Yes

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Team effectiveness will be crucial to the success of managers and their organisations in the twenty first century. Managers will have to determine the effectiveness of their teams with the help of valid and reliable measurement instruments. This study project was undertaken to design and develop a team effectiveness assessment instrument that has been proven to be internally valid and reliable, for use by managers in order to identify and develop team effectiveness in their work teams. The construction of the Team Effectiveness Measure (TEM) depended largely on the identification of the elements that are needed for a team to be effective. This was achieved by researching existing literature and extracting a list of elements that was common to effective teams. The resultant Team Effectiveness Criterion Instrument, used in conjunction with practical experience, was then used to construct the Preliminary TEM. The methodology used in constructing and validating the TEM consisted of five steps. The concept of team effectiveness was specified, by using the results of the literature study, which identified eight discernible dimensions of team effectiveness. These dimensions are: balanced composition, clear objectives and focus, positive climate, dynamic culture, effective relationships, open communication, sound procedures and effective leadership. The next step was to create a pool of items by using the findings of the literature study. This resulted in a total pool of one hundred items, which were included in the Preliminary TEM. The format of the TEM was then constructed, consisting of demographic information and a Semantic Differential Scale, with a seven point bipolar rating scale. The next step was to determine the construct validity of the TEM. Applying the Preliminary TEM to a sample group of one hundred and ninety six people, and subjecting the results to statistical analysis achieved this. The Item Total Correlation and Coefficient Alpha was determined, followed by a Factor Analysis, which led to the refinement of the Preliminary TEM. The end result was the final TEM, which consisted of three main factors and a total of thirty elements. The results of the analysis of the final TEM, being an extremely high Cronbach Coefficient -Alpha of 0.94, and a consistently high Item Total Correlation, is evidence of the internal consistency of the TEM. The results of the factor analysis, a loading of more than 0.6 on all items, reflect positively on the construct validity of the TEM. Only the items with the highest level of reliability were retained. The final conclusion, based on the results, was that the contents of the TEM were sufficiently validated and was usable as an instrument for assessing team effectiveness. This means that the results obtained from the use of the instrument can be trusted and used for making recommendations on the development of a team. It must however, be noted that the TEM needs to be subjected to further reliability and construct validity testing. This does not however, detract from the fact that the TEM can be used effectively as a measure for managers for team effectiveness, team functioning, identifying symptoms of poor team work that prohibits performance and for measuring the "temperature" of the team. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die sukses van bestuurders en organisasies in die een-en-twintigste eeu is deels afhanklik van die sukses en die effektiwiteit van hul werkspanne. Bestuurders sal geldige en betroubare meetinstrumente nodig hê om te bepaal op watter vlak van effektiewe werking hulle spanne is. Die doel van hierdie studie projek was om 'n meetsinstrument vir spaneffektiwiteit te ontwerp en ontwikkel, wat getoets is vir interne geldigheid en betroubaarheid. Die meetinstrument moet gebruik kan word deur bestuurders om spaneffektiwiteit te indentifiseer en ontwikkel. Dit was belangrik om eers die elemente wat nodig is vir spanne om effektief te funksioneer, te identifiseer, deur gebruik te maak van 'n literatuurstudie oor spaneffektiwiteit. Die bestaande literatuur is gebruik om 'n lys van elemente te identifiseer wat algemeen in effektiewe spanne voorkom. Hierdie lys van elemente, sowel as praktiese ervaring, is gebruik om die Voorlopige Spaneffektiwiteits Meetinstrument (TEM) op te stel. Die metedologie wat gebruik is, is om 'n vyf stap benadering te volg in die ontwikkeling van die TEM. Eerstens is die konsep van spaneffektiwiteit gespesifiseer, deur gebruik te maak van die resultate van die literatuur studie. Agt dimensies is as volg geidentifiseer: Gebalanseerde samestelling, duidelike doelwitte en fokus, positiewe klimaat, dinamiese kultuur, effektiewe verhoudinge, oop kommunikasie, gevestigde prosedure, en goeie leierskap. In die volgende stap is 'n poel van items saamgestel deur gebruik te maak van die bevindinge van die literatuurstudie. In totaal is 100 items ingesluit in die Voorlopige TEM. Volgende aan die beurt was die opstel van die formaat van die TEM, wat bestaan het uit demografiese inligting, sowel as 'n Semanties Differensiële Skaal met 'n sewe punt bipolêre skaal. Dit is gevolg deur die vastelling van die konstruk geldigheid van die TEM, deur die toepassing van die vraelys op 196 mense en die statistese verwerking van die resultate. Die Item Totaal Korrelasie en die Koëffisient Alfa is bepaal en dit is gevolg deur 'n Faktor Analise. Hierdie resultate is gebruik om die TEM te verfyn tot 'n instrument met drie hoof faktore en 'n totaal van dertig items. Bewyse vir die interne konsekentheid van die TEM is verkry deur die hoë Cronbach Koëffisient van 0.94, en 'n deurlopende hoë Item Totaal Korrelasie. Die resultate van die Faktor Analise was 'n deurlopende hoë telling van meer as 0.6, wat positief reflekteer op die konstruk geldigheid van die TEM. Slegs die items met die hoogste vlak van betroubaarheid is gekies vir insluiting in die finale TEM. Dit alles dui daarop dat die resultate wat vekry gaan word deur die toepassing van die TEM op spanne, vertrou kan word en gebruik kan word om aanbevelings te maak vir die ontwikkeling van die span. Daar moet egter genoem word dat verdere betroubaarheid en konstruk geldigheid studies nodig sal wees op die TEM, aangesien die TEM slegs vir interne geldigheid getoets is. Die resultate van die analise is egter bevredigend genoeg dat die TEM met vertroue gebruik kan word deur bestuurders om die vlak van ontwikkeling en effektiwiteit van hul spanne te kan bepaal.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Due to the rapid development of technology, many simple tasks can now be automated, leaving more difficult and cognitive tasks such as planning, decision making and design to teams. Technology also allows these teams to be distributed through time and space. While this is becoming more and more prevalent in the business world, distributed teams also exist in the military where the stresses are much different. One of the key factors associated with collaboration in military teams is situational awareness. This research used a commercial command and control type video game to investigate the issues of collaboration and situational awareness. The amount of information subjects had access to was varied to see if there was a significant impact upon their level of situational awareness which was measured by the accuracy of maps that the subjects drew. Results from this research may provide insight into how much information is needed by distributed teams and when they need it. Ideas for future research in this area have also been proposed. / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

