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Based on Mitchell and Silver's (1990) tower-building paradigm, the authors performed two experiments on multilevel quantity goals, strategies, and performance in task-interdependent groups. The study compared four goal types: IG (individual goal), GG (group goal), IG + GG (individual + group goal), and NSG (nonspecific goal). IG yielded low cooperation and performance, whereas, unexpectedly, NSG yielded high cooperation and performance. To explain this finding, we discerned two goal-setting components: Goal referent (performance-level targeted; individual/group) and goal specificity. Mediation analyses suggest that referent triggers a cooperation/competition mechanism, explaining the lower IG performance, whereas specificity triggers a speed/ accuracy mechanism, explaining the higher NSG performance. We conclude that individual goals can interfere with cooperative processes and group performance, and, for time-constrained interdependent tasks requiring speed and accuracy, specific difficult quantity goals may promote risk taking, thereby obstructing goal attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of project teams is evolving from managing technical processes to focusing on psychosocial determinants of performance. This trend puts a strain on project management theory and practice. Past meta-analyses on the cohesion-performance relationship show a positive correlation. However, they integrate effect sizes across different types of teams and settings. To clarify this issue for project teams, this meta-analysis differentiates 33 cohesion-performance correlations depending on whether teams are project, production, or service teams in organizational or academic settings. Results show that types of teams and settings are moderators. Project teams in organizational and academic settings show large effect sizes and differ from other teams. Theoretical considerations point to five interrelated modifiers: task uncertainty, task versus outcome performance, student samples' mental representation of the project outcome, and group heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides insight about the process of top management teams' (TMTs') sensemaking about leadership of middle managers—a process that has so far been neglected by researchers. In a longitudinal case study design, the authors analyzed observational data from 23 TMT meetings and transcripts from interviews with TMT members. Results indicate that TMT sensemaking consisted of images of middle managers, the TMT self-image, and reflection on action and action planning. Furthermore, the importance of TMT unity in actions toward middle managers is highlighted as an important aspect of TMT leadership. It is suggested to incorporate TMT sensemaking about leadership, as well as actual leadership actions toward middle managers, as processes for explaining how TMT composition influences organizational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews evidence for considering job satisfaction at the group level of analysis. Group-level job satisfaction is functionally independent of individual-level job satisfaction. This construct is labeled group task satisfaction and is defined as the group's shared attitude toward its task and the associated work environment. The authors propose that group task satisfaction develops out of within-group homogeneity in individual job satisfaction, which in turn is a product of the shared work conditions, social influence processes, attraction-selection-attrition effects, and emotional contagion effects associated with work groups. They predict that through group interaction, the within-group homogeneity in job satisfaction will come to be perceived as a characteristic of the group. Once identified as a group characteristic, group task satisfaction will be subject to processes such as polarization and prototyping, with the result that group task satisfaction should function independently of the mean level of job satisfaction within the group. The authors predict that group task satisfaction will be related to the mean level of individual job satisfaction within the group, the quality of the group's processes, and the performance of the group, thus serving as an important indicator of team viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been argued that transformational leaders increase group effectiveness by empowering followers to perform their job independently from the leader, highlight the importance of cooperation in performing collective tasks, and realign followers' values to create a more cohesive group. A study was conducted to examine whether transformational leadership would be positively related to followers' perceptions of empowerment, group cohesiveness, and effectiveness. Forty-seven groups from four Korean firms participated in this study. Results of partial least squares analysis indicated that transformational leadership was positively related to empowerment, group cohesiveness, and group effectiveness. Empowerment was positively related to collective-efficacy, which in turn was positively related to group members' perceived group effectiveness. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examined the effect of procedural justice climate, defined as a distinct group-level cognition about how the work group as a whole is treated, on work group performance in a sample of 34 work groups from two organizations. They hypothesized that the relationship between procedural justice climate and performance is indirect, operating through helping behavior. Group-level helping behavior fully mediated the relationship between procedural justice climate and perceived performance. However, the same results were not found when financial performance data were used as a measure of work group performance. Implications for the study's findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is among the first studies to develop a typology of performance-relevant team member behaviors from actual observations of intact teams (N = 94) completing a variety of problem-solving tasks. Through a critical incident analysis, behavioral observation scales (BOS) were developed using confirmatory factor analysis. The correlation between BOS and team performance was significant. The typology supports and adds to previous typologies of teamwork behavior. Subsequent cross-validation of the BOS involving 176 team members provided further support for the BOS developed. Next, we used our data to psychometrically evaluate Stevens and Campion's hierarchical factor structure. Hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis provided support for Stevens and Campion's model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stevens and Campion created the Teamwork Test to be used for the selection of high potential individuals into team situations. The idea of being able to test and select high team performers based on knowledge, skills, and ability (KSA) measures has great appeal. However, methods used to validate the test leave some question as to whether it is measuring capabilities related to teamwork. This study further evaluated the test by measuring the relationship between team levels of KSAs and team effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]