“ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA” UNIVERSITY OF IAȘI FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION Business Administration Field of Study BACHELOR THESIS… [610946]

“ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA” UNIVERSITY OF IAȘI
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION
Business Administration Field of Study

BACHELOR THESIS

Scientific Coordinator Graduate
Lect. Dr. Cătălin CLIPA Robert -Sebastian COZACIUC

IAȘI
2016

“ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA” UNIVERSITY OF IAȘI
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION
Business Administration Field of Study

Managing teams in organization.
Creating effective work teams.

Scientific Coordinator Graduate
Lect. Dr. Cătălin CLIPA Robert -Sebastian COZACIUC

IAȘI
2016

Table of Contents

Introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. 1
Chapter 1. Managing Teams in Organization ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………. 3
1.1 Concept of Team Management ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ….. 3
Work teams in Organization ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……….. 4
Work teams and Work groups ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …….. 5
The Importance of Managing a Team ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………….. 6
1.2 Managing Collective Thinking in Organization ………………………….. ………………………….. ……….. 7
The Core Principles and Issues of Collective Thinking ………………………….. ………………………….. .. 7
Improving the Collective Thinking ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………………. 10
Leadership in Collective Thinking ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. 10
1.3 Team Leadership Processes and Activities in Organization ………………………….. ………………….. 11
Leadership in Teams ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………… 11
Team Leadership Functions ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. 13
Notes and Further Research in Leadership Functions ………………………….. ………………………….. … 14
Chapter 2. Reaching Team Effectiveness in Organization ………………………….. ………………………….. … 15
2.1 Developing the Team ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… 15
Team Composition ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………… 16
Team Development Stages and Implications ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………. 17
Team Viability ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………… 18
2.2 Effectiveness, processes and enhancements in a team ………………………….. ………………………….. 19
Team Effectiveness Models ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. 19
Team Processes and its Mechanisms ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………. 20
Team Enhancements ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………… 22
2.3 Team Relationships ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………… 23
Interpersonal Conflicts ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… 23
Building Trust in a Team ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………….. 24
Building Cohesion in a Team ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …….. 25
Chapter 3 Research on the Business Administration Students‟ Perception ………………………….. ………. 27
3.1 Context of the Business Administration Specialization ………………………….. ………………………… 27
Mission of the Specialization ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …….. 27
Objectives of the Speci alization ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …. 27
3.2 Methodology ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………………. 28

Research Objectives, Research Questions and Research Hypotheses ………………………….. ………. 28
Research Methods ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………. 30
Research Instruments ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………….. 31
3.3 Research Results ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………. 31
Validation of Hypotheses ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………….. 45
Research Conclusions ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………. 45
Limitations of the Research ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. 47
Conclusions ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……….. 48
Bibliography ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……… 52
Annexes – Means ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …. 53
Annexes – Questionnaire ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………… 54

List of Figures

Figure .1.Sources of Leadership in Teams ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. 12
Figure 2.Team Leadership Functions by Leadership Sources ………………………….. ………………………….. ………….. 13
Figure 3.The Johari Window ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. 25
Figure 1.Question 26. Gender ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………… 30
Figure 2.Question 27 Year of Study ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………… 30
Figure 1 -1. Question 1 Identifying the f eeling of membership in the Business Administration specialization …. 31
Figure 1 -1. Question 2 Identifying the m ost efficient type of team ………………………….. ………………………….. …… 32
Figure 1 -1. Question 3 Measuring the c riteria in being chosen in a team ………………………….. ……………………….. 32
Figure 2 -1. Question 4 Identifying the importance of the leader ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. 33
Figure 2 -1. Question 5 Measuring the Authority leader quality ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. 33
Figure 2 -2. Question 5 Measuring the Honesty leader quality ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. 33
Figure 2 -3. Question 5 Measuring the Responsibility leader quality ………………………….. ………………………….. …. 33
Figure 2 -4. Question 5 Measuring the Forthcoming leader quality ………………………….. ………………………….. …… 33
Figure 2 -5. Question 5 Measuring the Commitment leader quality ………………………….. ………………………….. …… 34
Figure 2 -6. Question 5 Measuring the Inspiration leader quality ………………………….. ………………………….. ……… 34
Figure 2 -7. Question 5 Measuring the Positivity leader quality ………………………….. ………………………….. ……….. 34
Figure 2 -1. Question 6 Measuring the Compose the team function ………………………….. ………………………….. ….. 35
Figure 2 -2. Question 6 Measuring the Define the mission function ………………………….. ………………………….. ….. 35
Figure 2 -3. Question 6 Measuring the Structure and plan function ………………………….. ………………………….. …… 35
Figure 2 -4. Question 6 Measuring the Challenge the team function ………………………….. ………………………….. …. 35
Figure 2 -5. Question 6 Measuring the Perform team tasks function ………………………….. ………………………….. …. 35
Figure 2 -6. Question 6 Measuring the Provide feedback function ………………………….. ………………………….. ……. 35
Figure 2 -7. Question 6 Measuring the Monitor the team function ………………………….. ………………………….. ……. 36
Figure 2 -8. Question 6 Measuring the Provide resources function ………………………….. ………………………….. ……. 36
Figure 3 -1. Question 7 Identifying the importance of team relationships in reaching team effectiveness ……….. 36
Figure 3 -1. Question 8 Identifying the importance of trust in building team relationships ………………………….. .. 37
Figure 3 -1. Question 9 Measuring the contribution of the Time spent together factor ………………………….. ……… 37
Figure 3 -2. Question 9 Measuring the contribution of the Interactions between team members factor …………… 37
Figure 3 -3. Question 9 Measuring the contribution of the Competitiveness between teams factor ………………… 37
Figure 3 -4. Question 9 Measuring the contribution of the Similarities between orientation and value factor ….. 37
Figure 3 -1. Question 10 Verifying if conflicts are commonly met in a team at the B.A specialization …………… 38
Figure 3 -1. Question 11 Measuring the occurrence of the Sharing a different opinion conflict ……………………… 38
Figure 3 -2. Question 11 Measuring the occurrence of the Poor planning conflict ………………………….. …………… 38
Figure 3 -3. Question 11 Measuring the occurrence of the Misunderstanding the task factor …………………………. 39
Figure 3 -4. Question 11 Measuring the occurrence of the Lack of team focus and motivation factor …………….. 39
Figure 3 -5. Question 11 Measuring the occurrence of th e Self centered individuals factor ………………………….. . 39
Figure 4 -1. Question 12 Verifying the improvement of abilities of a individual ………………………….. ……………… 40
Figure 4 -1. Question 13 Measuring the improvement of the Communication ability ………………………….. ………. 40
Figure 4 -2. Question 13 Measuring the improvement of the Knowledge of different fields of study ability ……. 40
Figure 4 -3. Question 13 Measuring the improvement of the Cooperation ability ………………………….. ……………. 41
Figure 4 -4. Question 13 Measuring the improvement of the Commitment ability ………………………….. …………… 41
Figure 4 -5. Question 13 Measuring the improvement of the Solving Problems ability ………………………….. ……. 41
Figure 4 -6. Question 13 Measuring the improvement of the Adaptability ability ………………………….. ……………. 41
Figure 5 -1. Question 14 Identifying the difficulty in reaching team effectiveness in the B.A specialization …… 42
Figure 5 -1. Question 15 Measuring the importance of the More determination from the students factor ………… 42
Figure 5 -2. Question 15 Measuring the i mportance of the Direct involvement of the professors factor ………….. 42
Figure 5 -3. Question 15 Measuring the importance of the Recognition of the performance factor ………………… 43
Figure 5 -4. Question 15 Measuring the importance of the Assigning tasks based on the area of specialty factor 43
Figure 5 -5. Question 15 Measuring the importance of the Increased feedback from the professor factor ……….. 43

