Tammy L. Rapp

Team Effectiveness 1997-2007: A Review of Recent Advancements and a Glimpse Into the Future

The authors review team research that has been conducted over the past 10 years. They discuss the nature of work teams in context and note the substantive differences underlying different types of teams. They then review representative studies that have appeared in the past decade in the context of an enhanced input-process-outcome framework that has evolved into an inputs-mediators-outcome time-sensitive approach. They note what has been learned along the way and identify fruitful directions for future research. They close with a reconsideration of the typical team research investigation and call for scholars to embrace the complexity that surrounds modern team-based organizational designs as we move forward.

Laying the foundation for successful team performance trajectories: The roles of team charters and performance strategies.

This study examined the influences of team charters and performance strategies on the performance trajectories of 32 teams of masters of business administration students competing in a business strategy simulation over time. The authors extended existing theory on team development by demonstrating that devoting time to laying a foundation for both teamwork (i.e., team charters) and taskwork (performance strategies) can pay dividends in terms of more effective team performance over time. Using random coefficients growth modeling techniques, they found that teams with high-quality performance strategies outperformed teams with poorer quality strategies. However, a significant interaction between quality of the charters of teams and their performance strategies was found, such that the highest sustained performances were exhibited by teams that were high on both features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Interactive Effects of Team and Task Shared Mental Models as Related to Air Traffic Controllers' Collective Efficacy and Effectiveness

We assessed the influence of task and team shared mental models (SMMs) on team effectiveness, as mediated by collective efficacy. Using a sample of 422 air traffic controllers representing 43 Navy teams from land-based towers, task SMMs exhibited a significant linear relationship with team effectiveness, whereas team SMMs did not. Moreover, the interaction of team and task SMMs was positively related to team effectiveness. Collective efficacy was found to mediate the relationship between task SMMs (but not team SMMs or their interaction) and team effectiveness. Results are discussed in terms of the complex nature of SMMs and team outcomes.

Evaluating an Individually Self-Administered Generic Teamwork Skills Training Program Across Time and Levels

The authors employed a longitudinal quasi-experimental design to examine individual- and team-level outcomes associated with an individually delivered, technology-based (CD) training program aimed at developing generic teamwork skills. Data were collected from 54 members of 8 trained and 8 quasi-control MBA student teams who competed in a business simulation. At the individual level of analysis, trained members exhibited higher teamwork knowledge scores and peer ratings of teamwork behaviors than did members of quasi-control teams. At the team level of analysis, trained teams exhibited increasingly improved performance over time relative to quasi-control teams. Additionally, team processes mediated the relationship between teamwork training and team performance. The authors discuss implications for the use of technology-based teamwork training programs and identify promising areas of future research.

The Role of Team Goal Monitoring in the Curvilinear Relationship between Team Efficacy and Team Performance

In this research, we apply a team self-regulatory perspective to build and test theory focusing on the relationships between team efficacy and 2 key team performance criteria: a performance behavior (i.e., team effort) and a performance outcome (i.e., objective team sales). We theorize that rather than having a linear association, the performance benefits of team efficacy reach a point of inflection, reflective of too much of a good thing. Further, in an effort to establish a boundary condition of the inverted-U shaped relationship we predict, we also test the moderating role played by team goal monitoring in the nonmonotonic relationship between team efficacy and team performance. The results from a lagged field test, in which we collect multisource data from 153 technology sales teams, reveal a significant curvilinear association that is moderated by team goal monitoring behavior. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

An empirical analysis of e‐service implementation: antecedents and the resulting value creation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents and perceived value associated with e‐business implementation in service firms. E‐business has enabled the development of e‐services and thus introduced a new vehicle for customer and supplier transactions.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from top managers in 231 Belgian business‐to‐business service firms crossing a broad spectrum of industries. The statistical techniques employed included a confirmatory factor analysis, and hierarchical regression analyses.Findings – The findings of the study suggest that technical infrastructure and external drivers influence e‐business implementation. Additionally, e‐business was found to create value for firms through efficiency, novelty, lock‐in, and complementarities.Research limitations/implications – The results imply that a firms behavior, while driven in part by external factors (e.g. shareholders, competitors, customers, etc.), is largely contingent upon a firms internal infras...

A cross-classified multilevel analysis of identity and performance in multiple team arrangements

Multiple team memberships (MTM) are an increasingly prevalent in modern organizations, yet little research has focused on the implications of this work arrangement. Applying a motivation within teams framework integrated with social identity theory as a conceptual lens, and drawing from the literature on multiple identities, we advance a multi-level framework delineating the antecedents and consequences of multiple team identities. In turn, we model the influence of individual members’ team identification on their performance in, and satisfaction with, their multiple team memberships. We employed a cross-classified random effect analyses to model the combined influences of Level 2 factors corresponding to individuals (N=101) and team characteristics (N=82), on individuals member’s identification outcomes per team (N=325). Using multi-source, temporally lagged data from software development professionals belonging to multiple teams yielded support for the combined influences of individual and team-level factors on individuals’ outcomes, as mediated by their identification with each team membership. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Team and individual influences on members’ identification and performance per membership in multiple team membership arrangements.

Modern-day organizations often utilize team-based designs, and employees increasingly work simultaneously on multiple teams. These working arrangements have been referred to as multiple team memberships, and despite their prevalence, they have been the subject of relatively little research. Applying social identity theory as a theoretical lens, we advance a multilevel conceptual model that suggests both individual and team characteristics predict individuals’ performance and satisfaction per membership, as mediated by their team identification per membership. We employed cross-classified effects analyses to model the combined influences of two sets of higher-level factors corresponding to individual (N = 96) and team characteristics (N = 82) on lower-level individual members’ team identification and related outcomes per team membership (N = 320). Analyses of multisource temporally lagged data from software development professionals, who were assigned to work in multiple teams, yielded support for the combined influences of individual and team-level factors on individuals’ identification with, and ultimately performance in and satisfaction with, their multiple team memberships. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.