TY - JOUR
T1 - DO TEAM CHARTERS HELP TEAM-BASED PROJECTS? THE EFFECTS OF TEAM CHARTERS ON PERFORMANCE AND SATISFACTION IN GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS
AU - JOHNSON, WILLIAM H.A.
AU - BAKER, DAVID S.
AU - Dong, Longzhu
AU - Taras, Vas
AU - Wankel, Charles
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 George Washington University. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - In a sample of 1,891 teams (8,556 students) who completed an eight-week international business consulting project, half of the teams developed a team charter and half did not. Teams with charters saw improved process performance metrics only at the forming stage of team development. They also reported higher conflict levels. However, more conflict did not negatively affect peer evaluations or teamoutput quality, suggesting that such conflict was not entirely negative. Team charter use was not directly associated with output quality,measured as the final report's grade. However, teamnational diversitymoderated the solution creativity presented in the team's final report. These findings suggest team charters may initially aid process improvement but not necessarily the quality of output. We propose that the difference between the two groups studied is essentially one of formal written contracting versus informal psychological contracting, defined as a set of unwritten expectations of team members with regard to team behaviors and goals. These two forms of contracting provide for equifinality (the same result) in performance over the lifecycle of a project. The study contributes to research on team charter use, particularly with respect to formal versus informal psychological contracting within the context of global virtual teams.
AB - In a sample of 1,891 teams (8,556 students) who completed an eight-week international business consulting project, half of the teams developed a team charter and half did not. Teams with charters saw improved process performance metrics only at the forming stage of team development. They also reported higher conflict levels. However, more conflict did not negatively affect peer evaluations or teamoutput quality, suggesting that such conflict was not entirely negative. Team charter use was not directly associated with output quality,measured as the final report's grade. However, teamnational diversitymoderated the solution creativity presented in the team's final report. These findings suggest team charters may initially aid process improvement but not necessarily the quality of output. We propose that the difference between the two groups studied is essentially one of formal written contracting versus informal psychological contracting, defined as a set of unwritten expectations of team members with regard to team behaviors and goals. These two forms of contracting provide for equifinality (the same result) in performance over the lifecycle of a project. The study contributes to research on team charter use, particularly with respect to formal versus informal psychological contracting within the context of global virtual teams.
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U2 - 10.5465/amle.2020.0332
DO - 10.5465/amle.2020.0332
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85134494060
SN - 1537-260X
VL - 21
SP - 236
EP - 260
JO - Academy of Management Learning and Education
JF - Academy of Management Learning and Education
IS - 2
ER -