Organizations have had difficulty managing the performance of their knowledge work teams. Many of these troubles have been linked to antiquated or inadequate performance management systems along with a scarcity of empirical research on this important human resource initiative. These problems are magnified when managing the performance of research and development teams because greater ambiguity and uncertainty exists in these environments, while projects are unique and continually evolving. In addition, performance management in R&D has only recently been accepted as important while individuals in these settings are often resistant to teams. This study represented the first step in the process of understanding relationships between performance management practices and perceptions of performance in R&D work teams. Participants were 132 R&D team leaders representing 20 organizations that agreed to complete a survey via the Internet. The survey instrument was designed to examine the relationships between performance measurement, feedback, and reward processes utilized by teams in relation to measures of customer satisfaction, psychological and team effectiveness, and resource utilization and development. The most important level of performance measurement occurred at the business unit level followed next by the individual level while team level measurement was unrelated to team performance. A simple measurement system with three to seven performance measures focused on objective results, outcomes, and customer satisfaction appeared ideal. Team participation in the performance management process, most notably the process of setting performance measures, goals, and objectives was also important. The use of multiple raters, frequent performance appraisals, and frequent feedback were identified as meaningful. Specific types of rewards were unrelated to performance although some evidence suggested that business unit rewards were superior to team and individual rewards. It was speculated that R&D teams function more like working groups rather than real teams. The focus in R&D seems to be on business unit projects, products, or designs where the aggregate of individual and team contributions determine larger project outcomes.

Purpose - The aim of the paper is to understand how management is affected by having the customer as a member of the global virtual team within agile work methods. Research Method - This research is based on a qualitative methodological choice, and an embedded single case study conducted through a cross-sectional time horizon. The research is based on primary and secondary data. The primary data has been collected from management, employees, and customer, through semi- and in depth interviews, and observations in Sri Lanka. Secondary data is conceptualized from literature in the Global Virtual Team research field. Results - A customer is seen as a colleague and a critical team member, where the developers and management work closely with the customer. However, the customer is not fully seen as a traditional colleague. The customer’s influence outweighs the influence of the supplier, resulting in a dynamic shift of influence towards the customer. Not allowing the dynamic shift, i.e. not increasing attention towards the customer significantly, could result in a loss of business. Furthermore, the background of the customer affects the manager’s role as a Bridge Maker. How efficient the collaboration turns out within the team is dependent on the customer background, and how well the management allocates time and efforts accordingly. Research limitations - Due to time and resource limits, and the depth scope of the study, only one case firm and one customer laid the basis of this paper. Further investigation of how management is affected by having the customer as a member of the global virtual team could be the direction of future studies. Practical implications - The findings allow management to allocate their time and resources more effectively cross projects and increase the understanding of how the firm is affected by having the customer as a member of the team in the global virtual team setting. As a result, it will potentially increase the overall success of the company. Originality/value - This study supplies the contribution to existing management literature as it includes an external stakeholder, the customer, in the global virtual team, which is a growing phenomenon that has not been captured by current literature. Keywords - Global teams, Virtual teams, Multicultural teams, Customer as a team member, Bridge Maker, Team leadership, Biculturalism, Agile work process Paper type – Master thesis

