The use of team has expanded dramatically in response to competitive challenges. In addition, academics have increasingly selected teams and team effectiveness as important areas for research in response to the increased use of teams in organizations (Cohen & Bailey, 1997). The influence of group was has manifested itself in many ways (Gusso & Dickson, 1996). Meanwhile, Moreover, a recent finding suggests that while cultural factors are important in the economic growth in the Far East (Hall & Xu, 1990), especially in organizations. Hofstede (1980) pointed out the difference of values between Chinese and American is obvious. Thus, most theories chiefly have been limited to the United States, where the vast majority of such studies were conducted (Erez & Earley, 1993). However, the process of globalization has created opportunities for transferring managerial techniques across cultures, and such attempts have not always been successful (Adler, 1986; England, 1983; Hofstede, 1980; Jaeger, 1983). Failures in transferring methods of human resource management across cultures suggest that culture acts as a moderator in the relationship between managerial techniques and employee behavior (Erez & Earley, 1993). The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of team members¡¦ identification in top management team that expose Chinese culture of ¡§quanxi¡¨ on team performance. The work took an innovative perspective to investigate the invisibly managerial role in Chinese team. In order to develop the initial exploratory surveys, the work will integrate Chinese cultural influence within current work on teamwork of role identity theory, social identity theory, leadership and commitment in whole discussion. On the basis of the study findings are congruent with role identity theory, and Chinese culture of ¡§quanxi¡¨ affects on team members¡¦ identity and commitment in Taiwanese top management team remarkably. In addition, perceived the leader¡¦s expertise and interpersonal competency shows positive attitudes toward team members in terms of contribution to their commitment on team. The significant results propose the informal team exists in team leader¡¦s recognition that is hided in formal team in organizational structure. At the same time, formal team members possess commitment on informal team unconscious. That is, the six propositions are built in such a way. Proposition 1: The past existence of social ¡§quanxi¡¨ in Chinese culture among team members influences their role identities and behaviors respond to other members in Taiwanese top management team. Proposition 2: The past existence of social ¡§quanxi¡¨ in Chinese culture contributes to the positive strength of team member¡¦s commitment on team in Taiwanese top management team. Proposition 3: The past existence of social ¡§quanxi¡¨ in Chinese culture may inspire team member¡¦s commitment on other members¡¦ expectations in Taiwanese top management team. Proposition 4: Team members perceived leader¡¦s behavior and leadership may affect the relationship between team member¡¦s identity and team member¡¦s team commitment in Taiwanese top management team. Proposition 5: The existence of informal team is hided in the formal team in organizational structure in Taiwanese top management team. Proposition 6: The members in formal team commit on informal team unconsciously in Taiwanese top management team.

Team-based management is a popular contemporary method of redesigning jobs in order to more effectively utilize the human potential of employees. The use of such management techniques should result in increased satisfaction and team commitment; however, many research studies have failed to demonstrate increases in affective outcomes on the part of the employee. The research question examined in this study is, "What specific job dimensions and situational factors result in higher levels of satisfaction and team commitment?" The Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham, 1975) provided a basis for this study. The model was designed for individual contributors and has not been extensively used in team research. As expected it was found that within a team-based environment higher levels of the five core job dimensions of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and job feedback were associated with increased satisfaction and team commitment. Organization-based self-esteem was found to mediate the relationship between the five core job dimensions and the affective outcome variables. Contrary to expectations, however, it was found that consultative team members experienced higher levels of satisfaction and commitment than substantive team members. In addition, consultative team members reported higher levels of two core job dimensions, skill variety and task significance, and on the overall Job Diagnostic Survey than did substantive team members. These findings have significant implications for companies undergoing organizational redesign and questions whether those companies should implement advanced levels of employee involvement activities if the organizational goal is to increase satisfaction and commitment. The study employed a survey research design in which data was collected using a self-report questionnaire. A heterogeneous sample of 183 team members participating in either a consultative and substantive team from four different companies in nine locations provided the data for this field survey. Multivariate analyses, including hierarchial set regression, were used to test the hypotheses.