Teams: An ALIC Reading List
Compiled by John Weimer, ALIC Volunteer, May 1995;Updated by Lida Churchville, Chief Librarian, August 1997
Many items on this list are available in the ALIC: Archives Library Information Center. Others may be obtained for NARA staff via Interlibrary Loan. NARA staff nation-wide please contact the reference librarians by e-mail or by phone at 301-837-3415 to request copies.
Other viewers of this page please contact your local library or bookstore for help in obtaining these materials.
- Abbasi, Sami M. and Kenneth W. Hollman. Self-managed teams, the productive breakthrough of the 1990s. Journal of Managerial Psychology 9 (December 1994): 25-31.
Introducing self-managed work teams (SMTs) is expensive, time-consuming and hostility from supervisors, labor unions, and employees is to be expected. However, increased productivity, improved quality control, and eventually higher employee morale make it worth it. - Adamec, Bruce A. and Janet H. Zelenka. Self-directed audit teams. Internal Auditor 53, no.2 (April 1996): 36+.
Self-directed audit teams indicate that team members make good decisions that generate better and more timely outcomes than individuals managed by supervisors. The Internal Audit Services function of Ameritech reports that the success of its ten self-directed audit teams depends on the following factors: vision, commitment, definition, design, skill sets, flexibility, measures of success, and rewards. - Aiken, Milam and Bassam Hasan. Total quality management: a GDSS approach (group decision support systems). Information Systems Management 13, no.4 (Winter 1996): 73+.
Article on how group decision support systems (GDSSs) can be used to increase team productivity and effectiveness within the TQM framework. - Allen, Robert E., Margaret A. Lucero and Kathleen L. Van Norman. An examination of the individual's decision to participate in an employee involvement program. Group and Organization Management 22, no.1 (March 1997): 117+.
This article uses the expectancy theory framework to examine individual decisions to volunteer for employee involvement programs. Findings suggest that individuals decide to participate if it is advantageous for them. - Amadei, Robin N. and Lyn Wade. Government employees learn to work in sync (team building). Personnel Journal 75, no.9 (September 1996): 91+.
Consultants report on helping a government agency create a team cycle by following a five-step team-building method. First, visualize the ideal team, asking each team members to characterize the ideal team and the way they can approach the ideal; secondly, prioritize issues (in this case they turned out to be role identification, communication systems, communication effectiveness); third, define the individual and team roles of each member; next, develop communication skills of the team; and lastly, recognize individual and team personalities with the use of Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator. - Amelsvoort, Pierre van and Jos Benders. Team time: a model for developing self-directed work teams. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 16, no.2 (February 1996): 159+.
The han and the self-directed work team are two types of teams. It is argued that the han is suitable under specialized circumstances present in Japan, whereas self-directed work teams are applicable to various tasks environments and national settings. - Armstrong, Michael, Lynne Curry and Mike Thatcher. How group efforts can pay dividends. People Management 2, no.2 (January 25, 1996): 22+.
Organizations are turning away from individual performance-related pay to team-based rewards of both monetary and non-monetary compensation given to team members based on group performance. Authors discuss the pros and cons of team play in the light of recent research. - Arnold, Val. Organizational development: making teams work. HR Focus 73, no.2 (February 1996): 12+.
Self-directed teams do best when leadership and authority are shared among members. The article discusses the 'shared leadership' model. - Barry, Bruce and Greg L. Stewart. Composition, process, and performance in self-managed groups: the role of personality. Journal of Applied Psychology 82, no.1 : 62-78.
Five factor model demonstrates effect of personality on small group processes and outcomes. Extroversion of group members was related to task focus and group performance. - Bartlett, Steve. Teamwork: the illegal management tool. Management Review 85(April 1996): 7.
It is against the law (Section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act) in nonunion companies for employees to work cooperatively with managers to make decisions that directly affect the workers' well-being. Legislation (Teamwork for Employees and Management Act) aimed at changed the NLRA is discussed in this article. - Bergmann, Thomas and Kenneth P. De Meuse. Diagnosing whether an organization is truly ready to empower work teams: a case study. Human Resources Planning 19, no.1 (1996): 38-47.
This case study revolves around a sample of 11 managers, 18 team leaders, and 123 team members. The organization experienced difficulty implementing the team approach with team members scoring lower than team leaders/managers on a survey of perceptions. The study shows the danger of implementing a team approach in a culture of mixed employee support. - Bernstein, Aaron. Look who's pushing productivity: labor is embracing partnerships to keep companies competitive. Business Week (April 7, 1997): 72+.
A number of unions are now embracing partnerships with employers in developing company-sponsored teams. Unions seek to protect jobs and wages by making employees more competitive and autonomous. Unions are developing expertise in new work techniques in order to make the unions themselves valuable to employers. - Birkner, Lawrence R. and Ruth K. Birkner. Team learning: a tool for maximizing safety and health performance. Occupational Hazards 58(December 1996): 10.
Successful teams believe in a shared vision of the desired objective, identify the strengths and weaknesses of each member, learn to align the strengths and skills of each member to achieve the team's maximum potential, and make sure that the shared vision of the team is an extension of each member's personal vision. Teams which integrate health, safety, and ergonomics into the business process will improve health and safety performance. - Bishop, James Wallace and K. Dow Scott. How commitment affects team performance. HRMagazine 42, no.2 (February 1997): 107-111.
In a world of downsizing, wage erosion, and productivity demands, employee commitment has suffered; yet, it is employee commitment to work groups and to the organization itself that affects turnover, cooperation with co-workers, and team performance. Team success is dependent on high levels of commitment by the employee and by the organizational management. - Blanchard, Ken. Out with the old and in with the new. Incentive 171, no.4 (April 1997): 59-61.
Sharing information and creating autonomy through boundaries are two keys to empowering people. Once in place, self-directed teams can replace the old hierarchy. - Blanchard, Ken, Don Carew and Eunice Parisi-Carew. How to get your group to perform like a team. Training & Development 50, no.9 (September 1996): 34+.
