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To What Extent Do Teams Outperform Individuals

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To What Extent Do Teams Outperform Individuals
Introduction
In recent decades, as with the development of the economic globalization, the information technology has been updating constantly and the industries in the marketplace are faced with more and more stronger competition. In order to adapt to this severe situation, many enterprises, especially some hi-tech companies, are all trying to seek a new special organizational form, which in turn gives rise to the concept of ‘work team’ to restructure the work and organization process[1].
And nowadays employee teams’ integral in many business operations has been more and more common and normal. Besides, the student team projects are also becoming popular in the school curriculum such as Organizational Behavior, Management Economics and so on. Obviously there are many advantages using teamwork compared with individuals or group. By adopting the team work, the employees can develop every member’s potential, make up for each other, thus working more effectively. In contrast, as to the student team projects, students could learn lots of other expertise in addition to textbook knowledge such as enhancement of students’ learning experiences and realistic preparation of students for their role as future business team members. Team is really extensively applied to many fields [2].
There have existed many different researches about team hitherto which offer many different conceptualizations and research fields. For example, Katzenbach and Smith have discussed the four elements- common commitment and purpose, performance goals, complementary skills, and mutual accountability- that make teams function [3]. There are many advantages to setting up work teams, such as increased productivity, innovation, and employee satisfaction [4]. And some other researches are about the implementation of work teams does not always result in success for the organization [5]. By reviewing these literatures about team, we can arrive at a conclusion that team is so vital not just for



References: [1]. Janz, B.D., J.A. Colquitt and R.A. Noe, Knowledge worker team effectiveness: The role of autonomy, interdependence, team development, and contextual support variables. Personnel Psychology, 2006. 50(4): p. 877-904. [2]. Woodman, R.W. and J.J. Sherwood, The role of team development in organizational effectiveness: A critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 1980. 88(1): p. 166. [3]. Katzenbach, J.R. and D.K. Smith, The discipline of teams. Harvard business review, 1993. 71: p. 111-111. [4]. West, M.A., Sparkling fountains or stagnant ponds: An integrative model of creativity and innovation implementation in work groups. Applied Psychology, 2002. 51(3): p. 355-387. [5]. Rousseau, V., C. Aubé and A. Savoie, Teamwork Behaviors A Review and an Integration of Frameworks. Small Group Research, 2006. 37(5): p. 540-570. [6]. Lowe, J.I. and M. Herranen, Conflict in teamwork. Social Work in Health Care, 1978. 3(3): p. 323-330. [7]. Nahavandi, A. and E.K. Aranda, Restructuring teams for the re-engineered organization. The Academy of Management Executive, 1994. 8(4): p. 58-68. [8]. Fisher, S.G., T.A. Hunter and W.D.K. Macrosson, Team or group? Managers’ perceptions of the differences. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 1997. 12(4): p. 232-242. [9]. Glynn, S.J. and R.A. Henning. Can teams outperform individuals in a simulated dynamic control task? in Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. 2000: SAGE Publications. [10]. Deeter-Schmelz, D.R., K.N. Kennedy and R.P. Ramsey, Enriching our understanding of student team effectiveness. Journal of Marketing Education, 2002. 24(2): p. 114-124. [11]. Ford, R.C. and F.S. McLaughlin, Successful project teams: a study of MIS managers. Engineering Management, IEEE Transactions on, 1992. 39(4): p. 312-317. [12]. DuFour, R., et al., Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. 2010: Solution Tree Press. [13]. Hardingham, A., Working in teams. 1998: CIPD Publishing. [14]. Hackman, J., Why teams don’t work. Theory and research on small groups, 2002: p. 245-267. [15]. Bensimon, E.M. and A. Neumann, Redesigning Collegiate Leadership: Teams and Teamwork in Higher Education. 1992.

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