The development and validation of an Army team resilience measure

Given the demanding nature of its mission, the collective units of the Army, not just individual Soldiers, need to be able to withstand and adapt to a wide range of challenges. Therefore, it is important to be able to effectively assess resilience at the team-level and to understand the factors that can enable or diminish it. This article describes the development of a construct valid and psychometrically-sound measure of team resilience - the Team Resilience Scale (TRS). A theoretical framework of team resilience and related constructs is introduced. We then summarize the procedures for developing the TRS and related constructs, providing evidence of the content validity of the TRS. Finally, we assess the psychometric soundness and construct validity of the TRS in two Army field studies. Our analyses support the convergent validity of items and indicate that the measure can be used to examine three first-order dimensions of resilience (i.e., physical, affective, and cognitive) or as a single overall resilience composite. Results show the TRS was positively related to team performance in both samples and it co-varied with stressors and team actions. Practical recommendations for use of the measure and suggestions for future research are offered.

The Role of Cohesion and Productivity Norms in Performance and Social Effectiveness of Work Groups and Informal Subgroups

The study addresses the direct and indirect relationship of group cohesion and productivity norm with the perceived performance effectiveness (plan and current tasks implementation and performance success in challenging conditions) and social effectiveness (satisfaction with the group/subgroup and psychological comfort in the group/subgroup) at the levels of work groups and informal subgroups. Thirty-nine work groups from fifteen Russian organizations of different activity profiles, namely services, trade, and manufacturing, took part in the study. The vast majority of them were characterized by relatively low task interdependence. Within the work groups, informal subgroups (from one to three per group) were identified. The cohesion of groups and subgroups was positively and significantly stronger associated with their social effectiveness than with performance effectiveness. The cohesion of subgroups was also indirectly related to social effectiveness of the work groups, i.e., this association was mediated by the subgroup social effectiveness. The index of productivity norm was positively related to perceived performance effectiveness only at the subgroup level, but not at the group level. The productivity norm of the subgroups was also indirectly related to the perceived performance effectiveness of the groups, i.e., this association was mediated by the subgroup performance effectiveness. The indirect relationship between subgroup productivity norm and group performance effectiveness was more complex when cohesion within subgroups was taken into account.

Competencies supporting high-performance translational teams: A review of the SciTS evidence base

A translational team (TT) is a specific type of interdisciplinary team that seeks to improve human health. Because high-performing TTs are critical to accomplishing CTSA goals, a greater understanding of how to promote TT performance is needed. Previous work by a CTSA Workgroup formulated a taxonomy of 5 interrelated team-emergent competency "domains" for successful translation: 1). affect, 2). communication, 3). management, 4). collaborative problem-solving, and 5). leadership. These Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSAs) develop within teams from the team's interactions. However, understanding how practice in these domains enhance team performance was unaddressed. To fill this gap, we conducted a scoping literature review of empirical team studies from the broader Science of Team Science literature domains. We identified specific team-emergent KSAs that enhance TT performance, mapped these to the earlier "domain" taxonomy, and developed a rubric for their assessment. This work identifies important areas of intersection of practices in specific competencies across other competency domains. We find that inclusive environment, openness to transdisciplinary knowledge sharing, and situational leadership are a core triad of team-emergent competencies that reinforce each other and are highly linked to team performance. Finally, we identify strategies for enhancing these competencies. This work provides a grounded approach for training interventions in the CTSA context.

Digital Gifts at the Workplace

This study builds on the emergence of new gifting practices using e-hongbaos which are monetary gifts transferred between individuals made possible by digital communication platforms. This is an exploratory study on the impact of these innovations on intra-organizational relationships. Three types of intra-organizational relationships are considered: the employee's relationship with the organization, with the team, and with the manager. The findings of the study indicate positive impacts of e-hongbao at all organizational levels. The authors also identify the varying effects of e-hongbao on intra-organizational relationship outcomes depending on the occasion of gifting, as well as the mode, direction, and measure. Specifically, ‘group' e-hongbao, a gamified group-gift enabled by the digitalization of gifting, has the strongest influence on intra-organizational relationships. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice in the workplace and also offer future research directions.