Companies wanting to improve performance by getting group members to work as a team need to encourage employees to focus on generating the desired results. Success brings pride in performance and makes team members more goal-oriented and committed to teamwork. Direction can be given to increase team productivity and morale. - Bolle, Friedel. Team selection- an experimental investigation. Journal of Economic Psychology 15(1994): 511-538.
- Bonington, Chris. The heights of teamwork. Personnel Management 26, no.10 (October 1994): 44-47.
An experienced mountain climber examines some fundamental principles about what makes a team work successfully. Concludes that the journey is every bit as important as the arrival. It is how you achieve your objective that is as important as the objective itself. In climbing harmoniously with your coworkers you are building the team needed for the next climb. - Booth, Patricia. Embracing the team concept. Canadian Business Review (Autumn 1994): 10-13.
A conference board survey of the team concept in Canadian companies as evidenced by the business-oriented, contractual approach. - Brown, Michael J. Let's talk about it, really talk about it. Journal for Quality and Participation 19, no.6 (October-November 1996): 26+.
Suggestions on how managers can ease tension found in team-based organizations through genuine dialogue conducted systematically in comfortable surroundings. - Buckenmeyer, James A. Self-managed teams: some operational difficulties. Industrial Management 38, no.5 (September-October 1996): 10-14.
Article focuses on a model for self-managed work groups. The teams are formed around a single process, have a team name, a mission statement, and mission objectives. Study finds that problems deal with management liaison with the groups and these problems seem to be in the areas of management expectations and team management. Findings: teams need to know management's minimal expectations; teams need assistance in team management; teams need feedback re team functioning; teams need guidance on the technical matters related to improved team performance. A given is that continuous training is necessary. - Bushe, Gervase R., Stephen J. Havlovic and Graeme Coetzer. Exploring empowerment from the insider-out (part two). Journal for Quality and Participation 19, no.3 (June 1996): 78-84.
Members of empowered workgroups with a high degree of self-management can have positive motivational effect on the team. The tendency to cooperate and be self-managing is all important for the success of teams. - Campion, Michael, Ellen M. Papper and Gina J. Medsker. Relations between work team characteristics and effectiveness: a replication and extension. Personnel Psychology 49, no.2 (Summer 1996): 429+.
Article replicates research demonstrating that work team attributes can be related to effectiveness. Results show that relationships were strongest for process characteristics, followed by job design, context and interdependence. - Carey, Robert. To motivate your staff, take a cue from top coaches in the sporting world. Incentive 168, no.9 (September 1994): 144-150.
Coaching the corporate team; employees motivation. - Carroll, Bob. The role of management intervention in the development of empowered work teams. National Productivity Review 16(Spring 1997): 25-30.
Speaks of the role of management coaching in urging self-directed work teams to develop a continuous improvement process. - Caudron, Shari. Self-directed work teams are transforming the way finance departments operate -- clearly for the better.Controller Magazine
(March 1996): 31-4.
- Charney, Cy. Self-directed peer training in teams. Journal for Quality and Participation 19, no.6 (October-November 1996): 34-37.
This report on Canada's program to train many people in a number of management skills with the goal of accomplishing measurable change in performance. One organization introduced a new program for management development called peer training wherein learning teams are established. Within these learning teams, each member is given a system to teach others and is responsible for putting training into practice. - Childs, Joel. Five years and counting: the path to self-directed work teams. Hospital Materiel Management Quarterly 18, no.4 (May 1997): 34-43.
Notes lessons learned in moving to self-directed teams. - Cianni, Mary and Donna Wnuck. Individual growth and team enhancement: moving toward a new model of career development. Academy of Management Executives 11, no.1 (February 1997): 105+.
The conflict between individual career development and team-based work can be reduced by implementing a team-based career system whereby team members serve as role models for one another, team performance and individual development are rewarded, training is offered to teams and to individuals, and team members are offered movement within the group. Guidelines are presented for selecting teams and implementing a team career system. - Cohen, Susan G., Gerald E. Ledford and Gretchen M. Spreitzer. A predictive model of self-managing work team effectiveness. Human Relations 49, no.5 (May 1996): 643+.
Authors present a self-managing work team effectiveness model showing that teambuilding style contributes to a project's success. Knowing a project manager's teambuilding style and the project environment can accomplish wonders. - Conti, Robert F. and Malcolm Warner. Taylorism, teams and technology in "reengineering" work-organization. New Technology, Work and Employment 9, no.2 (1994): 93-102.
This article critically examines the phenomenon of "Reengineering" (or business process reengineering: as it is sometimes called) as a transfer of "just-in-time" techniques developed in manufacturing to the office environment. The article concludes that its most likely diffusion will be for "downsizing" and "cost-reduction", and may result in a modest degree of success in only some of its applications to manufacturing and office environments. - D'Andrea-O'Brien, Charlene and Anthony F. Buono. Building effective learning teams: lessons from the field. SAM Advanced Management Journal 61, no.3 (Summer 1996): 4+.
Generative learning patterns must be developed if organizations are to adapt to the rapidly changing world. Work groups will need to develop the necessary knowledge bases and learn to communicate to share the knowledge with one another. Digital Equipment Corp. has learned that achieving the needed level of sharing and knowledge building in work groups can be helped by a supportive environment that is conducive to learning; generates results requiring paradigm shifts or innovation; recognizes values, and utilizes individual and collective skills; and is made up of people who have self-knowledge and mastery sufficient to develop superior communication and process skills. These teams will be reorganized around processes rather than tasks; driven by customer needs and inputs; and be dependent on team performance. - Davison, Drew. Transformance to a high-performance team. Canadian Business Review 21, no.3 (Autumn 1994): 18-23.
