Beliefs about Reputation Linked to Teamwork via Sense of "Team"

In a study of the top management teams (TMTs) at 70 small firms, the sense that competitors thought highly of the firm and the team related to members’ sense of team identity, which in turn related to how well members worked together.

The researchers surveyed CEOs and their direct reports at 70 firms, most with 37 to 99 employees. Respondents were asked, for example:

• What they thought competitors thought about their company and, separately, their leadership team.
• Whether they thought TMT members felt “proud to work for” and “strong ties with” the team.
• The degree to which team members shared high-quality ideas, volunteered to help each other, and “usually let each other know when their actions affect another team member’s work,” among other teamwork behaviors.

As found in previous studies, a sense of identification with the team—a sense of “we” instead of “I”—correlated with teamwork behaviors. The company’s perceived reputation was linked to that identification, but not as much as the team’s perceived reputation. Neither reputation directly correlated to teamwork when identification was removed from the equation.

“Managers need to be aware of how beliefs they hold about perceptions of outsiders (e.g., competitors, suppliers) affect dynamics within the TMT,” the study said. Trying to improve teamwork by saying competitors don’t respect the company or leadership team could backfire.

Source: Carmeli, A., and A. Shteigman (2010), “Top Management Team Behavioral Integration in Small-Sized Firms: A Social Identity Perspective,” Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice 14(4):318.