CH-9-10 Personality, Cultural Values, and Ability – Organizational Behaviour: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace : Book Guide

This Document Contains Chapters 9 to 10 Chapter 9 Personality, Cultural Values, and Ability CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to the concept of the “Big Five” dimensions of personality – conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion. The evidence linking these traits to performance and commitment is explored. The chapter also describes cultural values, such as individualism-collectivism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance, which combine to give nations a sort of cultural personality. Finally, this chapter discusses the nature of cognitive, emotional, and physical abilities. The chapter also highlights how these abilities are measured and how information on these abilities is used in organizations. LEARNING GOALS After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions: 9.1 What is personality? What are cultural values? What is ability? 9.2 What are the “Big Five” factors of personality? 9.3 What taxonomies can be used to describe cultural values? 9.4 What are the various types of cognitive ability? 9.5 What are the various types of emotional ability? 9.6 What are the various types of physical ability? 9.7 How do individual differences affect job performance and organizational commitment? CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Personality, Cultural Values, and Ability Try This! Open the class by asking students to describe someone (for example, their first college roommate). Ask them to give you adjectives that describe the person while you write the adjectives on the board. As adjectives are listed, try to put them into five separate columns representing the conscientiousness-agreeableness-neuroticism-extraversion-openness (CANOE) dimensions of the Big Five. If a trait represents a low levels of a given dimension (e.g., “lazy” for conscientiousness) put it in parentheses. Decline to include any adjectives that actually get at ability rather than personality (e.g., “smart”). You may need to prod students a bit to come up with openness adjectives. This process should eventually result in a table like Figure 9-1. Once the discussion slows down, see if students recognize the categories you’ve created on the board, thereby illustrating how good of a job the Big Five does at describing what people are like. A. Personality 1. The structures and propensities inside a person that explain his or her characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour. Personality reflects one’s unique configuration of traits which are a function of genes and environment. 2. We infer the existence of a trait by observing recurring regularities or trends in people’s responses to their environment. 3. Personality captures what people are like, as opposed to ability, which captures what people can do. B. Cultural Values 1. Shared beliefs about desirable end states or modes of conduct in a given culture 2. Influence the expression of personality traits C. Abilities 1. Ability refers to the relatively stable capabilities people have to perform a particular range of different but related activities. 2. Abilities are a function of both genetics and the environment, including family environment, quantity of schooling, choice of occupations, and biological hazards in the environment, such as malnutrition II. How Can We Describe What Employees are Like? A. Personality (Big Five Taxonomy) 1. All traits can be classified into five broad factors that summarize personality. These factors include: a. Conscientiousness b. Agreeableness c. Neuroticism d. Openness to Experience e. Extraversion OB Assessments: Big Five. This brief survey provides students with an idea of where they stand on each of the “Big Five” measures of personality. As you get to each of the Big Five during lecture, use a show of hands to see how many students fell above or below the average level (note, you may want to skip this step for neuroticism). You will typically find that most students are high on conscientiousness. This makes sense given that the students (a) made it into their current program of study, (b) successfully passed multiple semesters in their program of study, and (c) showed up for class on this particular day. Students may find it interesting to compare their results on this test with their results on the complete version of the same test (300 item), which can be accessed without charge at http://www.personal.psu.edu/j5j/IPIP/ipipneo300.htm. The longer version gives students feedback on specific facets of each of the Big Five, facets that are not discussed within the chapter. For example, the longer version gives students feedback on six facets of Extraversion: friendliness, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity level, excitement seeking, cheerfulness. 2. Conscientiousness a. Conscientious individuals are dependable, organized, reliable, ambitious, hardworking, and persevering b. Conscientiousness has the biggest influence on job performance of any of the Big Five i. Conscientious individuals prioritize accomplishment striving, which reflects a strong desire to accomplish task-related goals as a means of expressing one’s personality a.) One study shows that conscientious salespeople set higher sales goals for themselves. b.) Another study shows salespeople’s organizational skills were valuable during their first year of employment, with their ambitious nature becoming more critical as they gained tenure and experience. c.) Third research study shows that childhood conscientiousness ratings are correlated with career success five decades later. d.) Conscientiousness also shown to be negatively related to mortality, including death from injuries, death from cardiovascular disease, and death from cancer, probably because conscientiousness was negatively related to alcohol consumption and smoking during adulthood. OB on Screen: The Break-Up. If you have access to this movie, please play it for your students during class. This scene introduces the audience to Gary and Brooke at work in their respective jobs. Once Gary joins Brooke at home to prepare for a dinner party, the contrasts in their personalities become more obvious. Brooke is very conscientious whereas Gary is not. Gary failed to do what Brooke asked when he was on his way home, and now chooses to lounge around instead of help Brooke get ready for the party. Class discussion could focus on whether conscientiousness is more important in a significant other or in a coworker. What can be done when two people have to work or live together but have different conscientiousness levels? Discussion could also focus on positive aspects of Gary’s personality. For example, Gary seems particularly extraverted, which helps in jobs with direct customer contact. You might also ask students if they have had any experience with online dating, or if they know of friends who have. Most of the matching algorithms used in online dating sites include assessments of the Big Five personality dimensions. Try This! Use the Break-Up clip for a different chapter. When Gary is trying to rev up the crowd on the bus, he may be using emotional labor to act more enthusiastic than he currently feels, and he’s trying to use emotional contagion to transmit that affect to the crowd (see Chapter 4 on Job Satisfaction). Gary’s argument that Brooke should finish getting ready herself is also a reference to identity from job characteristics theory. The clip also demonstrates a number of concepts from Chapter 5 on Stress, including work-family conflict and the Type A Behaviour Pattern (Brooke is Type A, Gary is Type B. From Chapter 10 on Ability, Gary’s job likely demands a high level of emotional intelligence, especially use of emotions, yet he seems quite low in other awareness during his conversation with Brooke. Finally, Gary and Brooke’s disagreement is evidence of either noise or poor communication competence from Chapter 10 on Team Processes and Communication. 3. Agreeableness a. Agreeable individuals are warm, kind, cooperative, sympathetic, helpful, and courteous b. Agreeable individuals prioritize communion striving, which reflects a strong desire to obtain acceptance in personal relationships as a means of expressing one’s personality c. Communion striving is beneficial for some jobs, but detrimental to others i. Agreeable individuals tend to have strong customer service skills, because they tend to react to conflict by walking away, adopting a “wait and see” attitude, or giving in to the other person d. A “lived day” study shows that agreeable individuals tend to spend more time in public places, are less likely to use swear words and more likely to use words that convey personal rapport during conversations 4. Extraversion a. Extraverted individuals are talkative, sociable, passionate, assertive, bold, and dominant (in contrast to introverts, who are quiet, shy, and reserved) b. Of the Big Five, extraversion is the easiest to judge in zero acquaintance situations—situations in which two people have only just met c. Extraverted people prioritize status striving, which reflects a strong desire to obtain power and influence within a social structure as a means of expressing one’s personality d. Extraverts are more likely to emerge as leaders in social and task related groups e. Extraverts are rated as more effective in leadership roles by their followers f. Extraverts are more satisfied with their jobs – they tend to by high in positive affectivity—a dispositional tendency to experience pleasant, engaging moods such as enthusiasm, excitement, and elation g. Extraversion is also associated with positive life events such as getting a raise at work and getting married or engaged. However, extraverts have less frequent interactions with their families. 5. Neuroticism a. Neurotic individuals are nervous, moody, emotional, insecure, and jealous b. Neuroticism is negatively related to job performance for most jobs c. Neuroticism is synonymous with negative affectivity—a dispositional tendency to experience unpleasant moods such as hostility, nervousness, and annoyance Negative affectivity explains why neurotic individuals have lower job satisfaction than less neurotic people Neuroticism is also responsible for the Type A Behaviour Pattern. It is associated with differential exposure to stressors (where individuals perceive more stressors in daily life) and with a differential reactivity to stressors (where individuals are less able to successfully cope with stressors) Neuroticism is also strongly related to locus of control, where individuals attribute the causes of events to the external environment, rather than themselves. 6. Openness to Experience a. Open individuals are curious, imaginative, creative, complex, refined, and sophisticated b. Openness is not significantly related to job performance across jobs, but becomes more important in jobs that are fluid and dynamic, or that require high levels of creative performance i. Together with cognitive ability, openness helps individuals excel at creative though, which has a significant influence on creative performance B. Cultural Values 1. Culture is the shared values, beliefs, motives, identities, and interpretations that result from common experiences of members of a society and are transmitted across generations. Most cross-cultural research focuses on shared cultural values, which come to reflect the way things should be done in a given society. 