From traditional work group to high-performance team: the result is a transformation in operating style in the information services (IS) group at London Life. - Deeter-Schmelz, Dawn R. Applying teams to logistics processes: information acquisition and the impact of team role clarity and norms. Journal of Business Logistics 18, no.1 (1997): 159-178.
This article develops a framework for studying cross-functional teams. - Demers, Russ. Commitment to change. Training & Development 50, no.8 (August 1996): 22-26.
Article examines a self-directed change-management toolkit called "Exercises for Managing Change", addressing the external culture and internal human sides of change, which has been created by Corning, Inc. - Denison, Daniel R., Stuart L. Hart and Joel A. Kahn. From chimneys to cross-functional teams: developing and validating a diagnostic model. Academy of Management Journal 39, no.4 (August 1996): 1005+.
Article offers a framework, developed from qualitative data taken from over 200 interviews, written descriptions, and team observations, for evaluating cross-function work-groups in organizations based on three domains: organizational context, internal process context, and outcome measures. Framework now provides a base for future study of cross-functional teams. - Devaney, Sally G. A formula for success. Journal for Quality and Participation 20, no.1 (January-February 1997): 8-10.
The Palm Beach Performance Enterprise Program, after only three years, has shown successful results beyond those of other teaming programs in the country. Productivity has nearly doubled, waste has been reduced, revenues increased 195% with only an aggregate price increase of 15%. - Divita, Sal. Being a team player is essential to your career. Marketing News 30, no.19 (September 9, 1996): 8.
Career potential may depend on one's ability to be a good teamplayer. Greater success in teamplaying can be reached if members understand personality-driven behavior and learn to accept the strengths and weaknesses of team members. - Do work teams need compensation? Supervisory Management 40(February 1995): 12.
(Originally published in the Employers Association Newsletter). Companies using work teams should adopt appropriate pay systems. Employees as well as team members respond to bonuses. - Donovan, Michael. The empowerment plan. Journal for Quality and Participation 17, no.4 (July-August 1994): 12-14. (Article 70).
A self-managing team is a group of inter-dependent people who produce a measurable output to a customer. Team members share the responsibility for the achievement of the unit's business objectives. In addition to doing the work, team members are empowered to plan, control, coordinate, and continuously improve their work. - Donovan, Michael. The first step to self-direction is NOT empowerment. Journal for Quality and Participation 19, no.3 (June 1996): 64-66.
Teambuilding, the development of the behaviors, skills, and processes for working together effectively, is the first step to empowerment. For successful teambuilding, the following steps are to be followed: 1) assessment of the team's strengths and developmental needs; 2) planning of activities or interventions designed to address the team's needs; and 3. facilitation of those activities to achieve the desired result. When the team is able to perform well together, management functions can be transferred to the work group along with the accountability for handling the functions. Developing and empowering workgroups requires sound preparation, time, good strategies, and sufficient resources. - Doueck, Bruce, Dee Harmon, Greg Harris and John McCalpin. Has the use of teams been successfully implemented in U.S. businesses? n.p.: Prepared for Dr. Gary R. Fane Dr. Steven A. Williamson Management 6056 Cornerstones of Business Management. University of North Florida,.1995. 28 pp.
- Drew, Stephen and Colin Coulson-Thomas. Transformation through teamwork: the path to the new organization. Management Decision 34, no.1 (January 1996): 7+.
- Dunphy, Dexter and Ben Bryant. Panaceas or prescriptions for improved performance? Human Relations 49, no.5 (May 1996): 677-699.
This study looks at three types of attributes of work groups: technical expertise, self-management, and self-leadership in order to access the contribution of each of the three aspects of organizational performance, namely cost, value, and innovation. A model of team development is suggested which is based on team attributes and performance objectives, this model should be further tested; however, the classification of team attributes given can be applied to work groups in any organization. - Edwards, Morris. Meeting strategic goals by using workgroups. Communications News 31, no.10 (October 1994): 66.
High-performance teams organized to accomplish strategic and tactical goals depend on streamlined communications. This article discusses workgroup software including GroupWise for high-performance messaging. - Eisenhardt, Kathleen M., Jean L. Kahwajy and L. J. Bourgeois. Conflict and strategic choice: how top management teams disagree. California Management Review 39, no.2 (Winter 2997): 21+.
When executives face important choices under conditions of ambiguity and uncertainty, there can be an undercurrent of conflict. The authors report on a field study of top management teams and examine four means of helping to bring issues to the fore in order to determine appropriate courses of action: build a heterogeneous team; create frequent interactions within that team; cultivate roles for dealing with tensions; use multiple-lens tactics such as competitor role playing and alternative-testing to provide varied vantage points on core issues. - Elmuti, Dean. Sustaining high performance through self-managed work teams. Industrial Management 38, no.2 (March-April 1996): 4-9.
Effective self-directed workgroups demonstrating a high degree of empowerment achieve dramatic results in reducing cycle time and waste and improving productivity. - Emery, Michael. Mission control. Training & Development 50, no.7 (July 1996): 51-53.
Mission statements describe the terms of team membership and addresses factors such as role definition, goals, responsibilities and authorities, skills. - Erez, Miriam and Anit Somech. Is group productivity loss the rule or the exception? Effects of culture and group-based motivation. Academy of Management Journal 39, no.6 (December 1996): 1513+.
This study looks at four causes of group performance loss: goal specificity; communication; incentives for goal attainment; and high versus low cultural collectivism. - Fisher, K., S. Rayner and William B. Rayner. Tips for teams: a ready reference for solving common team problems. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995.
Tackles more than a hundred problems and opportunities commonly shared by work teams. - Fisher, Stephen G., W. D. K. Macrosson and Gillian Sharp. Further evidence concerning the Belbin Team Role Self-perception Inventory. Personnel Review 25, no.2 (February 1996): 61+.
Belbin Inventory measures performance; this article reports on the testing of the validity and reliability of measuring tools including the Belbin Inventory. This study reports disappointment with the validity and reliability of the Belkin Inventory. - Fleming, Quentin W. and Joel M. Koppleman. Integrated project development teams: another fad... or a permanent change? Project Management Journal 28, no.1 (March 1997): 4+.