The use of virtual teams (VTs) in the workplace has increased rapidly as companies seek to coordinate the collaboration of geographically dispersed employees effectively. This study involved an experimental comparison of VTs and face-to-face teams engaged in coopetition. Coopetition occurs when a relationship is characterized by simultaneous cooperation and competition. This study differed from previous research because many previous studies of team coopetition place their focus on traditional face-to-face teams and fail to touch upon the intricacies of VT coopetition. Because of this, investigating the intricacies of coopetition among VT members is an essential addition to the large body of research on face-to-face teams. This study examined team coopetition through separate measures of competitiveness and cooperativeness. The constructs competitiveness and cooperativeness were measured separately instead of together on a single continuum. This method determined team members’ coopetitive proclivities, the balance between one’s tendency to perform behaviors directed toward achieving a self-serving goal or goals and one’s tendency to perform behaviors directed toward achieving a group-serving goal or goals within the context of a coopetitive relationship. Team members’ coopetitive proclivities were examined through a combination of videogame play and electronic surveys. All participants in this experiment were female. No significant differences between the coopetitive proclivities of virtual and face-to-face teams were found. We found that the ratings of competence that participants received from their partners tended to be lower under the virtual condition. We found that extroverted team members were more likely to cooperate. We also found that the ratings of competitiveness that participants received from their partners were negatively correlated with the ratings of desirability for future collaboration (i.e., team viability) that participants received from their partners. Further, it was determined that the ratings of cooperativeness that participants received from their partners were positively correlated with the ratings of team viability that participants received from their partners. Additional results indicated a positive relationship between team members’ self-reported levels of agreeableness and the ratings of competence that participants received from their partners. Results also indicated a positive relationship between team members’ self-reported levels of openness and the ratings of competence that participants received from their partners. This paper discusses the implications of these results and possible directions for future study.

Published Article / A study was conducted to determine factors which caused stress for township secondary school teachers. The purpose of this paper is to determine the role of School Management Teams (SMTs) in the stressors of township secondary school teachers. A questionnaire was developed and administered on 368 teachers from the Free State Province. Once the stressors were determined, their means were used to rank them - from the most stressful to the least stressful. Only the highest 30 stressors were considered in this paper. The main stressors were: poor learner performance, poor learner discipline and poor parental involvement in school matters. It was also found that 20 of the 30 stressors were the SMTs' responsibility, seven were the parents' responsibility and three were DBE's (Department of Basic Education) responsibility. It was concluded that SMTs of the schools surveyed were unable to adequately address factors causing stress for teachers in their schools. It was recommended that SMTs should be developed, and then be held accountable for the high levels of teacher stress, and for the subsequent poor performance of teachers in their schools.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka individens upplevelse gällande samarbete, gruppsammanhållning, förtroende och kollegialt stöd i ett virtuellt team i jämförelse med ett traditionellt team. Studien genomfördes på en rikstäckande myndighet som arbetat med virtuella team i tio år. I studien deltog sju intervjupersoner varav fyra personer var män och tre personer kvinnor som valdes ut genom ett målstyrt urval. Personerna var mellan 28 och 62 år gamla och hade haft en anställning inom vald organisation under minst två år. Personerna ingick i samma team men hade olika platsbundenheter. Data samlades in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer och analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet bekräftade tidigare teori om utmaningar i utvecklande av samarbete, gruppsammanhållning, förtroende och kollegialt stöd inom virtuella team. Intervjupersonerna upplevde ett starkare samarbete, gruppsammanhållning, förtroende och kollegialt stöd för de kollegor som var samplacerade och såg därmed ingen nytta av det virtuella teamet.

League of Legends is one of the most played video games in the world with millions of hours played each year. I examine if both a player’s experience and level of familiarity with teammates within the League of Legends virtual environment have significant relationships with individual performance. Utilizing regression analysis I have concluded that individual experience does not have a statistically significant effect on individual performance and that individual familiarity has a statistically significant negative effect on individual performance.