2. Hofstede’s taxonomy of cultural values a. Individualism-Collectivism b. Power Distance c. Uncertainty Avoidance d. Masculinity-Femininity e. Short-Term vs. Long-Term Orientation i. Canadians tend to be high on individualism, low on power distance, low on uncertainty avoidance, high on masculinity, and high on short-term orientation 3. Project GLOBE’s taxonomy of cultural values a. Includes many of the same dimensions as Hofstede’s work, including power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and collectivism. Also includes the following dimensions: b. Gender egalitarianism c. Assertiveness d. Future Orientation e. Performance Orientation f. Humane Orientation i. Canadians are described as Anglo in the GLOBE formulation, and should tend to score near the middle on most of the dimensions 4. The bulk of the cross-cultural research in OB has focused on collectivism, showing that highly collective individuals tend to exhibit better task performance and more citizenship behaviour when working in team settings, relative to individualists. They also tend to feel higher levels of affective and normative commitment than individualists. 5. Differences in cultural values create differences in reaction to change, conflict management styles, negotiation approaches, and reward preferences a. Differences in cultural values can be problematic if employees are high in ethnocentricism (viewing one’s culture as right and other cultures as wrong) OB Internationally. This box explains a multicultural personality tool that can be used to determine how likely people are to be successful in expatriate assignments. Ask students to raise their hands if they believe they would score highly on the five dimensions described in the box. Are those students drawn to international study or assignments, or have they spent a significant amount of time traveling internationally? Then ask students to volunteer if they believe they are low on most of the dimensions described in the box. If those students have been abroad, did they find the experience to be stressful or uncomfortable? You might also explore whether the students presumed standing on the five dimensions is predicted by their openness score for the OB Assessments box. C. Summary: How Can We Describe What Employees Are Like? (Figure 9-4) III. What Does It Mean for An Employee To Be Able? A. Cognitive Ability 1. Capabilities related to the acquisition and application of knowledge in problem solving. Facets of cognitive ability include: (Table 9-3) a. Verbal ability i. oral comprehension, written comprehension, oral expression, and written expression b. Quantitative ability i. number facility, mathematical reasoning Bonus OB on Screen: 21. Chapters 5 through 7 of the DVD (beginning 18:50 to 28:35, for a total running time of 9 minutes, 45 seconds) depict how Ben Campbell, and MIT student, gets involved with a team of blackjack players who win by counting cards. The scene shows that Ben possesses a number of abilities that would help the black team become more effective, and the team’s coach (an MIT professor) tries to recruit him. At first Ben is hesitant about joining the team, but eventually he caves in. One topic for class discussion would be to identify the abilities that Ben possesses that would make him an excellent card counter. Students will most likely focus on his quantitative abilities, however, the scene also hints at his emotional and verbal abilities as well. Another related topic for class discussion is what problems a card player might have if he or she lacked one of these abilities. Note: Use the 21 clip for a different chapter. As the group tries to convince Ben to join, they really on expectancy theory arguments from Chapter 6 on Motivation, reinforcing the intrinsic and extrinsic outcomes that Ben could receive if he joined them. The clip also demonstrates the development of explicit knowledge and expertise from Chapter 8 on Learning and Decision Making. From Chapter 9, Ben’s personality profile seems to be high on conscientiousness and high on agreeableness, which makes him initially reluctant to do something dishonest. Finally, the group uses several of the influence tactics from Chapter 11 on Power, Influence, and Negotiation as they try to lure Ben in, including ingratiation, personal appeals, exchange tactics, and apprising (with just a hint of pressure thrown in). Bonus OB on Screen: Gattaca. Chapters 1-4 of the DVD (beginning at 2:10 and ending at 14:25 for a total running time of 12 minutes, 15 seconds) open with a scene that depicts the steps that Vincent Freeman takes to avoid leaving DNA evidence that would reveal his true identity to his employer—The Gattaca Aerospace Corporation. Later, it is revealed why these steps were necessary. In contrast to the norms in the not-so-distant future, Vincent was conceived “naturally” rather than being genetically engineered, and as a consequence, he has the type of cognitive and physical ability deficiencies that prevent people from being accepted to astronaut training at Gattaca. To get around this rule, Vincent assumed the identify of an accident victim with superior genetics. One topic for class discussion is whether or not the use of genetic information would work—would screening for genetics related to cognitive and physical abilities result in employees who are more effective in their jobs? What other issues would still need to be considered? c. Reasoning i. problem sensitivity, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, originality d. Spatial ability i. spatial organization, visualization e. Perceptual ability i. speed and flexibility of closure, perceptual speed 2. General Mental Ability (also called the g factor or g) a. a measure of global cognitive ability – the generalized level of mental ability that determines all other levels of mental ability B. Emotional Ability 1. The human ability that affects social functioning, emotional intelligence consists of four different, but related, abilities: a. Self-Awareness – the ability to understand the types of emotions one is experiencing, the willingness to acknowledge them, and the capability to express them naturally. b. Other Awareness – the ability to recognize and understand the emotions that other people are feeling c. Emotion Regulation – the ability to recover quickly from emotional experiences d. Use of Emotions – the degree to which people can harness emotions and employ them to improve their chances of being successful in whatever they are seeking to do Try This! Ask students to share stories about coworkers, friends, or family members with exceptionally poor (or good) skills in each of the four areas (without naming names, of course). Do most of the stories cluster in one or two facets, or do students have salient anecdotes across all four areas? Then ask the students what could be done to improve the person’s skills in that particular facet. What kinds of activities or initiatives might be helpful? 2. Applying Emotional Intelligence a. In studies done by the U.S. Air Force and the IDS Life Insurance company, high levels of emotional intelligence were associated with improved performance on both recruiting and sales goals 3. Assessing Emotional Intelligence OB Assessments: Emotional Intelligence. This test is a self-report, behaviour-based, emotional intelligence test. Use a show of hands to see how many students fell above and below the average level, and see if students will volunteer any extremely high or low scores. If students also want to take the “SAT-style” emotional intelligence test with right and wrong answers, they can take the Mayer-Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence test by going to www.msceit.com and paying a nominal fee to take the test and get a 12 page report on their level of emotional intelligence. C. Physical Abilities (Table 9-4) 1. Physical abilities involve the body, more specifically: a. Strength – the degree to which the body is capable of exerting force. Strength includes: i. Static strength ii. Explosive strength iii. Dynamic strength b. Stamina – the ability of a person’s lungs and circulatory system to work efficiently while he or she is engaging in prolonged physical activity c. Flexibility and Coordination – the ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach, and to synchronize movement. Includes: i. Extent flexibility ii. Dynamic flexibility iii. Gross body coordination iv. Gross body equilibrium d. Psychomotor Abilities – the capacity to manipulate and control objects. Includes: i. Fine manipulative abilities ii. Control movement abilities iii. Response orientation iv. Response time e. Sensory Abilities – the capabilities associated with vision and hearing. Includes: i. Near and far vision ii. Night vision iii. Visual color discrimination iv. Depth perception v. Hearing sensitivity vi. Auditory attention vii. Speech recognition Try This! If you have any athletes in your class (either current or past), ask them to describe the sport they engage in. Then ask the class to describe the specific physical abilities that are demanded in that sport. Do some physical abilities seem to be relevant in virtually every sport? If so, which ones? And which physical abilities seem to be more sport-specific? D. Summary: What Does It Mean For An Employee To Be Able? (Figure 9-6) IV. How Important Are These Personal Qualities? A. Conscientiousness closely linked to performance across wide spectrum of jobs 1. Conscientiousness drives “typical performance” or day to day performance, while ability drives “maximum performance” or the person’s best efforts 2. Conscientious employees are more likely to engage in citizenship behaviours 3. Conscientious employees are less likely to engage in counterproductive behaviours 4. Conscientious employees are more committed to the organization B. The concept of situational strength says that personality variables tend to be more significant drivers of behaviour in weak situations than in strong situations C. The concept of trait activation says that situations can provide clues that trigger the expression of a given trait D. General cognitive ability has a strong, positive effect on task performance 1. People who have higher general cognitive ability tend to be better at learning and decision making E. General cognitive ability has no effect on affective commitment, continuance commitment, or normative commitment F. Caveats 1. Cognitive ability is not related to citizenship or counterproductive behaviour 2. The correlation between cognitive ability and job performance is higher for jobs that are more complex than average and lower for jobs that are less complex than average 3. People often do poorly on cognitive ability tests for reasons other than a lack of cognitive ability V. Application: Personality and Cognitive Ability Tests A. Many organizations today are using paper and pencil personality tests to determine whether or not to hire employees B. The Wonderlic Personnel Test is a 12-minute test of cognitive ability that is widely used by organizations, including the NFL. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 9.1 Based on your personal observation of others, perhaps focusing on people that you have known for a few years, do you think that personality is genetically determined or developed over time through life experiences? What life experiences could make someone more conscientious? More agreeable? More neurotic? More extraverted? Answer: All of these traits could become more pronounced if exhibition of the trait was rewarded. For example, a powerful reward for all young children is getting the attention of their parents. If the parents pay attention to the child when he or she completes a work project, the child is likely to grow up to be conscientious. If the parents pay attention to the child when the child complies with their wishes, the child is likely to become agreeable. And if the parents pay attention to the child for acting nervous or anxious, the child is likely to become neurotic. 9.2 Consider the profile of Canada on Hofstede’s cultural values, as shown in Table 9-2. Do you personally feel like you fit the Canadian profile, or do your values differ in some respects? If you served as an expatriate, meaning you were working in another country, which cultural value differences would be most difficult for you to deal with? Answer: This answer will differ from student to student. If students have been working in a team during the school year, it may be interesting to ask them to see if they can predict their teammates’ responses to the first part of this question. Discussing each individual’s answer to this question can build team cohesion and help team members to understand each other better. Based on Hofstede’s cultural values, Canada generally scores high on individualism and moderate on aspects like uncertainty avoidance and power distance. If your values align with this Canadian profile, you may fit well. However, if you value collectivism or have lower uncertainty avoidance, you might face challenges. As an expatriate, the most difficult cultural value differences could be those related to individualism vs. collectivism and power distance, depending on the host country’s cultural profile. 9.3 What roles do learning, education, and other experiences play in determining a person’s abilities? For which type of ability—cognitive, emotional, or physical—do these factors play the largest role? Answer: Learning and education play a large role in determining a person’s cognitive ability. They provide the environmental backdrop that interacts with a person’s genetic factors to create overall intelligence or g. It is important to note, however, that learning and education can also improve a person’s emotional and physical abilities, as long as the education is based on acquiring the specific behaviours needed to improve the relevant skill. 9.4 Think of experiences you’ve had with people who demonstrated unusually high or low levels of emotional intelligence. Then consider how you would rate them in terms of their cognitive abilities. Do you think that emotional intelligence “bleeds over” to affect people’s perceptions of cognitive ability? Answer: Not necessarily. Some people, who have very high levels of cognitive intelligence, have much lower levels of emotional intelligence. It may be that a person who has a low level of emotional intelligence is seen as someone who is not cognitively intelligence, but the two are not necessarily related. 9.5 What combination of personality and abilities is appropriate for the job of your dreams? Do you possess those characteristics? If you fall short on any of these attributes, what could you do to improve? Answer: Every student will have a different answer to this question, but encourage them to think about personality traits and the range of abilities (cognitive, emotional, physical) needed to do the job of their dreams. For the job of your dreams, an ideal combination of personality traits might include strong communication skills, adaptability, and leadership abilities. Key abilities could include problem-solving, strategic thinking, and industry-specific expertise. Assessing yourself, if you find any gaps, consider targeted professional development, seeking mentorship, or gaining relevant experience to enhance those attributes. CASE: NEXEN Questions: 9.1 Let’s consider what “fitting in” means when you are different from others in the organization. Does it matter if those differences are demographic in nature (e.g., age, gender, ethnic origin) or if the differences are based on the individual characteristics discussed in this chapter (personality, cultural values, abilities)? Explain Answer: Due to their salience, demographic differences might initially present a challenge for the new hire. The reason would be the natural tendency to form social ties with, and gravitate toward, “similar” others on the basis of superficial characteristics (e.g., an older new hire may demonstrate an affinity for coworkers of similar age; or females may naturally bond with other females). In Chapter 10, demographic differences such as these are associated with “surface-level diversity.” As the new hire gets to know the other employees (and they get to know him or her), new information regarding non-superficial qualities, such as personality, attitudes, values, interests, knowledge, and ability will emerge. Differences like these have been associated with “deep-level diversity” (see Chapter 10). If there are significant differences on these non-superficial qualities, fitting in will become a serious problem, regardless of the surface-level similarity or differences. To the extent that new hires have been selected because they possess the personality, values, and abilities necessary for the job and culture (i.e., deep level similarity), it is very likely that employees, who might be different on the outside, will “fit in” very well. For Nexen, recruiting from traditional and non-traditional applicant populations increases the likelihood of a diverse-looking workforce. “Fitting in” has been optimized by selecting people in such a way that deep-level similarity is achieved – and this is why Nexen is so focused on selecting people who have the “right stuff.” 9.2 In addition to having the ability to perform their specific technical duties at Nexen, what personality characteristics and cultural values do you think a person would need to have to function effectively within a culturally diverse, team-based work environment? Answer: Student responses will vary. Conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability (reflected neuroticism) would complement high levels of job-related ability. As for cultural values, moderate to slightly above average levels of collectivism would be beneficial in this context. In a culturally diverse, team-based environment at Nexen, a person would need to exhibit strong interpersonal skills, openness to different perspectives, and adaptability. Essential personality characteristics include empathy, patience, and effective communication. Cultural values should emphasize respect for diversity, collaboration, and inclusivity to work effectively within such a team. 9.3 Of the individual qualities covered in the chapter, which ones are more amenable to change through training and development experiences? Which ones tend to be “hard wired” and stable fixtures of a person’s character? Answer: Generally speaking, the individual characteristics covered in this chapter are relatively stable qualities, and not amenable to change. That said, people can learn to behave differently through the processes described in Chapter 8 (e.g., modeling). Training often targets knowledge and skills; characteristics that are amenable to change. The only caveat would be that often ability or personality represents natural limits that may constrain performance. For instance, you can teach anyone to throw a curveball, but whether or not the training will be successful (performance) depends on one’s innate level of perceptual and psychomotor abilities. 9.4 If you had to design an optimal five-member student group, what mix of personality, cultural values, and abilities would you want members of the group to possess? Would you want members to be similar or dissimilar on these characteristics? Why? If your group consisted of members who were dissimilar, how would you handle any communication and coordination issues that may arise? Are there any risks associated with being too similar? Answer: This will be a good question for students. Have them reflect on their team experiences, and whether they liked working in teams that were similar or dissimilar. As mentioned in question 9.2, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability would be important. Depending on the nature of the task, openness to experience might be helpful. Ask students whether they would want everyone to be high on this quality? Extraversion, again, depends on the nature of the task. If the group has to present their work publically then having a few extraverts might be an asset. However, too many members that are high on extraversion may detract from the group’s performance. Generally, high ability should be valued. Student groups are probably more similar than you might see in the general workforce (e.g., students taking a class together will likely have similar career goals; majors; interests, and demographic qualities - age), thus communication and coordination issues may not be as important as you might see in a groups that are formed within a diverse company such as Nexen. For an optimal five-member student group, aim for a mix of diverse abilities, including problem-solving, creativity, and organizational skills. Personality traits should include adaptability, openness, and strong communication. Cultural values should emphasize respect, collaboration, and inclusivity. A balance of similarity and dissimilarity is ideal; diversity can foster innovation and a range of perspectives, but too much difference may lead to coordination issues. To manage these, establish clear communication channels and set common goals. Risks of being too similar include groupthink and limited creative solutions. BONUS CASE (from 1st ed): GOOGLE How long has it been since you last used Google to do a search on the Internet or navigate the Web? If you’ve worked on your computer today, chances are it hasn’t been more than a few hours. In fact, Google has more than 300 million users across the globe and is by far and away the most popular Internet search engine. With all this popularity has come staggering financial success. Google’s revenues increased from $86.4 million in 2001 to $6.14 billion in 2006, when the company had a market value of over $115 billion. To put this in perspective, $115 billion is almost 50 percent higher than the combined market value of the “big three” automakers in North America. So how did Google become so wildly successful? Well, for one thing, cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed and patented an algorithm that made Internet searches much more efficient and user friendly than what was previously available. However, another key factor that has allowed Google to achieve continued success is its strategy of hiring employees who are extremely intelligent. How does Google go about hiring the best and the brightest? The company has used a number of innovative techniques to attract and recruit a huge pool of really smart people. For example, Google placed billboards in Silicon Valley and Harvard Square with the brainteaser, “first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e.com.” People who solved the brainteaser were taken to a Web site with a more difficult brainteaser. Solving that one resulted in Google asking for the person’s resume. As another example, Google developed something called the Google Labs Aptitude Test (GLAT for short) and