This empirical study is aimed at understanding the patterns of relationships among the organization structure of self-managed work teams in terms of three sets of constructs: 1. organization-based self-esteem; 2. consequent behaviors of intrinsic work motivation, general job satisfaction, organization citizenship, and organization commitment; and 3. performance. The primary significance of this study is that it adds to the pool of empirical knowledge in the field of self-managed work team research. The significance of this study to practicing managers is that it can help them make better-informed decisions on the use of the self-managed work team structure. This study was a sample survey composed of five standardized questionnaires using a five-point Likert-type scale, open-ended questions, and demographic questions. Unstructured interviews supplemented the structured survey and for means of triangulation of results. The variables were analyzed using regression analysis for the purpose of path analysis. The site was a manufacturing plant structured around self-managed work teams. The population was full-time, first-line production employees.

Communication technologies have become a central characteristic of workplace functioning. The literature has suggested that the use of these technologies fundamentally changes the manner in which team members interact. The present study sought to reorganize previous research on the impact of virtuality on team emergent states and behavioral processes to elucidate how different degrees of team virtuality shape team functioning, and to investigate the manner in which these relationships differ according to team type, team membership stability, and publication year. Findings from 174 studies (total number of teams = 9204; total N approximately 26,050) suggest that there is not a strong relationship between team virtuality and emergent states and behavioral processes. However, moderator analyses revealed that a reliance on highly virtual tools may be most detrimental to action teams and ad hoc teams. Moreover, findings demonstrate that the degree to which virtuality shapes team transition and action process may be changing over time.

This thesis is an attempt to propose an analytical model for estimating and predicting capability in human networks (i.e. work teams). Capability in this context is the ability to utilise the collective inherent and acquired resources of individuals to complete a given task. The motivation of proposing a method for measuring collective capability of teams is to assist project managers and team builders to allocate and assign “The most capable teams” to a project to maximise the likelihood of success. The review of literature in engineering, human sciences and economics has led to a definition of capability. One of the key findings of this research work is that collective capability can be predicted by: 1. Demographic homophily of members of the team, 2. The diversity of skills that each member brings to the team, 3. The past experience or attainments of the members, and 4. The strength of relationship amongst the members of the team. The influence of the four predictors of capability is investigated through the design of empirical surveys conducted among postgraduate students over a period of 2 years. The data collected from the surveys are used to assess the correlation between the predictors and the dependent variable using standard statistical methods. The conclusions of the study confirm that there are positive and significant relationships between the independent predictors and collective capability of project teams. The demographic homophily of the individuals in team and their instrumental (task related) relationships’ strength become the two most effective predictors which have the highest effect on the collective capability of a team as a whole. The skills diversity of the members in a group and their previous level of attainments/experiences in similar projects were also proved to be effective factors (with lower level of effect) in increasing the capability of the whole team in fulfilling the requirements of a pre-defined project.

