Effect Of Team Cohesion On Performance

This study will demonstrate the effect of team cohesion on team performance. As all the organizations aim is to earn maximum profit. For this purpose the organizations have to achieve certain targets. These targets are met by staff. The staff works in a team. In this way they need the help of others who are working in their team to achieve their targets. So the members who are working in a team, they need the cohesion among their team. Team cohesion has great effects on team performance.

In this study the team cohesion is very important in the organizations. Team cohesion is a dynamic process that is reflected in a tendency of a team to stick together and remain united in pursuit of its goals and objectives. On the other hand the team performance is very important to achieve the targets in the organization. To achieve the targets in time is very important for the growth of the organization.

In this research, the target population will be Bahria Town (Pvt.) Ltd. Lahore. The organization is engaged in the business of property and construction. In both the cases there is a need of team cohesion for the team performance to achieve the targets. It is also very important for the growth of the company and also for the satisfaction of the customer.

The present research will be conducted through survey-questionnaire technique. Primary data will be collected and used for calculation. In order to select the

sample, non-probability convenience sampling technique will be used. The sample

will contain 120 respondents including both male and females. As the quantitative research is more result oriented therefore the quantitative research will be used rather than qualitative research.

The researcher will try to answer two research-questions i.e.

1. How does team cohesion effect team performance?

2. How an organization can improve its output through team cohesion?

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

Introduction and Background….……………………………………………….4

1.1. Introduction……….……………………………………………………….4

1.2. Construct Definition………………………………………………………4

1.3. Background Information……………………………………………4

1.4. Problem Statement…………………………………………………..……6

1.4. Construct Definition…………………………………………………..….6

1.5. Research Questions……………………………………………………….6

1.6. Hypothesis ………..….……………………………………………………..7

1.7. Scope and Limitations of Research…………………………………..…..7

1.8 Significance of Study. ……………………………………………….…7

1.9 Test for Hypothesis. ………………………………………………………….8

CHAPTER 2

2.1 Literature Review………………………………………………………..…9

2.2 Conceptual Framework of Research………………………………….….12

CHAPTER 3

3.1 Methodology of Study……………………………………………………13

3.2 Research Population………………………………………………………13

3.3 Research Sample…………………………………………………………13

3.4 Sampling Technique………………………………………………………13

3.5 Research Tools……………………………………………………………13

CHAPTER 4

Data Analysis and Interpretation………………………………………………14

CHAPTER 5

Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations…………………………..……15

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………16

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Cover Letter…………….……………………………….………..19

Appendix B: Demographic data sheet..……………………………….………..20

Appendix C: Questionnaire………………………………………………………21

CHAPTER 1

1 Problem and its Background

1.1 Introduction

An individual cannot complete the task alone. A team can be defined as “a distinguishable set of two or more people who interact, dynamically, interdependently, and adaptively toward a common and valued goal-objective-mission, who have each been assigned specific roles or functions to perform, and who have a limited life-span of membership”. Team cohesion is a dynamic process that is reflected in a tendency of a team to stick together and remain united in pursuit of its goals and objectives. The team cohesion has a great impact on the performance of the organization. The performance of the team increases as there is cohesion exist among the team.

This study will demonstrate the effect of team cohesion on team performance. In many organizations there is a lack of team cohesion which becomes the cause of loss for the organization. For the successful completion of any job there is a need of team cohesion.

According to the researcher there are two factors that keep help keep teams together as a cohesive unit. One is a sense of being connected to others based on emotional satisfaction like the way we all feel connected to family and friends. Another is the sense of being connected to others based on the shared need to get the job done, like the way football teams need all their members to work in tandem to accomplish a victory.

1.2 Construct Definition

A team is a collection of individuals, who are organized to achieve a common purpose. Team cohesion is a dynamic process that is reflected in a tendency of a team to stick together and remain united in pursuit of its goals and objectives. The team cohesion has a great impact on the performance of the organization.

1.3 Background Information

Bahria Town (Pvt.) Ltd.is an organization which is engaged in the bussiness of property and construction. The organization also sale plats and ready made houses.Geographicallay largest single private sector project launch in 2005. The organization has over 200,000 plus customers. The organization also has Customer Relations Centre operating 24 hours a day,7 days in week and 365 days a year.

The organization has over 20,000 workforce. The organization is an equal opportunity employer and has a richly diverse workforce. The employee bas consisits of people belonging to different regions such as Malaysia, Philippines,Middle East and the United States.

The only developer in Pakistan that offers projects to a diverse customer base belonging to different socio-economic sectors. With projects super luxurious villas like Meadows to Awami Villas that cater to the pragmatic needs of an average Pakistani. The other project of Bahria Town (Pvt.) Ltd. Lahore are Bahria Orchard, Sector A, Sector B, Sector C, Umer, Usman And Ali Blocks, Safari Villas, Overseas Enclave,Executive Lodges, Canal View Residency, Park Lane Tower And Mall of Lahore.