Integrated project development teams shorten the cycle time between a product's conception to its delivery without compromising design quality -- a concept sometimes referred to as concurrent engineering. - Flynn, Gillian. TEAM Act: what it is and what it can do for you. Personnel Journal 75, no.2 (February 1996): 85+.
Report on proposed Teamwork for Employees and Managers (TEAM) Act which was proposed in 1993 in recognition of quality circles and other forms of work teams and their growing importance to organizational effectiveness. - Fox, Michael and Colin Howe. Implement teamwork. Executive Excellence 14, no.7 (July 1997): 17.
There are 8 phases of change in developing teamwork: design, implementation, anarchy, motivation, back to basics, thinking business, director focus and ownership, moving toward a new era. - Frame, J. Davidson. Structurin Project Teams and Building Cohesiveness. In his Managing Projects in Organizations: How to Make the Best Use of Time, Techniques, and People Rev. ed. , San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, c 1995: 83-105.
- Gephart, Martha A. and Mark E. Van Buren. Building synergy: the power of high performance work systems. Training and Development 50 (October 1996): 22-36.
Special report on the power of high performance work systems (HPWS) as work structures, practices, and processes organized around key business processes and carried out by teams. Although all HPWSs are unique, they share common elements: strategy, vision, mission, goals, beliefs, values, management practices, organizational structure, work practices and processes, human resource systems, technology, etc. - Giunipero, Larry C. and Judith F. Vogt. Empowering the purchasing function: moving to team decisions. International Journal of Purchasing & Materials Management 33, no.1 (Winter 1997): 8-15.
Article argues that the purchasing function may serve as a model for empowerment and hence serve as a foundation for organizational change. Purchasers tend to desire empowerment, adopt TQM techniques readily, and work well as part of teams. - Glacel, Barbara Pate. Teamwork's top ten lead to quality (ten guides for good teaming). Journal for Quality and Participation 20, no.1 (January-February 1997): 12+.
Individuals willing to be good team members or leaders are the first requirement for high performing teams. Other factors include commitment, hard work, constant communication, willingness to change and accept feedback. Ten guidelines are discussed in this article. - Glaman, Joan M., Allan P. Jones and Richard M. Rozelle. The effects of coworker similarity on the emergence of affect in work teams. Group & Organization Management 21, no.2 (June 1996): 192+.
Co-worker interaction is required to fulfill many job responsibilities. Co-worker relationships can be linked to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, absenteeism, and burnout. This article focuses on the factors that produce positive or negative coworker relationships. - Golestani, Manoucher M. and Nigel van Zwanenberg. Teamwork aspects of fixed-price and cost-plus contracts in "bespoke" engineering companies. Journal of Managerial Psychology 11, no.1 (January 1996): 4+.
- Gomexz Dick and Jeff Gile. The team approach. Printed Circuit Design 11, no.9 (September 1994): 10-15. (Article 69).
Team members must be able to provide input at crucial stages of product development to ensure that all project goals are met. - Grieco, Peter L. Team leaders. Executive Excellence 14, no.7 (July 1997): 17-18.
Team meetings nurture team building efforts. The key to a productive series of meetings is the employment of a continuous improvement process. Each meeting should teach members something about how to run the next meeting more effectively. - Gross, Steven E. When jobs become team roles, what do you pay for? Compensation and Benefits Review 29, no.1 (January-February 1997): 48+.
Team initiatives need to align with organizational strategies for successful results. In terms of appropriate compensation, the best team-based pay systems are based on a number of factors. One effective compensation strategy that has proven effective is broadbanding which involves rewarding performance based on bands made up of several jobs valued according to their relative contributions based on skills, knowledge, and competencies. - Hambrick, Donald C., Theresa Seun Cho and Ming-Jer Chen. The influence of top management team heterogeneity on firms' competitive moves. Administrative Science Quarterly 41, no.4 (December 1996): 659+.
Top management team characteristics, especially team heterogeneity in terms of function, education, company tenure, propensity for action, were studied. It was found that heterogeneous teams were slower in their actions and responses than homogeneous teams, but the overall effect of heterogeneity was positive. - Hanappi-Egger, Edeltraud. Research note: the hidden trade-offs of cooperative work - an empirical study. Organization Studies 17, no.6 (Midwinter 1996): 1011-1022.
Report on growing interest in self-directed working groups accompanied by empirical study of an ideal case featuring group autonomy and group involvement in all the relevant decisions. Results indicate that group work may not be as good for the employee as touted. - Hardaker, Maurice and Brian K. Ward. How to make a team work. Harvard Business Review (November-December 1987): 112-119.
In one intense session, managers set goals, accept responsibilities- and become a real team. - Harper, Ann and Bob Harper. Skill-building for self-directed team members, a complete course. New York: MW Corporation, 1992. 218 pp.
Cites the authors own experience in working with team members to build necessary skills. - Harrison, D. Brian and Henry P. Conn. Mobilizing abilities through teamwork. Canadian Business Review 21, no.3 (Autumn 1994): 20-23.
The team based organization ensures that all employees have the opportunity to make a contribution. - Harrison, David. 10 public/private partnership commandments. American City & County 111, no.13 (December 1996): 48-49.
This article offers guidelines on creating public-private partnership project teams. - Harshman, Carl L. and Steven L. Phillips. Achieving organizational transformation: teaming up. San Diego: Pfeiffer and Company, 1994. 199 pp.
Presents a 4-step strategy for organizations changing to a team-based concept. - Henderson, Dale and Fees Green. Measuring self-managed workteams. Journal for Quality and Participation 20, no.1 (January-February 1997): 52-57.
In order to gain better productivity through the use of self-directed work groups, organizations should try to accurately assess employee perceptions re teams. - Hendrickson, David K. Improving productivity in federal courts through participation. Journal for Quality and Participation 20, no.1 (January-February 1997): 20-29.
