An investigation into challenges facing distributed teams: Case of South Australian construction projects

There is increasing momentum within the construction industry to deploy distributed teams on projects, yet the major challenges that companies face for managing teams in distributed arrangements have yet to be explored in the construction context. Driven by such need, this study is intended to present an account of the major challenges encountered throughout the life cycle of offshore outsourcing arrangements within the South Australian construction industry. To this end, the study describes the observations made within the natural contexts of one construction project in terms of the challenges to the success of deploying distributed teams for outsourcing of works. Discussions remain in dialogue with relevant theories and the pertinent literature to explain the interpretations and lessons learned and to underpin the conclusions made. It is contended that this study contributes to the field by providing an illuminating insight into potential challenges facing distributed teams being implemented in outsourcing tasks in construction projects. Discussions also offer practical guidelines for construction project managers and assist them in dealing with potential challenges of offshore outsourcing through the lenses of distributed team working principles.

An entrepreneurial music industry education in secondary schooling: The emerging professional learning model

There is widespread agreement that entrepreneurial skills are crucial for young people today, yet there are few studies of high school students engaging in entrepreneurship education that might prepare them for music industry careers. This study has been developed in response to these challenges. It explores a group of high school students (15 – 17 years) who alongside their teacher, have co-designed, developed and driven a new business venture, Youth Music Industries (YMI) since 2010. This venture staged cycles of differently scaled events featuring young artists for a young audience. The project was designed to give students a real business situation for developing their project management skills and a broader understanding of working in the music industry. Informed by concepts of social capital and communities of practice, the study examines the process of learning with and through others. This high-stakes environment increased their sense of presence and participation and made it possible for these young people to distribute expertise and learn from each other in a reciprocal and more democratic way. The ongoing success of this organisation can be attributed to the entrepreneurial competencies students developed. The resulting model and design principles talk to an ongoing challenge that has been identified in music education, and creative industries more generally. These principles offer a way forward for other music and creative industries educators or researchers interested in developing models of, and designs for, nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset.

The impact of international potentials, entrepreneurial motivations and firm stages on new venture internationalisation

Past research on early internationalising firms often examined factors and motivations potentially influencing internationalisation activities separately. The purpose of this paper was to investigate a set of indicators and their interplay with each other. Firstly, the impact of (a) international potential in the form of the depth and diversity of international experience and network contacts was investigated. Secondly, it was examined to what extent (b) motivational factors and (c) firm stages affect the relationship between international potential and internationalisation activities. This paper used longitudinal data from the Comprehensive Australian Study of Entrepreneurial Emergence (CAUSEE). Results suggest that the international potential of a new venture as a whole is a significant determinant of subsequent internationalisation activities. However, having a diverse international experience from a variety of foreign countries appears to be more beneficial than a long-lasting experience from only a limited number of foreign countries. Furthermore, analyses showed that the interplay of high growth ambitions and the depth of international experience positively affect internationalisation activities. Opportunity or necessity driven entrepreneurship, however, neither exaggerate nor weaken the positive relationship between international potentials and internationalisation activities. Similarly, no moderation by firm stages was found.

“Success breeds success” or “Pride goes before a fall”? ☆: Teams and individuals in multi-contest tournaments

We study the impact of progress feedback on players' performance in multi-contest team tournaments, in which team members' efforts are not directly substitutable. In particular, we employ a real-effort laboratory experiment to understand, in a best-of-three tournament, how players' strategic mindsets change when they compete on a team compared to when they compete individually. Our data corroborate the theoretical predictions for teams: Neither a lead nor a lag in the first component contest affects a team's performance in the subsequent contests. In individual tournaments, however, contrary to the theoretical prediction, we observe that leaders perform worse—but laggards perform better—after learning the outcome of the first contest. Our findings offer the first empirical evidence from a controlled laboratory of the impact of progress feedback between team and individual tournaments, and contribute new insights on team incentives.

Is there a role for pharmacists in multidisciplinary health-care teams at community outreach events for the homeless?

Homelessness is a significant public health problem. It is well-documented that people experiencing homelessness exhibit more serious illnesses and have poorer health than the general population. The provision of services and interventions by health-care professionals, including pharmacists, may make a simple yet important contribution to improved health outcomes in those experiencing homelessness, but evidence of roles and interventions is limited and variable. In Australia, the Queensland University of Technology Health Clinic connects with the homeless community by taking part in community outreach events. This paper provides details of one such event, as well as the roles, interventions and experiences of pharmacists. Participation and inclusion of pharmacists in a multidisciplinary health-care team approach at homeless outreach events should be supported and encouraged.

