Exploring decision making style as a predictor of team effectiveness

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to perform organizational team effectiveness analysis and to find out whether decision-making style (DMS) has any association with team effectiveness. Which style most significantly affects the team effectiveness and how this predictive association can be used to improve existing teams as well as to build new effective teams? Design/methodology/approach – The sample includes 231 sample responses of executives from Indian Manufacturing Organizations from both public and private sectors. Two standardized questionnaires are used for data collection. Mainly, SPSS v20.0 was used for data analysis and hypotheses testing. AMOS v20.0 was used for testing the research model based on the supported hypotheses. Findings – Rational DMS is mostly endorsed by the Indian executives. Not all DMSs but rational and avoidant styles independently and interactively are the significant predictors of team effectiveness. Research limitations/implications – The survey method of data collection, cross-sectional research design and consideration of particular DMSs and team effectiveness frameworks are the main limitations of this study. Theoretical as well as practical implications are vested in the results. Practical implications – The study bears significant practical implications for the respondents, practitioners, professionals and academicians in the field of team working. Management development and training activities may be directed based on the findings. Social implications – The study suggests socially acceptable and practicable decision-making behaviors in organizations. It highlights suggestions for improving team effectiveness (TE). Hence, certain social implications are also there. Originality/value – The edge in this research over the previous studies is that earlier scholars, who examined member traits’ impact on TE, did not considered DMS as a predictor of TE. Certain researchers appealed for diagnosing the standard variable to measure the member style. This research is, therefore, unique in its kind as it is a pioneering effort to study the DMS in relation to team effectiveness. The focus on sample of Indian manufacturing executives also bears importance. Moreover, unlike other researches, it focuses on DMS rather than the decision-making process itself.