Team Context Research Articles

Pick your battles: Elite ski-jumpers’ motives affect world cup performance depending on competition type

According to motive disposition theory, athletes high in affiliation motivation should find team contexts more rewarding than individual contexts, and hence perform better in a team than in individual competitions. The opposite is predicted for athletes high in power motivation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to test these hypotheses in an elite sample (here: ski jumping athletes) based on archived worldcup competition data from both individual and team competitions on the one hand, and self-reported and projectively assessed motives on the other hand. Results confirmed that even at the highest levels of professional sports, individual differences in motives show systematic relationships to competition performance. First, the negative impact of athletes' projectively assessed affiliation motive in individual competitions was significantly attenuated in team competitions, indicating that these represent more favourable conditions for athletes high in affiliation. Second, the projectively assessed power motive exhibited an overall negative relationship to performance. In contrast, self-reported achievement and affiliation motives showed a positive relationhip to performance. These findings attest to the role of personality differences in predicting motor performance variability in elite sports.

What if we consider research teams as teams?

Research teams are an important means by which knowledge is generated in Health Professions Education (HPE). Although funding agencies encourage the formation of interdisciplinary and interprofessional research teams, we know little about how our interdisciplinary and interprofessional research teams are functioning, nor how best to ensure their success. Indeed, while HPE Scholarship Units and research environments have been the object of study, little work has been focused on research teams themselves. In this article, the authors propose that research teams should be studied as unique instantiations of teams where several individuals work together towards a common goal. Considering research teams as a team can encourage attention to how effective teams are built, supported, and celebrated, it can acknowledge that competent individuals may form incompetent teams, and it opens important avenues for future research. Turning our attention to better understanding how and when research teams thrive should support the development of more effective teams; resulting in reduced waste and redundancy, better mobilization of team members' time and skills, and enhanced knowledge generation. Considering research teams as teams, encourages an understanding that these teams require care, commitment, and effort to sustain them, and it acknowledges that pursuing research in a team context is both a collaborative and a social endeavour.

Future of Team Research: On Teamness and Dimensions of Variability in Teams

Teams are essential for most modern work. But who or what is a team? With today’s rapidly diverse team contexts and the diversity of research frameworks for studying them, there is no longer a definitive answer to this question. Thus, Cooke et al. introduced “teamness,” a construct through which future research can describe teamwork as a function of the many dimensions of variability between and within teams. In this multidisciplinary panel moderated by the two lead authors, we discuss the current state and future directions of team cognitive science in light of teamness as a guiding construct, along with its implications for human factors practice.

Team Factors in Ethical Decision Making: A Content Analysis of Interviews with Scientists and Engineers

The ethical decision making of researchers has historically been studied from an individualistic perspective. However, researchers rarely work alone, and they typically experience ethical dilemmas in a team context. In this mixed-methods study, 67 scientists and engineers working at a public R1 (very high research activity) university in the United States responded to a survey that asked whether they had experienced or observed an ethical dilemma while working in a research team. Among these, 30 respondents agreed to be interviewed about their experiences using a think-aloud protocol. A total of 40 unique ethical incidents were collected across these interviews. Qualitative data from interview transcripts were then systematically content-analyzed by multiple independent judges to quantify the overall ethicality of team decisions as well as several team characteristics, decision processes, and situational factors. The results demonstrated that team formalistic orientation, ethical championing, and the use of ethical decision strategies were all positively related to the overall ethicality of team decisions. Additionally, the relationship between ethical championing and overall team decision ethicality was moderated by psychological safety and moral intensity. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Leveraging social supports to cope with sales complexities and facilitate value-based selling in the cross-functional sales team contexts: JD-R perspective

