determinants of innovation. For low levels of team age diversity the elaboration of task-relevant information mediated the relationship between the perceived organizational value of innovation and team innovation (Chapter 4, Article 3). In addition, several analyses and additional studies were carried out with the purpose of studying more precisely the determinants of innovation as well as the role, type, and effects of team diversity. In conclusion, these results show the importance of studying the interactions between diversity and the antecedents of innovation in teams.

As far as wage disparity and its social, political and economic consequences are concerned, one can easily see that it is a popular topic on which many studies and research have been conducted. The recent financial turmoil drew the people`s attention on the issue of wage disparity, and the people started to discuss this issue on the equity and fairness grounds, but the only thing that economists can do is to examine the economic consequences of the wide wage disparities. It is much easier to conduct a study on the issue of wage disparity by using the data on the professional sport teams due to their several advantages and in this paper I chose to study the relationship between intra-team wage dispersion and teams` performance by using data on randomly chosen 16 teams from the National Football League over the sample period of 2000-2008. First of all, a general introduction to the issue takes place. Then a detailed theoretical background is provided. After mentioning some previous evidence and methodology, empirical results are revealed. Those results show us that Ramaswamy`s and Rowthorn`s Damage Potential Hypothesis is supported over Levine`s Cohesiveness Hypothesis by the data.

Organizations of all types are now able to operate in virtual capacities through time, space, and distance across multinational boundaries; therefore, geography no longer limits business functioning. In fact, many corporate executives and boards employ virtuality in their work regimen. Therefore, organizations employ virtual executives to work teams with ideal skill sets to effectively persevere and complete tasks through distance, space, and time. The purpose of this study was to identify and yet understand the experiences of executive multinational, virtual board members working as a team in a virtual environment. Through this research the virtual dynamics of the virtual team have been studied, prodded, purposely mismatched, and weaved together to understand the culture of the virtual environment in which the team members interact and perform duties. With this particular board, there has been a history of previous work experience or exposure in some capacity; however, it has no great impact on their interaction and work with the entire board. In this study, an exploratory look at the experiences, perceived team dynamics, and strategies used to successfully function as a virtual team are highlighted from a qualitative perspective. The purpose is to describe the individual perspectives of how a multinational executive virtual team best works. The findings of this study reveal that there are many ways to communicate utilizing technology, but the objective for this virtual team is to be multidimensional in use. That means that honest communication is necessary for the board to perform at their optimal level. Therefore, the theoretical framework is based on team performance as a teamwork process-based construct which depends on communication, relationship, and trust to add success for virtual teams The framework results in three step process for team flow and success i.e., the importance of face-to-face meetings; advantages of virtual teaming; and challenges of virtual teaming to result in virtual team performance dependent on the team having communication, relationship, and trust present.

<p>As far as wage disparity and its social, political and economic consequences are concerned, one can easily see that it is a popular topic on which many studies and research have been conducted. The recent financial turmoil drew the people`s attention on the issue of wage disparity, and the people started to discuss this issue on the equity and fairness grounds, but the only thing that economists can do is to examine the economic consequences of the wide wage disparities. It is much easier to conduct a study on the issue of wage disparity by using the data on the professional sport teams due to their several advantages and in this paper I chose to study the relationship between intra-team wage dispersion and teams` performance by using data on randomly chosen 16 teams from the National Football League over the sample period of 2000-2008. First of all, a general introduction to the issue takes place. Then a detailed theoretical background is provided. After mentioning some previous evidence and methodology, empirical results are revealed. Those results show us that Ramaswamy`s and Rowthorn`s Damage Potential Hypothesis is supported over Levine`s Cohesiveness Hypothesis by the data.</p>