Impact of project governance on project success, with mediating role of organizational support and project team cohesion

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine how project governance influences project success. According to the authors, such an effect is mediated by organizational support and project team cohesion. The direct and indirect effects of organizational support and project team cohesion provided helpful information. The authors’ objective is to contribute to the project management knowledge of how project team cohesion plays a significant role in project success.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 350 employees working in Pakistan’s oil and gas industry. Four prime oil and gas exploration companies were selected as samples based on their contribution to the revenue. SPSS v23 and AMOS v23 were used for constructing structural equation modeling and path analysis to examine the direct and indirect effects.

Findings

The results revealed that project governance is positively related to project success. Furthermore, organizational support and project team cohesion mediated the relationship between project governance and project success.

Originality/value

Team cohesion has been primarily a topic of interest in sports psychology literature, education and medical sciences. There is an expressed need to investigate team cohesion issues in the broad domain of organizational development, specifically the project management literature. This study contributed by discussing team cohesion in the project context. Second, project governance was investigated using the conservation of resources theory. The lens of intellectual capital was applied to examine intangible resources of project governance like rules, regulations and directives for project success.

Construction Project Manager's Emotional Intelligence and Team Effectiveness: The Mediating Role of Team Cohesion and the Moderating Effect of Time

The emotional intelligence of a construction project manager plays an essential role in project management, and recent developments in teamwork have increased the need to explore better ways to utilize teams and achieve effectiveness in the construction sector. However, research that holds the team-level perspective in emotional intelligence studies is lacking, and the mechanism of the construction project manager’s emotional intelligence on team effectiveness remains unexplored. This knowledge gap is addressed by developing a model that illuminates how construction project manger’s emotional intelligence can affect team effectiveness via the mediation of team cohesion and the moderation of project team duration. A questionnaire survey was utilized to gather information from construction project teams across 156 leader-member dyads in the Chinese construction industry. The results reveal that construction project manager’s emotional intelligence is positively related to team effectiveness and the team cohesion mediates this cause and effect. Further, project team duration moderates the relationship between team cohesion and effectiveness. This study offers new insight into how project manager can better lead team members toward desired team outcomes from a team perspective and makes an explorative effort in investigating the “time” role in construction project management.

50 Years of Sports Teams in Work Teams Research: Missed Opportunities and New Directions for Studying Team Processes

For the last 50 years, sports team samples have played a significant role in mainstream management literature. Prior research has analyzed different kinds of data, such as archival, survey-based, and interviews/observations, from a wide range of sports teams. These teams differ greatly in terms of contexts (i.e., recreational to intercollegiate to professional) and types of interdependence. We explore this body of work and focus on what is germane for the work teams literature as we examine 255 relevant articles spanning the years 1972–2021 in major management, organizational behavior (OB), human resource management (HRM), and strategy journals. Using the input-process-outcome model in our coding process, we identify the relative absence of the study of team processes. We develop a conceptual framework linking team interdependence, team processes, and the initiation and maintenance of these processes. This framework is intended to help guide future research on team processes in the context of sports team samples and enhance the generalizability of this research to the work teams domain. Additionally, we identify an agenda for future research using sports team samples for work groups/teams researchers. Overall, we intend to spur thoughtful and creative future research in the work groups/teams area using the rich field environment that sports teams present.