In today's dynamic industrial market, adoption of a value-based selling (VBS) has emerged as a crucial approach, which forces companies to establish cross-functional sales teams. Yet how sales task and team complexities, as challenging/hindrance job demands, require team social supports, as job resources, to buffer against them in implementing VBS, remains an under-researched topic. Based on job demands-resources (JD-R) model, we investigate how sales task and sales team complexities moderate the link between social supports and VBS. Findings reveal that, as challenge job demands, demand ambiguity and task non-routineness positively moderate the instrumental/emotional support–VBS link and the instrumental support–VBS link, respectively. Whereas, as hindrance job demands, team instability negatively moderates the instrumental/emotional support-VBS link, and role ambiguity negatively moderates the instrumental support-VBS link. Additionally, team heterogeneity positively moderates the instrumental support-VBS link while negatively moderates the emotional support-VBS link. The study considers the roles of social supports (job resources) in shaping team VBS behavior under different sales complexities (job demands), not only contributing to the VBS literature by extending the research context to B2B cross-functional sales teams, also providing a insights on how to implement VBS and enhance performance via social supports in various sales situational complexities.

Experiences with a national team-based learning program for advance care planning in pediatric palliative care

BackgroundAdvance Care Planning (ACP) enables patients and relatives to define and share values, goals and preferences for future medical treatment and care. The IMplementing Pediatric Advance Care Planning Toolkit (IMPACT), developed in the Netherlands, is a method for conducting ACP in pediatric palliative care. Healthcare professionals who were trained to use IMPACT, indicated their need for ongoing support to practice ACP communication skills optimally over time. Therefore, we developed a team-based learning program aimed at teaching participants how to transfer knowledge on ACP, continue practicing ACP communication skills and reflect on ACP conversations within their own team context. The aim of this study was to evaluate the program’s transfer of knowledge as well as the professionals’ experience and team reflection on ACP.MethodsA one-day IMPACT train-the-trainer course was developed and a selection of healthcare professionals (facilitators) from pediatric palliative care teams (PPCTs) from all seven Dutch university hospitals and the specialized Center for Pediatric Oncology were invited to participate. Hereafter, facilitators were asked to transfer their course-acquired knowledge to their team members (learners) by organizing two coaching-on-the-job sessions. A mixed-methods design, combining questionnaires and field notes, was used to evaluate the level of knowledge transfer and team reflection achieved.ResultsEighteen healthcare professionals in the role of facilitator participated in the train-the-trainer course. In seven PPCTs one (n = 3) or two (n = 4) coaching-on-the-job session(s) took place, attended by 29 and 17 learners, respectively. In the questionnaires, 11 facilitators indicated that they had to some extent transferred acquired knowledge to their team members as intended. Sixteen out of 21 learners who participated in at least one coaching-on-the-job session, reported (somewhat) increased self-confidence for conducting ACP conversations. The reported main strength of the program was practicing with/learning from colleagues whereas dealing with workload and variation in existing ACP skills within PPCTs need more attention.ConclusionsThe newly developed team-based learning program resulted in intended transfer of knowledge and methodical reflection on ACP in coaching-on-the-job sessions in most participating PPCTs. Planning coaching-on-the-job sessions regarding ACP in pediatric palliative care with multiple healthcare professionals is challenging and needs more emphasis in the training.

A Multi-Level Investigation of the Effect of Servant Leadership on Proactivity in a Team Context

A Multi-Level Investigation of the Effect of Servant Leadership on Proactivity in a Team Context

Toward a theory of team resource mobilization: A systematic review and model of sustained agile team effectiveness

The notion of resources is central to many theories in HRM and applied psychology. Prominent resource-based theories in HRM tend to focus on issues related to accessing resources at the firm-level (e.g., resource-based view of the firm) or the employee-level (e.g., job demands - resources theory). However, at the team-level, the critical issue is often a matter of resource mobilization rather than resource access. Previous research has discovered that a team's ability to use resources effectively is indicative of collective intelligence. Instead of explaining this ability with a latent collective intelligence factor, we argue that teams can develop this ability by using agile work practices (AWPs). Through a systematic review of the agile team literature, we describe how agile teams mobilize resources embedded in the internal and external environment to achieve sustained team effectiveness. Generalizing beyond the agile team context, we propose a model that introduces team-internal and team-external resource mobilization as unique predictors of sustained team effectiveness. We further propose that resource mobilization is strengthened by challenge demands (e.g., work complexity) and weakened by hindrance demands (e.g., role conflict). We hope our model of sustained team effectiveness inspires future research into how teams can perform effectively across multiple episodes, without this going at the cost of members' health and well-being.