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Introduction
1
Introduction

Over the last decade and a half, there has been a remarkable transformation of the
organizational structures from a worldwide point of view. One of these aspects has been the
ongoing shift from work organized around individual jobs, to team based work stru ctures.
Because of the increasing in competition between organizations and companies, there has
been a more concentrated view on the concept of team effectiveness and managing such
teams in an organization which desires to be more effective.
This study has been designed in order to better understand the concept of managing a
team in an organization, the work teams and work groups differences and the importance of
managing such a team in order to reach effectiveness.
Based on the literature review and th rough the study of many books, the research is
comprised of a huge variety which revolves around the main subjects, as such, the research
has been structured into 2 chapters of theory, Managing Teams in Organization and Creating
Effective Work Teams , and a last chapter where the Practical study on the Business
Administration organization has been analyzed in concordance with the imposed objectives
and the research purpose of the study.
In the first chapter of the thesis, the most of the information presente d will be in
regards to the concept of team management and its importance, the management of the
collective thinking in such an organization as well as how to improve it, and lastly, leadership
role in teams, its processes and activities and other notes on how the leadership can be
improved, all of which will be adequately presented and researched thoroughly in the
research part of the thesis.
In the second chapter of the thesis, the information presented represents the core
concepts of reaching team effect iveness, as such, the most relevant data was presented in
regards to the team development, such as the composition, the stages and its implication,
team viability, and the effectiveness, processes and mechanisms as well as the enhancements
of a team. Lastl y, the chapter will focus on the team relationships , which represent a core
factor in our practical research, where there will be a more noticeable accent on the team
relationships between the members of the organization and factors such as trust, cohesive ness
and conflicts and their occurrences, all of which will be demonstrated and explained into the
highest detailed way possible. As a conclusion, all of the chapters have been interconnected
and all of them are following a specific structure in order to c reate a more readable study,
with information correctly displayed and referenced in order to give the reader the proof of
eligibility.
In regards to the third chapter of the thesis, the purpose of the research was designed
in order to better understand th e concept of team management and effectiveness in the
Business Administration specialization as well as the student's perception of the team as a
whole, the importance of the l eadership role, team relationships and the process of reaching
team effectivenes s in an organization. The purpose has been designed in concordance with
the theoretical part, and has been connected with the research in order to study more on the
concept of team management and team effectiveness.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Introduction

2
The objectives established in order to a chieve the proposed goals of the research were
the following:
 Verify feeling of membership, identify most efficient type of team, measure the
highest criteria on being chosen in a team in the B.A specialization;
 Identify and measure the importance, expec ted qualities and functions of a leader in a
team;
 Measure the process of team development in order to reach team performance;
 Measure the importance of team relationships in reaching team effectiveness (trust,
conflicts, cohesion);
 Identify and measure the occurrence of conflicts in a team;
 Verify if the student has improved in a team and to measure the improved abilities;
 Identify the difficulty of reaching team effectiveness in the B.A specialization and to
measure the factors which should be improved in order to ease the process;
In order to achieve the goals of the research , 27 questions were formulated through
the use of a questionnaire created on the Google Forms platform , out of these 27 questions,
15 questions were selected in order to generate 5 hypotheses :
H1. The feeling of membership and performance is most noticed in the Interdependent type
of team, with the hig hest criteria of selection being the relationships with the members.
H2. The leader represents an important part of a team, with the most expected quality being
the responsibility and the function of performing team tasks.
H3. Team relationships (trust, cohesiveness, and conflicts) are an important part in reaching
team effectiveness, with the most important factor for the cohesiveness being the interactions
between team members and the occurrence of conflicts being commonly met, especially by
sharing a d ifferent opinion.
H4. The B.A specialization has improved the student‟s abilities, with the most improved
ability being the communication.
H5. Reaching team effectiveness is a difficult process which requires more determination
from the students in order to ease it.
The research itself was a success, because all of the main specified objectives were
achieved, and the generated hypotheses were validated. Such a study could always serve as a
direction for further studies which will have the same general id ea of studying the perception
of students or even members of other organizations, since the structure of the study has been
designed in order to be used for more types of individuals, of course, with a few
modifications on the specified objectives.
The mai n problem which arise during the development of the study, was the decision
to undertake a restructure of the objectives, in order to select only the most relevant
objectives to our study and to thoroughly study them, as such, a few of the initially though t
objectives had to be removed, thus the study was not able to cover that part of the research,
however, more information on what the study proposed to study furthermore and what it
hoped to achieve, can be found in the Limitations section. As a final conc lusion regarding
this matter, the research itself can be expanded in a future study, where all of the objectives
can be accordingly met in order to create a more detailed view of the concept of team
effectiveness and management in teams, as well as the imp ortance of the leadership role and
all of the processes and tools which contribute to reaching team effectiveness in an
organization.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Managing Teams in Organization
3 Chapter 1 . Managing Teams in O rganization

The first chapter of the thesis focuses on the management of teams in organization
and how the leadership role can be a very important factor in reaching the team‟s
effectiveness and performance.
The information which will be presented is extremely vital in order to understand
precisely how a team functions in certain situations and how these situations ca n be managed
in order to solve , improve or prevent them.
It is of important noti ce to understand and differentiate the two types of groups (team
groups and work groups ), how does improving and managing the collective thinking can lead
us to the effectiveness of the team (C hapter 2 of the thesis) and how important are the
leadership ro le, processes and activities in a team and how it can shape a team to reach a
higher level of effectiveness and performance.

1.1 Concept of Team Management

The concept of team management can sometimes be interpreted as a simple subject
because it is a term which has its definition right in the wording , but it is not as simple it
looks. It is actually a very complex subject which focuses on the management and
coordination of a successful and effective team with clear ly defined objective s and goals by
using all the resources available and its members at its full capacity in order to complete
them.
It is not an easy task for a team leader to create and manage such a powerful force,
and that is be cause there are many factors involved such as motivational ones, trust issues,
internal and external conflicts in the organization and differences between ways of
approaching the matter regarding the objectives which result in a ineffective team without a
proper strategic plan of action. But the most critical one is the lack of a competent leader
which does not have the required knowledge and experience of how a team in a organization
works and which has no direct participation in the team or, in contrast, with a too dictatorial
way of approaching things and managing every decision in his own vision without consulting
with the other members.
As a matter of fact, m any inexperienced leaders have their own way of achieving
results which can sometimes lead to good results but also ba d ones. They represent the figure
that need s to have complete control over everything that happens in the organization , which
is actually a bad decision per -se because over -control of that kind can create a tremendous
amount of damage1.
Moreover, a very important part in an effective team is the communication, and in the
aforementioned case, the members tend to find it difficult to communicate freely with a
superior which has an authority over them, which leads to a s ituation where there are
problems caused by the leader when their decisions are unsuitable.

1 Hayes .N. (2002) , Managi ng Teams: A strategy for success 2nd Edition , Pp 2 -5.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Managing Teams in Organization

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It is, therefore, vital for a leader to grant a certain level of decision making power for
the members of the organization in order to obtain more detailed ways of approaching the
matter and ensuring that it is done properly, and as it is known, the people who know their
jobs best are the people who are actually doing them and which also have a different way of
seeing things in comparison to those in upper m anagement or who is in charge of the project
itself.
In an organization which has got the teamwork practices right, the members assigned
on the specific job will be more determined to work more effectively and efficiently, improve
themselves and th eir contribution but also work in a less stressful environment in order to
obtain the best performance .
Work t eams in O rganization

Over the last 15 years, there has been a remarkable transformation regarding the
organizational structures all around the world. Besides the economic, strategi c, and
technological factors wh ich have facilitated this transformation, one of the most recognized
and influencing aspect has been the ongoing shift from work organized around individual
jobs to team -based w ork structures2 .
Teams have an enormous potential, and as a matter of fact, a growing number of
organizations have realized that changing to a team -based work has had a much more positive
impact overall than many have expected.
In the industry there have been many reports of directors satisfied by an increase in bot h
production levels and profits , with improvements to the sales and marketing strategies when
it went over to teamwork, as well as in the public sector, where tasks are reported to be
performed more thoroughly and efficiently. In all types of organization, be it public or
private, there has been an indication which proves that team -working improves the staff‟s
overall morale and decreases its turnover.
As Katzenbach and Smith (1993)3 used to say, directors and senior managers are
turning to teamwork for one reason only: because when it works, it works very well indeed.
Modern management has been focused around the idea of the team lately, where the
consultants started to propo se organizational restructuring in order to facilitate the team work
, policy statements have been made regarding the importance of a proper team to the
organization itself, and senior managers have been spreading the idea of encouraging teams
in every dep artment.
However, not every organization which has implemented the idea of team -working
found these effects, or at least not in an immediate manner. Some of the companies who have
introduced the term have realized no difference at all. Nonetheless, it is clear that in an
organization where the concept has been implemented well, team -working does indeed make
a very strong difference.
As previously mentioned in the concept of managing teams in organization, teams are
extremely influenced by the participation of their supervisor or team -leader and by how much