Knowledge-Oriented Leadership, Team Cohesion, and Project Success: A Conditional Mechanism

We examined the impact of knowledge-oriented leadership on project success via team cohesion and the moderating role of valuing people and project complexity on this relationship. We collected data from 121 project employees in Pakistan in a two-wave field survey at an interval of 15 days. The results showed a positive association between knowledge-oriented leadership and project success, and team cohesion partially mediated this relationship. Valuing people positively moderated the relationship between knowledge-oriented leadership and team cohesion. Project complexity had a negative but insignificant moderating effect on project success. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Tacit knowledge sharing within project teams: an application of social commitments theory

Purpose

Applying social commitments theory, this paper aims to study the effect of shared responsibility as a structural characteristic of project teams to foster tacit knowledge sharing with the mediating role of affective bonding. Besides, the moderating effect of normative conformity is also examined.

Design/methodology/approach

The quantitative method was applied through surveying senior auditors representing 263 audit teams in Vietnam to examine the model.

Findings

This study found that in the joint projects, when team members perceive high shared responsibility for both success and failure, the affective bonding among them are generated. The affective bonding becomes salient to tacit knowledge sharing only when the team members perceive high obligations to conform the general knowledge sharing norms and the serial reciprocity norms.

Originality/value

This study provides the evidence for partial confirmation and expansion of the social commitments theory. The practical takeaways are provided for managers of project-based organizations in the social aspects for facilitating sharing culture.

Antecedents enabling team ambidexterity: moving beyond mere microfoundation

Purpose

Ambidexterity in teams represents powerful dynamic capabilities for innovation and adaptation in rapidly changing environments. This study focused on the emerging concept of team ambidexterity. Primary purposes were to consolidate emerging research on ambidexterity within teams and to synthesise antecedent inputs.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applied a systematic content-based review method to collect articles relevant to enabling ambidexterity within teams. The study integrated relevant studies on ambidexterity and on teams and teamwork. It analysed content through theoretical frameworks of ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities.

Findings

Team ambidexterity constitutes a distinct and increasingly important organisational concept beyond just supporting firm-level ambidexterity. Team ambidexterity depends on inputs that can include ambidexterity's multilevel, generic mechanisms and additional team-centric inputs specially characterising teams.

Practical implications

Organisational leaders need insights into the valuable potential of ambidextrous teams that can increase innovation and enable successful adaptation at an operational level for longterm survival and competitive advantage in volatile environments. The study highlights the essential inputs for designing and equipping ambidextrous teams.

Originality/value

Team ambidexterity research is growing, but so far it has mostly addressed team ambidexterity as a microfoundation supporting firm-level ambidexterity. Existing studies have remained mostly disparate and unorganized. This study appears unique in having identified and synthesised studies most relevant to developing ambidexterity within teams. The study articulated a more comprehensive understanding of team ambidexterity, derived a novel set of team-centric inputs and analysed ambidexterity as dynamic capabilities at operational unit level.

Examining learning coherence in group decision-making: triads vs. tetrads

This study examined whether three heads are better than four in terms of performance and learning properties in group decision-making. It was predicted that learning incoherence took place in tetrads because the majority rule could not be applied when two subgroups emerged. As a result, tetrads underperformed triads. To examine this hypothesis, we adopted a reinforcement learning framework using simple Q-learning and estimated learning parameters. Overall, the results were consistent with the hypothesis. Further, this study is one of a few attempts to apply a computational approach to learning behavior in small groups. This approach enables the identification of underlying learning parameters in group decision-making.

How Social Influence Processes Generate Cohesion in Task Groups

We introduce a theoretical argument linking group structure to an individual’s cohesion in collectively oriented task groups. We posit that status, the distribution of opinions, and social categories indirectly shape perceptions of cohesion by making individuals working on an uncertain task more or less susceptible to the opinions of others. Specifically, these factors influence how likely one is to succumb to the opinions of others, which in turn influences one’s likelihood of viewing one’s actions as valid or consonant with the expectations of the other members of the group. As this process repeats over time, it accumulates to affect individuals’ expressions of cohesion with group members. Results from a laboratory experiment corroborate this process.