Identifying as lesbian, gay, and bisexual at work: atemporal associations between sexual identity disclosure and work team experiences

PurposeAlthough sexual identity disclosure in the workplace can be related to heightened adversity for lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) employees, disclosure can also serve as an avenue for LGB employees to attain additional resources. Much of the work done in today’s organizations is done in team-based structures, making it likely that LGB individuals disclose to members of their work teams. However, very limited prior research has examined the associations of sexual identity disclosure within work team experiences. This paper aims to take a first step in addressing this gap in research on the experiences of LGB employees in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachThis study takes a first step toward addressing this gap by examining the associations between LGB identity disclosure and critical team-specific attitudes and behaviors (i.e., trust in team, commitment to team, conflict with team, withdrawal from team) and the atemporal indirect role of perceived LGB identity support from the team through a cross-sectional survey of 159 employees.FindingsResults demonstrated that perceptions of a supportive LGB team climate atemporally mediated the association between disclosure and relevant workplace variables. Specifically, disclosure of sexual identity to one’s work team is directly and indirectly, through perceived identity support, positively associated with trust and commitment toward the team. Furthermore, disclosure was indirectly, through perceived identity support, negatively associated with conflict and withdrawal from the team. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.Originality/valueThe results of this study highlight the importance of perceived identity support when individuals disclosure their sexual orientation in a team context.

Investigating the impact of coach behaviours and coach-athlete relationships on psychological safety

ABSTRACT The aims of the present study were two-fold: (a) to examine the links between two sets of perceived coach behaviours (supportive and controlling) and psychological safety, as well as (b) to explore whether the quality of the coach-athlete relationship explains the link between the two sets of coach behaviours and psychological safety. A total of 295 Turkish athletes (42% female and 58% male) in team sports with a mean age of 21.69 (±4.71) completed a multi-section questionnaire that measured the three main variables of the study, namely, coach behaviours, coach-athlete relationship quality, and psychological safety. Structural equation modelling revealed that both perceived coach behaviours (supportive and thwarting/controlling) and coach-athlete relationship quality predicted athletes’ psychological safety in their team. Moreover, the quality of the coach-athlete relationship explained the association between athletes’ perceptions of coach behaviours and psychological safety within the team context. The findings of this study contribute to growing research that examines the processes by which psychological safety can be nurtured in sports. While evidence thus far suggests that a coach orchestrates the environment, the findings of this study would seem to suggest that athletes, through good-quality relationships with their coaches, can stimulate the creation of a psychologically safe environment. The findings are discussed with a particular emphasis on future research directions and practical applications.

Digital product development team external knowledge processes and ambidexterity: a multi-mediation analysis of the absorptive capacity framework

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the mechanisms of absorptive capacity (ACAP) in the specific context of digital product development teams. More precisely, it explores the process of internalizing and utilizing external knowledge from sources outside the team to promote the development of innovative ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs the ACAP framework and directs specific attention to the concept of knowledge assimilation, encompassing comprehension, documentation and dissemination. Seventy-five employees of one of Indonesia’s largest commercial banks were surveyed about two initiatives they participated in. To this end, 12 research hypotheses are formulated, tested and analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsKnowledge comprehension, documentation and dissemination are found to mediate between knowledge acquisition and knowledge exploitation. At the same time, the relationship between knowledge acquisition and knowledge transformation is mediated by knowledge comprehension and dissemination, but not documentation. The authors also found that knowledge transformation positively mediates between knowledge comprehension and dissemination on the one hand and ambidexterity on the other hand. Importantly, knowledge exploitation negatively mediates between knowledge comprehension and documentation on the one hand and ambidexterity on the other hand.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by offering nuanced insights into the interplay of knowledge assimilation processes within ACAP, particularly in the context of digital product development. The identification of mediating factors and their impacts on ambidexterity provides valuable implications for both theory and practice in this domain.