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OFNdeye Helene Oumou Diack, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Curriculum & Instruction, presented on October 23rd, 2019, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.TITLE: ADDRESSING THE CRITICAL STEPS OF BUILDING A CULTURE OF COLLABORATION IN A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY (PLC): A CASE STUDYMAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. John McIntyre This case study examined PLC leaders and team members during their first year setting up their PLC collaborative process. It investigated the PLC design and activities, the team members lived experiences during the setting up of the PLC, and its impact on members’ interpersonal relationships and also their personal and professional growth. I collected the data by means of observations of team meetings, PLC documents analysis, an interview of an administrator, and a focus group of a team of three Caucasian American female experienced elementary teachers. The research took place in a school district at a semi-rural Midwestern town in the USA during the 2018-2019 school year. DuFour et al. (2016) model of a PLC provided the main framework for the study that took into account Situated Learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and Social Constructivism (Vygotsky, 1978). The findings showed that despite hindrances due to the design process, accountability measures of school improvement reporting weights, and the individual PLC members’ personalities, the team members I studied, unlike some other teams in the building, were doing a great collaborative work. They were driven by collective commitment to the PLC mission, values, visions and goals. They showed resiliency that is strengthened by mutual trust, mutual support, mutual respect, and protection for each other. They had a high level of dedication to improve their students’ achievements by means of common formative assessment of their academic and behavioral issues, intervention plans to address issues, and a very rigorous benchmarking of collectively designed instructional units. Vulnerability of both administrators and team members were evidenced, and the limitations of the study, recommendations for improvement, and implication for Policy Makers, as well as directions for future research are provided.

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.

Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology)) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / 58 leaves printed on single pages, preliminary pages i- v and numbered pages 1-52. Includes bibliography, list of tables and figures. Digitized at 330 dpi black and white PDF format (OCR), using KODAK i 1220 PLUS scanner. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An exploratory study conducted in six 24-hour manufacturing plants, using the responses of 178 employees on a composite questionnaire, investigated the relationships between transformational leadership behaviours, team leader emotional intelligence and team commitment. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were conducted on The Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT), the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), and the Team Commitment Questionnaire of Bennett and Boshoff. The results of a Pearson correlation analysis, Stepwise Multiple Regression and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis indicated that there are small but significant relationships between team commitment and transformational leadership behaviours, as well as between team leader emotional intelligence and team commitment. A significant relationship was found between transformational leadership behaviours and team leader emotional intelligence. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In 'n eksploratiewe studie wat in ses 24-uur vervaardigingsaanlegte onderneem is en wat die antwoorde van 178 werknemers op 'n saamgestelde vraelys ontleed het, is ondersoek ingestel na die verwantskap tussen transformasionele leierskapgedragspatrone, emosionele intelligensie van spanleiers en spanverbondenheid. 'n Eksploratiewe Faktor-Analise (EFA) en Bevestigende Faktor-Analise (BFA) is uitgevoer op die Swinburne Universiteit Emosionele Intelligensie Toets (SUEIT), die Multi-Faktor Leierskap Vraelys (MLV) en die Spanverbondenheid Vraelys van Bennett en Boshoff. Die resultate van die Pearson korrelasie analise, Stapsgewyse Meervoudige Regressie- en Struktuur Vergelykings Modelering (SVM) -analises het aangedui dat daar klein maar beduidende verwantskappe tussen spanverbondenheid en transformasionele leierskapgedragspatrone sowel as tussen spanleier emosionele intelligensie en spanverbondenheid bestaan. 'n Beduidende verwantskap is gevind tussen transformasionele leierskapgedragspatrone en spanleier emosionele intelligensie.