published it in magazines that smart techies might read. The GLAT includes questions such as, “How many different ways can you color an icosahedron with one of three colors on each face?” and “On an infinite, two-dimensional, rectangular lattice of 1-ohm resistors, what is the resistance between two nodes that are a knight’s move away?” The GLAT also includes questions for which there are no correct answers per se, but instead require originality. For example, one question asks, “Write a haiku describing methods for predicting search traffic seasonality.” Another notes, “This space is intentionally left blank. Please fill it with something that improves upon emptiness.” Google used the GLAT as a public relations tool to attract people who are smart and who are interested in the types of problems in the test. As noted on the Official Google Blog, where the test is available, “We enjoyed writing it, and if you’re our kind of uber-geek, you’ll enjoy taking it, and maybe you’d enjoy life as a Googler.”4 How effective are practices like these in generating a large pool of potential Googlers? On average, Google hires about 9 people a day from the 150,000 resumes received each month—a very selective ratio. The people who are brought in for an interview typically face 10-person interview panels who ask very difficult questions. For example, someone who applies for a technical job might be asked to solve math algorithms and answer technical questions about software and computer networking. Clearly Google understands the need to hire smart people. It also understands that if Google is not successful in beating out rivals like Yahoo and Microsoft for the best and brightest, odds are the company will go the way of AltaVista and Inktomi, two of the previous leaders in the internet search business. Google’s strong magnetism has turned the technology company into the Mecca for talented intellects across the world. Talented individuals from academia and respected technology companies are jumping to Google to join its unique culture and flex their intellectual power. The culture at Google encourages top talent to pursue innovative entrepreneurial projects. For example, engineers may work on their own projects for the company one day a week. For this reason, Google has attracted tech gurus such as Rob Pike, one of the creators of the Unix operating system. In 2006, BusinessWeek named Google the thirteenth best place to launch a career. It offers many appeals for smart employees who choose to pursue a career path with the search engine behemoth. Some are attracted to the opportunity to solve enormous, unsolved technical challenges, which could benefit millions of people daily. Others are drawn to the company to get the chance to work with tech gurus who have already revolutionized the industry. Whatever the reason, Google is accumulating the most intelligent human capital in the world. Sources: Ferguson, C.H. “What’s Next for Google?” Technology Review 108, no. 1 (January 2005), pp. 38–46; Elgin, B. “Google’s Leap May Slow Rival’s Growth.” BusinessWeek 3943, no. 45 (July 18, 2005). ProQuest database (May 14, 2007); “Brain Teasers Help Google Recruit Workers.” CNN.com Technology. November 4, 2004, www.topcoder.com/pressroom/cnn_110404.pdf (June 2, 2006); Eustace, A. “Pencils Down, People.” Google Blog. September 30, 2004, http://googleblog.blogspot.com/soo4/09/pencils-downpeople.html (May 12, 2006); Kopytoff, V. “How Google Woos the Best and Brightest.” San Francisco Chronicle, December 18, 2005, A1. Lexis Nexis Academic database (May 12, 2006); “Google Faces Brain Drain as Anniversaries Hit,” April 11, 2007, http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/898498/google_faces_brain_drain_as_anniversaries_hit/index.htm l# (June 20, 2007); K. Hafner, “New Incentive for Google Employees: Awards Worth Millions,” The New York Times, February 1, 2005; “Revenge of the Nerds–Again,” BusinessWeek, August 8, 2005; “The Best Places to Launch a Career,” BusinessWeek, September 18, 2006. Questions 10.1 Does Google’s success rely on its ability to attract and retain the most talented employees? Explain. Answer: Absolutely! The high-tech industry is fiercely competitive, and in order to stay on top against Microsoft, and others, Google has to get the very best employees. The work involved in developing new software and services requires high cognitive ability. If Google can be more successful than their competitors in hiring people who are extremely intelligent, they believe they can be more successful than their competitors in developing profitable software and services. 10.2 Which of the Big Five personality dimensions would fit best with the culture at Google? Explain. Answer: Conscientiousness, especially achievement striving, would be critical. Openness to Experience (intellectually curious) would be another trait configuration that would prepare an individual for this context. To complement high levels of technical knowledge, skills and abilities, people who can collaborate and communicate effectively with others will likely fit in better – thus agreeableness and emotional stability would be important dimensions. 10.3 Can a company have too much intellectual human capital? Explain. Answer: If a company has intellectual human capital to the exclusion of all other kinds of human capital, it will be difficult to maintain the organization – companies require doers, as well as thinkers But in well-managed companies, it is almost impossible to have too much intellectual capital, because the more intellectual capital, the greater the competitive edge.. EXERCISE: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE Instructions: The purpose of this exercise is to get students in touch with their emotions – in other words, to help them take the first step towards recognizing their own emotions. The exercise is self-explanatory, but students may feel uncomfortable about discussing their emotions with others in the class. Stress the fact that the classroom is a safe learning environment, and that sharing emotions is the first step in learning to deal both with one’s own emotions, and the emotions of others. OMITTED TOPICS The field of organizational behaviour is extremely broad and different textbooks focus on different aspects of the field. A brief outline of topics that are not covered in this text, but which the professor might want to include in his or her lecture, is included below. In cases where these topics are covered in other chapters in the book, we note those chapters. In cases where they are omitted entirely, we provide some references for further reading. • Self-Esteem – The degree to which individuals believe that they are worthwhile as people. Self-esteem tends to have a strong negative correlation with neuroticism, as highly neurotic people tend to also have lower levels of self-esteem. For more on this, see: Rosenberg, M., C. Schooler, C. Schoen back, F. Rosenberg. “Global self-esteem and specific self-esteem: Different concepts, different outcomes.” American Sociological Review 60 (1995), pp. 141-156. • Self-Monitoring – A personality trait reflecting the tendency to change one’s behaviour to suit the needs of a given situation. High self-monitors are more likely to engage in impression management than low self-monitors. For more on this, see: Snyder, M. Public appearance/private realities: The psychology of self-monitoring. San Francisco, CA: Freeman, 1987. • Machiavellianism – A personality trait reflecting the tendency to manipulate others in order to fulfill one’s own self-interests. Individuals high on this trait act in accordance with the philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, who laid out a strategy for seizing power in his book The Prince. For more on this, see: Christie, R.; F.L. Gies. Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press, 1970. • Type A Behaviour Pattern – Individuals who are “Type A” tend to have competitive, hard-driving, and irritable personalities, as opposed to individuals who are “Type B.” The Type A Behaviour Pattern primarily represents a combination of high conscientiousness and high neuroticism and is discussed in the context of coping with stress in Chapter 5. 1. IQ – The intelligence quotient, or IQ, is likely to be familiar to anyone reading this book. However, many people do not realize that IQ testing is rooted in research that was intended to diagnose learning disabilities. For more information see: Binet, A. “New Methods for the Diagnosis of the Intellectual Level of Subnormal’s,” first published in L'Année Psychologique, 12(1905), pp. 191-244. English translation by Kite, E. S. “The development of intelligence in children.” Vineland, NJ: Publications of the Training School at Vineland (1916). 2. Practical Intelligence – Scholars have is argued that intelligence should also include the ability to adapt to one’s environment and select a new one in order to achieve personal goals. For more information on this “common sense” type of intelligence, which is most commonly called “practical intelligence”, see: Sternberg, R. J., R. K. Wagner, W. M. Williams, and J. A. Horvath. “Testing Common Sense.” American Psychologist, 50(1995), pp. 912-927. Sternberg, R. J.,G. B. Forsythe, J. Hedlund, J. A. Horvath, R. K. Wagner, W. M. Williams, S. Snook, and E. L Grigorenko, Practical Intelligence in Everyday Life. New York: Cambridge University Press. (2000). a. Group Differences – One of the most debated issues in cognitive ability relates to the meaning of group differences in test scores. Popular interest in the issue increased in 1994 after Herrnstein and Murray published their book, The Bell Curve. For more information regarding different perspectives on the issue, see: Herrnstein, R. J and C. Murray. The Bell Curve, New York: Free Press. (1994) Rushton, J. P., and A. R. Jensen. “Thirty years of research on race differences in cognitive ability.” Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 11(2005). pp. 235-294. Dickens, William T. (2005) “Genetic Differences and School Readiness,” The Future of Children, 15 (1, 2005). pp.55-69. Turkheimer, Eric, Andreana Haley, Mary Waldron, Brian D’Onofrio, and Irving I. Gottesman, “Socioeconomic Status Modifies Heritability of IQ in Young Children,” Psychological Science, 14 (November 6, 2003). pp. 623-628. 3. Influence of the Environment – Scholars have been interested in the degree to which cognitive abilities change over time as a function of experience and education. For more information see: Asbury, K., T. D. Wachs and R. Plomin. “Environmental Moderators of Genetic Influence on Verbal and Nonverbal Abilities in Early Childhood,” Intelligence, 33 (November-December, 6, 2005) pp. 643-661. Cecci, S. J. “How Much Does Schooling Influence General Intelligence and its Cognitive Components? A Reassessment of the Evidence,” Developmental Psychology, 27 (1991), pp. 703-722. Dickens, W. T and J. R. Flynn. “Heritability Estimates Versus Large Environmental Effects: The IQ Paradox Resolved,” Psychological Review, 108 (2, 2001) pp. 346-369. Flynn, J. R. “Massive Gains in 14 Nations: What IQ Tests Really Measure,” Psychological Bulletin, 101(1987). pp. 171-191. 4. Fairness and Bias –For a discussion regarding issues of bias and fairness in applications of cognitive ability tests in employment contexts see: Hartigan, J. A., and A. K. Wigdor. Fairness in Employment Testing: Validity Generalization, Minority Issues, and the General Aptitude Test Battery. Washington D.C: National Academy Press (1989). Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures, 4th Edition. Bowling Green: OH. Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (2003). Chapter 10 Teams, Diversity, and Communication CHAPTER OVERVIEW Teams – two or more people who work interdependently to accomplish some task related purpose– are an important part of organizational life. This chapter describes teams in terms of team types, interdependence, and composition. Diversity with a team context is also featured. In addition to team structure, the chapter also explores team processes – the communication, activities, and interactions that occur within teams as they pursue their goals and accomplish their tasks. Some processes are directly related to core team tasks. Other processes integrate or support accomplishment of core tasks. A number of states underlying team process are reviewed, including cohesion, potency, mental models, and transactive memory. Relationships between both team structure (task interdependence) and teamwork processes and our two focal outcomes (performance and commitment) are described. Finally, the practical issue of how to compensate employees who work in teams is considered. LEARNING GOALS After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions: 10.1 What are the five general team types and their defining competencies? 10.2 What are the three general types of team interdependence? 10.3 What are the types of team diversity and how do they influence team functioning? 10.4 What are taskwork and teamwork processes, and what are some examples of team activities that fall into these process categories? 10.5 What factors influence the communication process? 10.6 What are team states, and what are some examples of the states that fall into this process category? 10.7 How do team characteristics and processes affect team performance and team commitment? 10.8 How can team compensation be used to manage team effectiveness? CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Team Characteristics and Diversity A. A team consists of two or more people who work interdependently over some time period to accomplish common goals related to some task oriented purpose B. Teams differ from groups in two primary ways 1. Interactions in teams involve greater dependence than interactions in groups 2. Interactions within teams occurs with a specific task-related purpose in mind C. Teams are widely used in organizations today II. What Characteristics Can Be Used To Describe Teams? Bonus OB on Screen: We are Marshall. If you have access to this movie, please play it for your students during class. This scene depicts how Marshall University football coach Jack Lengyel tries to reestablish the team after most of the team’s players and coaches die in a plane crash. The scene shows that the new players don’t have the capabilities needed for the team to be successful, and how Coach Lengyel tries to overcome the team’s limitations by using a simplified offensive scheme. A good topic for class discussion could center on additional factors or characteristics that could be emphasized or designed into the team to help it perform more effectively. For example, the motivational benefits from a sense of “oneness” and an emphasis on achievement of a common goal might be more important for a team that has limited capabilities relative to a team that can rely on the talent of its players to get by. What could Coach Lengyel do to create these types of feelings and beliefs among the team’s players? Try This! Use the We Are Marshall clip for another chapter. The unique position that Coach Lengyel is in calls for adaptive task performance, from Chapter 2 on Job Performance. The practice scenes illustrate social learning theory and behavioural modeling from Chapter 8 on Learning and Decision Making. The scenes also illustrate the importance of relevant abilities—in this case, physical abilities—from Chapter 9 on Ability. The discussion in the coach’s office also illustrates a number of concepts from this chapter (processes and communication), including brainstorming and team decision making. Finally, Coach Lengyel also exemplifies a number of concepts from Chapter 12 on Leadership: Styles and Behaviours, including extraversion and energy level, consultative decision making, initiating structure, telling, and intellectual stimulation. Bonus OB on Screen: Ocean’s Eleven. Chapters 10-11 of the DVD (beginning at 28:24 and ending at 39:34 for a total running time of 11 minutes, 10 seconds) opens with a team meeting where Danny Ocean reveals his plan to pull off a heist of a Las Vegas Casino. In this meeting, Danny describes some significant challenges to the team and the tasks that need to be done (reconnaissance, power, surveillance, construction, intelligence, transportation). Maybe most important, however, he describes the reward— $150 million, which will be split evenly 11 ways. Class discussion could begin by asking students whether or not Ocean’s 11 is a team in the true sense of the word, and if so, which type? Discussion could then shift to interdependence. Ask students to characterize the team in terms of the three types of interdependence and provide examples from the film. The discussion could then shift to how interdependence promotes the effectiveness of the team. Could this particular team function effectively with a lower task, goal, or outcome interdependence? 1. Team Types (Table 10-1) a. Work teams – produce goods or services b. Management teams – integrate activities of subunits across business functions c. Parallel teams – provide recommendations and resolve issues d. Project teams – produce a one-time output (product, service, plan, design, etc.) e. Action teams – perform complex tasks that are short in duration and take place in highly visible or challenging circumstances f. Note that teams often fit into more than one category Try This! If students are working in teams, it is interesting to ask them to categorize their teams using the taxonomy. Because student teams often complete a series of discrete assignments, many will suggest that their teams are project teams. However, because they work together for a series of projects over an extended time period—maybe a semester—others will suggest that their teams are work teams. This can lead to a good discussion about the complexity of teams, and that perhaps the most important aspect of the team taxonomy is that it helps to clarify the underlying characteristics. This discussion can provide a good segue to the topics that follow. B. Variations Within Team Types 1. Virtual teams – are teams in which members are geographically dispersed, and interdependent activity occurs through electronic communications 2. Team Development Stages a. Standard stages of team development i. Forming ii. Storming iii. Norming iv. Performing v. Adjourning b. Not all teams go through the same stages in the same order i. Punctuated equilibrium (Figure 10-2) – Patterns of behaviour develop, and are continued because of inertia until a process revision takes place, leading the team to higher levels of performance. C. Team Interdependence 1. Task interdependence – refers to the degree to which team members interact with and rely on other team members for the information, materials, and resources needed to accomplish work for the team (Figure 10-3) a. Pooled interdependence – group members complete their work assignments independently, and then this work is simply “piled up” to represent the groups output b. Sequential interdependence – different tasks are done in a prescribed order, and the group is structured such that the members specialize in these tasks c. Reciprocal interdependence – members are specialized to perform specific tasks, and members interact with a subset of other members to complete the team’s work d. Comprehensive interdependence – each member has a great deal of discretion in terms of what they do and with whom they interact in the course of collaborating on the team’s product 2. Goal Interdependence a. Goal interdependence exists when team members have a shared vision of the team’s goal and align their individual goals with that vision as a result 3. Outcome Interdependence a. Outcome interdependence exists when team members share in the rewards that the team earns D. Team Composition (see Figure 10.4) 1. Member Roles a. Role – the behaviours a person is expected to display in a given context i. Leader-staff roles – leader makes decisions for the team and provides direction and control over members who perform assigned tasks ii. Team task roles refer to behaviours that directly facilitate the accomplishment of team tasks iii. Team building roles refer to behaviours that influence the quality of the team’s social climate iv. Individualistic roles reflect behaviours that benefit the individual at the expense of the team 2. Member Ability a. In disjunctive tasks, the member who possesses the highest level of ability relevant to the task will have the most influence on the effectiveness of the team b. In conjunctive tasks, the team’s performance depends on the ability of the “weakest link” c. In additive tasks, the contributions from every member of the team add up to determine team performance 3. Member Personality a. Many personality characteristics affect team performance i. Conscientiousness ii. Agreeableness iii. Extraversion 4. Member Diversity a. The extent to which team members differ from one another b. Two different theories related to diversity in teams i. Diversity is valuable because different people have different approaches to solving problems ii. Diversity is detrimental because people are more attracted to those who are like them than they are to those who are not like them c. Must consider both type of diversity and length of time team has known each other to understand real impact of diversity i. Surface-level diversity – diversity based on observable attributes. Can leads to problems initially because people may have difficulty communicating with others who are perceived to be different, however, these problems tend to fade over time as members gain experience with one another. ii. Deep-level diversity – diversity based on attributes that are inferred with experience. Differences with respect to attitudes, values, and personality may not cause problems initially, but it they can lead to problems over time 5. Team Size a. Larger teams are good for management and project teams, but not for teams engaged in production tasks E. Summary: What Characteristics Can Be Used to Describe Teams? (Figure 10-5) III. Team Processes and Communication A. Team process is a term that reflects the different types of communication, activities, and interactions that occur within teams that contribute to their ultimate end goals IV. Why Are Some Teams More Than The Sum of Their Parts? A. Process gain – similar to “synergy”, the term refers to the fact that some teams perform at a level which is higher than the level of their combined individual members OB on Screen: 300. Chapters 13-15 of the DVD (beginning at 40:45 and ending at 51:40 for a total running time of 10 minutes, 55 seconds) reveals how an army of 300 can achieve the type of process gains that allow it to effectively fight against an army of over 100,000. The scene opens with King Leonidas explaining to Ephialtes why it is necessary for a Spartan soldier to be able to lift his shield over his head. The King’s rationale is that employment of the shield is an essential