While the concept of situation awareness have received a lot of attention over the past 15 years and many different measures have been developed and tested, the concepts of team situation awareness and shared situation awareness have not gotten as much attention and less progress has been made in developing a meaningful and validated measure. Thus, the purpose of this study is to operationalize the concept of shared situation awareness and test its consequences and relation to other concepts. In this study a new measure for shared situation awareness was developed and its potential evaluated. The measure was a shared priorities measure where the participants of the study each wrote down and rank ordered five factors they thought were important for good team performance in the situation. The factors were then scrambled and handed over to the other participant who once again ordered them according to priority. The correspondence between the two participants’ ratings was hypothesized to correlate with shared situation awareness. The results show that the shared priorities measure in this study did not relate to shared situation awareness. Several methodological concerns was identified which could have affected the results. The measure did relate to subjective ratings of cooperation which is very interesting and it is suggested that the measure captured aspects of teamwork. The shared priorities measure was easy to employ, required little preparation, has a high face-validity and is a promising addition to team research. / Under de senaste 15 åren har konceptet situationsmedvetande uppmärksammats en hel del, och många mått har utvecklats och blivit testade. Däremot har inte konceptet delat situationsmedvetande kommit lika långt i form av metodutveckling och validering. Syftet med denna rapport är att operationalisera begreppet delat situationsmedvetande och pröva det mot andra koncept. Inom ramen för detta arbete utvecklades ett nytt mått för delat situationsmedvetande som också testades empiriskt. Måttet mäter hur väl ett team har delade prioriteringar. Varje deltagare genererar fem faktorer för vad som är viktigt för god teamprestation i situationen och rangordnar dem i prioritetsordning. Dessa faktorer blandades sen om och delas ut till den andre teammedlemmen som i sin tur rangordnar faktorerna i prioritetsordning. Hur väl faktorernas rangordning korresponderar med varandra antogs vara ett mått på teamets delade situationsmedvetande. Resultatet visar att rangordningsmåttet inte har något samband med subjektivt bedömt delat situationsmedvetande. Flera metodologiska problem identifierades som kan ha påverkat resultatet. Däremot korrelerade rangordningsmåttet med hur väl samarbetet i teamet ansågs fungera, vilket tyder på att måttet fångar aspekter av hur teamet fungerar som team. Rangordningsmåttet var enkelt att använda, krävde lite förberedelse, har hög face-validity och verkar vara en möjlig väg att fortsätta studera team.

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The work force has evolved immensely over the last decade. In a quest to remain competitive in the provision of consumer goods and services at the lowest possible economic cost, organisations have been compelled to adopt and adapt to the winds of change that have literally taken centre stage in the global market. The increased use of teams as production vehicles in today‟s workplace is one of the notable developments that deserve and justify further investigation. A study of the literature on teams revealed that leadership plays a crucial role in a team‟s dynamics, its survival and ultimate success. Therefore the overarching aim of the present study was to determine the manner in which leadership, specifically servant leadership, affects team effectiveness. In an attempt to answer this question, an explanatory structural model that purports to explicate the manner in which leadership affects team effectiveness was subsequently developed and tested. The study was conducted using primary and secondary school teachers from schools in and around Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape (South Africa). Each school was regarded as a team. Out of the 400 questionnaires distributed to the members of the teams, 201 (n=201) completed questionnaires were received comprising 29 teams. The respondents who participated in the study completed four questionnaires – joined together in one composite questionnaire. The four questionnaires constituting the composite questionnaire were: the rater version of the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ) of Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) - an SLQ self-report version also exists; the Team Commitment Survey of Bennett (1997); the slightly modified version of the Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale (OCBS) developed by Podsakoff and Mackenzie (1994) and the Team Effectiveness Questionnaire (TEQ) developed by Larson and LaFasto (1989). Item analyses were performed on each of the subscales using SPSS version 17. Thereafter, confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the measurement model. However, some of the subscales, specifically for team citizenship behaviour and team commitment appeared to be problematic. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) via LISREL version 8.54. Overall, it was found that both the measurement and structural model fitted the data reasonably well. From the results obtained in this study it can be concluded that there is a very weak negative relationship between servant leadership and team effectiveness, while there is a significant positive relationships between servant leadership and team commitment, team commitment and team citizenship behaviour, and team commitment and team effectiveness. Team citizenship behaviour has a slightly strong inverse effect on team effectiveness. Furthermore, team commitment has been found to be a strong moderator in the relationship between servant leadership and team effectiveness. With the unique combined variables included in this study, the study can be seen as making a contribution to the existing theory and literature by explicating the findings with regard to the interrelationships between servant leadership, team commitment, team citizenship behaviour, and team effectiveness. However, referring back to the literature, this study was an attempt to help further some of these “emerging” organisational behaviour constructs. It should therefore be seen as investigative in nature and much more follow-up research in this domain is deemed necessary. This study stated its limitations but also made recommendations for possible future research avenues to be explored. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die wêreld-van-werk het heelwat verander oor die afgelope dekade. Om dus in die vraag na verbruikersgoedere en -dienste te voorsien en steeds mededingend te bly voortbestaan, teen die laagste ekonomiese koste, word organisasies genoodsaak om aan te pas en te verander soos wat internasionale markte voortdurend verander en voor uitgaan. Die toenemende aanwending van spanne as produksie-medium in vandag se werksplek is een van die ooglopende ontwikkelinge wat verdere ondersoek verdien en regverdig. Bestudering van die literatuur oor spanne het aan die lig gebring dat leierskap „n sleutelrol speel in spandinamika, „n span se oorlewing en uiteindelike suksesbereiking. Dus was die oorkoepelende doelwit van hierdie studie om die wyse te bepaal waarop leierskap – spesifiek dan, diensbare-leierskap – spaneffektiwiteit beïnvloed. In „n poging om hierdie vraagstuk aan te spreek, is daar gevolglik „n verklarende strukturele (vergelykings) model ontwikkel en getoets met die doel om meer lig te werp op die wyse waarop leierskap spaneffektiwiteit beïnvloed. „n Studie is uitgevoer deur van laerskool- en hoërskool-onderwysers van skole in en om Stellenbosch in die Wes-Kaap (Suid-Afrika) gebruik te maak. Elke skool is as ʼn spanbeskou. Uit die totaal van 400 vraelyste wat uitgestuur is, is 201 (n=201) voltooide vraelyste terug ontvang – wat 29 volledige spanne omvat het. Respondente wat aan hierdie studie deelgeneem het, moes vier vraelyste – wat deel uitgemaak het van een saamgestelde vraelys – voltooi. Die vier vraelyste wat deel uitgemaak het van die saamgestelde vraelys en gedien het om die 201 onderwysers se menings te verkry, het bestaan uit die beoordelaarsvorm van die Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ) van Barbuto en Wheeler (2006) – daar is ook „n SLQ self beoordelingsvorm wat deur Barbuto en Wheeler ontwikkel is; die Team Commitment Survey van Bennett (1997); die effens aangepaste weergawe van die Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale (OCBS) wat ontwikkel is deur Podsakoff en Mackenzie (1994); en die Team Effectiveness Questionnaire (TEQ) van Larson en LaFasto (1989). Itemontledings is op elk van die subskale uitgevoer deur gebruik te maak van LISREL weergawe 17. Daarna is bevestigende faktorontleding op die metingsmodel uitgevoer. Sekere van die subskale het egter problematies voorgekom – spesifiek die subskale vir spangemeenskapsgedrag en spanbetrokkenheid. Die voorgestelde model is getoets deur middel van struktuurvergelykingsmodellering (SVM) aan die hand van LISREL weergawe 8.54. Oor die algeheel is bevredigende passings van beide die metingsmodel en die strukturele (vergelykings) model op die data verkry. Die resultate van die verskillende ontledings het getoon dat daar ‟n baie swak negatiewe verwantskap tussen diensbare leierskap en spaneffektiwiteit bestaan, terwyl beduidende positiewe verwantskappe gevind is tussen diensbare leierskap en spanbetrokkenheid, spanbetrokkenheid en spangemeenskapsgedrag, en, spanbetrokkenheid en spaneffektiwiteit. Spangemeenskapsgedrag het ‟n redelike sterk negatiewe verwantskap met spaneffektiwiteit getoon. Verder is daar bevind dat spanbetrokkenheid ʼn sterk modererende rol speel in die verwantskap tussen diensbare leierskap en spaneffektiwiteit. Gegewe die unieke kombinasie van konstrukte wat in hierdie studie ingesluit is, kan daar gesê word dat hierdie studie „n bydrae lewer ten opsigte van die bestaande teorie deur lig te werp op die verwantskappe tussen diensbare leierskap, spanbetrokkenheid, spangemeenskapsgedrag en spaneffektiwiteit. Tog, deur weer na die literatuur te verwys is dit belangrik om te benadruk dat hierdie studie beskou moet word as ʼn poging om hierdie “nuwe” ontluikende organisasiegedrag konstrukte verder te help uitbou. Juis om hierdie rede behoort hierdie studie as ondersoekend van aard geïnterpreteer te word en is opvolgnavorsing oor hierdie gebied nodig. Die studie stel sy beperkinge, maar maak ook aanbevelings vir verdere navorsingsgebiede wat potensieel ondersoek kan word.