The Federal Judicial Center helps federal courts implement a Maximizing Productivity program consisting of the following: team-based management; total quality service; process improvement. - Hendrix, Greg. The importance of goals to the success of work teams. n.p.: University of North Texas, 1997. 8 pp. (Internet: http://www.workteams.unt.edu/reports/ghendrix.htm).
- Henry, James E. and Meg Hartzler. Virtual teams: today's reality, today's challenge. Quality Progress 30, no.5 (May 1997): 108-109.
Author describes dispersed teams which are defined as teams wherein members are mutually accountable for team results; members are dispersed geographically; members work apart more than in the same location; the team solves problems and makes decisions jointly; and the team has fewer than 20 members. - Holpp, Lawrence. Teams: it's all in the planning. Training & Development 51, no.4 (April 1997): 44+.
Emphasizes the need for planning when initiated team-based work efforts. It is important to determine the need and use of teams, set out expectations with timetables and development indicators. It is also important to address the issues of leader's roles, assessment of performance, compensation of teams, resources needed, and overall impact of teams. Discusses major ways organizations undermine team efforts. - Hopkins, Ed. Effective teams: camels of a different color? Training and Development 48(December 1994): 35-38.
Introverted corporate decision-making bodies deteriorate into red-tape machines. In the 1980s committees and task forces were replaced by the "team." Lack of hierarchy promotes the exchange of ideas and information. For success, teams should have goals, select members carefully, define success, set a life span, know who is doing what, establish accountability, develop a team agenda, and make meetings meaningful. - How to increase productivity through teamwork. n.p.: Haworth, 1997. 10 pp. (Internet: http://www.haworth-furn.com/ao2.htm).
- Implementing self-directed work teams. CMA - the Management Accounting Magazine 71, no.3 (April 1997): 31+.
A discussion of the mechanics of self-directed work groups and the challenges of their implementation. Five suggested steps include: feasibility assessment, preparation, execution of the transition plan, integration of teams into the organization, and support for the progress of self-directed teams. - Is it really a team? Managers Magazine 70 (January 1995): 23-25.
(Originally published in Managers Handbook: Supervision).
Evaluating a successful team is discussed. Improper work teams can wreck havoc and must be monitored. - Kahai, Surinder S., John J. Sosik and Bruce J. Avolio. Effects of leadership style and problem structure on work group process and outcomes in an electronic meeting system environment. Personnel Psychology 50, no.1 (Spring 1997): 121+.
Organizations are using electronic meeting systems to support work group process and outcomes. This experiment showed that directive leadership is more conducive for structured problems, whereas participative leadership was more conducive to less structured problems. - Katzenbach, Jon R. and Douglas K. Smith. The discipline of teams. Harvard Business Review (March-April 1993): 111-118.
This article is drawn from the authors' book, THE WISDOM OF TEAMS. Teams can recommend, manage, or operate and the sum must be greater than any of the parts. - Katzenbach, Jon R. and Douglas K. Smith. The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1993.
The authors show why teams will be the primary building-blocks of company performance in the future. - Kezsbom, Deborah S. Making a team work: techniques for building successful cross-functional teams. Industrial Engineering 27(January 1995): 39-42.
Cross-functional teams can help promote performance by integrating specialist from different backgrounds. Integrated planning process (IPP) models are discussed. - Korsgaard, M. Audrey, David M. Schweiger and Harry J. Sapienza. Building commitment, attachment, and trust in strategic decision-making teams: the role of procedural justice. Academy of Management Journal 38(February 1995): 60-85.
A test of the thesis that decision-making procedures can facilitate positive attitudes necessary for team cooperation. - Kuhn, Jerry A. and Tena Carson Figgins. You need a strategic plan to win. Journal for quality and participation 17, no.4 (July-August 1994): 44-48.
Article on designing and implementing organizational change. If the organization described here sound like yours, the strategic planning process experience may help you in designing and implementing your own planned organizational change. - Lapinsky, Martin. Basic teams for basic issues with basic training. Journal for Quality and Participation 19, no.3 (June 1996): 90+.
Management must charter basic teams defining the character, vision, and mission of the team. The next step is to define work boundaries, allocate resources and provide training. Then the basic teams tackle problems overlooked by management and develop solutions. - Lathin, Drew. Overcoming fear of self-directed teams. Journal for Quality and Participation 17, no.4 (July-August 1994): 16-19.
Natural fear of change must be surmounted. Large steps are scary for organizational members, we need to spend time overcoming natural fears. Simulations can help people understand how self-directed teams function through direct participatory experience in a safe environment. - Levine, Harvey A. Teamocracy and project management: a conundrum. Project Management Journal 27, no.3 (September 1996): 12+.
Project managers must be assigned to teams for the team model to be successful. Organizational structure may change but project management skills are always necessary. - Liden, Robert C., Sandy J. Wayne and Lisa K. Bradway. Task interdependence as a moderator of the relation between group control and performance. Human Relations 50, no.2 (February 1997): 169+.
The relation between group decision making control and group performance is shown. - Lucas, Richard J. New twists on teams. Internal Auditor 53, no.2 (April 1996): 30-31.
In today's downsized organizations, traditional hierarchical structures do not function successfully. Increased use of information and communication technologies has been key in developing a de-layered organization. In many organizations, goals are being addressed by using more flexible organization, including self-directed work teams. Coaching, decision-making, and communicating are three important elements of a successful implementation of SWTs. - Lyman, Dilworth and Ken Richter. Quality function deployment (QFD) and personality type: the key to team energy and effectiveness. Industrial Engineering 27(February 1995): 57-61.
Team member effectiveness can be improved by the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Self assessment is improved. - Manz, Charles C. Bossasaurus. (bosses as a thing of the past). Financial Executive 10(November-December 1994): 64.