As the said organization is engaged in the bussiness of construction. Different departments are involved for this purpose. These are Finance Department, Audit Department, Purcurement Department, Admin Department, Human Resource Depament, Marketing Department, Production Planning And Control (PPC), Quantity Survey Department, Customer Relations Department Main Store Department and Field Staff for Construction.

To achieve the targets all the staff should work in a team. The cohesion in the team should be exist. The flow of information should be frequent. But the problem is that there is a gap between the departments. All the staff is not working in team cohision which becomes the base of problem.

Customer are very important for every organization. Satisfied customer will become the base for verbal marketing of the products of any organization. For customer satisfaction, the work should be done in time and according to the requirment of the customer. For this purpose the staff should work in a cohesive team. In this study the researcher wants to hilight the effects of team cohesion on team performance keeping in view the organization that is Bahria Town (Pvt.) Ltd. As the researchser is feeling that there is a weak team cohesion exist in the organization which effect adversly to the team performance

1.4 Problem Statement

During the research the researcher will find the effect of team cohesion on team performance.

1.5 Research Quistions and Research objectives

(i) Research Quistions

Research Q 1; . How does team cohesion effect team performance?

Research Q 2. How an organization can improve its output through team cohesion?

(ii) Research Objectives

To find out the effect of team cohesion on team performance

To explore the role of team cohesion on an organization to improve its output.

1.6 Research Hypothesis

1. Ho : There is no effect of team cohesion on team performance.

2. Hi : There is positive effect of team cohesion on team performance.

1.7 Scope and Limitations of research

(i) Scope

The scope of this study is to show the effect of team cohesion on team performance within the organization. The study will explore the effect of team cohesion on team performance within an organization known as Bahria Town (Pvt.) Ltd. A team’s cohesion can be defined in terms of the degree of attraction the team holds for the individuals and the resulting desire of the team members to remain in the team.

Limitations;

While collecting the data from the organization, the following limitations may also be oberved;

The data will be collected by the researcher itself

Researcher may be biased to some extent

Limited time may be a barrier for the researcher

Data will be collected from the team members within the organization

Quistionair will be used for the data collection

Partially filled quastionair may be the barrier for the researcher

Researcher may not have access to all the levels of hierarchy that is the major part of the teams within the organization.

Study will be conducted on critical scale.

Scarce resources may be the cause to collect the limited data

Being as a profesional, the job of the researcher may be the barrier for the researcher.

1.8 Significance of Study

The study will explore the effect of team cohesion on team performance.

The researcher is working in an estimeed organization as an Accountant.

The study is very important for the researcher to work in an organization as a team to achieve the targets which is very important for the researcher and also for the organization.

The study is also very important for the organization. As the aim of all the organizations is to earn maximum profit. For this purpose there are certain targets which have to achieve in time. For the smooth working and to achieve the targets intime the cohision is very important among the team. The study will explore the effect of team cohesion on team performance.

The study is also very important for the coming researchers. As all the works are done within an organizations by the perons and machines. And these machines are also run by the hands of the team members. So the researcher will explain the significance of the teams working with cohesiveness which is very much improtant for the researcher, for the organization and also for the coming researchers.

1.9 Test for Hypothesis

To check the effect of team cohesion on team performace the Regression and Correlation will be used.

CHAPTER 2

The concept of team has bocome very important and it is widely studied as the 1990 s as menstioned by many researchers (Morgan (1993), Salaw (1993) & Glickman (1993) that dramatic increase in the use of teams and productivity gains result. There are many definations of team. A team can be defined by many researchers (Salas 1992, Dickinson 1992, Converse, 1992 & Tannenbaum, 1992) as “a distinguishable set of two or more people who interact, dynamically, interdependently, and adaptively toward a common and valued goal-objective-mission, who have each been assigned specific roles or functions to perform, and who have a limited life-span of membership”. Teams are very important to achieve the targets. Due to the task demand teams can be used in the workplace and a need to remain competitive in finite markets (Ilge, 1993), (Major, 1993), (Hollenbeck, 1993), & (Sego, 1993); Kozlowski, 2003) & (Bell, 2003). Now the whole world is a global village. There is a great competition among the organizations. Competition has increased in all over the world due to increased emphasis on teams and the emphasis on teams also caused the rapid changes in technology and management practice (Oser, 1999) ,(Gualtieri, 1999), (Cannon-Bowers, 1999) & (Salas, 1999). Mobile phone and internet has changed the way of living. Now you can contact to any person in the world within few seconds and can travel in the whole world within 24 hours. This all is possible due to technology. The purpose of the study is the knowledge about the nature of teams, the laws of their deveopment and to also show the interrealations with individuals, with other teams and larger insititutions (Widmeryer, 1986), (Brawley, 1986) & (Carron, 1986). The team cohesion tells why the team is built and what are the responsibilties of each of the individual in the organization. In the team dynamics theory, the team cohesion has attained a central position due to to its consistant relationship with organizational effectiveness (Greene, 1989).