The team cohesion-performance relationship: A meta-analysis exploring measurement approaches and the changing team landscape

Team cohesion is an important antecedent of team performance, but our understanding of this relationship is mired by inconsistencies in how cohesion has been conceptualized and measured. The nature of teams is also changing, and the effect of this change is unclear. By meta-analyzing the cohesion-performance relationship ( k = 195, n = 12,023), examining measurement moderators, and distinguishing modern and traditional team characteristics, we uncovered various insights. First, the cohesion-performance relationship varies based on degree of proximity. More proximal measures –task cohesion, referent-shift, and behaviorally-focused– show stronger relationships compared to social cohesion, direct consensus, and attitudinally-focused, which are more distal. Differences are more pronounced when performance metrics are also distal. Second, group pride is more predictive than expected. Third, the cohesion-performance relationship and predictive capacity of different measures are changing in modern contexts, but findings pertaining to optimal measurement approaches largely generalized. Lastly, important nuances across modern characteristics warrant attention in research and practice.

Plain Language Summary

Team cohesion is an important antecedent of team performance, but our understanding of this relationship is mired by inconsistencies in how cohesion has been conceptualized and measured. The nature of teams has also changed over time, and the effect of this change is unclear. By meta-analyzing the cohesion-performance relationship ( k = 195, n = 12,023), examining measurement moderators, and distinguishing between modern and traditional team characteristics, we uncovered various insights for both research and practice. First, the cohesion-performance relationship varies based on degree of proximity. Measures that are more proximal to what a team does – those assessing task cohesion, utilizing referent shift items, and capturing behavioral manifestations of cohesion – show stronger relationships with performance compared to those assessing social cohesion, utilizing direct consensus items, and capturing attitudinal manifestations of cohesion, which are more distal. These differences are more pronounced when performance metrics are also more distal. Second, despite being understudied, the group pride-performance relationship was stronger than expected. Third, modern team characteristics are changing both the overall cohesion-performance relationship and the predictive capacity of different measurement approaches, but findings pertaining to the most optimal measurement approaches largely generalized in that these approaches were less susceptible to the influence of modern characteristics. However, in some contexts, distal cohesion metrics are just as predictive as their more proximal counterparts. Lastly, there are important nuances across different characteristics of modern teams that warrant additional research attention and should be considered in practice. Overall, findings greatly advance science and practice pertaining to the team cohesion-performance relationship.

Workplace Hazing: Toward an Organizational Science of a Cryptic Group Practice

The purpose of this paper is to establish a foundation for studying and managing new employee hazing in workgroups. Available empirical evidence indicates 25–75% of American employees encounter workplace hazing, but very little empirical research exists on this phenomenon. Workers are changing jobs more frequently than ever, which increases the cumulative impact and importance of new employee experiences, including hazing, a complex group-based phenomenon. Because hazing is a relatively universal social practice without a strongly established literature in the organizational sciences, we draw from multiple disciplines in reviewing and modeling the practice. The current research offers three major contributions: (a) a relatively exhaustive review of relevant empirical and theoretical work on hazing, (b) an initial, testable model for understanding workplace hazing as a multi-level phenomenon, including individual and group-level antecedents and outcomes, and (c) an outline of the need and support for considering both the dysfunctional and functional consequences of hazing, given the variety of forms it takes and reactions it evokes. Finally, we present actionable guidance for researchers seeking to study workplace hazing and discuss the organizational implications of our work for practitioners.

Personality and the Prediction of Team Performance

Although much is known about personality and individuals’ job performance, only a few studies have considered the effects of team–level personality on team performance. Existing research examining the effects of personality on team performance has found that, of the Big Five factors of personality, Conscientiousness is often the most important predictor. Accordingly, we investigated the criterion validity of lower–level Conscientiousness traits to determine whether any one trait is particularly predictive of team performance. In addition to Conscientiousness, we examined the criterion validity of the other Big Five personality factors. We found that Conscientiousness and its facets predicted team performance. Agreeableness, Extraversion and Neuroticism were not predictive of team performance, whereas Openness had a modest negative relation with team performance. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Servant leadership: a new perspective to explore project leadership and team effectiveness

Purpose

Servant leadership is a new follower-centric style of leadership. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the project leaders’ servant leadership style on project team effectiveness via team goal clarity and team process clarity within the project-based organizational context.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 58 teams working in 3 project-based organizations participated in the survey study. Team members rated their project leaders’ servant leadership style, team goal clarity and team process clarity in the project, while leaders evaluated team effectiveness. Hypotheses were tested using multi-level structural equation modeling.