2 Lawler, Mohrman, & Ledford, (1995 ). Creating high performance organizations: Practices and results of
employee involvement and TQM in Fortune 1000 companie s. San Francisco, CA: Jossey -Bass.
3 Katzenbach, J. R. and Smith, D.K. (1993), The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High -performance
Organization , Harvard Business School, Boston.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Managing Teams in Organization

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they manage the activity. We can divide th e work groups and teams in three leve ls based on
this fact :
 Dependent Level
 Independent Level
 Interdependent Level
Dependent Level : represents the traditional category of teams and groups from an
organization, where the leader plays a strong role as the boss. It is also the most common met
experience for most people at their first job , where all they have to do is blindly follow the
indications from the leader without having a say in what it should be done instead. Each and
every member belonging to the dependent category works under close s upervision of the
superior, where the one in charge tells all the do‟s and don‟ts.
Such a category can function well only for a short term, but afterwards, in the long
run, it can lead to negative results since the members operate separately from the others and
only under the direction of one man.
Independent Level : is the most common type met in work groups and teams, where the big
difference represents the fact that the leading figure does not reassemble the mean and scary
boss type like in the depen dent category. Every member works on their own assignments
within general directions and minimal supervision.
Interdependent Level : represents the category where every member of the team relies on each
other in order to complete the given task. The respons ibility is sometimes divided between
them, even if they have their own roles. It is here where the concept of interdependence gives
birth to a true team which is determined to succeed.
The major problem which arises is the effort which has to be made in order to
assemble such a team in a organization . You simply cannot take a group of people and tell
them to work together as a team, instead, you have to give them a purpose and create a strong
collective focus regarding all the possible outputs and inputs in order to obtain strong results
in the long -term.
Work teams and W ork groups

Even though work groups and teams are different by their diversity regarding the
type, size or context, the terms can both be used interchangeably and all of the features it
contains build the foundation for the same basic definition: “ A work team is composed of two
or more individuals who exist to perform organizationally relevant tasks, share one or more
common goals, interact socially, exhibit task interdependencies (i.e., work flow, goals,
outcomes), maintain and manage boundaries and are embedded in an organizati onal context
that sets boundaries, constrains the team and influences exchanges with other units in the
broader entity4.
Teams are often introduced with the objective of improving organizational
performance as well as the outcomes of the individual worker. It is thought that teams are

4 Alderfer, C.P (1977). Group and intergroup relations . In J.R Hackman & J. L Suttle (Eds.), Improving the
quality of work life (pp. 227 -296). Palisades, CA: Goodyear.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Managing Teams in Organization

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capable of increasing an organization‟s adaptability to dynamic environments, are able to
handle more complex and variable products and production processes and that team members
can more easily mutually adjust and coo rdinate their efforts5.
Teams definitely are forms of work groups, but not all work groups are teams. In fact,
plain work groups are much more numerous than teams6, however, that does not make them
necessarily as efficient and e ffective as a proper based work team.
We can identify many differences between these two terms, starting from the idea that
a team feels more personal because it involves knowing the members and the co -workers and
because it requires trust and kno wing that you can rely on them. They are the ones that are
frequently meeting together for disc ussions and solving problems , planning and decision
making , where there is a mutual and individual accountability, working together in order to
produce collecti ve work products and where there is the feeling of concern for the whole
team where as on the work groups side we have a more simplistic and straight to the point
description, where the group is driven by an individual characteristic , with individual
accountability focused on individual goals and on producing individual work products and
where there is a concern only regarding one‟s own outcome and challenges it stumbles upon.
The big difference we can identify here is the role of the leader in each catego ry, with
the manager shaping the purpose, goals and approach to work in the work group section
whereas the team‟s own goals , purpose and approach are defined by the team leader working
together with the team members.

The Importance of Managing a Team

The leadership role has always been a vital part in a team. Such a figurehead who can
accordingly guide and give directions, tasks, feedback and rewards to the team members has
proven to be a critical role in the management of a team and its performance.
But how can a leader be more effective in what is he doing? In order to answer this
question we have to analyze more thoroughly the management process through which a team
can be brought on the same level of knowledge and how can such a process of bringing
together different individuals with different sets of abilities and skills, as well as an
experienced leader, can improve the team performance and ease the management process of
the teams. By understanding this concept, we can focus and research more of th e leadership
role, the activity, processes and functions that have to be done in order to reach the members
and to create the same orientation for all of them, instead of each member being on his own
vision and direction, which can sometimes be a good atti tude , but since we are talking about
teams, it is of extreme importance to create the feeling of a collective.

5 Molleman (2004). Person -job fit applied to teamwork: A multilevel approach. Small Group Research , 35, pp
515-539.
6 Brounstein (2011). Managing teams for Dummie, Wiley Publishing, Inc. Pp 337 -345.

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1.2 Managing Collective T hinking in O rganization

There has always been the possibility of improving the way we utilize the knowledge
and intelligence of the work team s or group s and realizing its true potential in order to
improve th e organizational effectiveness7. The activity of thinking together contributes
towards the achieving of the organization‟s purpose and it helps in many cases such as the
bigger and more complex organizations , where there is a big amount of management
knowledge required, to not rely on a single individual w ho manages everything, but on a
number of different people with skills and knowledge at their disposa l in order to effectively
manage a big organization .
This is where the effective collaborative thinking is required in order to share the
knowledge in an organization and to utterly work with that knowledge in order to transform it
into effective bu siness understanding.
We can identify four principles which were developed in order to provide guidance
and help for leaders which wish to improve their managing skills and the quality of collective
thinking in organization:
 Collective thinking must be focused on a shared understanding that the team will
work towards a purpose which has been agreed upon. This focus is mandatory in the
key leadership role.
 In order for an individual to adequately work together with other members in the
team, a special man agement of one‟s own emotional and psychological factors has to
be unde r control . The communicational, relational and private work skills of an
individual are extremely important in such a team. In particular, the team leaders also
need to retain their emo tional balance in order to be effective in the leadership role.
 The relationships and groups provide a thinking space , whereas the quality of the
tone, mood and expectation in any team has a direct impact on the collective thinking.
 The responsibility for maintain and building a thinking space in a team must be
divided between the members and not assigned only to the leader. Moreover, the
maintenance and development of an environment for collective thinking must take
into account unspoken and out of awaren ess elements that are identified in work
teams.

The Core Principles and I ssues of Collective Thinking

As previously mentioned before in a superficial way, there are four principles which
stay at the foundation of the collective thinking efficiency, however, it is very important to
have a more detailed view of these elements:

7 Schein, E. H. (1997). Organizational culture and leadership . San Francisco, Jossey Bass.

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1. The t ask
A team member feels confident to take actions, express opinions and concerns only
when there is a proper understanding of the purpose of the team. It is the concept of thinking
together where discussions and disagreements take place. Moreover, the team mem bers also
has to be convinced that each and anyone of them understand the primary task and can
answer to questions such as : “why are we here right now?” , “what do we have to achieve?” ,
“can we do it? If yes, then how?” and so on. A very important notion for team leaders and
members is to work together in order to achieve a shared understanding of the task.
It is important to note that m any members are affected by some human behavioral
tendencies where factors of the unconsciousness make them adopt a different view of what
they should do in their own opinion instead of focusing only on the primary task, some
examples being:
 Doing tasks which are relevant towards the pleasing of the manager, instead of the
team members.
 Self-seeking behavior conducted covertly and unconsciously8.
 Team members acting as if their job is to follow procedures . It is important to note
that procedures are intended to prevent people having to create everything from
scratch and to maintain accordingly standards of safety and in tegrity without having a
negative effect on creativity. However, there are some examples of teams which
refuse to question such procedures even if the questioning itself could result in a team
doing a more efficient job.
 Doing the specific task which they have been assigned to and not doing what they
think is best. This is used as a defense against being criticized because the team can
sometimes claim that they were doing what they have been assigned to do, instead of
achieving the best interests for the or ganization.
2. Managing self, focus and distraction
The total amount of cognitive and emotional information a human being can deal at a
time is limited, as such, having to deal with emotions or thoughts which are not related to the
purpose of the team c an reduce the amount of energy and focus required to work on the
primary task.
Even if it were for a situation where such factors would not have to be dealt with, the
already extensive demands on human attention can reduce the effectiveness in the collective
thinking of the members, some examples being:
 Keeping track of their thinking and reasoning, with particular regards to how it relates
to the purpose of the primary task.
 Being emotionally merged into the team to determine how well the team is
functioning as a place for thinking together.