part of the phalanx strategy, and the failure of even one soldier to do so skillfully in battle could jeopardize the entire army. The scene then vividly depicts a battle in which the phalanx is effectively employed against the Persian conquerors. Class discussion could begin by asking students to identify factors that allowed the small group of Spartans to fight effectively against a numerically superior force. Students should be able to identify factors that relate to several of the processes discussed in the chapter. The scene shows that the Spartans were not only exceptionally well-trained in the task of fighting, but they also employed an effective strategy (they fought the battle in a narrow pass, and thus the phalanx could not be out flanked), their actions were highly coordinated (they raised and lowered their shields in unison), they had confidence in themselves, they were very cohesive, and they had a shared vision of what they needed to do to achieve a common goal. These examples cover many of the processes discussed in the chapter (taskwork, teamwork, and emergent states). Try This! Use the 300 clip for a different chapter. King Leonidas’s treatment of Ephialtes shows high levels of consideration from Chapter 12 on Leadership, and high levels of benevolence and interpersonal justice from Chapter 7 on Trust, Justice, and Ethics. His speech before the battle also illustrates transformational leadership from Chapter 12, especially inspirational motivation. The battle scenes also provide a good example of the physical abilities needed for that type of combat (from Chapter 9 on Ability). B. Process loss is the opposite of process gain – you get less from the team than you would expect, based on the team’s individual members 1. Coordination loss – when integrating team activities consumes more time and energy than the activity itself a. Coordination loss is driven by production blocking – when team members have to wait on one another before they can do their part of the team task 2. Motivational loss – when team members don’t work as hard as they could, due to the reduced accountability of being in the team a. Motivation loss is driven by social loafing - where members exert less effort due to the presence of others C. Taskwork Processes – the activities of team members that relate directly to the accomplishment of tasks (Figure 10-6) 1. Creative behaviour – activities focused on generating novel and useful ideas and solutions a. Brainstorming i. A creative process guided by four rules a.) Express all ideas that come to mind, no matter how strange b.) Go for quantity of ideas rather than quality c.) Don’t criticize or evaluate the ideas of others d.) Build on the ideas of others ii. Brainstorming rarely works as well as individual idea generation a.) People tend to social loaf in groups b.) Members may be hesitant to express ideas that are not well developed c.) Production blocking occurs when members have to wait their turn to give ideas b. Nominal Group Technique Try This! To illustrate the limitations of brainstorming, split the class in half. Identify a brainstorming problem (e.g., how to encourage recycling on campus), and give one half of the class 10 minutes to brainstorm (assign a facilitator from the group to write the ideas on the board). When the group is finished, outline a modified nominal group procedure that will be used by the other group. Members write down as many ideas as they can, and after three minutes, they’ll take turns sharing the non-redundant ideas with the facilitator who writes them down on the board until 7 minutes is up (NOTE: The other students in this group can also share their ideas with the class, but keep these ideas separated). Then count up the number of ideas each group unidentified in their allotted ten minutes. The nominal group will always generate more ideas. Class discussion can focus on why this happened. Students will recognize coordination loss, motivation loss, and self-censuring as the major issues. 2. Decision Making a. In a team context, decision making requires that multiple members gather and consider ideas relevant to their specializations, then make recommendations to a team leader who is ultimately responsible for a final decision b. Three factors account for team’s ability to make effective decisions: i. Decision informity – do members possess adequate information about their own task responsibilities? ii. Staff validity – do members make good recommendations to the team leader? iii. Hierarchical sensitivity – does the leader effectively weigh the ideas of the members? 3. Boundary Spanning i. Activities with individuals and groups who are not part of the team. ii. Activities include: a.) Ambassador activities – communications intended to protect the team, persuade others to support the team, or obtain important resources for the team b.) Task coordinator activities – involve communications that are intended to coordinate task-related issues with people or groups in other functional areas c.) Scout activities – things that team members do to gain information about technology, competitors, or the broader marketplace D. Teamwork Processes (Figure 10-7) 1. Teamwork processes are the interpersonal activities that facilitate the accomplishment of the team’s work, but are not directly related to task accomplishment 2. Transition Processes a. Teamwork activities that focus on preparation for future work. Such activities can include mission analysis, strategy formulation, and goal specification. These processes can take place before the team begins to do taskwork, or between identifiable periods of taskwork (e.g., parts of a project). 3. Action Processes a. Action processes are important as taskwork is being completed, and can include things such as monitoring progress toward team goals and coordination 4. Interpersonal Processes a. Interpersonal processes relate to the manner in which team members manage their relationships. They include processes such as motivating and confidence building, and conflict management i. Types of team conflict a.) Relationship conflict – based on incompatibilities with respect to personal values or preferences, these almost always harm the team b.) Task conflict – based on disagreements about the team’s task, these can be beneficial to team Try This! Ask students to share an example of task conflict that occurred in one of their student teams. What exactly did the disagreement revolve around, and did the task conflict ultimately have a positive or negative effect on the group’s performance? Then ask students to share an example of relationship conflict, so long as it involves a person or team that is not also in the class. Was that instance more detrimental to the team’s effectiveness than the task conflict? Why exactly? E. Communication 1. Communication refers to the process by which information and meaning gets transferred from a sender to a receiver. 2. The communication process involves both a sender, who encodes a message, and a receiver, who decodes the message. That process can be hindered by: a. Low communication competence - a lack of skills in encoding, transmitting, and receiving messages b. Gender differences – men and women tend to differ in their communication style, which can lead to faulty inferences about each other c. Noise - factors in the environment that interfere with the message d. Low information richness - messages transmitted through less rich media, such as computers, lack cues such as body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions e. Inappropriate network structures - the pattern of communication occurring in the team should match the complexity of the task, with more centralized structures (the wheel, the Y) being more appropriate on simple tasks and less centralized structures (all channel, circle) being more appropriate on complex tasks. See Figure 10-9) F. Team States 1. Team states refer to the specific types of thoughts and feelings that coalesce in the minds of team members as a consequence of working together. Figure 10-10 2. Team states include: a. Cohesion – the emotional attachment that bonds team members together i. May lead to groupthink ii. To leverage benefits of cohesion, teams should: a.) Acknowledge that cohesion can be detrimental b.) Formally institute the role of devil’s advocate OB Assessments: Cohesion. This scale allows students to determine exactly how cohesive their teams are. Ask the students to complete the assessment relative to their current team in the course, or to a team from another class. If their current team is the focus, it’s best to skip the typical showing of hands for who scores high or low. It may be a bit uncomfortable for classmates to admit to low cohesion scores in front of their team members. b. Potency – the degree to which team members think that the team can be effective across a variety of situations and tasks i. Strong potency has a strong positive impact on team performance c. Mental Models – the level of common understanding among team members with regard to important aspects of the team and its task d. Transactive Memory – refers to how specialized knowledge is distributed among members in a manner that results in an effective system of memory for the team G. Summary: Why Are Some Teams More Than the Sum of Their Parts? (Figure 10-11) V. How Important Are Team Characteristics and Processes? A. Two aspects of team effectiveness 1. Team performance – may include metrics such as quantity and quality of goods or services produced, customer satisfaction, the effectiveness or accuracy of decisions, victories, completed reports, etc. 2. Team viability – the likelihood that the team can work together effectively into the future. Low viability implies less commitment to the team. B. Relationship between task interdependence and team performance is moderately positive (Figure 10-12) 1. Relationship is significantly stronger for teams involved in complex, knowledge work, rather than simple tasks C. Relationship between task interdependence and team commitment is positive, but weak (Figure 10-12) D. Teamwork processes have a moderate positive impact on team performance, especially for teams involved in complex knowledge work (Figure 10-13) E. Teamwork processes have a strong positive effect on team commitment, especially for teams involved in complex knowledge work (Figure 10-13) VI. Application: Team Compensation A. Many companies use hybrid outcome dependence, where members receive rewards for their own work, while at the same time, sharing a team performance reward B. Although it is not likely to be universally effective, hybrid outcome dependence solves two problems 1. It links performance to team goals, allowing people to be compensated for being part of the team 2. It allows high-performing individuals to still be compensated for their individual levels of performance DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 10.1 In which types of teams have you worked? Were these teams consistent with the team types discussed in this chapter, or were they a combination of types? Answer: Most teams will be a combination of types. For example, many students who work at banks will have both a work team and a management team. A person on a team in an organization may also be a part of a parallel team, project team, or action team, while at the same time being part of a production or management team. 10.2 Think about your student teams. Which aspects of both models of team development apply the most and least to teams in this context? Answer: Most student teams spend little time forming and storming, but move directly into the norming phase. This is particularly true when assignments are well outlined and expectations of students are fairly clear. The development that occurs typically centers on norms for group members. Only if the team is very skilled or very lucky, do they get to the performing stage. Of course, it often happens that a student team will form and then hit a period of inertia where very little gets done until the calendar midpoint of a project. Then, a state of punctuated equilibrium occurs when the team realizes it needs to change its strategy if it is going to be successful. 