If self-managed work teams are effective many benefits accrue. - May, Douglas R. and Catherine E. Schwoerer. Employee health by design: using employee involvement teams in ergonomic job design. Personnel Psychology 47(Winter 1994):
861-877.
A team-based ergonomic job redesign in a large Midwest organization is described. Ergonomic changes reduced cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs), lost production time and restricted duty days. - McArdle, G. E. H. Conducting a needs assessment for your work group. Supervisory Management 41, no.3 (March 1996): 6+.
In designing a training program for workgroups, it is necessary to do a needs assessment to identify training requirements that should be met and determine which workplace issues can be resolved by training. The article focuses on problem solving training to solve existing issues and new competency training to open up new opportunities. - McDermott, Dick and William A. Brown. The ultimate 21st century market differentiator. Industrial Management 38(July-August 1996): 3+.
The knowledge and effectiveness of an organization's work teams provide the edge that results in organizational effectiveness. Work teams require good leaders who are fully versed in the management of technology to be effective in their decisions and day-to-day operations. These leaders teach, train, and motivate the work team to understand the organization's vision, culture and strategic objectives. - McKenzie, Ian. The team approach. Life Association News 89, no.9 (September 1994): 6.
The team approach to selling life insurance. - McNerney, Donald J. Compensation case study: rewarding team performance and individual skill-building. HR Focus 72(January 1995): 1-4.
Aid Association for Lutherans adopted the pay of applied services (PAS) compensation system. This provided incentives for the retraining of employees necessitated by its restructuring. Performance bonuses also were introduced. Although implemented 8 years ago no results are mentioned in the article. - McNerney, Donald J.
The "facts of life" for teambuilding.
HR Focus 71(December 1994): 12-14.
Teambuilding has become a popular "buzzword." Teams need to be small, properly managed and constantly monitored. - Mendzela, Elisa. Effective teams: illusion or just elusive? Chartered Accountants Journal of New Zealand 76(April 1997): 12-14.
- Meyer, Christopher. How the right measures help teams excel. Harvard Business Review (May-June 1994): 95+.
A team rather than top managers should evaluate the group's progress. It may be necessary to create new measures to gauge this progress. Senior managers should dictate goals not methods. - Milas, Gene H. Guidelines for organizing employee TQM teams. IIE Solutions 28, no.2 (February 1996): 36+.
List guidelines for employee total quality management teams and notes that cooperation and motivation in the workforce is the all important element in creating successful TQM teams. - Moravec, Milan. Thumbs up for self-managed teams. Management Review 86, no.7 (July-August 1997): 42-47.
- Morrison, Ann M. Building diversity. Executive Excellence 11, no.10 (October 1994): 17-18.
You need courage to build diversity into your culture because you will uncover some ugly truths and undertake corrective action. - Murphy, Shiela and Larry Conrad. The role of team leaders in a top quality management (TQM) environment. Human Resource Professional 7, no.4 (July-August 1994): 15-19.
In a team-based organization, team leaders must be retrained by human resources to understand and get the most out of their new function as well as draw out the talents of the team. - Neck, Christopher P. and Charles C. Manz. From groupthink to teamthink: toward the creation of constructive thought patterns in self-managing work teams. Human Relations 47, no.8 (1994): 929-952. (Article 71).
"Groupthink", a defective decision-making process afflicting highly cohesive and conforming groups, can be a team weakness. This article proposes a theory regarding the establishment of constructive synergistic team thinking and problem solving known as "Teamthink". - Nestor, Mary. Getting to know you: a tool for teambuilding. Training & Development 50, no.2 (February 1996): 11+.
Consultants have developed an interactive, flexible teambuilding tool that helps participants to get to know each other better.
- Novak, C. James. Proceed with caution when paying teams. HRMagazine 42, no.4 (April 1997): 73-78.
Changing compensation packages to support team-based systems is important but the changes must be evolutionary. Strategies for team pay included skill-based pay and gainsharing systems. - O'Brian, Joseph. Cross-functional teams build a "big picture" attitude. Supervisory Management 39, no.10 (October 1994): 1-2.
How to put together and evaluate cross-functional teams (CFT). - Osif, Bonnie A. and Richard L. Harwood. The manager as coach. Library Administration & Management 11, no.2 (Spring 1997): 115-119.
- Owen, Hilarie. Building teams on a display of trust. People Management 2, no.6 (March 21, 1996): 34+.
According to the author, the theory of synergy chain process differs from other theories because it considers the internal processes of individuals in team-building efforts. The theory is based on two chains: one signifying the objectives of the whole team; the other symbolizes personal goals of team members. Links demonstrate how work on one area impacts on all the other links. - Ozaki, Muneto. Labour relations and work organizations in industrialized countries. International Labour Review 135, no.1 (1996): 37-58.
As a result of striving for higher productivity and competitiveness, work organization reforms now include teamwork, multiskilling, enhanced flexibility, and worker participation which can lead to more fulfilling jobs. These reforms create a challenge to labor unions which face the loss of union members to management-controlled participation developments. - Pascarella, Perry. Compensating teams. Research-Technology Management 40, no.4 (July-August 1996): 58+.
This study focuses on team-styled incentives and their growth. It is known that teams can boost productivity and quality, but the effect of compensation on teamwork is not known. Recognition is suggested as a means of compensation. Also it is suggested that the team determine the distribution of incentives. - Peck, Bobi. Tools for teams addressing total customer satisfaction. Industrial Engineering 27(January 1995): 30-33.
The concurrent engineering concept of production scheduling improves on the traditional sequential concept by integrating customer input. - Pettit, Jeff. Team communication: it's in the cards. Training & Development 51, no.1 (January 1997): 12+.
Communication is important to the team environment because of its influence on group decisionmaking, leadership, conflict resolution and performance feedback. The transition to team environment requires new skills of the members. - Piczak, Michael W. and Reuben Z. Hauser. Self-directed work teams: a guide to implementation. Quality Progress 29, no.5 (May 1996): 81-87.