Findings

Results suggested that servant leadership had a positive and significant impact on project team effectiveness via team goal clarity and team process clarity.

Originality/value

The study examined the influence of servant leadership as a team leadership approach within a project context. As a multi-level design, the study also identified the team-specific mechanisms (team goal clarity and team process clarity), which could help accomplish team effectiveness.

G. Impact of team design and technical factors on team cohesion

Purpose

Based on the interpersonal interaction perspective of team cohesion, this study aims to examine the effects of team boundedness, formal coordination and organization tenure diversity on both task and social cohesion. The authors test for the interaction effect of organization tenure diversity on the relationships between the independent variables and the dimensions of team cohesion.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected from 111 software development teams and aggregated to the team level. Common latent factor test for common method bias showed no significant bias. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test all the hypotheses.

Findings

SEM results show that team boundedness and formal coordination have positive and significant association with both dimensions of team cohesion. Formal coordination was found to be a stronger positive predictor for task cohesion than for social cohesion. Organization tenure diversity was found to be a stronger negative predictor for social cohesion than for task cohesion. Organization tenure diversity in the team moderates the relationship between formal coordination and task cohesion.

Research limitations/implications

The data was collected using a cross-sectional design. However, the authors have mitigated the effect of common method variance by adopting both procedural and statistical methods.

Originality/value

This paper expands extant literature by examining the antecedents of two important components of team cohesion, task and social cohesion. The authors proposed and found that the independent variables have different impacts on task and social cohesion. This study furthers both theory and practice by considering team boundedness as a variable of interest and its impact on internal team dynamics.

How interprofessional teams of students mobilized collaborative practice competencies and the patient partnership approach in a hybrid IPE course

To develop collaborative competencies of future health and social services professionals, the Université de Montréal (UdeM) offers interprofessional education (IPE) in partnership with patients. To meet the challenges of IPE, UdeM turned to digital tools to enable interprofessional teams of students to collaborate online and face-to-face. The collaborative flipped classroom for IPE with patient partnership is the conceptual framework for the pedagogical method used for this study. It is based on: 1) a competency framework and 2) collaborative learning concept and dimensions. The study aimed to: 1) demonstrate how interprofessional teams of students mobilize framework competencies and care approaches during online and face-to-face collaborative learning activities; and 2) analyze how students collaborate during a hybrid IPE course using a patient partnership approach. Using a qualitative methodology, the contents of the online collaborative journals (OCJs) of 12 interprofessional student teams were analyzed, along with the individual comments (n = 994) of IPE course learners collected through the Interprofessional Team Collaboration questionnaire (n = 321). The results suggest that the course under study enabled teams to collaborate online and face-to-face throughout the term, and indicate that students were better prepared to adopt a patient partnership approach.

The Effects of LMX Differentiation on Team Performance: Investigating the Mediating Properties of Cohesion

Although conceptualized initially as a dyadic-level theory, scholars have since broadened the theoretical underpinnings of leader–member exchange (LMX) to account for its effects on group-level phenomena. LMX differentiation, for example, captures the extent to which variance in LMX quality within teams affects numerous outcomes (e.g., performance). However, the specific mechanisms by which LMX differentiation affects team-level outcomes remains virtually unknown. In an attempt to address this limitation, this study investigates the extent to which task and social cohesion mediate the effects of LMX differentiation on team performance. Results indicate that the negative effect of LMX differentiation on team performance is mediated by task cohesion but not by social cohesion. In addition, LMX differentiation was found to have a negative effect of social cohesion, which was also mediated by task cohesion. A discussion is offered in which the implications of these results are entertained.

