Industrial Team Research Articles

The need to belong: Relational coping strategies in the face of coworker envy

We develop a theoretical framework delineating employees' relational coping strategies in the face of co-worker envy. Drawing upon belongingness theory, we explicate why and how the perception of being envied prompts employees to engage in social reconnection behaviors inside and outside of their work teams. We propose that in-group versus out-group targeted relational coping strategies are linked to different foci of proactivity. In particular, prosocial helping in the face of co-worker envy increases team-oriented proactivity, whereas network extension leads to career-oriented proactivity. We further posit that social integration in the team moderates envied employees’ relational coping strategies and subsequent proactivity. We test these hypotheses in a multi-source survey among teams in various industries and firm sizes and find support for the mediating mechanism. Furthermore, the results of a multilevel analysis suggest that high social integration in the team strengthens the indirect effect of being envied on team-oriented proactivity via prosocial helping behaviors.

“Show, Don’t Tell”: Pious Visual Culture in Pakistani Dramas

AbstractThis article explores how the Pakistan television drama industry mediates collective notions of piety through visual registers. Explicit religious discourse is tightly regulated in the industry, and producers themselves often disavow producing religious content. However, the leakiness of production practices generates religious visual idioms that are transparently circulated and taken up by audiences. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in Karachi with production teams in this culture industry, I argue that dramas are a central yet overlooked feature of religious publics’ formations in the digitalizing Pakistani mediascape. Focus on religious media in the anthropology of Islam has treated publics as mostly engaged with traditional sources of authority. Attending to scenes from three popular dramas—Meri Zaat Zarra-e-Benishan (2009), Shehr-e-Zaat (2012), and Khaani (2017)—elucidates how visuality is a central facet of how cross-media interactions enregister piety. Observations of cinematographic negotiations and reflections by creators on the ambiguity and efficacy of pious visuality contextualize how religious scenes in these productions come together. While the visuality of prayer scenes across these dramas emphasizes private personal piety, tracing how these images are scripted, depicted, and circulated online offers insights into how religious digital publics are shaped in contemporary Pakistan.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN WORK TEAMS IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY

Conflict in work teams is a natural occurrence due to differences in individual backgrounds, views, and preferences. However, conflicts that are not handled properly can cause detrimental impacts, such as decreased productivity, quality, and job satisfaction. This study aims to identify the most effective conflict management strategies in work teams in the creative industry and analyse the factors that influence them. This research is qualitative in nature. Data collection techniques included listening and recording important information to conduct data analysis through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The study concluded that effective conflict management strategies are essential to improve productivity, quality, and job satisfaction in teams in the creative industry. Open and honest communication, collaboration, compromise, and mediation are some of the effective conflict management strategies in the context of the creative industry.

The supervisor's paradox: Why different psychological contract types lead to varied supervisory mentoring

Abstract Supervisory mentoring represents a type of social dilemma called a delayed social fence. This study adopts a social dilemma perspective to examine how the three types of psychological contracts (balanced, relational, and transactional) perceived by supervisors differently influence their mentoring. Drawn on social dilemma perspective, we proposed that supervisory mentoring would be more likely to occur when supervisors perceived benefit return from their mentoring provision in a timely manner. The results obtained from a sample of 596 supervisor–subordinate matched data from the self-reported questionnaires completed by 225 sales agent teams in the insurance industry in Taiwan support our predictions. Consistent with the social dilemma perspective, supervisory mentoring is more likely among subordinates whose supervisors perceived balanced psychological contract, while supervisory mentoring is less likely among subordinates whose supervisors perceived transactional psychological contract. Furthermore, we found that supervisory mentoring is positively related to subordinate performance. Our mentor-centric multilevel framework helps identify the social dilemma nature underlying mentoring provision, and verify the positive influence of mentoring on protégé performance.

Opinion of the industry commission (concerning the real estate appraisal report) asevidence in administrative and court-administrative proceedings

The work analyzes the opinion of the committee of the industry team of the Association of Appraisers property appraisers, who might execute an opinion containing a conclusion saying whether the estimate performed by an expert (a property appraiser) in the administrative proceedings may or may not be the basis for determining the amount of compensation for expropriated property. The presence of such an opinion in administrative and administrative proceedings, as well as the criteria under which it should be subject to verification, were highlighted.