Thesis (MEd)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Teacher support teams were established in South Africa as part of the strategy for handling the changing educational environment. These teams, without proper skills training, were established in various parts of South Africa. In the early phases of the research process, the need for the training of these newly established teams arose. Team members needed skills to execute the tasks expected of a Teacher Support Team effectively. There was no guide of which skills were in the greatest need of training, nor any guidelines concerning the most effective methods of training. The purpose of the present research is thus to compile a set of guidelines for the content of a skills training manual. A small section will be devoted to preferred methods of training. It must be emphasized that this research only provides guidelines for the compilation of such a training manual. The emphasis on guidelines is the result of different school, social and physical contexts, which influenced the needs of the Teacher Support Teams. As each team's needs concerning training content and method will differ according to their circumstances, so will their training manual. It is therefore not feasible to compile a set, skills training manual to suit everyone. Broad guidelines will thus be given in order for each team to compile their own training manual to suit their own training needs. The co-ordinator of the newly established Teacher Support Team may facilitate the compilation of such a training manual. A list of possible skills to increase the effectivity of the team was compiled from the available literature study. A detailed discussion of the respective skills has been done in the literature study. This discussion may be used for the compilation of action steps in the training of the skills. From the literature, a short discussion of the most effective training methods has also been done. Training methods, not the content of the skills to be trained, is the focus of this study. This is the reason for the very simplistic discussion oftraining methods. The research group consists of six different groups of Teacher Support Teams. The first group, a large group of 50 schools, did not react positively to the questionnaires sent to them. The second group consisted of spontaneously formed Support Teams while the third, fourth, and fifth groups were Teacher Support Teams, which were facilitated by a co-ordinator. The sixth group was a school management team of supportive nature. Skills in need of training and preferred training methods formed the focus of this current study. A list of needs to be trained was compared to the list of needs derived from the literature study. The skills which overlapped in the literature study and the research process, were indicated in the discussion of results. Most of the skills found in the literature study were also present in the needs analysis of the research group. Data from the literature study and from four of the five groups, which responded in the data collection process, preferred practical training methods to theoretical methods. In the empirical study the different groups forming the research group also preferred small group training to mass training. Training and implementation of Teacher Support Teams should be done on a personalized and individualized base, as the context and needs of each school or community differ. In conclusion it should be again stressed that this study only provides broad guidelines for the compilation of a training manual. This is not a training manual to be used without any adaptations. It only provides the rational of skills to be trained and some ideas on the possible skills to be trained, the content of this training and preferred training methods. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Onderwyser Ondersteunings Spanne is in Suid Afrika bekendgestel as deel van 'n strategie om die veranderende onderwys siseem te hanteer. Hierdie spanne is in verskeie dele van Suid Afrika geïmplimenteer, sonder enige vaardigheidsopleiding. 'n Behoefte aan die opleiding van hierdie spanne het reeds vroeg in die navorsingsproses geblyk. Spanlede het vaardighede benodig om hul taak effektief te verrig. Daar is geen riglyne oor watter vaardighede benodig word, die inhoud daarvan en die wyse waarvolgens opleiding moet geskied, beskikbaar nie. Die doel van die huidige navorsing is dus die samestelling van 'n stel riglyne vir die inhoud van 'n vaardighede opleidings handleiding. Daar salook 'n klein gedeelte afgestaan word aan metodes van opleiding. Dit moet beklemtoon word dat hierdie navorsing slegs riglyne verskaf vir die samestelling van 'n opleidingshandleiding. Die klem op slegs riglyne is die gevolg van die invloed wat verskillende kontekste en sosiale- en fisiese omgewings op die aard en behoeftes van die Onderwyser Ondersteunings Span het. Elke span se verskillende opleidings behoeftes lei tot 'n verskil in hulopleidings handleiding. Dit is daarom nie aangewese om 'n vaste handleiding vir almal se gebruik saam te stel nie. Breë riglyne word dus daar gestel sodat elke Onderwyser Ondersteunings Span sy eie handleiding kan saamstel. Die saamstelling van so 'n handleiding kan deur die koordineerder van die span gefasiliteer word. 'n Lys van moontlike vaardighede om in 'n handleiding te vervat, is saamgestel uit die literatuur. Elke vaardigheid is in detail bespreek. Hierdie besprekings kan gebruik word in die samestelling van aksiestappe in vaardigheids opleiding. Uit die literatuur is a kort bespreking van die mees gevraagde opleidingsmetodes ook saamgestel. Opleidings metodes is egter nie die fokus van hierdie studie nie. Dit is die rede vir die baie simplistiese bespreking van opleidingsmetodes. Die navorsmgsgroep bestaan uit ses verskillende groepe Onderwyser Ondersteunings Spanne. Die eerste groep het bestaan uit 50 skole wat nie positief op die vraelyste gereageer het nie. Die tweede groep is spontaan gevormde Ondersteunings Spanne. Die derde, vierde, en vyfde groepe is Onderwyser Ondersteunings Spanne wat deur 'n fasiliteerder gekoordineer word. Die sesde groep is 'n skool bestuurspan met 'n ondersteunende karakter. Die noodsaak van vaardigheidsopleiding en die vaardighede wat opgelei moet word is die fokus van die huidige studie. 'n Lys van behoeftes vir opleiding is vergelyk met behoeftes uit die literatuur studie. Die vaardighede wat tussen die literatuurstudie en die navorsingsproses oorvleuel, is aangedui in die uiteensetting van die bevindinge. Die meeste van die vaardighede uit die literatuurstudie oorvleuel met dié uit empiriese navorsmg. Inligting uit die literatuurstudie en die navorsingsproses het gewys op die voorkeur van praktiese opleidingsmetodes bo teoretiese opleiding. Die navorsingsproses het ook 'n voorkeur vir kleingroep opleiding bo massa opleiding aangedui. Opleiding en implementering van Onderwyser Ondersteunings Spanne moet op 'n persoonlike en geïndividualiseerde basis geskied aangesien skole en sosiale kontekste verskil. Ter afsluiting moet dit weer eens beklemtoon word dat hierdie slegs breë riglyne is vir die samestelling van 'n opleidingshandleiding. Hierdie is dus nie per sy 'n opleidingshandleiding wat sonder enige aanpassings gebruik kan word nie. Dit verskaf slegs die rasionaal van vaardighede wat opgelei moet word. Dit verskaf ook idees aangaande die vaardighede wat opgelei moet word, die inhoud van hierdie opleiding en die gewildste opleidingsmetodes.

