2 pages due next 3 to 4 hours max

Introduction to Week 10

Often a major impediment to team and organizational performance is the lack of teamwork between groups and teams. Even though people on different teams know they need to collaborate with other organizational entities, (departments, groups, and teams), sometimes they may not collaborate or cooperate because of territorial or conflicting interests. This week we explore factors that may impact the relationships between teams that must collaborate together in order to achieve organizational goals. 

Organizations are comprised of multiple divisions, departments, disciplines, and functional groups. On a simple scale, we can think about a company comprised of senior management, human resources, accounting, finance, marketing, public relations, research & development, purchasing, production, and shipping to name a few. Each one of these areas has its own functions and needs to work with other departments in order to produce and sell the organization’s products and services. When you talk to people and hear what they do, you can hear them derive some satisfaction from their identity with their discipline, division, department, etc. In essence, they identify with their team. Our first reading will explore team identity and how to create a positive identity. 

As different teams interact, competition tends to develop.  Sometimes this competition can turn into interteam conflict about resources, recognition, space, or even differences in values and beliefs.  If these differences and conflicts are not managed appropriately, the conflicts can create havoc between teams. We will focus this week on how to mitigate some of the interteam conflicts in order to ensure collaboration between teams. The other readings for this week will address these issues of interteam or intergroup collaboration and conflict in order to help us enhance the effectiveness of our own teams with others within the organization that we must interact with.  

In summary, we move away from thinking about our own individual teams to thinking about the interactions that our team has with other teams or groups within the organization that we have to work with, obtain resources or information from, and collaborate with in order to achieve the organizations goals.    

Enjoy the week and if you have any questions or concerns throughout the week that are related to the class or class content, you can ask them in the Ask the Professor forum. Also, you will want to make sure you make your initial post in each of the forums for the week by Wednesday evening. You should also ensure you respond to the other team members by Friday.  

Week 10 Readings

Required Reading

1. In our first reading, the authors use social identity analysis to discuss and predict the development of a positive team identity and an individual’s willingness to invest in the team. 
   Ellemers, N., Sleebos, E., Stam, D., & de Gilder, D. (2013). Feeling included and valued: How perceived respect affects positive team identity and willingness to invest in the team. British Journal of Management, 24(1), 21-37. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2011.00784. 
   This article is in eReserves. 

1. This reading explores how intergroup conflict shapes individuals’ tendencies to sacrifice for their groups, enforce norms, and relinquish decision-making autonomy for the benefit of their own team. 
   Benard, S. (2012). Cohesion from conflict: Does intergroup conflict motivate intragroup norm enforcement and support for centralized leadership? Social Psychology Quarterly, 75(2), 07-130. 
   This article is in eReserves. 

1. In this reading, the authors focus on intergroup conflicts that occur between work groups, departments, organizations, political parties, etc. They look at how group representatives need to navigate between the interests of their own team and the interests of the other party. 
   Van Kleef, G. A., Steinel, W., & Homan, A. C. (2013). On being peripheral and paying attention: Prototypicality and information processing in intergroup conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(1), 63-79. 
   This article is in eReserves. 

1. This reading considers the trend toward more team-based activities in organizations and how this trend requires a shift from intrateam to interteam focus. The authors present a model of interteam boundary activity and proposes that boundary activity is contingent on interteam goal and task interdependence. 
   Drach-Zahavy, A., & Somech, A., (2010). From an intrateam to an interteam perspective of effectiveness: The role of interdependence and boundary activities. Small Group Research, 41(2), 143-174.  
   This article is in eReserves. 

1. In this reading, the authors explore how the focus on relationships with members of other groups helps overcome the challenge to work effectively together. 
   Vos, M., & van der Zee, K., (2011). Prosocial behavior in diverse workgroups: How relational identity orientation shapes cooperation and helping. Group Processes Intergroup Relations, 14(3), 363-379. doi: 10.1177/1368430210382427  
   This article is in eReserves.