Effects of team task structure on team climate for innovation and team outcomes

In this cross-sectional study we analyzed, whether team climate for innovation mediates the relationship between team task structure and innovative behavior, job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and work stress. 310 employees in 20 work teams of an automotive company participated in this study. 10 teams had been changed from a restrictive to a more self-regulating team model by providing task variety, autonomy, team-specific goals, and feedback in order to increase team effectiveness. Data support the supposed causal chain, although only with respect to team innovative behavior all required effects were statistically significant. Longitudinal designs and larger samples are needed to prove the assumed causal relationships, but results indicate that implementing self-regulating teams might be an effective strategy for improving innovative behavior and thus team and company effectiveness.

Management Structure and Work Team Processes; Responsibilities and Responsiveness

This paper explores the management structure of the team-based organization. First it provides a theoretical model of structures and processes of work teams. The structure determines the team’s responsibilities in terms of authority and expertise about specific regulation tasks. The responsiveness of teams to these responsibilities are the processes of teamwork, in terms of three dimensions, indicating to what extent teams indeed use the space provided to them. The research question that this paper addresses is to what extent the position of responsibilities in the team-based organization affect team responsiveness. This is done by two hypotheses. First, the effect of the so-called proximity of regulation tasks is tested. It is expected that the responsibility for tasks positioned higher in the organization (i.e. further from the team) generally has a negative effect on team responsiveness, whereas tasks positioned lower in the organization (i.e. closer to the team) will have a positive effect on the way in which teams respond. Second, the relationship between the number of tasks for which the team is responsible with team responsiveness is tested. Theory suggests that teams being responsible for a larger number of tasks perform better, i.e. show higher responsiveness. These hypotheses are tested by a study of 109 production teams in the automotive industry. The results show that, as the theory predicts, increasing numbers of responsibilities have positive effects on team responsiveness. However, the delegation of expertise to teams seems to be the most important predictor of responsiveness. Also, not all regulation tasks show to have effects on team responsiveness. Most tasks do not show to have any significant effect at all. A number of tasks affects team responsiveness positively, when their responsibility is positioned lower in the organization, but also a number of tasks affects team responsiveness positively when located higher in the organization, i.e. further from the teams in the production. The results indicate that more attention can be paid to the distribution of responsibilities, in particular expertise, to teams. Indeed delegating more expertise improve team responsiveness, however some tasks might be located better at higher organizational levels, indicating that there are limitations to what responsibilities teams can handle.

Mota-Engil: A solution to turnover its negative stock market performance

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

What makes a good team? : Following the example of sport teams

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

What makes a good team?

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

The influence of menopausal status on bone turnover and disease control in breast cancer patients with metastatic bone disease treated with chemotherapy plus zoledronic acid : an exploratory retrospective cohort study

RESUMO: Introdução: Uma meta-análise recente demonstrou que uso adjuvante de ácido zoledrónico (AZ) em mulheres pós-menopáusicas com cancro da mama precoce (CM) conduz a redução do risco de morte por CM em 17%. Investigámos o efeito do estado hormonal (pré [PrM] vs pós-menopausa tardia [PoM]) na remodelação óssea e controlo de doença em mulheres com CM e metástases ósseas (MO) tratadas com AZ e quimioterapia (QT). Métodos: Neste estudo de coorte retrospetivo, colhemos variáveis clinico-patológicas e quantificámos o telopéptido N-terminal (NTX) urinário e marcadores tumorais (MT) séricos em mulheres com CM e MO tratadas com QT e AZ. As doentes foram divididas em PrM (<45 anos) e PoM (>60 anos). Endpoints do estudo: variação do NTX, CA15.3 e CEA nos meses 3, 6 e 9, tempo até falência de QT de primeira-linha e sobrevivência. Quando apropriado foram usados os testes de Wilcoxon rank-sum, modelo de efeitos lineares mistos, teste log-rank e modelo de Cox. Resultados: Quarenta doentes foram elegíveis para análise (8 PrM e 32 PoM). Depois da introdução de AZ e QT, os níveis de NTX e MT caíram no coorte global. O perfil de resposta não diferiu entre grupos no mês 3 ou em tempos posteriores (valor-p para interação tempo-estado hormonal no mês 3=0.957). Ademais, o perfil de resposta dos MT também não diferiu entre grupos. O tempo mediano até falência de primeira-linha de QT em PrM e PoM foi de 15.2 e 17.4 meses, respetivamente. Não foi identificada diferença significativa entre grupos, quer em análise univariada quer após controlo para envolvimento visceral (p=0.399 e 0.469, respetivamente). Igualmente, não houve diferenças em termos de sobrevivência. Conclusões: Neste coorte, não foram identificadas diferenças no controlo de NTX ou MT em função do estado menopausico. Igualmente, não foi identificada diferença no tempo até falência de primeira-linha de CT ou sobrevivência.----------- ABSTRACT: Background: A recent meta-analysis showed that the adjuvant use of zoledronic acid (ZA) in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer (BC) leads to a reduction in the risk of breast cancer death by 17%. We investigated the effect of the hormonal status (pre [PrM] vs late post menopause [PoM]) on bone turnover and disease control among women with BC and boné metastases (BM) treated with ZA and chemotherapy (CT). Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we collected clinicopathologic variables, urinary Nterminal telopeptide (NTX) and serum tumor marker levels from women with BC and BM treated with CT and ZA. Patients were divided in PrM (<45 years) and PoM (>60 years). Study endpoints were NTX, CA15.3 and CEA variation at 3, 6 and 9 months, and time to first-line CT failure and survival. We performed multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models to assess the variation of repeated measures and cox regression models for time to event outcomes. Results: Forty patients were eligible for analysis (8 PrM and 32 PoM). After introduction of ZA and CT, NTX and tumor markers declined in the overall cohort. Response profile was similar between menopausal groups at month 3 and at later time points (p-value for time-hormonal status interaction at month 3=0.957). Furthermore, tumor markers response profile was also equal between groups. Median time to first-line CT failure in PrM and PoM women was 15.2 and 17.4 months, respectively. No significant difference between groups was found, either using a univariate analysis or after controlling for visceral disease involvement (p=0.399 and 0.469, respectively). Likewise, no differences in survival were found. Conclusions: In this cohort, no differences were found in terms of NTX or tumor markers control according to menopausal status. Similarly, no difference in time to first-line CT failure or survival was found.

Humble leadership and team voice

This study examines the direct and indirect effects of humble leadership on team voice. Although the relationship between leadership styles and voice is widely investigated, humble leadership and team voice, both relatively new constructs, remained out of sight. Drawing upon social interdependence theory, information exchange, team psychological safety, and team-efficacy are proposed to mediate the relationship between humble leadership and team voice. Research is conducted at the team-level analysis and involved 209 team members from 52 teams in 21 companies collected through a snowball sample. Results were provided by the SPSS macro PROCESS using the regression-based approach and bootstrapping techniques. Findings showed that humble leadership is positively related to team voice. Furthermore, findings supported the mediating effect of information exchange. However, no support was given for the mediating effects of team psychological safety and team-efficacy. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are addressed.