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T21:42:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luiz Carlos Mendes de Brito.pdf: 1846772 bytes, checksum: 22d80787dffefa29afa621966a802efb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-19 / Multifunctional team evaluation is a concept that has been approached by the academy more often on the last two decades. Several theories and methodologies have been developed to reduce the qualitative and perceptive effect on the evaluations, comprising a number of different techniques that aim to describe and decode the components of a complex system of meanings. Focusing these techniques this project assessed and compared three models to evaluate team performance. The first model based on team member personality states that team results are influenced by individual personality and the right components previous selection are critical factors for the team performance. The second model correlates team member relationship with the level of performance. The third model evaluates the interaction among the members but did not measure the level of performance. The models were evaluated based on a case study methodology developed on a chemical industry located in S. Paulo. Evaluation data were compared with the team goals results after completion. The results approached the models selected satisfactorily and confirmed the influence suggested by authors. The three models comparison results did not allow to select one model as the most effective to evaluate team performance. It is possible, however, to suggest that a practical and effective evaluation for team performance could be built based on the combination of the three models.(AU) / Avaliação de desempenho de equipes multifuncionais é um conceito que tem sido abordado mais freqüentemente nas últimas duas décadas. Diversas teorias e conceitos foram desenvolvidos para tornar as avaliações menos qualitativas ou fundamentadas em percepções, compreendendo um conjunto de diferentes técnicas interpretativas que visam descrever e decodificar os componentes de um sistema complexo de significados. Com esse foco o projeto comparou três modelos de avaliação de desempenho de equipes. O primeiro modelo baseado na personalidade do participante, afirma que os resultados das equipes são influenciados pela seleção prévia dos participantes e que as características individuais desses participantes são críticas para o desempenho da equipe. O segundo modelo fundamenta suas afirmações nas relações interconectadas de positividade e negatividade; questionamento e argumentação e atuação em equipe. O terceiro modelo baseado no processo de interação de grupos também avalia as relações que influenciam o alto desempenho de equipes multifuncionais. Os três modelos foram comparados, através de um estudo de caso único em indústria química paulista, medindo-se os resultados de correlação das equipes e as interações entre os participantes das equipes. As metas atingidas pelas equipes foram utilizadas para suportar os resultados das avaliações dos modelos como sistema de avaliação de equipes. Pode-se concluir que houve uma aproximação satisfatória confirmando a influência sugerida pelos modelos avaliados. A comparação entre os três modelos não permitiu afirmar qual dos três modelos é mais eficaz para avaliação de equipes. Entretanto, é possível, sugerir que a combinação de elementos dos três modelos permitirá a construção de um processo eficaz e prático de avaliação de equipes.(AU)

The main objective of the thesis is to analyze the topic of leading multicultural teams, with a specific attention to the particular example of the company XYZ; and answer the research questions with the gathered data and construct recommendations. The theoretical part provides a comprehensive overview of the concepts of multinational corporations, teams, multicultural teams and leadership. The assumptions derived from the theory serve as a base for the following empirical part, where the theoretical research is completed with a qualitative study. The qualitative study was conducted in cooperation with the company XYZ and professionals working directly in the multicultural teams were interviewed. By combining the findings from both theoretical and empirical part, many of the assumed benefits, especially the increased creativity, of the multicultural teams were confirmed. However, the negative aspects were identified as well, with the more difficult communication above all.