A self-directed work team is made up of a highly trained group with full responsibility for achieving specific work goals. They differ from other work groups in that they have more resources at their disposal, a broader range of cross-functional skills, greater decision-making authority, and are given access to more information. The teams plan, prioritize, organize, coordinate with others, assess the state of processes, and take corrective action. Since the teams perform much of the traditional supervisory functions, the supervisor can take on a coaching or mentoring position. The important factors to considered when starting teams is the need for management commitment, the position of unions, the need for training, communication, empowerment, and rewards. - Pollar, Odette. Effective teams. Executive Excellence 14, no.7 (July 1997): 18.
To be successful, teams must find effective ways to manage interaction while accessing all the different talents that members bring to the table. All teams need some structure, including procedures to help them function effectively. A self-evaluation tool that teams can use to assess their effectiveness is presented. - Prochl, Rebecca. Cross-functional teams: a panacea or just another headache? Supervision 57(July 1996): 6-8.
Cross-functional teams are increasingly used in organizations to create new products, reengineer processes, work with customers, and find ways to improve organizational performance. Speed, adaptability, and close customer contact are important reasons for using cross-functional teams. Author examines factors contributing to the success of cross-functional teams and offers ideas for improving their effectiveness. - Purser, Ronald E. and Steven Cabana. Involve employees at every level of strategic planning. Quality Progress 30, no.5 (May 1977): 66-71.
Search Conference Method is fast-paced, participative strategic planning tool which provides for participative events to collectively create a strategic plan with achievable goals and action plans. The work is conducted in self-managed work groups that are responsible for the entire planning process and its implementation. - Rakstis, Ted J. Healthy teams stay fit in four areas. Teamwork (August 22,1994)
Teams need fitness training. - Recardo, Ronald and Jennifer Jolly. Organizational culture and teams. SAM Advanced Management Journal 2, no.4-7 (62)
This article analyzes four types of teams used and gives means of predicting whether teams are likely to succeed in a given organizational culture. - Rees, Fran. How to lead work teams: Facilitation Skills. San Diego: Pfeiffer and Company, 1991. 161 pp.
Deflawing the work team. - Rice, Rodney and John T. Huguley. Describing collaborative forms: a profile of the team-writing process. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communications 37, no.3 (September 1994): 163-170.
This essay examines collaborative writing practices, analyzing how student writing teams plan, execute, and assess writing activities. - Rigsbee, Edwin Richard. Partner for performance. Executive Excellence 14, no.7 (July 1997): 19.
Building blocks for building a high performance team include: clear, concise and focused goals; individual team member's desire for a mutually beneficial work environment; consistent, professional performance and behavior standards; motivation through praise, recognition and reprimand. - Robie, Chip. Team ghostbusters (lifecycle of work teams). Strategy & Leadership 25, no.1 (January-February 1997): 44+.
Strong and vital work teams can fall apart due to lack of organizational feedback and lack of achievement recognition. This article suggests that organizations become familiar with stages in the lifecycle of work groups. - Ross, Al and Jeanne Wilson. Self-directed teams in one-on-one work. Journal for Quality and Participation 17, no.4 (July-August 1994): 20-23.
When it comes to individual contributors, white collar or professional workers (salespeople, research scientists or accountants) conventional thinking has been that teams won't work because there is little or no interdependence between them. We have found that teams of individuals can work, under the right conditions. - Scholtes, Peter R. The team handbook: how to use teams to improve quality. Madison WI: Joiner Associates Incorporated, 1988. (HD 66 .S37).
Packed with step-by-step instructions, illustrations, and worksheets, the book shows how to implement many quality improvement principles. - Seers, Anson and M. M. Petty. Team-member exchange under team and traditional management: a naturally occurring quasi-experiment. Group and Organization Management 20(March 1995): 18-39.
Several manufacturing work groups were examined. It was found that members of self-managing work teams reported higher levels of team-member exchange, cohesiveness, and job satisfaction. - Seers, Anson and Steve Woodruff. Temporal pacing in task forces: group development or deadline pressure? Journal of Management 23, no.2 (March-April 1997): 169+.
The convention model of group development proposed by Tuckman (1965) was followed in 1988 by Gersick's first model of punctuated equilibrium model of group development. Two studies found that Gersick's model is actually an indicator of task pacing under deadline and not of the group development process. - Self-directed work teams. Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service, 1997. (Updated from ABI/Inform Database with each order).
Bibliography of citations concerning self-managed work teams which are small autonomous work groups with the responsibility for a specific work goal. Citations discusses benefits of work teams including increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, increased work satisfaction. Recommendations for implementation, structure, and success of work teams are included. - Senge, Peter M. The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday Currency, 1994. 593 pp.
Discusses science, spiritual wisdom and psychology. - Senior, Barbara. Team performance: using repertory grid technique to gain a view from the inside. Journal of Managerial Psychology 11, no.3 (March 1996): 26+.
The performance of management teams cannot be adequately measured by existing objective and quantifiable standards of team performance meant for groups that produce things. In order to project more subjective standards of team performance, the repertory grid technique requiring teams to compare and contrast their team's performance with other teams is suggested. - Sly, Carolyn Farr. Conquering internal process problems with the use of cross-functional, self-directed work teams. Hospital Material Management Quarterly 18, no.4 (May 1997): 51-60.
Cross-functional teams and a change in management role motivate employees while reducing cycle time, improving quality, creating a flexibly trained, self-directed work force. - Steinfeld, Carol. Challenge courses can build strong teams. Training & Development 51, no.4 (April 1997): 12+.
Companies note the usefulness of challenge courses in improving team relationships and group dynamics. Challenge courses include team problem-solving activities that help participants face fears, take leadership roles, make decisions - all factors in leadership and teamwork. - Stewart, Thomas A. The great conundrum -- you vs. the team. Fortune 134, no.10 (November 25, 1996): 165-166.
