Table of Contents
1. Introduction....................................................................................................... 2
2. Overview of work teams and work groups and the contrast between them ...... 3
3. Cross-functional and virtual teams and the reasons pertaining to their growing
popularity.................................................................................................................... 5
4. Effectiveness of the HP team and characteristics of a successful team ........... 7
4.1 Good communication and clear goals ........................................................... 7
4.2 Accountability and responsibility ................................................................... 8
4.3 Effective leadership ....................................................................................... 9
4.4 Rewards for success ..................................................................................... 9
5. The reasons why teams in South African organisations fail and proposed
suggestions .............................................................................................................. 10
5.1 Teams lack a clear and compelling vision and purpose .............................. 10
5.2 Team members do not take accountability .................................................. 11
5.3 Processes within a team are ineffective ...................................................... 11
6. Conclusion...................................................................................................... 12
7. Self-reflection ................................................................................................. 13
1. Introduction
The use and significance of teams have become significantly important in the modern
work context. Utilising individuals’ skill and placing them into a group where other
individuals’ skills can be used to complement each other, as individuals can contribute
different skills have been beneficial to organisations. This method can have various
benefits for an organisation, such as improving productivity and reducing the time to
get things done. In this assignment, an overview of work teams and work groups will
be given as well as how they contrast with one another, whereafter cross-functional
and virtual teams and the use thereof as well as the reasons pertaining to their growing
popularity, will be discussed. The characteristics of a successful team will also be
discussed and these will be utilised to evaluate the success of the Hewlett Packard
2
,(“HP”) team as provided in the factual scenario. Furthermore, the reasons as to why
teams in the South African organisations fail will be analysed and suggestions as to
how these failures can be rectified will be provided. Finally, a conclusion will be
reached to draw together the main findings of this assignment.
2. Overview of work teams and work groups and the contrast between them
To understand the nature of both teams and work groups, one needs to have an in-
depth look at both. It should be noted that these two concepts overlap in multiple
aspects. The basis of a work team is described as teams which are composed of
multiple employees and they exist to perform organisational relevant tasks, they share
a common goal, they maintain and manage boundaries. It can also be said that work
teams have members that work interdependently on a specific, common goal to
produce a result for their business. They are furthermore embedded in an
organisational context that sets their boundaries, contains the team and influences
exchanges internally as well as externally. Teams can be viewed from an
organisational perspective as embedded in an open yet bounded system, which is
composed of multiple levels (Kozlowski and Bell, 2001). Teams in a work environment
refers to a small group in which the individuals share a common goal, they have
interdependent roles and they have complementary skills (Zoltan and Vancea, 2015).
Teams are structured in such a way in the organisation to comprise of individuals with
interpersonal relationships and they work together to achieve a set of common
objectives (Zoltan and Vancea, 2015).
Williams and Castro (2010) defined teams in an organisation by its unity of purpose,
its identity as a social structure and the shared responsibility of its team members for
the common team result. A work group usually consist out of two or more individuals
and these individuals are interdependent in their accomplishments and may or may
not work in the same department. Teams are also usually structured groups of people
within a larger organisation and individuals that form part of the team have the
knowledge, skills and specialised abilities related to the tasks that they need to
complete. The key feature of a work team is that individuals in a work team work
together on a common project for the achievement of which they all are accountable
and can be put together out of various departments. Katzenbach and Smith (1993)
define six defining characteristics of a real team, a small number of members, some
3
, complementary skills, a full understanding of the purpose, a common product/service
to obtain, a clear conception about the task and a sense of mutual accountability.
John Adair (1986) defines a team as a “a group in which individuals share a common
goal and the skills and competencies of each member match with those of others". He
added that a work team is something more than merely a group of people who share
a common goal, it rather includes an element of superiority wherein the contributions
of the individuals are not only suitable and adequate to perform a task, but
complementary to each other (Zoltan and Vancea, 2015).
To turn to work groups, the concept of a work group emerged during the research
conducted by Elton Mayo and his team at the Western Electric factories in the 1920s
and 1930s. In his research, he concluded that individuals in the industrial environment
developed groups as a defence against formal constraints, as well as to satisfy a range
of social and human needs (Zoltan and Vancea, 2015). In Mayo’s conception, he
furthermore concluded that work groups could be formal or informal and that they
formed naturally. According to Zlate (2008), for individuals to form a group from a
psychological point of view, five conditions had to be satisfied. These conditions
include to have a certain amount of people, minimal interaction is established between
them, the relationship between these individuals is direct (face to face), the interaction
of these individual are based on the completion of common activities, there exist a
minimal structure between these individuals and that they have a specific composition
that is derived from the characteristics of the various individuals (Zoltan and Vancea,
2015). Spector (2003) explains that work groups possess three specific properties,
which include that individuals actions are interdependent and coordinated, each
individual of the work group has a particular, specific role and that there are common
objectives and goals established.
