“One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer”

Janaina Macke,Kelly Menezes Crespi

doi:10.1177/2158244016642497

Abstract

This descriptive study aims at developing a collective competence instrument for Information Technology (IT) teams. It was carried out in the city of Farroupilha (Brazil), with IT teams of a large footwear manufacturing company. To analyze data, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and linear regression were used. The results indicate that four factors explain the collective competence in IT work teams: Proactivity, Communication, Cooperation, and Interpersonal Relationship. Proactivity was the factor with the highest intensity of association with the general perception of collective competence. This study aims, through its instrument for measuring collective competence, at contributing to the creation, development, and improvement of such competences.

Highlights

One issue that seems to be the center of the debate about competences is that, despite the concept’s apparent simplicity, its application is relatively complex (Ruas, 2005)
There is no consensus regarding its definition and how it is developed in organizations which is demonstrated by the many approaches and authors dealing with the subject
This study aims at developing an instrument to measure collective competence for Information Technology (IT) teams

Summary

Introduction

One issue that seems to be the center of the debate about competences is that, despite the concept’s apparent simplicity, its application is relatively complex (Ruas, 2005). The social perspective emphasizes the construction of a collective sense-making: the establishment of a common knowledge and the development of a team spirit of a set of individuals who are part of an organization Authors working with this perspective are Weick (1993), Weick and Roberts (1993), Sandberg (2000), Frohm (2002), Hansson (2003), Le Boterf (2003), and Boreham (2004) (Bonotto & Bitencourt, 2006). According to Bonotto, the notion of collective competence is based on the cognitive and emotional connection of team members, considering aspects, such as cohesion, social harmony, solidarity, complicity, and the homogeneity of profiles In this sense, the profile of group members must be taken into account when an appropriate collective action is needed, suggesting that individuals with interpersonal incompatibilities are not supposed to form part of the same team. This socialization process involves individual and collective learning, in which the shared knowledge becomes essential to the development and maintenance of collective competence (Sandberg, 2000)

Research Method

Findings

Objective