8 Lawrence, W.G., Bain, A. & Gould, L. (1996). The fifth basic assumption. Free Associations, 6 pp 28 -55.

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 Listening to the other members of the team for the occurring content of what is been
said by them and for the information which is related to the quality of relationships
between themselves and the others in the team.
There are many forms through which distraction can push away the focus from
thinking together, such as a simple observation from another team member is enough to put
an individual into an emotional state. What it is tried to be said here is that some events can
potentially take a lot of focus away from thinking together with other team members and that
the overall pattern is modeled when the emotions are affected past a certain point, their focus,
attention and energy is consumed in a great quanti ty in managing themselves enough to stay
active and focused on the task.
However, there are also individuals who are very skilled at managing their own
emotions and they are the ones who spend less time distracted with inner management than
the ind ividuals who are not as skilled. Such ability can be learned through coaching and a lot
of practice. These are also the individuals who are the most sought after because they are the
ones more focused on the task and the most efficient one because of their ability to avoid
overwhelmi ngness.
3. Creating thinking spaces
The team is the most significant thinking space that exists, where for a team to think
successfully together there is the requirement that each person in the team has to share their
knowledge and ideas in order for new ideas and options to the surface, which is why the
quality of the relationship between team members has a major influence on how willing they
are to talk, share and state their own opinions. Previous experiences with ot her teams or with
teams of a similar nature will have a huge impact on how the indi viduals approach each other
and the behavior of every team member and leader is strongly influenced by their
expectations or beliefs about the nature of the team.
The mental expectations influence more than the communication in a team, it also
influences the extents to which it is possible to think, perceive and feel in the presence of said
team. If the feeling is kept as relatively safe, secure and responsive, then suc h an advantage
will only enable all the participants to support each other.
4. Shared responsibility in collective thinking
A major problem which arises in this principle is the fact that both the leader and the
team members fail to understand that responsibilities have to be shared between the whole
team in order to create and maintain the thinking space. Another problem which can be
spotted is the fact that some teams are either ignoring the need for high quality collective
thinking or just simply are unaware of it, and here we can spot two main functions of the
leader:
 To model behaviors that support building of a high quality thinking space
 To personally motivate and influence team members to take a more active part in
creating, maintain and usin g the high quality thinking space.

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The leader will constantly judge the expectations, responsiveness and safety of the
team as he sees fits and he will also provide the members with updated news regarding the
team‟s situation.

Improving the Collective Thinking

As discussed before, the concept of collective thinking is not an easy one to perceive,
understand and execute, it requires a skilled leader with a good amount of knowledge of the
business and of the human resource management in order t o obtain the desired results,
however, there are some tips regarding the leadership of such a business community which
can contribute to the creation of a more effective team. For instance, a team leader should
note that a team level thinking occurs in con trast with the ind ividual thinking of the members
and that the attention of the leader should not be paid to individuals or relationships in the
team, but to the team as a whole9. There is always room for improvement, both for the leader
and for the team, but such a process requires a big amount of time investing and dedication.

Leadership in Collective Thinking

The primary task of a leader, who wants to increase the knowledge and thinking
capacity of his team, is to work actively with team on building and maintaining the thinking
spaces in the team in order to facilitate their effective usage. Furthermore, leaders have to
create certain situations where the majority of the members will focus on developing and
maintaining positive expectations a nd understanding that what they are doing is relevant for
the organization‟s performance. However, the leadership role has never been an easy one, as
it implies many processes and activities in order to reach its full potential. The leader also has
to unde rstand that team level thinking occurs in addition to high quality individual thinking,
and that the collective thinking is based on interactions with the members, understanding
their needs and issues and working effectively together with the member in ord er to help
overcome any obstacles met on the road. By being able to accordingly understand and help
mitigate such issues, a leader can lead the team to its path of effectiveness and it can also help
the leader increase his knowledge in management of teams.

9 Whitaker, D. S., & Lieberman, M. A. (1964). Psychotherapy through the group process. Chicago, Aldine
Publishing.

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1.3 Team Leadership Processes and Activities in Organization

In order to be able to understand the team leadership processes and activities , it is
required to first understand the nature of a working team. After the second element is
understood, the role of leadership in encouraging team effectiveness can be expressed in a
much easier way. It is important to notice that the team focus is what separates the old
fashioned team leadership models from the modern ones, where there is a central focus on the
team as a whole.
Regarding the goal directed activity of the team as a whole , which would ultimately
help us understand the team leadership processes and activities; we can identify two
important phases, the transition pha se and the action phase . In the transition phase the teams
are involved in the planning, analyzing and evaluation activities in order to accomplish the
goals and objectives of the organization while in the action phase the teams execute activities
that co ntribute directly to achieving the goals and objectives. Such a cycle is a repeated
process through which teams alternate at times.
A number of challenges are encountered by the teams which are working across the
phases (transition and action), challenges that can originate from the team, environmental
stability within the team or the organization. Such challenges can endanger the viability of
the team and create unnecessary difficulties which can block the accomplishment of the
goals, furtherly creating different needs within teams , which are found in both the transition
phase and the action phase, that have to be satisfied in order to be successful10.
In the transition phase, the needs are related to the establishment of a team graph
where the objectives, goals and task performance strategies are outlined, in order to achieve
the development of positive team pattern, understanding and a clear distribution of
knowledge within the team11.
In the action phase, the needs are related directly towards the goals, such as the
monitoring output as the team progresses on the goals, monitoring the inside and outside of
the team (people, resources and organization‟s environment), increasing the quality of the
communication between members and leaders, engaging in team coaching the members and
effectively work with groups outside the team12.
Leadership in Teams

Continuing from the aforementioned needs for an increased team performance in
organization , the leadership role in teams can be viewed as centered on satisfying these needs
with the objective of improving team effectiveness. This view of team leadership is related

10 Morgeson, F. P., Lindoerfer, D., & Loring, D. (2010). Developing team leadership capability . In E. Van
Velso r, C. D. McCauley, & M. N. Ruderman (Eds.), The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of
Leadership Development (3rd ed., pp. 285 -312). San Francisco: Jossey -Bass.
11 Cohen, S. G., & Bailey, D. E. 1997. What makes teams work: Group effectiveness research from the shop
floor to the executive suite . Journal of Management , 23: 239 -290.
12 Marks, M. A., Mathieu, J. E., & Zaccaro, S. J. 2001. A temporally based framework and taxonomy of team
processes . Academy of Management Review 26: Pp 356-376.