The consequences of social category faultlines in high- and low-context cultures: A comparative study of Brazil and Germany.

The present study sheds light on how differences between high- and low-context cultures influence the consequences of social category faultlines. To develop our theoretical arguments, we integrate ideas from faultline theory and Hall's theory on cultural contexts. We test our hypotheses using survey data from 54 teams in the banking industry in Germany, a nation with a low-context culture, and in Brazil, a country with a high-context culture. In line with our theorizing, the study results reveal that whether social category faultline strength stimulates task conflict and is thus detrimental to team performance depends on the societal culture in which teams operate. Specifically, we observe that social category faultlines stimulate task conflict and thus have a negative indirect effect on team performance in Germany's low-context culture, while we find no such effects in the high-context culture of Brazil. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study and close with some suggestions for future research.

Does cultural intelligence matter within cross-cultural teams in hospitality industry? Understanding the role of team dissimilarity climate

Does cultural intelligence matter within cross-cultural teams in hospitality industry? Understanding the role of team dissimilarity climate

Integrating Woody Biochar, Women, and Youth in Maine’s Bioenergy Industry: Benefits and Challenges

Over 30% of Maine’s forestry industry is made up of women, with women in the minority comprising a small part of this. Improving representation in this industry can serve as a way for more women to enter the industry, to the benefit of their own professional paths and addressing climate change. Here, we share an effective approach to increase the number of women in the bioenergy sector, with an example of programming that centers mentoring and targets women in underrepresented groups. We found that approximately 29% of women hold executive or leadership positions in Maine companies related to bioenergy. We also discuss current strategies for improving gender-diverse teams in the bioenergy industry and increasing women’s presence in this industry. Presented as a case study, our training program had two goals: (1) a focus on the benefits of biochar and its importance in boosting Maine’s economy and mitigating climate change; and (2) using gender-diverse teams to encourage the next generation of girls and young women. Research universities are well-positioned to offer similar programs, and thus play a critical role in increasing and retaining the number of young women in forestry, agricultural, renewable energy, sustainable materials, and technologies programs. Our experience illustrates that gender-diverse teams can lead to better collaboration, innovation, and teamwork in the bioenergy and agricultural industry. This is the dynamic environment that can foster the relationship-building and mentoring necessary to retain underrepresented groups in the industry.

USING KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT LITERATURE

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are one of the prominent concepts used for performance measurement, which is an integral part of project management. KPIs are widely and effectively used to monitor, measure, and evaluate the performance and production of project management team in the construction industry. It is therefore necessary for construction projects to complete the project in the budget, time, quality, safety, and satisfaction specified in the contract. This paper provides a review to explore KPIs used in construction project management to measure the performance of construction projects. A comprehensive review was performed to compile KPIs proposed by relevant studies from the Scopus database. Based on the comprehensive literature review, performance of cost, time/schedule and quality, client satisfaction, and effective communication were identified as the most important KPIs in the construction project management domain. Overall, this study presents insights into KPIs and can give an idea to identify trends of KPIs, which is of great importance for the construction project management in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and quality.

RealEngineering: Space – Designing the Community-Applied Space Engineering Program

