Applying The Competing Values Framework To Self Managed Teams

Self-managed teams (SMT) are becoming a necessary component of organizational effectiveness. The use of SMTs enhances individuals’ attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Self-managed teams are made up of individuals who are self-regulated and responsible for a number of operations. Within SMTs, the leadership role is an important component of team effectiveness. Past research on leadership within SMTs, while limited, has focused mostly on the external leader. What is difficult to determine is the type of leadership necessary in leading a team that is designed to lead themselves. As a result, recent research is beginning to address shared leadership within teams. Most leadership theories are not applicable to SMTs; therefore, a theory on how to identify leadership roles within SMTs could be identified. The Competing Values Framework seems to fit this need. The use of the Competing Values Framework (CVF) is useful in understanding SMTs and the leadership roles within these teams. The CVF is a framework made up of leadership roles and models. It provides an understanding of how a team is effective by the use of different leadership roles. It adopts the need for a balanced and shared approach to leadership. Individuals within the team must rely on each person to accomplish tasks. Most leadership theories focus on the ability and specific qualities of one emergent leader, whereas the CVF addresses the use of numerous leadership roles by each person. The purpose of this article is to relate the leadership profiles of the Competing Values Framework to effectiveness in self-managed teams for undergraduate students at a major Midwestern University majoring in engineering, computer science and business. For the P ge 11228.2 purposes of this article, team effectiveness is characterized by attitude and performance. Attitude is defined as the commitment the members have to the team creating positive experiences. Performance is defined by the final grade received by the team and instructor response to team members’ behaviors and performance. Leadership roles (also known as leadership profiles) will be measured through the Managerial Behavior assessment tool developed by Lawrence, Quinn, and Lenk [25]. Team effectiveness will be measured through attitudinal questions from the Team Effectiveness Questionnaire, instructor response, and grade reports. Teamwork activities assist in preparing engineering students on how to effectively work in teams upon graduation. Many institutions have implemented methods such as collaborative learning, cooperative learning, and other forms of active learning to help promote teamwork in the classroom. This study will help researchers and engineering educators identify the necessary leadership roles within teams and how these roles will positively impact team effectiveness. As a result, instructors can design their teamwork curricula and teamwork training based on the leadership strengths and skills of students. Introduction The increase in global competition has created a need for more innovative and faster work structures [17]. A remedy for this challenge in organizations is the utilization of teams. The team is the fastest growing organizational unit [30]. One of the most common skills required of employees by organizations is teamwork skills [12]. As a response to the popularity of teams, academia has identified the subject of teams and team effectiveness as a significant area of research [12]. P ge 11228.3 Of particular interest for this study is the usage of self-managed teams (SMTs). Selfmanaged teams are made up of individuals who are self-regulated and responsible for a number of operations within the organization. This non-traditional hierarchical structure creates a flat organizational structure in which more responsibility is placed on the employees of the organization. As a result, the role of leadership is an important component of effectiveness in SMTs. It has been proposed that leadership in SMTs is more important and more demanding than in traditional teams or organizations [22], [5]. In a self-managed team, leadership responsibilities shift from one individual to the entire team. Previous research on leadership in SMTs, while limited, has focused predominately on the significance of the external leader [27],[28], [29], [35]. Focusing on the external leader is contrary to how a self-managed team operates. Leadership in these situations is determined by the skills of the team members and the needs of the team. The diversity of ideas and skills of each team member allows them to carry out a variety of leadership roles throughout the team experience [30]. Consequently, organizations are “ripe for shared leadership” in self-managed teams [30]. Shared leadership assumes that each member of the team is a leader contributing different skills to the team and fulfilling distinct roles necessary for completing tasks. There is a need to determine the type of leadership required when leading a team designed to lead themselves as well as identifying an appropriate theoretical framework of effective leadership in self-managed teams [6], [38]. A response to this need is the use of the Competing Values Framework (CVF) [6], [40]. The Competing Values Framework is useful in understanding shared leadership within SMTs. The framework is designed to reflect the complex and paradoxical roles played out by organizational leaders [32]. It is made up of four leadership profiles (also known as quadrants) P ge 11228.4 that influence organizational effectiveness. This framework provides an understanding of how a SMT is effective by the use of different leadership roles [6]. It adopts the need for a shared approach to leadership in SMTs. Most leadership theories focus on the abilities and specific qualities of one external or emergent leader, whereas the CVF can address the use of numerous leadership roles by individual team members [6], [5]. The purpose of this article is to relate the leadership profiles of the Competing Values Framework to effectiveness in self-managed teams for undergraduate students at a major Midwestern University majoring in engineering, computer science, and business. Teams Traditionally, teams have been used to respond to changes in organizations and instrumental towards achieving higher performance. The term, team, carries a wide variety of definitions and forms depending on the discipline. Research shows that teams are incredibly dynamic. The descriptions of teams are continually evolving – depending on the situation, environment, and task. For the purposes of this article, the definition developed by Katzenbach and Smith [24] will be utilized: “A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable” (p.45). Katzenbach and Smith [24] created this definition that goes beyond defining a group of people who work together. Their definition is one of the most comprehensive definitions available in team literature. Self-managed teams (SMT) will be the type of team focused on throughout this study. Self-managed teams have increased in their use since the 1990s due in part to reduced levels of management, an increase in employee involvement, and productivity in organizations [21]. SelfP ge 11228.5 managed teams are an effort to increase flexibility and responsiveness in today’s work situations [17]. The use of teams enhances individuals and their work more than the individual working alone. In a SMT, resources are more adequately used, flexibility in the work environment is increased, and total production is improved. A self-managed team is given the authority to make their own decisions in regards to the task and development. The amount of external supervision required in a SMT is at a minimum. Team members learn to take responsibility for themselves in all aspects of their work. An important characteristic of a SMT is the power of people. Fisher [17] says that people are the competitive advantage. Commitment by members results in their empowerment and consequently creates an effective self-managing team. “Self-directed work teams are the most advanced form of empowerment” (p.14). Cummings [16] offered a characterization of self-managed teams that is appropriate for the purposes of this study. Self-managed teams are responsible for the whole task they are assigned. The whole task includes (but not limited to) planning, scheduling, managing resources, and defining goals. Members of self-managed teams hold a variety of skills and play a variety of roles pertinent to the goals of the team. Lastly, compensation and feedback is made available to the team as a whole. For the purposes of this study, the definition of a SMT developed by Adams [1] will be utilized: “A small group of individuals responsible for planning, scheduling, evaluating, and continually improving themselves and their work” (p.21).