Improving Social Cohesion in Educational Environments Based on A Sociometric-Oriented Emotional Intervention Approach

Sociometric-oriented approaches have been applied the last years in numerous cases and domains, targeting at the improvement of social groups’ characteristics for achieving personal and team-based objectives. Considering the existing approaches and the published results, in the current study, a set of emotional intervention activities based on a sociometric-oriented approach were designed and implemented with the clear objective to augment social cohesion within members of a social group in primary school students. Petrides’ trait emotional model was used to identify the emotional profile of the experimental and control group members, while the set of implemented activities was based on Bisquerra’s emotional competencies model. Sociometrics were used to evaluate the initial, intermediate and final level of social cohesion of both groups. Based on the realized statistical analysis and the produced evaluation results, useful insights with regards to the social group indicators that mainly affect the social cohesion levels are extracted and presented. It should be noted that the detailed study was based on the exclusive usage of open-source Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) tools for supporting educational needs.

Embracing Complexity: Reviewing the Past Decade of Team Effectiveness Research

We conceptualize organizational teams as dynamic systems evolving in response to their environments. We then review the past 10 years of team effectiveness research and summarize its implications by categorizing studies under three main overlapping and coevolving dimensions: compositional features, structural features, and mediating mechanisms. We highlight prominent work that focused on variables in each of these dimensions and discuss their key relationships with team outcomes. Furthermore, we review how contextual factors impact team effectiveness. On the basis of this review, we advocate that future research seek to examine team relationships through a dynamic, multilevel perspective, while incorporating new and novel measurement techniques. We submit that the future of teams research may benefit from a conceptualization of them as dynamic networks and modeling them as small complex systems.

Fostering Safety Communication among Construction Workers: Role of Safety Climate and Crew-Level Cohesion

Safety communication among construction workers is fundamental to effective safety management. However, evidence suggests that poor safety communication is a common problem in construction workplaces. In fact, previous research has unveiled a number of systemic barriers to effective safety communication in the construction industry. When workers do not sufficiently communicate relevant safety hazards and appropriate injury prevention measures, unexpected injuries can follow. Therefore, research examining factors that promote or impede effective safety communication is necessary. Towards achieving this goal, the purpose of the current research was to evaluate the effect of safety climate and crew cohesion on the demonstrated safety communication levels. The goal was achieved by gathering empirical data from 57 construction workplaces in the United States. More specifically, the participating construction workplaces were visited, and data pertaining to the safety climate and crew-level cohesion were first collected using questionnaire surveys. Next, a safety communication survey instrument was administered, and the data necessary to compute network density-a social network metric that is indicative of safety communication levels was gathered. The analysis of the data suggested that a positive relationship exists between safety climate and safety communication levels. Likewise, construction crews that demonstrated higher levels of cohesion exhibited superior safety communication levels. Finally, evidence also suggested that a synergetic effect exists between safety climate and crew cohesion in improving safety communication levels.

Perceived group cohesion versus actual social structure: A study using social network analysis of egocentric Facebook networks

Research on group cohesion often relies on individual perceptions, which may not reflect the actual social structure of groups. This study draws on social network theory to examine the relationship between observable structural group characteristics and individual perceptions of group cohesion. Leveraging Facebook data, we extracted and partitioned the social networks of 109 participants into groups using a modularity algorithm. We then surveyed perceptions of cohesion, and computed group density and size using social network analysis. Out of six linear mixed effects models specified, a random intercept and fixed slope model with group size as a predictor of perceived group cohesion emerged as best fitting. Whereas group density was not linked to perceived cohesion, size had a small negative effect on perceived cohesion, suggesting that people perceive smaller groups as more cohesive. We discuss the potential of social network analysis, visualization tools, and Facebook data for advancing research on groups.