10.3 How does diversity relate to the two types of effectiveness in your student teams? Answer: It depends on the type of diversity. Surface-level diversity, which is diversity based on observable attributes such as skin color, leads to similarity-attraction problems initially, but these problems tend to fade over time. Deep-level diversity, which is diversity based on attributes that are inferred over time, such as attitudes, values, and personality, may not cause problems initially, but can lead to problems over time 10.4. Think about a highly successful team with which you are familiar. What types of task, goal, and outcome interdependence does this team have? Describe how changes in task, goal, and outcome interdependence might have a negative impact on this team. Answer: Answers to this question will vary by student, depending on their team experiences. In a successful software development team: • Task Interdependence: High (team members rely on each other’s work). • Goal Interdependence: High (shared project goals). • Outcome Interdependence: High (rewards tied to team success). Negative Impacts: • Increased Task Interdependence: Risk of bottlenecks. • Altered Goal Interdependence: Potential for conflict. • Changed Outcome Interdependence: Reduced cooperation if rewards are individual. 10.5 Think of a team you worked in that performed poorly. Were any of the causes of the poor performance related to the forces that tend to create process loss? If so, which force was most particularly problematic? What steps, if any, did your team take to deal the problem? Answer: Answers will vary from student to student, but many students may identify interpersonal processes as the source of their team difficulties. An additional problem is that often, teams take no action at all when dealing with interpersonal processes. In a poorly performing team I worked with: Cause of Poor Performance: Process Loss due to Coordination Issues. Problematic Force: Poor communication led to misaligned tasks and delays. Steps Taken: The team implemented regular status meetings and clear communication channels to improve coordination. 10.6 Think of a team you worked in that performed exceptionally well. What type of taskwork process did the team engage in? Which teamwork processes did the team seem to depend on most to produce the exceptional results? Answer: Typically, teams will perform exceptionally well when they are working on a conjunctive task, and all team members have high levels of ability and respect one another. 10.7 Think about the team states described in this chapter. If you joined a new team, how long do you think it would take you to get a feel for those team states? Which states would you be able to gauge first? Which would take longer? Answer: Some states might be very easy to see immediately – for example, the group’s cohesion might be readily apparent at first meeting. Other states would take longer to discern, especially things like mental models and transactive memory, since they are so heavily based on group history. Upon joining a new team: • Quick to Gauge: Team Climate (general atmosphere) and Team Morale (overall satisfaction). • Takes Longer: Team Cohesion (level of bonding and trust) and Team Dynamics (interaction patterns and roles). 10.8 Describe the communication process in a student team of which you’ve been a member. Were there examples of “noise” that detracted from the team members’ ability to communicate with one another? What was the primary mode of communication among members? Did this mode of communication possess an appropriate level of information richness? Which network structure comes closest to describing the one that the team used to communicate? Was the level of centralization appropriate? Answer: Answers to this question will vary by student, depending on their team experiences. Try to have students base their answers on the material presented in the chapter – with examples of these concepts. In a student team I was part of: • Communication Process: Predominantly informal discussions and group chats. • Examples of Noise: Misunderstandings due to unclear messages and distractions from unrelated topics. • Primary Mode: Instant messaging and group meetings. • Information Richness: Generally appropriate, though text-based messages sometimes lacked nuance. • Network Structure: Wheel Network (one member often central). • Centralization: Mostly appropriate, but could lead to bottlenecks if the central member was overloaded. 10.9 Is it common for men to complain that they just don’t understand women, and vice versa? Discuss how this confusion may relate to difference communication styles. What advice would you give a young woman who is about to start her career in management? Answer: Gender differences with respect to communication style are universal, and the chapter offers some interesting perspectives. Self and other awareness is a start. Also learning how to adapt one’s communication style to the demand of the situation would be another step. 10.10 If you were asked to design teamwork training for your student team, what exactly would this training cover? What specific benefits would you expect? What would prevent a team from training itself on this material? Answer: Answers to this question will vary by student, depending on their team experiences. Training Design: • Communication Skills: Effective messaging, active listening. • Team Dynamics: Roles, conflict resolution. • Collaboration Tools: Using digital platforms effectively. Benefits: • Improved clarity and efficiency. • Enhanced team cohesion and problem-solving. Barriers to Self-Training: • Lack of structured guidance and resources. • Potential for inconsistent application and follow-through. CASE: LOGITECH Questions: 10.1 Describe the teams that Logitech uses to develop new products in terms of the characteristics outlined in this chapter. Do these teams fit into one of the “types” from the taxonomy presented in this chapter? If so, which one? If not, why? Answer: From the information provided in the case, the teams appear to conduct work with either sequential or reciprocal interdependence. There are low to moderate levels of goal interdependence, and the level of outcome interdependence is unclear. The other characteristic discussed is diversity in terms of functional expertise and cultural background. These teams appear to function as project teams, but they work together virtually. 10.2 In what ways are the teams at Logitech diverse? Describe the potential advantages and disadvantages to these types of diversity. Why might the advantages of these types of diversity outweigh the disadvantages in the context of the follow the sun teams? Answer: From the information provided in the case, the teams are diverse in terms of functional expertise and cultural background. These characteristics reflect surface rather than deep level diversity. The types of problems that these teams have (e.g., communication, stereotypes) fade as they gain experience working together, and at some point they can take advantage of their diversity to deliver the type of innovations that are important in the high tech industries. Although people from different functional and cultural backgrounds may differ in terms of values and beliefs, there is not enough information in the case to predict how this will play out. However, the members the members may be quite similar in terms of their beliefs about the importance of producing high quality deliverables. 10.3 If you were charged with creating a follow the sun team to develop a new product, what specific team processes would cause the majority of the issues? What specific team processes and communication factors would the training need to emphasize to ensure the team is effective in this context? Answer: I would implement practices to increase the level of goal and outcome interdependence. The physical distance between members might reduce the level of accountability members feel towards each other, and goal interdependence might enhance members’ perceptions that they are in fact a team working towards a common goal, and outcome interdependence might serve as an incentive for cooperation. From a process perspective, limited communication and interpersonal interactions present primary challenges. Technology-mediated communication (e.g., email; skype; video conference) will naturally impose constraints on the communication process outlined in Figure 10-8). Information richness would be especially problematic, and generally speaking, the lack of interpersonal connections may undermine both communication and team processes. In addition it might be harder to foster critical team states, such as cohesion, potency, or mental models. On the other hand, it might be easier to establish transactive memory because conservations and other information exchange can be recorded or archived for future reference. Training would likely be focused on fortifying those structure and process characteristics required for a global virtual team to work effectively. BONUS CASE: PIXAR Chances are you’ve seen one of the following animated movies over the past decade or so: Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, Monster’s Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, or Wall-E. If you have, you’re not alone. These critically acclaimed films, produced by Pixar, were huge hits at the box office. Finding Nemo, for example, had grossed over $865 million as of late 2006 and stands as one of the ten highest grossing films of all time. All this success led Disney to acquire Pixar for over $7 billion—not a bad price for a 20-year-old company. But how did Pixar achieve so much success in such a short period of time? The most obvious factor is that Pixar developed highly innovative computer graphics and production software for filmmaking, bringing a vibrancy and richness to its movies that had never been seen before. A less obvious contributor to Pixar’s success is that the company is built around talented people who work in highly effective teams. Perhaps the best example is the team at the top of the company: Ed Catmull, John Lasseter, and Steve Jobs. Catmull dreamed up the idea of making computer-animated films and is the member most responsible for the majority of Pixar’s technical achievements. Lasseter, originally a Disney animator, is the “artist” of the team. He personally directed Pixar’s first three films and is the company’s creative force. Finally, Steve Jobs is the CEO of Pixar and the member most responsible for the business decisions that allowed the company to grow into a multibillion dollar enterprise in less than two decades. Even apart from its top managers, there are a number of characteristics that make the teams at Pixar effective. For example, Pixar’s teams