The master thesis is dealing with an analysis of existing working team in the Slovak company Artexe s.r.o. The aim of work is the classification of the chosen team, based on the obtained theoretical knowledge, and the revelation of its weak spots. Theoretical part of the thesis defines the basic terms and clusters the information necessary for the realization of analysis. In the empirical part, the monitored work team is being tested from the point of various critical situations. For the purpose of observation, the method of a questionnaire is used. Altogether, the research consists of four research questionnaires, which monitor problematic dimensions of a team, the need of teambuilding and typical roles of individuals of the team. The results of the analysis serve to reveal problematic spheres and, subsequently, for the proposal of concrete recommendations to achieve more effective functioning of the working team of Artexe company. Collected proposals of solutions come from the related literature and researches of domestic or foreign authors.

Bakgrund: Typ 1-diabetes en av de vanligaste, svåra kroniska sjukdomarna bland barn och ca 8000 barn i Sverige är drabbade. Vid insjuknande får barnen kontakt med tvärprofessionella diabetesteam, en kontakt de behåller till 18 årsdagen. Det finns flera fördelar med teamarbete och de tvärprofessionella teamen uppskattas av både personal, patienter och anhöriga. Teamets kompetens och sammansättning har en stor betydelse kring vården för familjerna. Motiv: Målet är att bidra med en ökad förståelse av det stöd tvärprofessionella team kan bidra med samt eventuellt finna förslag på utvecklings- och förbättringsarbete inom diabetesvården. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att belysa föräldrars upplevelse av stöd från tvärprofessionella diabetesteam. Metod: En kvalitativ intervjustudie. Resultat: Föräldrarnas erfarenheter av diabetesteamets stöd genomsyrades av positivitet, men visade även en viss brist på föräldrastöd. Intervjuernas resultat mynnade ut i 3 huvudkategorier; ”Stödjande relation”, ”Stöd i lidande” och ”Stöd i vardagen”. Konklusion: För att möta upp föräldrarnas behov av stöd krävs en förändring kring diabetesteamens arbete. En mer individanpassadomvårdad, där även föräldrars psykosociala behov inkluderas vilket gynnar hela familjen. / Background: Type 1-diabetes is one of the most common, severe chronic diseases among children and about 8000 children in Sweden are affected. When the children get sick, they get in touch with interprofessional diabetes team, a contact they keep until their 18th birthday. There are several benefits to teamwork and the interprofessional teams are appreciated by staff, patients, and relatives. The team’s competence and composition are of great importance in the care of the families. Motive: The goal is to contribute with an increased understanding of the support that interprofessional teams can contribute with and possibly find proposals for development and improvement work in diabetes care. Aim: The aim of the study is to find out parent’s experience of the support from the diabetes team.Methods: A qualitative interview study.Result: The parent´s experiences of the diabetes team´s support was permeated by positivity, but also showed a certain lack of parental support. The results of the interviews resulted in 3 main categories: “Supportive relationship”, “Support in suffering” and “Support in everyday life”.  Conclusion: To meet the parent´s need for support, a change in the work of the diabetes team is required. A more individualized care, where parent´s psychosocial needs are also including, which benefits the whole family. / <p>Presenationen genomfördes via zoom, anordnad av Instutionen för omvårdnad, Umeå Universitet</p>