Promoting Innovative Performance in Multidisciplinary Teams: The Roles of Paradoxical Leadership and Team Perspective Taking

Although many researches recognize the role of team expertise diversity in providing different ideas, it remains unclear how and under which conditions these various ideas are elaborated and integrated to fuel team innovation. To address this question, we develop a model theorizing that paradoxical leadership helps diverse teams overcome the differentiating-integrating paradox to promote innovation. Moreover, we further theorize that paradoxical leadership will cultivate perspective taking among team members. Analyses of the multi-time and multi-source data from 98 teams suggest that teams with expertise diversity exhibit better innovative performance when paradoxical leadership is prevalent. Furthermore, team perspective taking mediates the positive moderating effects of paradoxical leadership on the relationship between expertise diversity and innovative performance. Through these analyses, this study not only addresses the innovation paradox of expertise diverse teams from the perspective of leader influence, but also enriches the understanding of the effects of paradoxical leadership.

Team-bonding and team-bridging social capital: conceptualization and implications

Purpose

The paper aims to propose a conceptualization of two types of team social capital: team-bonding and team-bridging social capital. Throughout the conceptual effort, the paper provides suggestions for future research avenues that link team social capital, as a distinct team-level construct, with other team research topics.

Design/methodology/approach

The conceptualization of team social capital is based on a review and synthesis of prior research about social networks. The propositions about the relationships of team social capital with other team process and effectiveness variables are developed within the classical input-mediator-output framework.

Findings

The conceptualizations of team-bonding and team-bridging social capital and the common measures for each are provided. Moreover, a series of testable propositions regarding the associations between team social capital and team process, the influence of team social capital on team effectiveness and the antecedents of team social capital are made.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.

Originality/value

This paper elaborates the concept of team social capital and specifies its implications to various team phenomena. With this conceptual effort, this paper has advanced our knowledge about the nature and role of team social capital in team research.

Safety climate and firefighting: Focus group results

BACKGROUND

Firefighting is a hazardous occupation and there have been numerous calls for fundamental changes in how fire service organizations approach safety and balance safety with other operational priorities. These calls, however, have yielded little systematic research.

METHODS

As part of a larger project to develop and test a model of safety climate for the fire service, focus groups were used to identify potentially important dimensions of safety climate pertinent to firefighting.

RESULTS

Analyses revealed nine overarching themes. Competency/professionalism, physical/psychological readiness, and that positive traits sometimes produce negative consequences were themes at the individual level; cohesion and supervisor leadership/support at the workgroup level; and politics/bureaucracy, resources, leadership, and hiring/promotion at the organizational level. A multi-level perspective seems appropriate for examining safety climate in firefighting.

CONCLUSIONS

Safety climate in firefighting appears to be multi-dimensional and some dimensions prominent in the general safety climate literature also seem relevant to firefighting. These results also suggest that the fire service may be undergoing transitions encompassing mission, personnel, and its fundamental approach to safety and risk.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

These results help point the way to the development of safety climate measures specific to firefighting and to interventions for improving safety performance.

The Influence of Project Commitment and Team Commitment on the Relationship between Trust and Knowledge Sharing in Project Teams

The purpose of the study is to enhance our understanding of the relationship among trust, commitment, and knowledge sharing in project teams. We examine how trust directly and indirectly affects knowledge sharing. We include two different foci of commitment that are highly relevant to project teams: team commitment and project commitment. A mediation analysis is conducted on data from 179 project team members in 31 Norwegian construction project teams. Our results suggest different effects of the two foci of commitment, indicating that, in a project team context, project commitment is more important for knowledge sharing than team commitment.