Questions about multidisciplinary teams

Multidisciplinary care (MDC) involves health professionals from a range of disciplines working together as a team (a multidisciplinary team – MDT) to deliver comprehensive care that addresses as many of a patient's needs as possible. Writing in 2011, Wilcoxon and others concluded: ‘Multidisciplinary care is accepted as best practice in cancer treatment planning and care.’ Yet their report (of the national audit of multidisciplinary cancer care in Australia) indicated that two-thirds of the surveyed hospitals did not have a MDT. Further, they found that where teams did exist, one-third of patients were not told that their case would be discussed by the team; the MDT-recommended treatment plan was not included in the patient’s record one-quarter of the time; and less than 1 per cent of teams reported routine attendance by the tumour-specific minimum core team. There is sparse case authority as to the potential medico-legal consequences of MDC by MDTs. This article raises five questions about legal aspects of MDC for consideration. The questions are not limited to cancer care, as MDTs are increasingly used in other areas of medicine.

SME international performance in Latin America: The role of entrepreneurial and technological capabilities

SMEs from emerging markets in Latin America are increasingly engaging in internationalization. Nevertheless, there is limited research into how these firms achieve international performance. This study proposes and tests a conceptual model that considers managerial and technology-related capabilities and their impact on international performance of SMEs. The model uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to develop the underlying multi-item constructs and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the model with data from 233 Chilean SMEs. Specifically, the model considers the role of international entrepreneurial orientation and Internet capabilities on international market performance, taking into account the mediating effect of international entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and technology-related international networks. Results show that international entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and international networks mediate the relationship between international entrepreneurial orientation and Internet marketing capabilities on SME international performance.

Patterns of entrepreneurial career development: An optimal matching analysis approach

Longitudinal studies of entrepreneurial career development are rare, and current knowledge of self-employment patterns and their relationships with individual difference characteristics is limited. In this study, the authors analyzed employment data from a subsample of 514 participants from the German Socio-Economic Panel study (1984–2008). Results of an optimal matching analysis indicated that a continuous self-employment pattern could be distinguished from four alternative employment patterns (change from employment to self-employment, full-time employees, part-time employees, and farmers). Results of a multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that certain socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., age and gender) and personality characteristics (i.e., conscientiousness and risk-taking propensity) were related to the likelihood of following a continuous self-employment pattern compared to the other employment patterns. Implications for future research on entrepreneurial career development are discussed.

Lernen im Team: Zusammenhänge zwischen Personen- und Teammerkmalen und der Leistung von Multiplikatoren [Learning in teams: Relationships between individual and team characteristics and the performance of multipliers]

The continuous mutual transfer of knowledge and skills within work teams is increasingly important for organizational practice. According to the situational and experience-based approaches of applied learning research, certain individual and social prerequisites have to be met for successful learning in teams. In a field study at an automobile production site, it was investigated which personal characteristics of multipliers and which characteristics of teams are related to the performance of multipliers in 31 teams with 291 coworkers. Using multi-level analyses (HLM), the amount of variance explained by the predictor variables in teaching success of multipliers and learning success of coworkers was examined. Results showed that multipliers' conscientiousness and team cohesion were related to teaching success of multipliers; extraversion and team cohesion were related to the learning success of coworkers. In closing, the scientific and practical implications for the investigation and promotion of work-based learning processes in teams are discussed.