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with the functional leadership theory13, which is the most outstanding and known l eadership
model. The theory suggests that the leadership role is “to do, or get done, whatever is not
being adequately handled for group needs” . This means tha t the leader‟s role is centered on
completing the empty spots , where the leader does best in obse rving the functions which are
not performed by a part of the team and focuses on aiding the part in completing them, thus
describing the role of the leadership as oriented around the team‟s needs satisfaction. Such a
leadership role centered on satisfying the needs of the members can be performed by multiple
individuals (given the knowledge, abilities and skills of the individual), which is why this
study has to be revolved around the leadership concept and not the leaders.
We can identify a number of sources of team leadership that can determine who is
trying to satisfy the team‟ s needs conceptualized around the structural dimensions of locus of
leadership and formality of leadership, where the dimensions interact to form fo ur bases of
team leadership:

Figure1. Sources of Leadership in Teams

The internal base indicates whether the leader is a member and engaged in the team‟s tasks.
The external base represents the opposite, with the leader being outside the team‟s activities.
The formal base reflects whether the responsibility for team performance is formalized in
organization.
The informal base reflects if there is no direct responsibility for a team‟s leadership and
performance.
It is very important to take a broad view on these sources in order to explain how
they might interact and evolve depending on the challenges the teams are facing and the
needs the teams has, unfortunately, s ome of the sources do not receive the necessary attention
in researches, for example, scholars tend to study team leadership from the perspective of a
single source (such as the study of formal external leadership) and tend to be unaware of the
existence o f the other sources.

13 McGrath, 1962 McGrath, J. E. (1962). Leadership behavior: Requirements for leadership training . Prepared
for U.S. Civil Service Commission Office of Career Development, Washington, DC.

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Team Leadership Functions

Based on the analysis of the sources mentioned in the previous subchapter, we can accept the
fact that all the sources are focused on satisfying the needs of the team with the goal of
improving team effectiveness. In this subchapter, we will focus on acknowledging the key
leadership functions that are necessary for the effectiveness and satisfaction of the team
presented through the following framework based on the previous table:

Figure 2. Team Leadership Functions by Leadership Sources . Note: Cell entries are raging f rom good (+), to
better (++) to best (+++) in order to reflect the source best positioned to perform a particular leadership
function, the empty cells are for those sources not sot suitable to perform the specific leadership function.
Transition Phase Leadership Functions
The transition phase refers to that period of time where the teams focus on activities
related to the structuring and organization of th e team, planning of the team work and the
evaluation of the team performance . The primary focus is thus not on the direct tasks but on
the activities that establish the processes and structures of effectiveness. During this phase,
the functions which repre sent the most importance are the inclusion of the right ensemble of
people, structuring of the roles and responsibilities in the team and the establishment of the
sense of team environment. Over the period where these functions are used in future team
actions, the results and accomplishment of the developing team will be noticed. In this phase,
the main functions are the creation of the team, defining the mission, establishment of the
goals and objectives, structuring and plans, training and development of the team, and the
provision of feedback.

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Action Phase Leadership Functions
It is in this phase where the leadership functions become important in the development
of the team, where the team members are focused directly on the accomplishment of goals
and objectives. In this phase, the leader‟s functions revolve around the monitoring of the
team, the performance environment and the management of the barriers between the
organizational environment and the team, which a keen inclination of challenging the team to
further improve itself by being involved in the solving of the problems, the acquisition of
resources and in the encouragement process to create a self -independent team. The main
functions in th is phase are the monitoring of the team, the management of team boundaries
and provision of resources, self -management encouragement and support of social climate.

Notes and Further Research in Leadership Functions

In the leadership processes and activities subchapter it was of important notice in
explaining the four sources which have already been analyzed in the past but not quite deeply
enough, since we cannot find a complete framework which contains all of the four sources
because the majority focuses only on one source. Another thing to note is the sudden change
in focus from the team leader status to the leadership processes within the teams. Here, the
centric view of leadership functions helps satisfy the needs of the team membe rs and to
enhance the team effectiveness, which were previously mentioned in the leadership in teams
subchapter.
By creating a link between the leadership sources and team leadership functions we
can determine that there is a constant need of more information and research, especially in the
areas of leadership sources (by explaining and creating more frameworks which include all
the sources), leadership functions and team effectiveness criteria (team leadership
evaluation). Although there has b een a lot of progress14 made into obtaining more
information regarding this subject, a lot of research still has to be made.

14 Wong, P. T. P. (2006). Is your organization an obstacle course or a relay team? A meaning -centered approach
to creating a collaborative culture. Creating a culture ofcollaboration: The International Association of
Facilitators handbook. S. Schuman.San Francisco, Jossey -Bass : 229-256.

Cozaciuc Robert Sebastian Reaching Team Effectiveness in Organization
15 Chapter 2 . Reaching Team Effectiveness in Organization

In this chapter, the main focus will be on the creation and development of the team
and its path in reaching the status of effective team . Based on the information mentioned in
the first chapter, we can determine that the leadership role and its communication with the
team is a vital one in the process of reaching team effectiveness in a organization, however,
the leadership‟s attribution i n knowing what he is doing, having the knowledge of the
organization inside and outside and possessing a set of skills and abilities in this domain is
but a small part of the process. At the same time, we were able to identify the differences
between the w ork groups and work teams, explain the collective thinking in a organization
and determine the leadership‟s role, processes and activities, however, another set of
questions arise: “How are teams developed? How do you reach team effectiveness in a
organiza tion? Which are the f unctions that help build an effective team? What makes a good
team?” which is what this chapt er will analyze in more detail in regards to this point of the
thesis.

2.1 Developing the T eam

Based on the work of Gersick (1988)15 who went on to observe eight work teams
from their creation to their end, from which he developed the punctuated equilibrium model
of team effectiveness, we can observe an increased focus on the dynamic nature of the teams,
and as the model suggests, the teams determined an initial method of performance when they
first met, which they followed until the midpoint of their objective. After the midpoint of
their target was reached, the team members became aware of the time left until completion,
their adjustm ents to the strategies and a rigorous analysis of their efforts in order to adjust
themselves accordingly for the second half of the performance cycle. The punctuated
equilibrium theory, in regards to the team development, made a massive impact on the team
effectiveness research by demonstrating the dynamic nature of team performance and the
team‟s ability to adapt the strategies to certain conditions.
Such a dynamic nature happen only when the team is composed of certain type of
people who are willing to work, progress, focus and obtain better results than any previous
attempt in order to reach the effectiveness.
The process of developing the team is not a simple one, as it is composed of many
influencing factors that contribute to it such as its compositi on, the stages of the development
and its implications and increasing the team‟s capacity for the sustainability and growth
required to reach performance and effectiveness.

15 Gersick, C. J. G. (1988). Time and transition in work teams: Toward a new model of group development . The
Academy of Management Journal, 31 (1),Pp 9 -41.

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Team C omposition

In order to better understand the concept reaching team effectiveness, we have to
being with the basics, which is why we have to first discuss about the team composition (as in
terms of numbers, types of people and their attributes) as a basis for team development. The
team composition is a very interesting to pic of research because of its combination of
member attributes that provide a huge impact on the team‟s processes and outcomes, which
represent an important part in the effectiveness of a team.
Moreland and Levine16 (1992) utilized three dimensions in orde r to categorize their
research on team composition: the first dimension referred to the different characteristics of
the team and its members, such as size, demographics, skills and abilities and personalities;
the second dimension was regarding the distri bution of a characteristic within a team which
could make use of it; the third dimension referred to the different analytical perspectives that
could take towards the composition of a team. As such, the team composition can be
described as a consequenc e of socialization and as a cause that influences team structures,
dynamics and performance. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss about the first
dimension.
Regarding the size of a team, researchers such as Katzenbach and Smith17 (1993)
implied that teams should contain around a dozen members, another researcher Scharf18
(1989) implied that the best size was 7, however, such implications are difficult to evaluate,
because most are based on personal experi ences rather than observati ons. On the other side
we have researchers whose studies have found the team size to be unrelated to the
performance of the team19. If we were to make a contrast between these two opposite sides,
we can exemplify that a larger team may have access to more r esources (energy, money,
time, etc.) and a more prone disposition to experience coordination problems that may create
discomforts in the team performance and motivation losses caused by dispersions of
responsibilities20. As such, the optimal size of a team represents a complex problem which
requires future research in order to determine the impact of team size given specific team
contingencies.
As far as the diversity in a team goes, there have been studies reporting positive,
negative and neutral results in fluenced by the homogeneity or heterogeneity of team members
in regards to the team effectiveness. These results led researchers to apprehend different
conclusions in regards to the effects of diversity in teams: Bettenhausen21 (1991) concluded