Engineering education is still largely offered through traditional, content-heavy approaches, with key technical topics in individual courses separate from those that emphasize the practice of the engineering profession, resulting in fragmented student workloads. Traditional assessments do not accommodate students’ unique, diverse learning perspectives. These issues fail to recognize that engineering is above all else a community-of-practice, requiring practitioners to demonstrate innovation and resilience to address today’s complex challenges in sustainable ways.
 More recent programs adopt project-based pedagogies, that engage learners in engineering problems that affect their communities. This paper proposes taking the project focus further, with a structure that allows faculty and students to collaborate on real-world engineering work that is not just done for, but also with, the community, and with sustainability built in. Such an approach establishes an overarching connection between the “work” of an engineer and what it is to be a future engineer for society.
 The authors are developing a 4-year space engineering program proposal, where students from all years will collaborate to design, build, launch and operate a cubesat for, and with, the community as the full focus of their 4-year degree. A six-week pilot slice of the program took place in the summer of 2021 with 20 students from all undergraduate year groups collaborating on a community-focussed, sustainable small space-mission design activity to change power dynamics around water quality data in northern and indigenous Canadian communities. Students worked in organizational teams, with structured teambuilding and collaboration time, focussed working sessions from subject-matter-experts, microcredential learning and unstructured team time to advance their project. This culminated in a mission concept review with a team of expert, industry and community partners.
 This paper presents some of the key ideas that informed the program, and the tools used to frame the learning journey in an undergraduate engineering degree. The pilot demonstrated students’ readiness to take on complex, unstructured challenges and organize themselves, and the potential to offer undergraduate learning spaces that have a very different connection to community and global issues.

An analysis of engineering students' risk perception to support process safety learning process

Multidisciplinary teams often undertake engineering projects beyond their original discipline involving different kinds of risks. Risk perception is an inherent and embedded part of the decision-making process, which depends on the personal background and instinctive attitudes or behaviors. Process safety and risk analysis training for engineers, and education for engineering students, provide valuable tools seeking safer workplaces; however, personnel’s risk perception is commonly neglected. This paper analyzes the risk perception and appetite of undergraduate engineering students in Colombia based on a survey strategy and a weighted-approach following a Factor Analysis. The survey considered financial, social, physical, and professional risks, and four main reasons for risk-taking or risk-avoiding actions. The Factor Analysis allows us to classify the students tendency as risk-averse o risk-prone, and propose didactic teaching planning using a modular toolbox for process safety education, based on skills identified for junior engineers in Colombian Oil & Gas Industry. A total of 465 engineering students from 12 Colombian universities completed the survey in 2016. The results suggest that risk perception depends on the location, possible risk training, and accessible information. The obtained factors allow describing the students’ overall risk profiles, which can serve as an input for refining the content and curriculum content of current engineering programs regarding process safety. Improving the training of risk management in the engineering curriculum will benefit upcoming multidisciplinary teams in high-risk industries.

The Impact of Scenario Planning and Leadership on Non-Financial Performance in the Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) Industry

This study explores the impact of strategic management and leadership styles on non-financial performance in multi-level marketing companies. This study was carried out in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, using judgmental and snowball sampling methods. A total of 155 valid samples were gathered, and the data were analyzed using SPSS.The findings indicate that macro scenario, micro scenario, and transformational leadership significantly positively impact non-financial performance, whereas transactional leadership negatively influences non-financial performance. The industry scenario does not have a significant relationship with non-financial performance. These findings assist researchers and management teams in the MLM industry in better understanding factors contributing to better non-financial performance. Keywords: Industry Scenario, Macro Scenario, Micro Scenario, Multi-level Marketing (MLM), Scenario Planning, Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership.

A Review on Issues Confronted By Safety Team In Managing Safety Practices At Malaysian Construction Industry

There are several issues in managing safety practices in Malaysian construction industry which lead to project delay, cost overrun and greatly causes increase in of injuries and accident, not only to workers, but also affected to public nearby. Managing safety practices are widely known as responsibilities of safety team compared to other organizations involved in project management of construction industry. The purpose of this study is to analyze the issues confronted by safety teams in the construction industry in managing safety practices. As a consequence, the researcher has devised two (2) objectives in order to accomplish the study’s purpose; 1) to explore the role of safety team in managing safety practices in construction industry, and, 2) to identify the issues confronted by safety team in managing safety practices in Malaysian construction industry. By focusing on the issue, the safety team will have a better understanding of the situation and will be able to deal with it throughout the construction project. This study provides issues encountered in the Malaysian construction industry when it comes to managing safety practices. The issues recognized will serve as a basis for the safety team and assist them spot unnecessary dangers and risks. The conclusions of this study will raise awareness and assist safety teams in comprehending issues that emerge in the construction industry.