Syfte: Det finns ett bevisat samband mellan organisationskultur och organisatoriskt engagemang. Däremot saknas det kunskap om relationen mellan ritualer och ceremonier, som en del av organisationskultur, och organisatoriskt engagemang och teamengagemang. Syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för hur organisatoriska ritualer och ceremonier påverkar unga anställdas organisatoriska engagemang och teamengagemang.   Metod: En kvalitativ forskningsansats genom 13 stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer, med utgångspunkt i en intervjuguide baserad på tidigare forskning. Empirin presenteras i en tematisk analys och diskuteras därefter i relation till tidigare forskning.   Resultat & slutsats: Ritualer och ceremonier påverkar det organisatoriska engagemanget och teamengagemanget hos unga anställda genom fyra konsekvenser; motivation; gemenskap; förståelse och segregation. Dessa fyra konsekvenser leder till en identifiering som, i olika grad, påverkar engagemanget till organisationen och den egna arbetsgruppen.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Ritualer och ceremonier har en positiv påverkan på unga anställdas organisatoriska engagemang och teamengagemang, genom att konsekvenserna av dem är en del av en identifieringsprocess. Organisationer kan således, genom ritualer och ceremonier, påverka det organisatoriska engagemanget och teamengagemanget. Vi bygger vidare på existerande teorier kring att organisatoriskt engagemang och teamengagemang kan samexistera och inte nödvändigtvis är rivaliserande.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vi efterfrågar forskning av kvantitativ karaktär för att säkerställa relationen mellan ritualer och ceremonier och organisatoriskt engagemang samt teamengagemang. Vi föreslår även vidare kvalitativa studier i andra kontexter för att testa de konsekvenser vi identifierat i denna studie. Även ungas professional commitment och alkoholens förmedlande effekt på engagemangen är av intresse att vidare studera. / Aim: The relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment has been proven. However, there is a knowledge gap regarding the relationship between rituals and ceremonies and organizational commitment and team commitment. The aim of this study is to increase the understanding of how organizational rituals and ceremonies affect young employees’ organizational commitment and team commitment.   Method: A qualitative study through 13 semi structured interviews, based on an interview guide built from existing theories. The empiricism is presented in a thematic analysis and latter discussed in relation to existing theories.   Result & Conclusions: Rituals and ceremonies affect the organizational commitment and team commitment of young employees through four consequences; motivation, solidarity; comprehension and segregation. These four consequences lead to an identification that, to different degrees, affects the commitment towards the organization and its own team.   Contribution of the thesis: Rituals and ceremonies have a positive impact on the organizational commitment and team commitment of young employees as a result of their consequences, which lead to an identification process. We build on existing theories of organizational commitment and team commitment on how they can coexist and not necessarily be rivals.   Suggestions for future research: We request for future research of quantitative character of the relation between rituals and ceremonies and organizational commitment and team commitment. We suggest further qualitative studies in other contexts with similar research questions to test the consequences identified in this study. Young employees’ professional commitment deserves more attention, as do the mediating effects alcohol seems to have on commitment.

Le processus de création d’une entreprise par une équipe d’entrepreneurs est un phénomène multidimensionnel. A cet effet, cette recherche essaye de classifier les équipes entrepreneuriales, de déterminer les différents facteurs favorisant la prise de décision d’équiprendre et d’extraire les processus d’engagement équipreneurial à partir des perceptions des équipreneurs. La vérification adopte une approche qualitative par l’intermédiaire d’un entretien approfondi et son analyse sur la base de l’approche avancée par Miles et Huberman (2003) et des analyses lexicales et linguistiques par l’intermédiaire de deux logiciels : IRamuteQ et TROPES. Les résultats mettent en relief deux formes équipreneuriales : les entreprises équipreneuriales et les entreprises collectives. Le processus de création varie selon cette typologie. En effet, cette étude essaie de rechercher un processus type qui prédit le mieux la création d’entreprise en équipe et qui peut être utile aux opérateurs en entrepreneuriat. / The process of firm creation by a team of entrepreneurs is a multidimensional phenomenon. This search tries to classify the entrepreneurial teams, to determine the various factors favoring the decision-making of team entrepreneurship and to extract the processes of entrepreneurial team commitment from the perceptions of the teams. The verification adopts a qualitative approach through an in-depth interviews analysis based on the approach presented by Miles and Huberman (2003) and lexical and linguistic analyses through two software: IRamuteQ and TROPES. The results demonstrate two forms of entrepreneurial teams: ‘’equipreneurial’’ firms and collective firms. The process of creation varies according to this typology. Indeed, this study tries to look for a typical process which predicts the new firm creation by a team and which can be useful for the operators in entrepreneurship.