As was stated above, in essence, these concepts overlap. There are however
differences between work teams and work groups and to mention a few, these include
that in a work group, a formal leader is appointed. In a work team all the functions of
leadership and responsibilities arising in the situation, are distributed and divided
amongst all the members of the group. Work groups adopt the objective of the
organisation as the target or goal itself, where work teams take the objectives, they
specify them and they give identity to the team (Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006). The
4
1. Introduction....................................................................................................... 2
2. Overview of work teams and work groups and the contrast between them ...... 3
3. Cross-functional and virtual teams and the reasons pertaining to their growing
popularity.................................................................................................................... 5
4. Effectiveness of the HP team and characteristics of a successful team ........... 7
4.1 Good communication and clear goals ........................................................... 7
4.2 Accountability and responsibility ................................................................... 8
4.3 Effective leadership ....................................................................................... 9
4.4 Rewards for success ..................................................................................... 9
5. The reasons why teams in South African organisations fail and proposed
suggestions .............................................................................................................. 10
5.1 Teams lack a clear and compelling vision and purpose .............................. 10
5.2 Team members do not take accountability .................................................. 11
5.3 Processes within a team are ineffective ...................................................... 11
6. Conclusion...................................................................................................... 12
7. Self-reflection ................................................................................................. 13
1. Introduction
The use and significance of teams have become significantly important in the modern
work context. Utilising individuals’ skill and placing them into a group where other
individuals’ skills can be used to complement each other, as individuals can contribute
different skills have been beneficial to organisations. This method can have various
benefits for an organisation, such as improving productivity and reducing the time to
get things done. In this assignment, an overview of work teams and work groups will
be given as well as how they contrast with one another, whereafter cross-functional
and virtual teams and the use thereof as well as the reasons pertaining to their growing
popularity, will be discussed. The characteristics of a successful team will also be
discussed and these will be utilised to evaluate the success of the Hewlett Packard
2
,(“HP”) team as provided in the factual scenario. Furthermore, the reasons as to why
teams in the South African organisations fail will be analysed and suggestions as to
how these failures can be rectified will be provided. Finally, a conclusion will be
reached to draw together the main findings of this assignment.
2. Overview of work teams and work groups and the contrast between them
To understand the nature of both teams and work groups, one needs to have an in-
depth look at both. It should be noted that these two concepts overlap in multiple
aspects. The basis of a work team is described as teams which are composed of
multiple employees and they exist to perform organisational relevant tasks, they share
a common goal, they maintain and manage boundaries. It can also be said that work
teams have members that work interdependently on a specific, common goal to
produce a result for their business. They are furthermore embedded in an
organisational context that sets their boundaries, contains the team and influences
exchanges internally as well as externally. Teams can be viewed from an
organisational perspective as embedded in an open yet bounded system, which is
composed of multiple levels (Kozlowski and Bell, 2001). Teams in a work environment
refers to a small group in which the individuals share a common goal, they have
interdependent roles and they have complementary skills (Zoltan and Vancea, 2015).
Teams are structured in such a way in the organisation to comprise of individuals with
interpersonal relationships and they work together to achieve a set of common
objectives (Zoltan and Vancea, 2015).
Williams and Castro (2010) defined teams in an organisation by its unity of purpose,
its identity as a social structure and the shared responsibility of its team members for
the common team result. A work group usually consist out of two or more individuals
and these individuals are interdependent in their accomplishments and may or may
not work in the same department. Teams are also usually structured groups of people
within a larger organisation and individuals that form part of the team have the
knowledge, skills and specialised abilities related to the tasks that they need to
complete. The key feature of a work team is that individuals in a work team work
together on a common project for the achievement of which they all are accountable
and can be put together out of various departments. Katzenbach and Smith (1993)
define six defining characteristics of a real team, a small number of members, some
3
, complementary skills, a full understanding of the purpose, a common product/service
to obtain, a clear conception about the task and a sense of mutual accountability.
John Adair (1986) defines a team as a “a group in which individuals share a common
goal and the skills and competencies of each member match with those of others". He
added that a work team is something more than merely a group of people who share
a common goal, it rather includes an element of superiority wherein the contributions
of the individuals are not only suitable and adequate to perform a task, but
complementary to each other (Zoltan and Vancea, 2015).
To turn to work groups, the concept of a work group emerged during the research
conducted by Elton Mayo and his team at the Western Electric factories in the 1920s
and 1930s. In his research, he concluded that individuals in the industrial environment
developed groups as a defence against formal constraints, as well as to satisfy a range
of social and human needs (Zoltan and Vancea, 2015). In Mayo’s conception, he
furthermore concluded that work groups could be formal or informal and that they
formed naturally. According to Zlate (2008), for individuals to form a group from a
psychological point of view, five conditions had to be satisfied. These conditions
include to have a certain amount of people, minimal interaction is established between
them, the relationship between these individuals is direct (face to face), the interaction
of these individual are based on the completion of common activities, there exist a
minimal structure between these individuals and that they have a specific composition
that is derived from the characteristics of the various individuals (Zoltan and Vancea,
2015). Spector (2003) explains that work groups possess three specific properties,
which include that individuals actions are interdependent and coordinated, each
individual of the work group has a particular, specific role and that there are common
objectives and goals established.
As was stated above, in essence, these concepts overlap. There are however
differences between work teams and work groups and to mention a few, these include
that in a work group, a formal leader is appointed. In a work team all the functions of
leadership and responsibilities arising in the situation, are distributed and divided
amongst all the members of the group. Work groups adopt the objective of the
organisation as the target or goal itself, where work teams take the objectives, they
specify them and they give identity to the team (Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006). The
4
