Organizational Psychology:
A Scientist-Practitioner Approach
Jex, S. M., & Britt, T. W. (2014)
Prepared by:
Christopher J. L. Cunningham, PhD
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Kelsey-Jo Ritter
Bowling Green State University
Kristen S. Jennings
Clemson University
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Chapter 12: Team Dynamics and
Processes Within Organizations
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Stages of Group Development
• Teams and their behaviors change over time
• Commonality in the way teams develop over time
has led to theory development
• Tuckman’s (1965) stage model (Figure 12.1):
Common stages observed in cyclical group
development process:
– Forming
– Storming
– Norming
– Performing
– Adjourning (a later addition)
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Stages of Group Development
(Cont.)
• Gersick’s Punctuated Equilibrium
Model: Groups experience inertia, broken
up by periods of rapid change due to
deadlines and environmental demands
• Always returning to equilibrium over time
• Direct practical implications for managers
– Patience with teams beginning a task
– Awareness of deadlines
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Defining Team Effectiveness
• Steiner’s (1972): Actual productivity =
Potential productivity – Process losses
• Hackman’s (1987) multidimensional perspective
– Output of the team
– Long-term viability of the team as a performing
unit
– Impact of the team experience on individual
members
• Winning isn’t everything: A broader view of group
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effectiveness (Comment 12.1)
Models of Team Effectiveness
• McGrath’s (1964) model (Figure 12.2):
– Effectiveness results from an input–
process–output (I-P-O) sequence within a
team
– Individual-, team-, and environment-level
influencing factors integrated into a Team
Interaction Process
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Models of Team Effectiveness
(Cont.)
• Gladstein’s (1984) model (Figure 12.3):
– I-P-O, but with different factors at the
organizational level (resources and aspects of
organizational structure are included)
– Inputs directly impact team effectiveness as
well as mediating team processes
– A team’s task moderates the process 
effectiveness relationship
– Not supported fully by research
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Models of Team Effectiveness
(Cont.)
• Hackman’s (1987) model (Figure 12.4):
Normative I-P-O model that highlights critical
factors organizations can control to improve
team effectiveness:
– Organizational context (reward, education, and
informational systems)
– Team design (task structure, team composition,
team norms about performance)
– Synergy
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Models of Team Effectiveness
(Cont.)
• Shea and Guzzo’s (1987) model: Team
effectiveness due to outcome interdependence, task
interdependence, and group potency
• Campion’s synthesis of models (Figure 12.5):
Simplified summary model
– Five factors directly influence team effectiveness
(job design, interdependence, composition,
context, process), as well as effectiveness criteria
– Initial research supports the utility of this direct
linkage model between team characteristics and
effectiveness
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Summary of Effectiveness Models
• All models presented here are I-P-O type
process models
• Good utility within organizations
• Limitations of these types of models:
– Assume linear progression
• Potential recursive process: Inputs–processes–
outputs–inputs
– Oversimplify the concept
• Centrality and weighting of roles
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Determinants of Team Effectiveness
• Team composition: More effective teams are
composed of more highly skilled members
– Also important: Mix of skills/abilities, member
personalities, and member attitudes
– Temporal consideration: Some member qualities
are more effective at different phases
• Task design: Right tasks for team-based work
are critical
– Design of tasks also influences intergroup
interactions and processes
– Effect of stressful conditions
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Determinants of Team Effectiveness
(Cont.)
• Organizational resources: Teams and
individual workers need similar resources for
effective performance
– Additional team needs: Training about how to
work as a team, meeting space/time, leadership,
management support
• Rewards: Careful alignment between team
performance and rewards
– Also important: Interdependence, team-level
rewards, team control over performance, and
employee attitudes toward team-based rewards
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Determinants of Team Effectiveness
(Cont.)
• Team goals: Team-level goals are critical for
motivation and performance
• Special considerations:
– Interplay between team and individual goals
– Mechanisms that may mediate/moderate the
relationship between team goals and performance
– Clarity of team goals
– Positive team-level effects of difficult goals
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Within-Team Processes
• Behavioral processes
– Communication: Flow of information and
manner in which information is provided;
centralized vs. decentralized communication
– Coordination: Managing work flow
– Cooperation: Backup behavior
• All conducive to effective team performance
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Within-Team Processes (Cont.)
• Affective/Cognitive Processes
– Cohesiveness: Interpersonal and task based
– Collective efficacy
– Team empowerment
– Shared mental models: Team and task related
– Transactive memory
– Approach to conflict management: Task and
emotion related
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Between-Team Processes
• Processes operating between teams may
influence organizational effectiveness
• Five main between-team processes (from
Mathieu & Day, 1997):
– Formalization
– Coordination
– Cooperation
– Goal priority
– Interdependence
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Enhancing Team Effectiveness
• Beyond appropriate matching of tasks to teams,
three other strategies are presented:
• Selection: Some evidence suggests careful team
composition can help
– Using the findings on what makes successful team
members (high general mental ability and
average conscientiousness)
– Possible importance of preference for teamwork
and actual knowledge, skills, and abilities for
teamwork as selection criteria
– Teamwork test (Table 12.2)
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Enhancing Team Effectiveness (Cont.)
• Organizational reward systems: Careful design of
reward systems to reinforce team-level performance
– Task and outcome interdependence are identified as
key considerations to be jointly addressed
– Pay for performance plans and awards/recognition
programs
• Team development interventions: Training at the
team level may also improve a team’s effectiveness
– Common interventions are data-based and
facilitated by a non–team member
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The Future of Teams in Organizations
• Teams have real staying power for several
reasons:
– Increased complex and mentally demanding
work
– Leaner organizations requiring temporary and
core employees to work together over short
periods of time
• Individuals must have core team work skills
• Prevalence of virtual teams growing
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