16 Moreland, R. L., & Levine, J. M. (1992). The composition of small groups . In E. J. Lawler, B. Markovsky, C.
Ridgeway, & H. A. Walker (Eds.), Advances in group processes (Vol. 9, pp. 237 -280). Creenwich, CT: JAI .
17 Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (1993). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high performance organization .
Boston, M A: Harvard Business School
18 Scharf, A. (1989). How to change seven rowdy people . Industrial Management , 31, Pp 20-22.
19 Hackman, J. R., & Vidmar, N. (1970). Effects of size and task type on group performance and member
reactions. Sociometry , 33, Pp37-54.
20 Sheppard, J. A. ( 1993). Productivity loss in performance groups: A motivation analysis . Psychological
Bulletin , 113, Pp 67 -81.
21 Bettenhausen, K. L. (1991). Five years of group research: What we have learned and what needs to be
addressed . Journal of Management, 17,345 -381

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that groups composed of similar members performed better than those composed of
dissimilar members, Jackson, May and Whitney22 (1995) expressed their positive relationship
of diversity with team effectiveness.
The attributes such as personality and abilities are the in dividual‟s psychological
characteristics which, together with the rest of the members, improve the team‟s
effectiveness. Many potential representations are possible including average s, highest or
lowest, variance and even complex configurations, however, in the absence of an explicit
theoretical model of emergence to guide composition, the team personality or team ability are
of questionable construct validity and further research may p rovide immeasurable results.
Team Development S tages and Implications

The development stages begin a s soon as the team members met each other and
establish ed the social structure. There have been many models to describe the stages the
teams come across th rough their timeline. The most specific out of the models, and the one
we will be talking about, is owed to Tuckman‟s23 (1965) model of group development.
Tuckman categorized teams by studies involving natural habitats, T -groups, therapies and
laboratory groups, and concluded that teams go through 4 stages of development: forming,
storming, norming and performing .
During t he formation stage, team members start to socialize between them, getting to
know each other and create an initial bond which would ultimately evolve into a more
personal bond involving the team‟s progress and road to effectiveness. It is here where the
tasks are defined and it is established how they will accomplish it as a team. As soon as the
team finds the task to be more challenging than they thought, they move on to the storming
stage. In this stage, the team members bring arguments on what actions and decisions they
should take , usually ending in conflicts and misunderstandings between the team members. In
the next stage, the norming stage, the team begins to solve its internal problems and start
assigning responsibilities to the members and establish ing ru les, roles and status. Another
important key aspect is the improvement of each individual‟s emotional state by reducing
conflicts, improving cooperativeness and developing a sense of cohesion. In the last stage, the
performing stage, the team has alr eady reached a point where they have managed to solve
internal and external conflicts, emotional distress, misunderstandings and communication
problems or, in case of new conflicts, to solve them faster and more easily. The team
members become attached to each other and begin working towards the same goal,
experiencing emotions and satisfaction (personal and for the team as a whole) by obtaining
positive results in their progress and by fulfilling the objectives.
However , we can identify a few focus implications regarding the team‟s development.
Firstly, these classic stage models of development have not been sensitive to the
organizational context, and by that we refer to the initial stages of team formation in

22 Jackson, S. E., May, K. E., & Whitney, K. (1995). Understanding the dynamics of diversity in decision –
making teams . In R. A. Guzzo, E. Salas, & Associates (Eds.), Team effectiveness and decision making in
organization s. San Francisco: Jossey -Bass.
23 Tuckman, Bruce W. (1965) Developmental sequence in small groups , Psychological Bulletin , 63, 384 -399.

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organizat ions, where members bring socialization and cultural knowledge that reduce the
social uncertainness identified in the group‟ s formation. Secondly , the models have a limited
sense of the developmen t and clarification of the task concepts. For example, the t ask is
usually seen as a single incident of project planning and problem solving that is determined
by internal group dynamics. There is no consideration of externally driven task dynamics,
such as variations in task complexity or difficulty. Thirdly, the focus on unstructured task
situations means that the models do not take in consideration the development of task
relevant patterns of interactions and exchanges between members dictated by the structure of
workflow, instead, the team interaction is accompl ished by interpersonal attractions and
conflicts. This means that the models tend to focus on self insight and interpersonal processes
instead of specifying the task and knowledge relevant to the team. Fourthly, the models are
oriented towards the collecti ve, with the team conceptualized as a integrated entity.

Team Viability

Another very important concept in team deve lopment is the team‟s viability , or in a
more detailed way, the team‟s capacity for the sustainability and growth required to reach
performance and effectiveness.
A few researchers have discussed that the definitions of team effectiveness should also take
into consideration measures of team viability24.
The team viability itself refers to the level of satisfaction of the members, their
participation will and willingness to continue in working together in the future, as well as the
outcomes of team maturity (for example, cohesion), coordination and effective
communication and problem solving situations. One of the major issues, however, is whether
a team can endure effective levels of performance over a certain timeline.
Until this day, we cannot identify a lot of information regarding the long term team
viability, however, theories25 sustain that team continuance has a curvilinear relationship with
the team‟s performance, and by this we refer to the fact that the team‟s effectiveness is
greater in the first parts of the timeline as time goes by and declines with increasing group
age.
Katz26 (1982) implied that the team‟s effectiveness is at its peak in the first 2 -3 years
of the team and with a steady decline after the 5th year. While we do not currently have a
proper explanation on why the team‟s performance decreases over time, Hackma n27 (1992)
suggested that the increased cohesiveness that develops itself over time can lead the team to

24 Guzzo, R. A., & Dickson, M. W. (1996). Teams in organization: Recent research on performance and
effectiveness . Annual Review of Psychology,47, Pp 307 -338.
25 Katz, R. (1980). Time and work: Toward an integrative perspective. Research in Organizational Behavior , 2,
Pp 81 -127.
26 Katz, R. (1982). The effects of group longevity on communication and performance . Admin istrative Science
Quarterly, 27, Pp 81 -104.
27 Hackman, J. R. (1992). Group influences on individuals in organizations . In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough
(Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol.3,pp.199 -267).

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groupthink and other negative outcomes which can be associated with disagreements in
opinion.
Another factor that influences the decline of effectivene ss over time is the
communication between the members which begins to slowly reduce itself, and as Katz and
Allen28 (1988 ), who examined teams during their timeline, did indeed state that the decline in
communication was associated with the decline in effec tiveness.
A team‟s viability can be extended by selecting team members who have greater
cognitive abilities, are extroverts and more emotionally stable29. Teams who have more
extrovert members are more likely to stay together in the future because of the so cialization‟s
implications, more positive interactions between members and which are focused on reaching
a higher level of team capability in order to prolong it for as long as possible.
2.2 Effectiveness, processes and enhancements in a team

So far we have been discussing about all the topic related to team development and its
relation with the keyword of our chapter “ effectiveness ” and reaching effectiveness, but what
exactly does effectiveness represent in a team and why do we have to research it in o rder to
better understand it? Well, based from all the hundreds of articles and books related to this
concept, we can say that the team effectiveness is the core focus of theory and research, and
that is a fact.
In this subchapter, the focus will be on ch aracterizing key aspects of models of team
effectiveness and to give special attention to the topics that distinguish the organizational
approach from the traditional ones, through processes relevant to work driven interactions
between members, detailing t he nature of team performance and enhancing team processes
and performance in teams.
Team E ffectiveness Models
The team effectiveness models start after the team development models end. Such
models tend to assume that mature teams have already completed a complex process of
development. The majority of team effectiveness models are created around an Input Process
Outcome framework developed by McGrath30 (1964).

The inputs represent the vast category of resources available to a team both interna lly
(personality, demographics, group structures and team designs) and externally (rewards,
training, etc.) at multiple levels (sole member, team and organization).