Dependence Logic: Investigations into Higher-Order Semantics Defined on Teams

This thesis is a study of a rather new logic called dependence logic and its closure under classical negation, team logic. In this thesis, dependence logic is investigated from several aspects. Some rules are presented for quantifier swapping in dependence logic and team logic. Such rules are among the basic tools one must be familiar with in order to gain the required intuition for using the logic for practical purposes. The thesis compares Ehrenfeucht-Fraïssé (EF) games of first order logic and dependence logic and defines a third EF game that characterises a mixed case where first order formulas are measured in the formula rank of dependence logic. The thesis contains detailed proofs of several translations between dependence logic, team logic, second order logic and its existential fragment. Translations are useful for showing relationships between the expressive powers of logics. Also, by inspecting the form of the translated formulas, one can see how an aspect of one logic can be expressed in the other logic. The thesis makes preliminary investigations into proof theory of dependence logic. Attempts focus on finding a complete proof system for a modest yet nontrivial fragment of dependence logic. A key problem is identified and addressed in adapting a known proof system of classical propositional logic to become a proof system for the fragment, namely that the rule of contraction is needed but is unsound in its unrestricted form. A proof system is suggested for the fragment and its completeness conjectured. Finally, the thesis investigates the very foundation of dependence logic. An alternative semantics called 1-semantics is suggested for the syntax of dependence logic. There are several key differences between 1-semantics and other semantics of dependence logic. 1-semantics is derived from first order semantics by a natural type shift. Therefore 1-semantics reflects an established semantics in a coherent manner. Negation in 1-semantics is a semantic operation and satisfies the law of excluded middle. A translation is provided from unrestricted formulas of existential second order logic into 1-semantics. Also game theoretic semantics are considerd in the light of 1-semantics.

The evolution of entrepreneurial learning

- Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an evolutionary perspective on entrepreneurial learning, whilst also accounting for fundamental ecological processes, by focusing on the development of key recurring, knowledge components within nascent and growing small businesses. - Design/methodology/approach The paper relates key developments within the organizational evolution literature to research on entrepreneurial learning, with arguments presented in favor of adopting a multi‐level co‐evolutionary perspective that captures and explains hidden ecological process, such as niche‐construction. - Findings It is argued in the paper that such a multi‐level focus on key recurring knowledge components can shed new light on the process of entrepreneurial learning and lead to the cross‐fertilization of ideas across different domains of study, by offering researchers the opportunity to use the framework of variation‐selection‐retention to develop a multi‐level representation of organizational and entrepreneurial learning. - Originality/value Entrepreneurial learning viewed in this way, as a multi‐level struggle for survival amongst competing knowledge components, can provide entrepreneurs with a set of evolutionary heuristics as they re‐interpret their understanding of the evolution of their business.

Exploring the role of entrepreneurial marketing in entrepreneurship education

This is a conceptual paper that seeks to explore the role of entrepreneurial marketing in promoting entrepreneurship in tertiary education. We postulate that the subject of entrepreneurship is marketed in different ways as a means of introducing (a) new learners to the subject area of entrepreneurship and (b) the wide ranging possibilities of entrepreneurship education. This research explores both the entrepreneurial marketing and the entrepreneurship literature to capture how they meet at the interface to solve the issue of appropriately marketing entrepreneurship courses within the context of university education. Whilst empirical evidence of entrepreneurial marketing has tended to concentrate on profit-making and small organizations, fewer studies have sought to understand the role of entrepreneurial marketing in public sector organizations, including the university. Although this article is exploratory in nature, it shows the benefits of utilizing the extensive research within the fields of entrepreneurial marketing and entrepreneurship to determine the value of entrepreneurship education for policymakers, universities and students.

Unpacking the impact of attachment to project teams on boundary-spanning behaviors

As business environments become even more competitive, project teams are required to make an effort to operate external linkages from within an organization or across organizational boundaries. Nevertheless, some members boundary-span less extensively, isolating themselves and their project teams from external environments. Our study examines why some members boundary-span more or less through the framework of group attachment theory. Data from 521 project-team members in construction and engineering industries revealed that the more individuals worry about their project team’s acceptance (group attachment anxiety), the more likely they are to perceive intergroup competition, and thus put more efforts into operating external linkages and resources to help their own teams outperform competitors. In contrast, a tendency to distrust their project teams (group attachment avoidance) generates members’ negative construal of their team’s external image, and thus fewer efforts are made at operating external linkages. Thus, project leaders and members with high group-attachment-anxiety may be best qualified for external tasks.

The first cut is the deepest: Repeated interactions of co-authorship and academic productivity in Nobel laureate teams

Despite much in-depth investigation of factors influencing the co-authorship evolution in various scientific fields, our knowledge about how efficiency or creativity is linked to the longevity of collaborative relationships remains very limited. We explore what Nobel laureates’ co-authorship patterns reveal about the nature of scientific collaborations looking at the intensity and success of scientific collaborations across fields and across laureates’ collaborative lifecycles in physics, chemistry, and physiology/medicine. We find that more collaboration with the same researcher is actually no better for advancing creativity: publications produced early in a sequence of repeated collaborations with a given coauthor tend to be published better and cited more than papers that come later in the collaboration with the same coauthor. Our results indicate that scientific collaboration involves conceptual complementarities that may erode over a sequence of repeated interactions.