Les équipes de travail occupent aujourd’hui une place particulièrement importante dans les organisations et sont devenues essentielles au bon fonctionnement de nombreuses entreprises (Marks, Mathieu et Zaccaro, 2001). En effet, selon une étude conduite par Kumar (2016) aux États-Unis, 60 % des entreprises prévoyaient implanter davantage d’équipes de travail au cours des deux prochaines années. Il est toutefois possible de constater une forte variation dans le niveau de performance qu’atteignent les équipes en milieu organisationnel, variant d’une très mauvaise performance à une excellente performance (Hackman, 2002 ; Rousseau, Savoie et Battistelli, 2007). Les comportements des membres sont les déterminants les plus directs de la performance des équipes. Dès lors, dans un contexte où les membres adoptent des comportements contre-productifs qui font obstacle au travail en équipe, la performance collective s’en ressent nécessairement. Bien qu’il ait été précédemment établi que les comportements contre-productifs nuisent au bon fonctionnement et à la performance des équipes (ex. : Aubé, Rousseau, Mama et Morin, 2009; Aubé et Rousseau, 2014; Cole, Walter et Bruch, 2008), leurs causes sont encore mal comprises, principalement en ce qui a trait aux facteurs propres au contexte organisationnel. Ainsi, cette thèse a pour premier objectif de clarifier l’état des connaissances sur les comportements contre-productifs dans les équipes et comme second objectif de faire avancer les connaissances relatives aux antécédents contextuels des comportements contre-productifs au sein des équipes de travail. Afin de répondre au premier objectif, une recension de la littérature des vingt dernières années sur les comportements contre-productifs d’équipiers est effectuée dans le premier article de cette thèse. Un modèle intégrant les résultats des recherches empiriques sur les comportements contre-productifs d’équipiers est présenté et un riche agenda de recherches futures est proposé. Ce premier article permet aussi de clarifier la notion de comportements contre-productifs d’équipiers et de les distinguer des autres types de comportements contreproductifs. Afin de répondre au deuxième objectif, soit de faire avancer les connaissances relatives aux antécédents contextuels des comportements contre-productifs d’équipiers, la relation entre le contexte de soutien au travail en équipe et les comportements contre-productifs d’équipiers a été explorée. Toutefois, avant de tester cette relation, il s’avérait nécessaire de valider la structure factorielle du construit de contexte de soutien au travail en équipe. En effet, la structure multidimensionnelle d’ordre supérieur de ce construit n’avait jamais été testée. Ainsi, à travers des analyses de type Bifactor-ESEM, le deuxième article de cette thèse a permis de soutenir l’hypothèse selon laquelle le contexte de soutien au travail en équipe s’avère un construit d’ordre supérieur, composé de quatre facteurs. Enfin, dans le cadre du troisième article, la relation entre le contexte de soutien au travail en équipe et les comportements contre-productifs d’équipiers a été testée à partir d’un échantillon de 105 équipes de travail provenant d’une organisation du domaine de la sécurité publique. Des analyses acheminatoires ont été effectuées et soutiennent un modèle de médiation par lequel une déficience dans le contexte de soutien au travail en équipe génère des affects négatifs d’équipiers, qui se traduisent ensuite par l’adoption de comportements contreproductifs d’équipiers. Les résultats de cette étude soutiennent aussi le rôle modérateur de l’engagement de l’équipe dans la relation entre les affects négatifs et les comportements contreproductifs d’équipiers. / Today, work teams hold a particularly important role in organizations and have become essential to the proper functioning of many businesses (Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro, 2001). Indeed, according to a study conducted by Kumar (2016), 60% of US companies plan to set up more work teams over the next two years. However, work teams are not a guarantee of success, given that strong variations are typically observed in work teams’ performance levels (Hackman, 2002; Rousseau, Savoie and Battistelli, 2007). Team members’ behaviors are the most direct determinants of team performance. Consequently, in a context where members adopt counterproductive behaviors that hinder teamwork, collective performance necessarily suffers. Although it has been previously established that team counterproductive behaviors hinder the proper functioning and performance of teams (e.g., Aubé, Rousseau, Mama and Morin, 2009; Aubé and Rousseau, 2014; Cole, Walter and Bruch, 2008), their causes are still poorly understood, especially in terms of organizational context factors. Thus, the first objective of this thesis is to clarify the state of knowledge on team counterproductive behaviors and the second objective is to advance knowledge of the contextual antecedents of team counterproductive behaviors. To answer the first objective, a review of the literature of the last twenty years on team counterproductive