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Science in Construction Project Management

Although cohesiveness has been studied for more than half a century, there is no common definition and associated measure. The current focus of research has moved from general explanations to context specific approaches. This particular thesis focuses on organisationally based, limited life, project teams. Despite the increasing use of these types of teams over the last 15 years, there is no published literature dealing directly with them, and no instrument designed specifically to measure their cohesiveness. This study has defined the construct of cohesiveness for these teams, using team members themselves, and a psychometrically sound measure of cohesiveness has been devised. It is made up of two sub-scales: task and people, and 20 component items. This tool is designed not only as an indicator of cohesiveness but also as a diagnostic tool to allow teams to increase their cohesiveness. Meta-analytical research has found that cohesiveness and performance are related, but that a number of factors moderate this relationship, e.g. type ofteam (Mullen and Copper, 1994). Using the task/people cohesiveness measure, three studies relating cohesiveness to performance and other variables were undertaken. Since project teams are of limited life and each team's output is unique, a correlational design was utilised. Altogether, data from over 500 teams was collected. Studies were carried out with 'real' teams and also a number of teams undertaking a business simulation game. Cohesiveness was found to be related to performance across a basket of performance measures in both circumstances. Task cohesiveness was more strongly related to performance than was people cohesiveness. By comparing levels of performance feedback, evidence was found to support Mullen and Coppers' (1994) suggestion that performance and cohesiveness have a reciprocal effect on one another and that the performance to cohesiveness effect is the larger of the two. The relationship of a number of variables to both cohesiveness and also the cohesivenessperformance relationship were investigated. This thesis contributes to the literature by using Social Identity Theory as an approach to defining and producing a measure of cohesiveness for a specific type of group - project teams. Its application has provided data on the cohesiveness-performance relationship that supports earlier meta-analytical findings where these are comparable.

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