28 Katz, R., & Allen, T.J. (1988). Investigating the not invented here (NIH) syndrome: A look at the
performance, tenure, and communication patterns of 50 R&D project groups. In M.L. Tushman & W.L. Moore
(Eds.), Readings in the management of innovation Pp 292 -309. New Y ork: Ballinger.
29 Barrick, M. R., Stewart, G. L., Neubert, J. M., & Mount, M. K. (1998). Relating member ability and
personality to work -team processes and team effectiveness . Journal of Applied Psychology, 83,377 -391.
30 McGrath, J. E. (1964). Social Psyc hology: A brief introduction . New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

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The processes are the ones that represent the mechanisms wh ich enable the team
members to unite their capabilities and behavior such as coordination, cooperation and
communication.
The outcomes are related to the criteria of assessing the effectiveness of the team‟s
actions. By its general interpretation, the team effectiveness is seen as being split between
two criteria, one internal (team viability, satisfaction of members, etc.) and external
(productivity and performance of members).
In regards to the team development models, the team effectiveness models are more
fixed in nature, and this is owed to in large part to the link created between IPO and the way
processes are represented.
Even if this IPO framework is integrated into most models of team effectiveness, thus
creating similarities between the models, it is important to note that there are also important
differences, such as understanding if the processes are caused by the input factors (mediators)
or if they are better concept ualized as moderators which affect the linkage from input to
output.

Team Processes and its Mechanisms

In order to better understand the team processes and to show how they are more
relevant to the effectiveness of work teams, we have to focus on three of its mechanisms :
cognitive, affective and behavioral .
1. Cognitive Mechanisms : There are three types of primary cognitive models that we have to
detail more explicitly in order to facilitate the understanding of this concept :
Team Mental Models are referred to the team member‟s ability to share, organize and
understand the mental representation of knowledge about key elements of the team‟s task
environment31.
Such key elements include the knowledge about the team‟s equipment knowledge and
how to properly use them, knowledge about the task model, by understanding the work that
the team has to accomplish (goals and performance requirements), knowledge about the
member model, regarding the awareness of the member‟s skills, preferences and habits and
finally the knowledge about the teamwork‟s model regarding appropriate or effective
processes . Relevant for the Team Mental Models are the Team Coherence Models which can
be represented as an alternative to the Team Mental Models, the big difference being centered
on the coherence which does not assume that the team members share the same knowledge
identically, but rather specific knowledge which is compatible or compl ementary. Such a
coherence process is presumed to form the basis of the development processes and a
foundation for essential teamwork capabilities.
Trans -active Memory Models are a group level system designed for encoding, storing
and retrieving the inform ation. The development of the trans -active memory is centered
around the communication and information updating process each team members initiates in

31 Klimoski, R., & Mohammed, S. (1994). Team mental model: Construct or metaphor? Journal of
Management, 20, Pp 403 -437.

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21
order to better understand each other‟s are of knowledge, thus, making them part of a larger
system. Such a system is presumed to offer the teams an advantage of the cognitive
efficiency, and making individual memories more specialized into different areas of an
organization which may prove useful for the team as a whole.
Team Learning Models refers to the pe rmanently changes that take place in regards to
the knowledge of the individuals associated with experience. Such a concept is different from
individual learning.
Contributing to the team learning behavior is the feeling of psychological safety
(knowing th at the team is safe in regards to the risks taken), seeking feedback, sharing
information, asking for help and discussing about failures. Such behaviors are presumed to
facilitate the performance of a team by allowing it to change directions as difficult s ituations
arise and to discover unexpected implications of team actions.
2. Affective Mechanisms : Just as the Cognitive Mechanisms, the Affective Mechanisms are
also split , more exactly, between four pr imary team mechanisms:
Cohesion : A cohesive group has been observed to be more engaged in achieving high
performance for a team and such an engagement has been observed by empirical research to
show the existence of a positive relationship between cohesion and the group‟s performance
across a wide variety of teams32. For example, Mullen and Copper33 (1994) found that the
task cohesion had the largest impact on team performance, mostly presumed because of
increased task commit ment, while on contrast Barrick34 (1998) found that the social cohesion
had positive impa cts on the team‟s viability.
Collective Mood : The emotional control and stability, team motivation and
communication efficiency have been positively related to the contribution of the effectiveness
in a team.
At the same time, teams where all the members a re similar in terms of affections are
more comfortable with each other in addressing interpersonal interactions, thereby creating
more cooperation, trust and social cohesion.
Collective Efficacy : We can define the collective efficacy as a sense of collecti ve
competence distributed among members when allocating, coordinating and integrating their
resources as a successful response to specific situational demands.
Conflicts : The conflicts can be defined as a manifestation of the processes regarding
central negative results and has to be managed in order to not affect the team performance
more than it already has.
Marks35 (2001) identified two conflict management strategies: the first one is the
preemptive conflict management which involves establishing condit ions to prevent and
control team conflict before it can occur and the second one is the reactive conflict

32 Evans, C. R., & Dion, K. L. (1991). Group cohesion and performance: A meta -analysis . Small Group
Research, 22, Pp 175 -186.
33 Mullen, B., & Copper, C. (1994). The relation between group cohesiveness and performance: An
integration . Psychological Bulletin, 115(2), Pp 210 -227.
34 Barrick, M. R., Stewart, G. L., Neubert, J. M., & Mount, M. K. (1998). Relating member ability and
personality to work -team processes and team effectiveness . Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, Pp 377 -391.
35 Marks, M. A., Mathieu, J. E., & Zaccaro, S. J. ( 2001). A temporally based framework and taxonomy of team
processes . Academy of Management Review, 26, Pp 356 -376.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Reaching Team Effectiveness in Organization

22
management which involves working on the tasks, processes and interpersonal disagreements
which happen among the team members.
3. Behavioral Mechanism s: In the behavioral mechanisms we can identify three primary
topics related to processes that can influence the team effectiveness:
Coordination : The coordination involves the activities required in order to manage the
interdependencies in a team. Central to the conceptualization of coordination are the
integration of disparate actions together with the temporal pacing. The coordination is critical
for team effectiveness, especially in situations where a successful outcome can result in
numerous contributi ons or efforts by all the team members.
Cooperation : The cooperation is often viewed as being the opposite of conflict and it
involves the personal contribution of personal efforts in order to complete the given tasks.
The team cooperation is often associa ted with team effectiveness, and as Wagner36 (1995)
said, the individualists are less apt to behave cooperatively while the collectivists were more
apt to behave so.
Communication : The communication acts to serve as a mean to enable the primary
processes of coordination and cooperation. Such a process also serves two important
functions: to aid task work and teamwork. The task work communication is centered on the
exchange of task related information and developing solutions to solve team problems. The
team work communication focuses on establishing patterns of interaction and enhancing their
quality.
Team Enhancements
Creating the effectiveness and enhancing it in a team has been the major core focus of
this chapter. By utilizing the IPO framework we have be en able to understand the relevance
of the team processes in enhancing a team‟s effectiveness and to presume the predictors of
team performance outcomes.
Regarding this subject, we can identify a few more strategies relevant for improving
the team effectiv eness, such as influencing the composition of team abilities via selection or
improving processes via team design and leadership.
The team performance can be defined as an outcome of team action that satisfies
external factors37, however, at the more specific level of identifying factors that constitute
critical team performance, some challenges are encountered. Another important key element
to understand is the orientation taken towards the team performance in order to enhance t he
team effectiveness. Such an orientation has been targeted more on the processes than the
outcomes and has proven that by creating an efficient system of team relationships, an
increase in team effectiveness was noted.

36 Wagner, J. A. (1995). Studies of individualism -collectivism: Effects on cooperation in groups .
Academy of Management Journal, 38, Pp 152 -172.
37 Hackman, J. R. (1987). The design of work teams . In J. Lorsch (Ed.), Handbook of organizational
behavior (pp. 315 -342). New York: Prentice Hall.