Operational Level Big Data Management Capabilities and Innovation: A Case Study of Hotel Industry of Lahore, Pakistan

The computerization of business environment in developing countries like Pakistan specifically in hotel sectors raised the cutthroat competition and focused on the function of operational level big data management capabilities for knowledge creation to enhance radical, incremental and ambidextrous innovation. The study is supported with primary data collected from the operational level staff of hotel industry through survey questionnaire. The research sample includes 4 and 5 stars hotels located in Lahore city of Pakistan. The collected data is processed through Smart PLS-SEM after entering in SPSS. The results of the study recommend the presence of skilled operational staff is significant for creation of knowledge and development of radical, incremental and ambidextrous innovation in hotel industry. The knowledge creation provides cost effective ways and procedure to introduce new facilities and comforts to customers by utilizing their feedback through the availability of big data. The study contributes to the body of knowledge the impact of mediating variable of knowledge creation between innovation and skilled operational team of hotel industry.

THE ROLE AND OPPORTUNITIES OF INSURANCE IN ROBOTICS INDUSTRY

Purpose: The study examined the role and opportunities of insurance in robotics industry.
 Methodology: The research methodology used in this study was based on a critical literature review of available studies on insurance and robotics industry in different countries across the world. This research method was preferred since it is quite reliable, cost-saving and time-saving as compared to primary research methods. This study relied more on online journals, articles and published work from libraries since they provide easy access to secondary information/data.
 Findings: Generally, the researcher noted that most of the studies failed to explain the role of insurance in the robotics industry but emphasized more on the opportunities of insurance in the robotics industry. The results revealed that the reviewed studies had conceptual and contextual gaps. This is because some studies discussed on a specific line of insurance firm or a different firm other than insurance but has adopted the digital innovations in the robotics industry. While other studies discussed more on the effects or impacts of application of RPA in the insurance firms which is a resultant outcome or benefit but failed to clearly outline the role and opportunities of insurance in the insurance industry.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This study will be of great importance to the management teams in the insurance industry by providing good insights on the available opportunities in the robotics industry that insurance firms can benefit from. On the other hand, policymakers in the insurance sector will be benefit from this study since it explains on the key role that policymakers and insurance regulatory authorities play in the adoption of RPA in the insurance firms. This will help them in implementing better policies that promote technological developments in the insurance sector. Further, the study will also be of academic value to the researchers and scholars by adding more insights to the knowledge base of insurance and robotics industry since its generally still scarce. The identified research gaps from the reviewed studies will also motivate the researchers and scholars to carry out more studies on insurance and robotics industry. Especially on the role of insurance in the robotics industry which stood out as the main research gap in this study.

Strategies to Overcome the Turnover Intention and Job Hopping among Women Quantity Surveyors

Turnover is the mechanism by which employees leave a business or organization and are replaced by that company or organization. Many people face problems and challenges in daily life especially in their work. There has already been a dramatic growth in the women in the labor force in companies over the past few years. This will lead to less productivity of work and the organization’s performance. This study aim is to explore the women quantity surveyor’s perspectives on job hopping and turnover intentions in order to help employers of quantity surveying firms by lowering employee turnover. This study employed a quantitative approach. 144 questionnaires were distributed to quantity surveyors in a Selangor consulting firm and 76 respondents the questionnaires. The data were subsequently analysed using SPSS Version 26. The objective of this study is to examine the strategies to overcome the turnover intention and job hopping among women quantity surveyors. The result reveals that work-life balance is the most effective strategy for preventing job hopping and turnover intent among women quantity surveyors. It demonstrates that the work-life balance must be well-balanced in order to improve job performance through increased job satisfaction. The results of this study could help current and future industry teams understand how important work-life balance is for women employees to be happy at work, which will improve the organization's performance and reduce the likelihood that they will switch jobs or leave the company.

