Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2013
Abstract
Teams must balance internally focused interactions with externally focused processes of embedding in organizations. These inputs and processes influence the team's ability to manage changing tasks, goals, and priorities as well as build confidence in its capability to achieve its goals which may be predictive of performance. We utilized factor analyses to verify our constructs and structural equation modeling to test direct effects, mediation effects, and moderation to analyze responses to our survey. This study was informed at the individual level by participants on workplace teams from more than 10 industries, the majority in healthcare and education. What emerged was that embedding in the organization rather than remaining internally focused has a strong effect on a team's adaptability and potency. In particular, aligning with the organization, knowing who to know and effectively collaborating with others outside the team, significantly influence and predict adaptability and potency. Furthermore, internally focused teams adapt and have considerable confidence, but they may not achieve those outputs through valuable and informative external interconnections.
Keywords
organizational behavior, teams in the workplace--management, embedding in organizations, interdependencies, interconnections, interactions adaptability, systems thinking, boundary spanning
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Grooms, Heather, "Embedding in Organizations: Individuals' Perspective of the Effects of Internal Versus External Focus on Team Adaptability and Potency" (2013). Student Scholarship. 177.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/177