The team cohesion also facilitate effect on group productivity (Keyton, 1990) & Sprinston, 1990). There are many researchers who examin the effect of team cohesion on team performance. The effect of team cohesion on team performance can be judged by the calculation of (Evans, 1991) and (Dion, 1991). According to (Evans, 1991) and (Dion, 1991), in a meta-analysis of 372 groups taken from 16 published studies, a significant mean correlation of .42 between team cohesion and team performance. The concept of cohesion changes due to the reflection of prevailing societal conditions and of the issues and professional concerns of scientists at particular periods in time (Mudrack, 1989; (Siebold, 1999). The social cohesion and task cohesion has been separated by the (Carron 1998).

It can be divided into two types. Social cohesion is how well a team get along with each other personally; an example of this would be going to the pub after training, or conversely a team who rarely talked to each other. Then there is task cohesion is the extent to which members of the team work together.Social cohesion has been defined as an terpersonal attraction to the team while the task cohesion is de- emphasizes social aspects and focuses on group affiliation for the purpose of acheiving task related outcomes (Craig, 1999) & (Kelly, 1999).

The team cohesion is general agreement that the success of teams is frequently dependent on team member’s abilities to develop as a cohesive unit. Many professional leaders define cohesion as a desirable group property and are very interested in accessing to develop this characteristic for their competitive advantage (Prapavessis, 1997) & Albert, 1997). While some other member characteristics thought to contrivute to team cohesion include individual personality and attitudes (House, 1971) and satisfied team members have the abilities to achieve team goals (Kerr ,1978) & Jermier, 1978).

The role of the cohesive team depends on the size of the team (Isenberg 1981) & Ennis, 1981) larger teams have been found to have lower cohesion, this is because a larger team is more likely to divide into sub-groups., similarity is another important role in the team cohesion. If the team members are similar in terms of social background, attitudes, ability, commitment and personality; then there will be better cohesion, there should be clarity of member’s roles so that each member have the knowledge of his responsibilites (Evans ,1991) & Dion, 1991), clarity of team goals that what the goals have to achieve in the speicified time (Mudrak, 1989, and mutual commitment to the task of the group (Zacarro ,1986) & Lowe, 1986). The communication among the team is very important. Mutual commitment is very important in the team. The smooth flow of communication is very important in the team cohesion.

There are many benefits of team cohesion. These include team loyalty (Polley, 1987), the team’s proclivity to positive influence on team processes, such as team members participation in team task (Widmeyer , 1978) & Martens, 1978). The team cohesion also give the knowledge of you attitude that is to think first for others. The team members place the team member’s needs and wants before there own needs and wants (Littlepage , 1989) Cowart , 1989) & Kerr, 1989). While research has shown a positive relationship between team cohesion and team performance (Widmeyer ,1986) Brawley ,1986) & Carron ,1986).

The role of the team cohesion depends on many factors. There are five essential issues

Who Am I?-Who Are You?

Each person in the world has different talents, perspectives, values and experiences, same is case in a team. Each individual has different talents, perspectives, values and experiences. This thing is very important in the team which help the team members to learn more from others. Every individual can easily participate in the team if the individual has more self awareness. As the team members learn more about the others in the team, the better she or he can tap into the talents and experiences

Who Are We Together?

This issue demonstrates the aspects of relationship and communication. Each individual has different personality. They are unique from others. There is a need of better communication for the smooth working. The flow of the communication should be faster. To achieve the targets in time, there should be better and efficient communication system.

What Are We Here to Do?

This issue will demonstrate the aim of the team. This issue will explore that why the team members are join together. What is the basic aim of the team? There is a great need to clarify this issue as it saves the time and resources. This will explore the goals, mission and tasks of the team.

How Are We Going to Do It?

This issue will explore the need of specialization that is who’s going to do what by when. As different persons in the team has different talent, knowledge, experience and personality. So each person is unique in the team. There is a need to assign the duties to each person in the team to achieve the targets. It is very important for the smooth working. Tasks can be achieved in time and in the easy way by specialization.

.

How Are We Doing? Or How Did We Do?

As each of the person in the team is unique and each team have certain tasks to complete in time. To complete the task in time, the team must have some measure of how they are doing. Effective teamwork starts with understanding ourselves and ways we are different from others. The team members should keep in mind that they are better in team rather than as a single person.

. Conceptual Framework of Research

CHAPTER 3

3.1 Methodology of Study

In order to find the answer of the questions which are mentioned in chapter 1.1, the researcher will use different methodologies.

The researcher will use the quantitative method to find the answer to the questions and also will conduct quantitative analysis.

3.2 Research Population;

In this research, the target population is Bahria Town (Pvt.) Ltd. Lahore. The organization has over 20,000 workforce.

3.3 Research Sample

This research will consist of 120 respondent including both male and femal.

This research will include all the organizational authorities who are important in team, whose influence effect the organization directly like Managers, Supervisors and Accountatns.

3.4 Sampling Technique

This research will be based on convenience sampling technique.

3.5 Research Tools

In this research, the research tool will be SPSS 17.0.

CHAPTER 4

DATA Analysis and Representation

4.1 Data Analysis

This chapter will contain information related to data analysis and its graphical representation.

CHAPTER 5

Findings, Conclusion and Recommendations

This chapter will contain information related to findings, conclusion and recommendations.