Why leaders are important for cross-functional teams: Moderating role of supportive leadership on knowledge hiding

Knowledge exchange has been a critical factor for cross-functional teams to master different tasks and problems and promote innovation. Cross-functional teams rely on the direct cooperation of senior employees from different departments, often with converging aims, leadership, culture, and communication. However, with the ever-increasing complexity in business decisions, decision-makers invested in the manufacturing industry sector need the support of a diverse team as an advisory tool to put well-thought measures into effect. The aim of this study is to analyze how cross-functional teams in commerce and industry rely on different key performance indicators to limit knowledge hiding. This paper conducted a quantitative study of 130 individual participants working in cross-functional teams in Germany. It also adapted multiple linear regression and used a conceptual model impacting the relationship between team performance, trust, and organizational citizenship behavior, including the moderating role of leadership. The disruptive effect of knowledge hiding was contextualized. The results indicate that team performance is directly affected by the selected variables. Furthermore, it is limited to knowledge hiding, while trust and the use of adequate leadership help to retain knowledge retention. Lastly, organizational citizenship behavior was found as the paramount factor, supported by individually tailored leadership methods, to foster information exchange and thereby promote organization-wide learning.

Going by the Book: Rule-Following in Primary Care Teams

Coordinated rule following is often important for ensuring consistent performance by execution-oriented teams in high-reliability industries. In health care, clinical practice guidelines codify best practices as rules for providers to follow. We examine primary care teams that manage new-onset type II diabetes, where diagnosis is based on an abnormally elevated hemoglobin A1c lab value. Using nationwide electronic health record data that include more than 12 million visits by over 1 million patients from 2013 to 2018, we apply a regression discontinuity design—with hemoglobin A1c as the running variable—and a difference-in-discontinuity strategy to compare providers’ rule-following responses to the diabetes diagnosis threshold across different team characteristics, including size, concentration, predominant provider type, and familiarity. We measure team performance on rule following and clinical outcomes, including diabetes diagnosis, prescribing of medications, diabetes monitoring, and guideline-concordant disease control. We find that teams that are larger and those with effort more diffusely distributed across members are more responsive to the diabetes diagnosis threshold than are solo providers. We find no meaningful differences in team performance based on whether the predominant provider is a physician or a nurse practitioner, nor do we see an impact of team familiarity. Health care managers can consider organizing large or diffuse teams—where each member contributes meaningfully but not exhaustively—to promote rule following and manage chronic diseases more effectively.

Human and Social Capital and Ethnically Heterogeneous Founding Teams in High-tech Industries

This paper focuses on ethnic homogeneity/heterogeneity in founding teams. We ask whether ethnic heterogeneity of founding teams in high-tech firms is advantageous compared to founding teams with ethnic homogeneity. Based on a population of 1,217 high-tech ventures in two industries, life sciences and information technology, we examine the relationships between founding team ethnic heterogeneity and social and human capital proxies. The findings indicate that heterogeneous co-ethnic founding teams (e.g., ventures set up by entrepreneurs from different ethnic groups) have higher proxies of human and social capital than homogeneous Jewish or Arab founding teams, in general, and especially in life sciences, except for variables related to fundraising, where Jewish ventures retain an advantage in both industries. Therefore, co-ethnic founding teams are characterized by functional diversification and network mechanisms of human and social capital that are advantageous for high-tech ventures. We conclude with theoretical and policy implications.

Alliance Motives among Manufacturing SMES: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

This study was designed to investigate the effect of environmental-based motives on firm performance. The study targeted manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises based in Kenya whose performance has been negatively affected by high industry competition, low technology uptake, and industry regulation. The study was geared towards establishing the environmental-based motives pushing and pulling manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises toward strategic alliance formation. To this end, the study was set to investigate whether compliance with government regulation, the need to grow market share, and the need to increase customer base motivates manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya to form strategic alliances. The target population for the study consisted of 74 SMEs and the study adopted descriptive and explanatory research designs and collected data from company CEOs or senior managers. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the survey data. The study findings indicated that environmental-based motives have a positive and significant effect on the performance of manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya (Adj R2 = 0.484). Based on these findings, the study concluded that environmental-based motives of compliance with the government regulation, market share, and customer base motivate manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises to form strategic alliances and that these motives have a positive and significant effect on firm performance. The study contributed to the general body of knowledge by bridging the contextual and empirical gaps identified after the literature review. The study recommends that top management teams in the manufacturing industry should map environmental-based motives and align such motives to specific aspects of their value chain activities.