Theories of Teamwork in Business

Summary
This paper examines the control process and the importance of teamwork. The control process consists of three steps: measurement, comparison and action. A company’s performance must be measured, using a tool that looks at important variables which help to show where the company is in terms of performance. The data obtained from measuring is then compared to the standard. If the data shows that the company is not meeting the standard, action is required: either, the company must adopt a change to address the lack or it must change the standard. If the data shows that the standard is being met, no change is needed. In terms of teamwork, companies can benefit from teamwork but challenges are also an issue. One type of challenge is multigenerational challenges, where individuals do not shared the same sense of ideals, communication practices, ethics, or attitudes. This can be overcome by adopting the social psychological theory of teamwork which holds that values such as respect, trust and cultural promotion of positivity all play a part in building and strengthening relationships so that a team can embrace accountability as a whole unit. One good example of this theory in practice is Herb Kelleher’s Southwest Airlines.
Part 1
Q1: What are the three steps of the control process? (Give an example for each one.)
A1:
The three steps of the control process are 1) measurement, 2) comparison, and 3) action. The first step allows a company to measure its performance. Measuring requires have a method for obtaining data. One method that is popular in the business world is the Six Sigma method, which enables a company to evaluate itself across six defined variables. Each variable helps the company’s leaders to see where the business is in terms of various levels, from culture to performance. Having a measurement tool like Six Sigma is essential for knowing exactly where your company is. But of course, as the text notes, “What managers measure is probably more important to the control process than how they measure” (“Controlling,” n.d., p. 3). As Harry (1998) points out, Six Sigma is a good tool for measuring variation and determining where issues that need addressing are located.
Once this data is obtained, it is time for the second step—comparing. The data obtained through the measuring process is made meaningful through the comparing process: i.e., the data is compared to the industry or company standard or to a competitor—or to whatever the firm wants to be equal to. In other words, actual performance is compared to the standard, goal or ideal. If for instance, a pizza company discovers after measuring performance that it is only selling 12 pizzas per day it will find that, when comparing it to the standard of the past, which is 24 pizzas per day, it is far short of the standard. This finding leads to the third step—action. The pizza company will have to take action to get its performance up or else revise its standard. On the other hand, if the pizza company found that it was selling 36 pizzas per day, far exceeding the standard, it could resolve to take no action.
References
Controlling. (n.d.). 6 page info on control, 1-6.
Harry, M. J. (1998). Six Sigma: a breakthrough strategy for profitability. Quality
progress, 31(5), 60.
Part 2
The Benefits and Challenges of Teamwork
Introduction
Teamwork is an important concept in management because the process of management is all about bringing parts together to work as a whole towards a common aim or goal. However, while teamwork is helpful in achieving a goal, it can also be challenging, as the various individuals may come from different generations, have different outlooks, expectations, work ethics, attitudes, and ways of expressing themselves that frustrate others. As Moore, Everly and Bauer (2016) have shown, one of the greatest challenges of teamwork is overcoming multigenerational obstacles in terms of attitudes, communication tendencies and ethics. However, if these challenges can be overcome, the benefits of teamwork far outweigh the struggles.
Teams are different from groups in the sense that teams collaborate to achieve a goal; whereas groups share information, teams perform collectively. The synergy of teams is positive while in groups it is neutral, and when it comes to accountability, there is both mutual and individual responsibility (whereas in groups, the individual is solely held accountable). In teams, individuals’ skills are complementary, while in groups, the skill set is random and varied (“Understanding Groups and Managing Work Teams,” n.d., p. 2).
There are numerous theories and models of teamwork—from human teamwork to agent teamwork to human-agent teamwork. Various theories, for instance, show that human teamwork is impacted by social interactions, work environment, ecology, and technology. The human relations theory focuses on the human (O’Connor, 1999) and in terms of teamwork holds that “teams utilize the members’ capabilities and talents” (Sycara, Sukthankar, 2006, p. 1). The social psychological theory of teamwork holds that the way in which team members interact will shape the team’s performance. As Schyns and Schilling (2013) have shown, from a social psychological theory it is important that teams have good leaders who demonstrate positivity, because negativity such as a lack of likeability, a lack of communication, a lack of transparency, and a lack of empathy will all negatively affect a team.
The social psychological theory of teamwork is very helpful in understanding how teams succeed. One concrete example of this theory in practice can be seen at the company of Southwest Airlines, where Herb Kelleher created a workplace culture that promoted positive interactions and friendliness, accountability and respect among team workers (Reingold, 2013). For this reason, Southwest has outperformed and now rivals its major competitors in the market.
The social psychological theory is based on trust: as Kelleher has noted, without trust, there can be no working relationships in a team. An organization is a big team and people need to be able to trust one another because in the end they are all going to be held accountable together. So making sure the team is filled with the right people with the right skills is important but so too is having a solid, positive social psychological framework to facilitate the performance of the company. While generational issues may crop up, a good social psychological approach to team building will promote respect and trust among the individuals so that generational differences are easily overcome.
In conclusion, teamwork is an important aspect of business success. It enables individuals to work together, complement one another’s skill sets, embrace accountability together and create a positive synergy. One theory of teamwork that helps facilitate performance is the social psychological theory, which holds that teams perform well when interactions among individuals are positive. The example for interaction is set by the team leader and a culture of positivity, trust and respect can help teams overcome challenges such as multigenerational challenges, as Southwest Airlines has shown.

References
Moore, J. M., Everly, M., & Bauer, R. (2016). Multigenerational challenges: Team-
building for positive clinical workforce outcomes. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21(2), 1-12.
O'Connor, E. (1999). Minding the workers: The meaning of human ‘and human relations’
in Elton Mayo. Organization, 6(2), 223-246.
Reingold, J. (2013). Southwest’s Herb Kelleher: Still crazy after all these years.
Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2013/01/14/southwests-herb-kelleher-still-crazy-after-all-these-years/
Schyns, B., Schilling, J. (2013). How bad are the effects of bad leaders? A meta-
analysis of destructive leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 24, 138-158.
Sycara, K., & Sukthankar, G. (2006). Literature review of teamwork models. Robotics
Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 31.
Understanding Groups and Managing Work Teams. (n.d.). Info on groups, 1-4.