Abstract
Self-managing teams have the challenge to make decisions regarding their tasks and to manage their internal affairs. Findings on 60 self-managing teams with 540 employees indicate that the theory of cooperation and competition is useful for identifying the social processes that help these teams grapple with problems and work effectively. Specifically, teams with highly cooperative goals were found to discuss their opposing views open-mindedly and constructively which in turn developed confidence in team dynamics that contributed to effective team performance. Competitive goals appeared to interfere with constructive controversy, confidence, and effectiveness. Findings were interpreted as suggesting that structuring cooperative goals and constructive controversy can help self-managing teams gain confidence and work productively.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 33-52 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 1998 |
Funding
The authors thank Geoff Maruyama, David W. Johnson, and other members of Steve Alper's dissertation committee for their support. They also thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for its financial support of this study, and Eleanor MacDonald and Michelle Berner for their valuable contributions.