Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Business Administration

Major Professor

James M. Reeve

Committee Members

John Mayo, Harold Roth, Eric Sundstrom, Jan Williams

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of work teams on employee performance. This project presented a rare opportunity to link performance outcomes to teaming using a quasi-experimental field study methodology. By measuring constructs of employee productivity, service quality, and satisfaction prior to the implementation of teaming and again after the change, and by comparing a treatment group to a control group, the effects of teaming on employee performance were assessed empirically. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed on four dependent variables representing productivity: average call length, bridge rate, products sold, and strategic revenues. The independent variable was team-based or not. The effect of teaming on productivity was significant, with changes in the means confirming that teamed employees demonstrated larger gains in productivity than non-teamed employees. Service quality was evaluated using a paired-difference t-test, as data for service quality were only available for the treatment group. Although the difference in service quality after the implementation of TBO was significant, the absence of corresponding control group data means that alternative explanations for the difference could not be ruled out. Employee satisfaction was measured using a Work Attitudes Survey, administered prior to teaming and again ten months later. Using a matched-pairs analysis with a subset of the data, the treatment group demonstrated significant improvement in satisfaction while the control group did not. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also done using the full set of data. Although the mean change in the treatment group was 31% greater than in the control group the ANOVA failed to detect between-group differences. However, a second survey instrument and other anecdotal evidence support the contention of improved satisfaction in the treatment group. In conclusion, this study showed strong performance increments after the introduction of teaming. Significant improvements were found in each of the three constructs: productivity, service quality, and satisfaction. By employing a rigorous set of design characteristics to measure the impact of work teams on performance, the results of this study significantly add to the debate about work team effectiveness.

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