In today's world, the employee is responsible for his or her own career; on the other hand, the employer wants team players willing to work together many hours a day, learning each other's specialties, and producing a final product together instead of creating individually made components. The employee needs team skills to succeed, possibly at the cost of individual interests. - Straub, Edward W. and Andrew S. Rosen. Supporting the new business contract. HR Focus 73, no.12 (December 1996): 11+.
Increased competition has led to new short-term arrangements between employer and employee. The new contract calls for challenging work, conducive work environment, and performance-linked compensation; in return, the employee offers competency, commitment, contribution, in addition to taking responsibility for their own career development. - Struebing, Laura. Three methods for selecting team
leaders. Quality Progress 30, no.2 (May 1997): 14-15.
Recommends three methods for selecting an organization's team leaders: 1. management-appointed leaders; 2. team-appointed leaders; 3. rotating team leaders. - Succeeding with teams. Research-Technology Management 40, no.4 (July-August 1996): 56-57.
Survey of self-managed work team members find that inefficient meetings and deficient resources are the main reasons teams fail. Factors needed for success include: common and consistent goals accepted by all team members; clear roles and well-defined responsibilities for members and leaders; recognition and reward systems that support team performance. - SWTs in the U.S. government (self-directed work teams). Internal Auditor 53, no.2 (April 1996): 32.
At the Department of Education/Office of Inspector General, management assembled a cross-discipline Organization Design Team including a mix of skills and abilities. The ODT recommended a team-based organization design cutting hierarchical layers from seven to three with responsibility and decision-making authority distributed downward. It was determined that many tasks have become increasingly complex and a group with mixed skills is better able to meet new challenges. - Teams: 1992 framework. n.p: IBM, 1997. 14 pp. (Part Two. Internet: http://www.hursley.ibm.com/facer/fac-docs.html)
- Thamhain, Hans J. Enhancing innovative performance of self-directed engineering teams. Engineering Management Journal 8, no.3 (September 1996): 31-39.
An investigation of the high-performing, self-directed workgroups in technology-oriented work environments and successful leadership style conducive to innovative workgroup performance. The study looks at aids and barriers critical to effective workgroup performance. Results suggest that to be effective, team leaders must encourage a work environment appropriate to team needs. - Thompson, John E., Roger Stuart and Philip R. Liday. The competence of top team members: a framework for successful performance. Journal of Managerial Psychology 11, no.3 (March 1996): 48+.
Focuses on development of a framework to measure competence among top-level managers in small and medium organizations. - Tudor, Thomas R. Work-teams: why do they often fail? SAM Advanced Management Journal 61, no.4 (Autumn 1996): 31-40.
Many work teams fail because they are built on top of a non-team culture. Organizations which first examine their structure and attitude toward employees and the way employees are rewarded and challenged, are likely to come up with a successful self-directed work team program. There is also a need for training and for precise goals that are clearly communicated to and supported by all team members. - Uhlfelder, Helene F. Leadership plus teamwork plus commitment equals success. Journal for Quality and Participation. , 24-27. July-August 1994. Vol. 17.
There is an abundance of bad news stories about why teams don't work. This is a good story about how leadership, teamwork, and commitment helped turn a money losing operation into a profitable and successful one. - Welcome to the Center for the Study of Work Teams. University of North Texas, 1997. 2 pp. (Internet: http://www.workteams.unt.edu).
- Wellins, Richard S., William C. Byham and Jeanne M. Wilson. Empowered teams. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991.
Useful information is given to members of organizations introducing the team management concept. - Wernick, Steve. Self-directed work teams and empowerment. Journal for Quality and Participation 17, no.4 (July-August 1994): 34-36.
Empowerment of employees is repeatedly cited as a key to total quality management success. But those who write about empowerment and even those who are committed to implement it have difficulty in describing what it is and how you get it. - West, Michael A. and Neil R. Anderson. Innovation in top management teams. Journal of Applied Psychology 81, no.6 (December 1996): 680+.
An examination of the relationships between group and organizational factors and team innovation based on a model of group inputs, processes, and outputs. Results indicate that group processes best predict the overall level of team innovation, whereas the proportion of innovative team members predicts the radicalness of innovations. Resources do not predict team innovation. - Wetlaufer, Suzy. The team that wasn't. Harvard Business Review (November-December 1994): 22-38.
With a group of talented, hard-working people, why isn't this team working. - Whittaker, Barrie and James Mitchell. Two visions of teamwork. Canadian Business Review 21, no.3 (Autumn 1994): 21-23.
- Womack, James P. From lean production to lean enterprise. Harvard Business Review (March-April 1994): 93.
A lean enterprise focuses on a narrow set of tasks and educates for efficient performance of each task. - Wright, David W. and Paul E. Brauchle. Teaming up for quality. Training and Development (September 1994): 67-73.
Practical suggestions for using high-performance work-teams in the pursuit of total quality. - Yeatts, Dale E. What are the key factors for self-managed team success? Journal for Quality and Participation 19, no.3 (June 1996): 68-76.
After several factors were identified as being essential to high self-managed team performance, a performance model was developed. This article describes and evaluates two teams located in public agencies based upon the performance model. - Zellner, Wendy. Team player: no more "same-ol-same-ol". Business Week , no.3394 (October 17, 1994): 95-96.
Author offers a "Survival Kit" listing necessary personal attributes for successful teamplaying. - Zigon, Jack. Team performance measurement: a process for creating team performance standards. Compensation and Benefits Review 29, no.1 (January-February 1997): 38+.
Work team performance measurement requires an system that states the goals of the team, the expectations for each team member, the priorities and relative importance of team and individual work, and a means of performance assessment. - Zuidema, Kevin R. and Brian H. Kleiner. Self-directed work groups gain popularity. Business Credit (October 1994): 21-25.
Self-managed teams, high performance teams, superteams, cross-functional teams, self-directed work groups, etc.