Informal Training Experiences and Explicit Bias Against African Americans among Medical Students

Despite the widespread inclusion of diversity-related curricula in US medical training, racial disparities in the quality of care and physician bias in medical treatment persist. The present study examined the effects of both formal and informal experiences on non-African American medical students' (N=2922) attitudes toward African Americans in a longitudinal study of 49 randomly selected US medical schools. We assessed the effects experiences related to medical training, accounting for prior experiences and attitudes. Contact with African Americans predicted positive attitudes toward African Americans relative to White people, even beyond the effects of prior attitudes. Furthermore, students who reported witnessing instructors making negative racial comments or jokes were significantly more willing to express racial bias themselves, even after accounting for the effects of contact. Examining the effects of informal experiences on racial attitudes may help develop a more effective medical training environment and reduce racial disparities in healthcare.

Political Skill, Trust, and Efficacy in Teams

Political skill, frequently understood as a social skill at work, is argued to be a valuable resource not only at the individual level but also for the teams. Using hierarchical linear modeling and data from 525 students, organized into 115 teams, we demonstrate that political skill at the individual level shapes individual perceptions of team efficacy and trust in team. Both the level and the composition of political skill within the team are found to be critical for these team emergent states, albeit they play out differently for team members who are high versus low in political skill.

The impact of commitment and climate strength on the relationship between trust and performance in cross-functional project teams

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to shed more light on the complex relationship between trust and performance in the context of cross-functional project teams. This study presents a moderated mediation model that investigates the impact of team trust on team performance mediated by project commitment and moderated by climate strength (the consensus among team members on the level of trust).

Design/methodology/approach

To test the proposed model, data were collected from 179 project team members in 31 Norwegian construction project teams.

Findings

Results indicated that project commitment fully mediates the relationship between propensity and trustworthiness and team performance, while it partially mediates the relationship between cooperation and team performance. For monitoring, there results showed no mediation. The results yielded no support for the moderation effects of climate strength, suggesting that the mean-level approach to studying trust at the team level still is important.

Research limitations/implications

Cross-sectional survey data suffer from being unable to test causality and samples are relatively small. Future research should test the models on other samples and in combination with data other than self-report. Longitudinal and multilevel studies are also warranted.

Practical implications

The results suggest that trust has an impact on project commitment and both directly and indirectly on team performance. Interventions to develop a high trust climate in project teams can thus contribute to improved project performance.

Originality/value

This study offers new insight into the complex relationship between trust and performance and improves our understanding of trust in cross-functional project teams.

The Discursive Construction of Group Cohesion in Problem-based Learning Tutorials

Research has shown that educators may be reluctant to implement group work in their teaching due to concerns about students partaking in off-task behaviours. However, such off-task interactions have been shown to promote motivation, trust, and rapport-building. This paper details a study in which student groups were video recorded as they engaged in problem-based learning tutorials, with the aim of examining the social interaction within such settings. Eighty-five hours of data were collected from nine groups, with discursive psychology being used to analyse how group cohesion is constructed through off-topic talk such as gossiping and teasing. Two case studies are detailed in which we demonstrate how cohesion is established through a process of collective action against the ‘other’: highlighting the differences between ‘us’ and ‘them’, and how this can impact on group dynamics. There is often a discrepancy between self-reported and observed behaviour in groups and so the more we know about what actually happens in such environments, the better placed we are to support student learning. The paper concludes with recommendations on how analyses of social interaction and the management of psychological issues in problem-based learning tutorials can inform the use of problem-based learning as a teaching and learning approach.

Social cohesion and interpersonal conflicts in projects

One particular area of project management literature that has continued to gain momentum is its social dimension, with a number of scholars emphasising the fact that there is a considerable social dimension to every project activity. Within this context, the authors examine parameters that drive social facets of projects with a particular focus on social cohesion, interpersonal conflicts and national culture. Data from 167 project managers working in Kuwait were collected using a web-based questionnaire. Bivariate statistical techniques were employed in the analysis of data, but revealed no evidence to support the notion that social cohesion or interpersonal conflicts were impacted by project management experiences. In effect, findings from this research suggest that social cohesion and interpersonal conflict transcend the effects of national culture.