Drawing upon configurational theory, work group design research, virtualness concepts, and the software agility literature, the purpose of this study was to provide a starting point for theorizing about the successful configuration of globally distributed agile teams by exploring the dimensions of team structure, virtualness, and agility. Due to the complex nature of this topic, the need to examine the phenomenon within its natural setting, and the limited amount of research that has been conducted in this particular area, this study adopted an embedded multiple-case research design. The primary data collection method consisted of semi-structured interviews involving members of globally distributed agile teams within three U.S. based organizations with members located in distributed sights in multiple countries. Additional data were collected from archival records. Within-case and cross-analysis was conducted using qualitative data analysis software. This study provides a starting point for answering the question of how the configuration of globally distributed agile teams differs from the configuration of other types of globally distributed teams; it synthesizes past research and findings into a comprehensive theoretical framework; it provides a starting point for theorizing about the successful configuration of globally distributed agile teams; it helps practitioners to identify and address the challenges related to the configuration of globally distributed agile teams; and it presents a set of best practices which will inform organizations on how to configure their globally distributed agile teams.

This study investigates the effects of a participative-type management approach termed self-managed work teams (SMWTs) and work spillover into the family environment. The perspective of isomorphism by Aldous (1969), and Rapoport and Rapoport (1965), was used as a paradigm to examine both positive and negative effects of the work-family relationship. A total of 76 employees from the Department of Defense's Quality Division was used in the regression analysis, due to recent transitions into SMWTs. Results reported overwhelming support for the perspective of isomorphism: over 40% of the variation in positive work spillover was explained by SWMT characteristics. Communication with other teams was the single most important factor found to have a significant effect on positive work spillover.

Five models for designing work teams from the Work Group Design Measure (Campion & Medsker, 1992b) and the models7 relationships to effectiveness criteria were compared using 30 self-directed work teams (SDWTs) in a manufacturing/production setting of a large defense contractor. The models which are from social psychology, socio-technical systems theory, industrial engineering, and organizational psychology include Job Design, Composition, Context/Resources, Potency/Interdependence, and Process. The study also examined distinguishing demographics, team characteristics, and interpersonal processes within the teams that differentiate higher performing teams and/or teams with higher job satisfaction. Effectiveness criteria were performance and job satisfaction. Among the findings, four of the five team design models (i.e., excluding the Composition Model), and the team-oriented interpersonal group processes correlated with performance and SDWT member job satisfaction.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on companies' way of working. It has become crucial for companies to transition into working remotely due to the societal restrictions in order to maintain business. New ways of communicating and collaborating have been necessary for the development which have had an impact on the motivation which this study will focus on. Companies have limited insights on how remote work affects a complex phenomenon as motivation. The purpose of this study is therefore to analyse important changes in motivation due to the transition into working remotely in an agile organization. Research shows that working remotely changes several influential factors related to motivation, forming our first research question. Additionally, the agile practice shows proof of enhancing several of these factors when working remotely thus forming the second research question. This study relies on its theoretical framework using the MOCC model for categorizing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for software developers in relation to external changes such as characteristics and changes in the working environment. In addition, the study uses an earlier framework of changes in motivation in relation to the agile practices. The objective for this study is to help agile organizations analyse and draw conclusions from this study on how to motivate software developers in a remote agile context. The importance of motivation for software developers are emphasized in several studies. However, a lack of studies has been made in recent years, especially with regards to motivation in a remote workplace, additionally little to no studies have been made on this topic since the start of the pandemic. Many answers from our empirical analysis give a polarized view of different perspectives which makes it a complex phenomenon. The result from this study shows that a lot of the software developers have a strong intrinsic motivation due to the agile methodology. The intrinsic motivation in terms of developing software has not changed, however, many other intrinsic motivators related to the organization have been challenged. Also, our results show that external motivation has changed due to changes in both communication and collaboration.