Effects of Demands and Resources in the Team Context

This study adds a social layer to the job demands-resources theory, applying social comparison and social identity theory to investigate the motivational and health impairment paths in the social context of teams. Specifically, within-team, between-team, and congruence/incongruence effects were tested. As predicted by theory, at within-team level, demands were found to be positively related to health impairments, and resources to motivation. At between-team level, only autonomy showed positive health effects. This study contributes to the scarce research on team-level effects, highlighting the role of the team context in shaping employee experiences of health and motivation.

Creative self-enhancement in a team context: The role of gender, creative self-concept, and trait hypercompetitiveness.

Creative self-enhancement in a team context: The role of gender, creative self-concept, and trait hypercompetitiveness.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Teamwork Through the Team Context, Morale, and Norms From the Team Members´ Perspective

Organisations face the challenge of adapting to rapid change in a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). They need to seize opportunities faster than their competitors and are therefore increasingly relying on teams to tackle complex tasks and solve challenging problems. The aim of this paper is to identify team members' perceptions on the scales of Context, Morale and Norms of the Team Assessment Survey II (TAS-II) in 85 Slovak work teams - important for effective collaboration. Examination of responses to the individual items using “Heartbeat analysis” revealed relatively fewer favourable votes for all but 2 of 9 items on the Norms scale, for Conflicts and Celebration (Morale scale) and Assumptions (Context scale), in contrast to the Safeguard and Accountability (Norms scale) and Understanding (Context scale) items Proud, Cooperation and Trust from the Morale scale. We discuss the possible causes. The results provide new insights and help to understand how important organisational context, team morale and norms are for the effectiveness of teamwork, as they can promote resilience, sustainable development and competitiveness.

Playing Politics: An Upper Echelons' Perspective on Political Behaviour During Acquisition Decision Making

AbstractThe pre‐deal phase of an acquisition is complex, with high stakes and high uncertainty. Consequently, acquisition decision making can be seen as an inherently political process. While political behaviour is a central concept in organizational theory, and despite its inevitability during acquisition decision making owing to the contested nature of the pre‐deal phase, there is a shortage of theory and evidence concerning the antecedents, consequences and moderators of political behaviour. To address these theoretical shortcomings, we develop and test a theoretical model of political behaviour focusing on the psychological context of the top management team (TMT). We argue that while political behaviour risks undermining acquisition performance, the degree of board involvement during the pre‐deal phase can enable some TMTs to attenuate the damaging effects of political behaviour. Further, we theorize two key antecedents variously fuelling and constraining political behaviour. We contend that while TMT cohesion reduces political behaviour, cognitive diversity increases political behaviour while suppressing the potential for TMT cohesion to prevent political behaviour. We test our theoretical model using a field‐based sample of 109 UK acquisitions, combining multiple informants with objective secondary data.

Psychological safety in an ECMO retrieval team: a qualitative study to inform improvement

IntroductionIn healthcare teams, psychological safety is associated with improved performance, communication, collaboration and patient safety. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) retrieval teams are multidisciplinary teams that initiate ECMO therapy for patients...

Virtual Reality in Cultural Heritage: A Setup for Balzi Rossi Museum

This study presents the creation of a virtual reality experience for the Museo Preistorico dei Balzi Rossi e Zona Archeologica (hence Balzi Rossi Museum) commemorating the centenary of Prince Albert I Grimaldi’s archaeological work at the site. The project aims to preserve and convey the site’s heritage through advanced VR technology. Photogrammetry was used for 3D reconstruction of the entire Balzi Rossi coastal cliffs, including the notable “Caviglione” and “Florestano” caves, known for their upper Paleolithic rock engravings. Two subsequent development phases produced the final public VR experience, incorporating Nanite technology for enhanced visual fidelity. This advancement resulted in a more detailed and immersive VR experience, presenting the Balzi Rossi cliffs across different historical periods, including the Würm glaciation. Key to this phase was optimizing the VR experience for performance, focusing on stable frame rates and minimizing motion sickness, and integrating a multi-lingual interface for broader accessibility. Since November 2023, the VR setup at Balzi Rossi Museum has been an educational and interactive feature enabling visitors to virtually explore the site’s history. This study aims to describe a process for optimizing and enabling the creation of VR experiences while maintaining a high polygon count within the context of small teams.