are composed of members with very different sources of expertise and knowledge, who collaborate closely with one another on most aspects of the filmmaking enterprise. For example, artists directly consult with engineers to request new types of visual effects. Engineers communicate ideas for new visual effects directly to producers. This sort of direct communication between people with different functional backgrounds helps the teams cope with the sheer complexity of making animated films. It also helps Pixar’s teams produce highly innovative films, which is one key to their box office success. Another factor that makes Pixar’s teams so effective is that the majority of the members have stayed together throughout the company’s relatively brief history. This practice stands in stark contrast to the norm in the film industry of assembling a new set of actors, producers, technicians, and support personnel for each new project. Why has keeping the teams together been so effective for Pixar? For one thing, it enabled team members to develop a solid understanding of how other members’ knowledge and skills can help them accomplish their own tasks. Moreover, when entering new projects, team members already have a sense of everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, and personality quirks. As a result, the team is more capable of avoiding the kinds of misunderstandings that can distract teams from their work. In a little over a decade, Pixar has managed to produce eight blockbuster hits. Its leadership in producing animated motion pictures results from an amalgamation of contributing factors, including the three individuals who lead this innovative organization. Ed Catmull, John Lasseter, and Steve Jobs represent the driving forces behind one of the most cohesive teams in the industry. Pixar consists of three departments: animators, the story department, and the art department. Cross-functional teams comprise members of each of these departments who are integrated together to facilitate communication and thus produce groundbreaking movies. Companies rise and fall quickly within the moviemaking industry, yet Pixar has managed to pull all of its resources together to create something magical each and every time it produces a movie. How is this success achieved? Pixar has retained the majority of the employees who started with the company at its initiation, which has been a huge advantage. Employees within each team know the strengths and weaknesses of every other team member and therefore can collaborate effectively. Pixar also has established Pixar University to train new employees, which enables them to have an immediate impact after they complete their three-month training program. The success of Pixar thus is rooted in the team atmosphere created by the organization. Questions: 10.1 Are cross-functional teams a necessity for the continued success of Pixar? Explain. Answer: Cross-functional teams are an absolute necessity at Pixar, because each member of the teams have specialized skills and no individual can make an animated movie by him or herself. 10.2 What makes teams at Pixar different from other teams? Explain. Answer: Teams at Pixar include people who have been working with the company for a long period of time, so every team member knows the strengths and weaknesses of all the other team members. This allows the team to find ways to capitalize on team member strengths and compensate for team member weaknesses. Sources: http://www.pixar.com; Lamonica, P.R. “Disney Buys Pixar,” January 25, 2006, http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/24/news/companies/disney_pixar_deal/index.htm (December 12, 2006); Schlender, B. “The Man who Built Pixar’s Incredible Innovation Machine.” Fortune 150, no. 10 November 15, 2004), p. 206. ProQuest database (May 28, 2007); C. Conley, “Innovation All the Time,” BusinessWeek Online, September 19, 2006; “Corporate Overview,” www.pixar.com/companyinfo/about_us/overview.htm (June 26, 2007); S. Dowling, “How Pixar Changed Animation–for Good,” October 10, 2003, http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk (June 26, 2007); E. Millard, “What Makes Pixar Run?” May 2004, www.technewsworld.com/story/34107.html (June 26, 2007). EXERCISE: PAPER PLANE CORPORATION Preparation: The Paper Plane Corporation Exercise requires that you supply students with enough paper so that they can progress through three five minute rounds of paper airplane folding. Recycled paper works well for this exercise – just let students know that whatever is printed on the paper is irrelevant to the exercise. You may have to start saving paper a few weeks in advance in order to have enough for your class, especially if you are teaching a large lecture section. You will also want to re-familiarize yourself with the fine art of airplane folding, since you will be demonstrating this for the class! Be sure that your airplane meets the following quality standards. 1. Plane is symmetrical. 2. All corners must match evenly. 3. Both wings must be exactly the same size, and tailfins must be the same height. 4. Plane must be able to fly at least five feet. In Class: Prior to starting the exercise, have students get together in teams and pick a team manager and a team inspector. Ask all of the team inspectors to come to the front of the room, and provide each inspector with a summary sheet. Team inspectors will be responsible for distributing the supplies to the team, and keeping track of bids, along with evaluating final products. Then send each inspector to a team that is different from their original team. This ensures that inspections are being done fairly. Next, show students how to fold a paper airplane, as it is not always easy to visualize how this is done from the instructions in the text. Be sure that you explain the quality standards listed above to the class, and demonstrate how your plane meets those standards. Again, remind the class that they must Time the rounds of airplane building carefully – they should not be longer than five minutes, and all rounds should be the same. If you are pressed for time in the class, you can eliminate the final round of folding. Questions: In the discussion part of this exercise, point out that if all members of the team have relatively high skills, sequential interdependence is going to be more effective in this task than pooled interdependence. This is because, even in a five minute period, people will quickly learn to specialize at a task, and they will be more efficient at doing a single task than they are at trying to fold an entire airplane by themselves. However, one slow member will slow down the entire group in sequential interdependence, as this is a conjunctive task. OMITTED TOPICS The field of organizational behaviour is extremely broad and different textbooks focus on different aspects of the field. A brief outline of topics that are not covered in this text, but which the professor might want to include in his or her lecture, is included below. In cases where these topics are covered in other chapters in the book, we note those chapters. In cases where they are omitted entirely, we provide some references for further reading. • Sociotechnical Theory – Modern perspectives on small groups and teams can be traced to research conducted in the early 1950 in the British coal mining industry. For a review of a classic study from this perspective see: Trist, E. L., G. I. Susman, and G. R. Brown. “An Experiment in Autonomous Working in an Underground Coal Mine. Human Relations, 30 (1977). Pp. 210-236. • Team Based Organizations—Team based organizations are different than traditional “job-based” organizations in several important ways. For a discussion of these differences, and also factors that need to be taken into account in designing a team based organization, see: Mohrman, S. A., S. G. Cohen, & A. M. Mohrman, Jr. Designing Team-based Organizations: New Forms of Knowledge Work. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. (1995). • Designing Work Teams – There are many different characteristics of teams that influence team processes and outcomes. For a discussion regarding how to take these characteristics into account when designing teams see: Hackman, J. R. “The Design of Work Teams. In J. W. Lorsch (Ed.) Handbook of Organizational Behaviour. Englewood Cliffs. N. J.: Prentice-Hall. pp. 315-342. (1987). • Team Leadership – Effectiveness in the leader role is an important factor for team success. For more information about leadership, see Chapter 12 in this text. For information regarding the particulars of leading teams, see: Hackman, J. R. Leading teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances. Boston: Harvard Business School Press (2002). • Majority and Minority Influence — Members of groups who hold a minority or majority position may have an important influence on group functioning and effectiveness. For more information see: Moscovici, S. “Social Influence and Conformity.” In G. Lindzey and E. Aronson (eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology (Vol. 2). New York: Random House. pp. 347-412 (1985). • Team Decision Making Problems – Biases and heuristics that influence individual decision makers can impact decision making in teams. For more information on these biases and heuristics see Chapter 8 of this text. For additional information on decision making problems that are more specific to small groups and teams, see: Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, (73)1998. Whole Issue. Harvey, J. “The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement” Organizational Dynamics, 3 (1974). pp. 63-80. Ross, J. and B. M. Staw. “Organizational Escalation and Exit: Lessons from the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant.” Academy of Management Journal, 36(1993). pp. 701-733. • Communication – The manner in which team members communicate with each other is reflected in many of the processes we discussed in this chapter. For information focused more directly on communication, see: Smith, K. G., K. A. Smith, J. D. Olian, H. P. Simis Jr., D. P. O’Bannon, and J. A. Scully. “Top Management Team Demography and Process: The Role of Social Integration and Communication.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 39(1994). pp. 412-438. Stasser, G., and W. Titus. “Effects of Information Load and Percentage of Shared Information on the Dissemination of Unshared Information During Group Discussion”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53 (1987). pp. 81-93. • Intergroup Relations – Research on relationships among groups has a long history. For information see: Alderfer, C. P. “An intergroup perspective on group dynamics.” In J. W. Lorsch (Ed.) Handbook of Organizational Behaviour. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. pp. 190-222. Marks, M. A., L. A. DeChurch, J. E. Mathieu, and F. J. Panzer. “Teamwork in multiteam systems. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(2005). pp. 964-971. • Creativity – For information regarding the role of creative personality and creative thinking, see Chapter 9 of this text. • Resolving Conflict – For a discussion regarding how conflict can be managed by taking into account concern for the outcome and concern for others, see Chapter 11 of this text. Solution Manual for Organizational Behaviour: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace Jason A Colquitt, Michael J. Wesson, Jeffery A LePine, Ian Gellatly 9780071051620, 9781259066566