behaviors was carried out in the first article of this thesis. We thus integrate and advance TCBs scholarship by proposing an integrative model and we help identify and guide where future research efforts related to TCBs should be directed. This first article also clarifies the notion of team counterproductive behaviors and distinguishes them from other types of counterproductive behaviors. In order to address the second objective, namely to advance knowledge about the contextual antecedents of team counterproductive behaviors, the relationship between a supportive organizational context for teams and team counterproductive behaviors was explored. However, before testing this relationship, it was deemed necessary to assess the factor structure of the supportive organizational context for teams’ construct. Indeed, its higher-order multidimensional representation had never been tested. Thus, using a Bifactor-ESEM framework, this study supports the notion that a supportive organizational context for teams is a higher-order construct including four components: rewards, information, educational, and resource allocation systems. Finally, in the third paper, the relationship between a supportive organizational context for teams and team counterproductive behaviors was tested using a sample of 105 work teams from an organization in the field of public safety. Using a path analytic procedure, the results of this study support the mediation model: a lack of organizational support aligned with teamwork triggers negative team affective tone responses at a team level, which then drives the adoption of team counterproductive behaviors. Results also corroborate the moderating role of team commitment in the relationship between negative team affective tone and team counterproductive behaviors.

More than ninety per cent of projects are run by project teams and the stronger the team the more likely the project will succeed. Team building activities are performed to both increase team performance and to enhance the likelihood of project success. For the purpose of this study, information technology (IT) business projects were chosen as IT is a major driving force in business today and there is widespread dissatisfaction with the performance of IT business projects. In analysing the causes of dissatisfaction, increasingly researchers are recognising that technology is a secondary issue behind the human side of project team management. Business projects were chosen because increasingly IT is being used in the business environment to solve problems in the post-industrial era characterised by the service industry, while the manufacturing industry, from which much of the project literature has emerged, reduces. The importance of the project team in developing IT business projects is well recognised and managers are concerned about their ability to transform an ad-hoc collection of people assigned to a particular project into a coherent, integrated project team. In most cases the activities recommended to build a successful IT business project team have been theoretically based, rather than empirically founded. The goal of this research was to investigate the team building activities used on successful projects. To achieve this goal, the research defines the key measures of project success and establishes their relative importance; determines the most important team building activities for project success with experienced project managers; enhances the understanding of implementation of team building activities on successful projects; and provides suggestions on how to increase the likelihood of project success through focusing on team building activities. The research used the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to develop a hierarchical model linking project success measures with team building activities. Confirmation of the AHP results and additional understanding of team building activities implementation was achieved by interviewing experienced project managers. The research found that customer satisfaction, although seldom used, was significantly more important as a project success measure than the three measures most often used - time, budget and scope. As identified by project managers, the most important team building activities for achieving customer satisfaction are team leadership; ensuring senior management support; staffing the team properly; planning the project with the team and empowering team members; building commitment among team members; developing strong communication channels and developing appropriate organisational interfaces. The research found successful projects focused on relationships in addition to the task focus of many project methodologies. The research findings on team building activities will enable project leaders on IT business projects to develop empowered project teams with stronger affiliations and support throughout the organisation. By empowering project teams to create effective internal and external relationships there will be fewer project failures, increased customer satisfaction and improved achievement of project success.