Does inclusive leadership influence employee innovation? A multilevel investigation

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to investigate the cross-level effects and mechanisms of inclusive leadership on employee innovation in team contexts, and further explore the boundary conditions of inclusive leadership.Design/methodology/approachThis study collected data from 237 leader-member dyads in 60 teams of Chinese firms. The research utilized multilevel linear models and multilevel structural equation models in the R language to test the hypothesized model.FindingsThe findings suggest that inclusive leadership has a positive impact on both employee incremental and radical innovation. Team psychological safety and employee role breadth self-efficacy mediate the effects. Employee risk avoidance propensity negatively moderates the mediating role of role breadth self-efficacy in the relationship between inclusive leadership and incremental innovation.Practical implicationsLeaders should pay attention to team psychological safety, employee role breadth self-efficacy and employee individual risk avoidance propensity that influence employee innovation to maximize the effectiveness of inclusive leadership.Originality/valueThis research expanded the level of analysis from individual to team, exploring cross-level effects and mechanisms of inclusive leadership on employee innovation in team contexts, and clarified the effectiveness conditions of inclusive leadership.

Contextual determinants impacting final year nursing students' emergency team communication during deteriorating patient simulations: A grounded theory study

BackgroundAbility to focus on development of students' team communication and non-technical skills may be reduced in content saturated nursing curricula. Even when communication and simulation-based education is provided, students' utilisation of non-technical skills remains challenging. Although simulation is a recognised means to learn communication skills, little is known about nursing students' team communication in simulated settings. ObjectiveTo understand the process by which final year undergraduate nursing students communicate in simulated team emergencies. DesignUsing constructivist grounded theory, data was collected using semi-structured interviews and student observations and analysed using constant comparative analysis. SettingSimulation laboratories in one university nursing school in Australia. Participants21 final year nursing students in seven teams. MethodsData were gathered from interviews and video observations of final year nursing students during simulated team emergencies. ResultsInterview data and observations of video-recordings revealed contextual determinants that influence communication within teams: the simulation context, the student context and the team context. Team member characteristics, such as cultural and linguistic background, life experiences, gender and age, the ability to shift from leadership to followership as well as environmental factors such as mask wearing and simulation fidelity, contributed to uncertainty in communicating that nursing team effectiveness. ConclusionsImprovement of contextual conditions necessitates implementation of supportive strategies. These include development of educational initiatives, and further research in experiential learning as a modality for learners to experience team communication. Further, simulation context, student context and team context are important considerations. Meeting clinical communication learning needs of students allows better preparation to care for deteriorating patients as graduates.

THE IMPACT OF COMMUNICATION ON LEADERSHIP: A SIGNIFICANT REVIEW

Leadership is vital for organizational growth, necessitating examination of core competencies like communication enabling effective leadership especially in turbulent times. This review consolidates research on linkages between leadership communication and emergent leadership outcomes. While predominant focus remains leader-centric, literature reveals complex bidirectional communication flows across hierarchical levels influencing leadership effectiveness and acceptance. However, consolidated clarity regarding distinguishing facets of communication fundamental for impactful leadership remains lacking. This significant review synthesizes multi-level research connecting communication behaviors and processes with leadership emergence and performance spanning interpersonal, team and organizational contexts via conceptual analysis. A framework integrating competencies characterizing distinguished leader-communicators is also put forth based on evidence aggregated. Analysis points to key aspects ranging from conveying cultural empathy to elevating collective identity through inclusive discourse that distinguished leadership communication fundamentally binds leadership vision to contextual interactions driving performance. Findings also critically highlight need for added communication dimensions encompassing restorative justice where adversity erodes leader legitimacy. This seminal review definitively puts forth communication as the core binding element flowing through formal and informal leadership development conduits that ultimately nourishes organizational resilience fit to navigate unprecedented turbulence. The integrated framework crystallizes distinguished communication-based leadership competencies redressing complex sociotechnical mechanisms that can unambiguously advance scholarship and practice on optimizing human centered, ethical and digitally-enabled leader messaging crucial for collective advancement.