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2.3 Team Relationship s

The proces s of reaching team effectiveness is influenced by a variety of factors and
elements, just as we saw from the previous subchapters, however, the team relationships
stand sometimes at the core of such a process.
The development of the team, besides the team composition and establishment of
task, cannot be fully completed if the team members are not familiar with each other, which
is why of critical importance for the members to first be able to know each other in order to
create bonds, thus working together m ore effectively towards the established goals and
objectives and also in enhancing the team‟s performance. There are many factors which are
important in the team relationships and which can help achieve them, but what is of more
relevance to our study is t he process of building the trust in a team, the concept of
interpersonal conflicts and all its positive impacts on the evolution of an individual and for a
team as a whole and its increase in knowledge and finally about
Interpersonal C onflicts
As we could already determine from the Affective Mechanisms, the management of
conflicts is vital in order to not further decrease the team‟s performance, and at the same
time, it is also a very important part in helping maintain team relationships.
Most of the resea rch has focused on the second conflict management strategy, where
it was of relevance the identification of the parameters of conflict between the team members,
the problem solving, compromising, flexibility and openness, as well as being open to
different opinions and suggestions.
Recent research has shed some new interesting information which revealed that
conflict may be beneficial for teams, depending on the type of conflict and task. One such
example of task conflict can be Jehn‟s38 (1995) research whic h found that teams performing
routine tasks were experiencing conflicts in disagreement on task content and also on the
interpersonal relationship, however, on teams that were performing non -routine tasks the
study has found that the only rising conflicts were specific to the interpersonal relations
solely.
In a same manner, Amason39 (1996) discovered that the higher levels of cognitive
conflict (which were based only on the tasks) and lower levels of affective conflict (based
only on the relationship betwee n members) led to an increased effectiveness in the top
management teams, furthermore, it was also found that top management teams which had
low trust in interpersonal relations used to assign conflict to relationship based issues whereas
top management te ams which had high interpersonal trust assigned conflict to the task based
disagreements.
It is of important notice to understand how relevant is the concept of trust in a team
and how much it can influence the interpersonal relationships. A team which knows each of

38 Jehn, K. A. (1995). A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup
conflict .Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, Pp 256 -282.
39 Amason, A. C. (1996). Distinguishing the effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict on strategicdecision
making: Resolving a paradox for top management teams . Academy of Management Journal, 39, Pp 123-148

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Reaching Team Effectiveness in Organization

24
its members and works together to achieve the same goals and objectives while providing
directions, guiding will ultimately lead to an increased team perfo rmance and a higher level
of team effectiveness.
Building Trust in a Team
The concept of building trust in a team is extremely relevant in reaching the team
effectiveness, as well as having a working team relationship designed to work together as an
effect ive team40. In this context, the open communication is extremely important in building
team relationships, and so is the trust concept.

An effective team is known to have two key characteristics:
– Team members have to work together in a supportive way.
– Team members work together in order to achieve shared and common goals.
Such characteristics are depending on the trust of team members. That means that they
have to be confident in each other and be able to rely on an individual‟s abilities and personal
quali ties such as being honest, transparent and being fair. Another very important fact in
building the trust is to be trustworthy. An individual has to be honest, authentic and
transparent in its decisions and affirmations. But how is trust earned? Well the si mple answer
is that trust can be earned by communicating openly with the other team members, be able to
demonstrate that a team member can be trusted by the other members and first and foremost
is being trustworthy.
In order to better understand the concep t of building trust, it is of extreme relevance to
use the Johari window, which suggests that the personality of an individual is placed in four
windows: open, blind, hidden and unknown. By using this concept, a team can improve its
relationship by increas ing the trust and understanding by having each individual express
themselves as a person and encouraging themselves to reveal aspects of themselves in order
to create a bond with the other members. Only when a team is extremely comfortable with
each other we can identify an increase in the effectiveness of a team.
In the following figure, the Johari Window is described in a more detailed way, even if it
is designed through a simplistic way, this is the best method through which the reader can
better underst and. As such, the model is divided into four windows, each representing
different information regarding the individual. Such information is of important notice in
order to better understand the issues of trust and its characteristics, which would utterly
improve team effectiveness:

40 Bull, M. (2010). „Working with Others to Build Cooperation, Confidence, and Trust‟. Policing: A Journal of
Policy and Practice, 4(3):282 –90.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Reaching Team Effectiveness in Organization

25
Open Window contains information about
ourselves of which we and others are both aware.
Blind Spot Window consists of things about us
that others are aware perceive but we do not.
Hidden Window represents information about
ourselves that we are aware of but others are not.
In some cases we hide it or maybe we just haven‟t
revealed them to others.
Unknown Window contains information about
ourselves of which neither we nor others are
aware of.
Figure 3.The Johari Window
The key to building relationships and trust is to increase the Open Window by
reducing the Blind Spot and the Hidden Window and t he fact is that the more an individual
knows about himself and the more the team members know about the individual, the stronger
the interpersonal relationship will be.
Building Cohesion in a Team
The last part of this research is regarding the build of team cohesion in a team. But
what is the team cohesion and why is it relevant to the interpersonal relationship between the
team mem bers?
The t eam cohesion is the extent to which the team members bond together and remain
focused and increase their commitment to achieving the team goals41. Such a concept is also
one of the main enhancers of a team ‟s effectiveness, thus it is an important matter to take into
consideration when talking about the effectiveness and relationships between members.
Relevant to this concept are two notions which have to be discussed:
The first notion is centered on the feeli ng of membership of an individual in a team .
The more does a member feel as an important asset to the team, the more can a team
experience a higher level of cohesion . It is of important relevance to understand that cohesion
works on two extents: individual and team . After an individual has enhanced his feelings of
membership to a team only then we can focus on enhancing the feelings of the team as a
whole . Another important concept to note is that the individual will always have a higher role
in the team fu nctioning and the group will have a bigger role in the relationship between
members.
The second notion is centered on the role of leadership. As we already found out in
the first chapter of the thesis, the role of the leader is of extreme importance and ha s a big
influence on the team cohesiveness. Since we refer to the team relationship , it is important to
understand where the cohesion is higher and where it is lower for having a better
understanding of when should a leader act in order to increase it.

41 Gergana Markova John T. Perry , (2014),"Cohesion and individual well -being of members in self -managed
teams", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 35 Iss 5 pp. 429 – 441

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Reaching Team Effectiveness in Organization

26
Researchers42 have discovered that trust is one of the main enhancers of group
cohesion , as we already saw from the previous subchapters . This statement can be
affirmed due to the nature of an individual and because trust is a vital part in the team
relationships . The matter of c ohesion is noticed in the moment a team is created, when
the team members start to bond together for a common goal and to familiarize with
each other. While working together individuals spend time with the other members,
thus creating the feeling of membership. Such a process is a first start for the building
of cohesion. By c reating the sense of trust, interdependence and sense of membership,
the m embers will relate with each other will create a homogenous group , therefore,
the building of cohesion is based on having a well established team, enhancing trust
and interdependence in order to take the easiest path to achieve cohesion.

42 Berkowitz, L. (1954). Group standards, cohesiveness, and productivity . Human Relations, 7, Pp 509 -519.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception
27 Chapter 3 Research on the Business Administration Students ’ Perception
The research part of this thesis is based on the first two chapters (Managing Teams in
Organization and Reaching Team Effectiveness in Organization) and its study , created
through the questionnaire, has been applied on the students of the Busines s Administration
specialization with no specified limitation regarding the year of study.
3.1 Context of the Busin ess Administration Specialization
The organization chosen for the research study is the “Business Administration”
specialization which is part of the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi , a public
university located in the city of Iasi, Romania. It was founded in 1860 by the decree of Prince
Alexandru Ioan Cuza and it is the oldest university of Romania, being a leader in terms of
advanced research and education institutions, as well as being one of the most prestigious
universities in the country with over 23.000 students and 750 professors and being in close
collaboration with almost 286 foreign other universities.
Mission of the Specialization
The Business Administration bachelor degree, which is taught in English, has the
important mission of forming the students‟ vision of interconnected businesses in a global
economy. The educational mission is to prepare future graduates to European standards, with
analytical skills and critical thinking (pragmatic and integrated) into the current business
flow.
The Business Administration program adds intellectual value, personal confidence
and motivation in order to support the development of international careers in the fields of
management and companies financing, domestic and international trading, management o f
European funds and of the resources destined for the development of the companies.
Objectives of the Specialization
The main objective of the specialization43 is the formation of cognitive and practical
skills of the students, in a prolific English language, for initiating and managing business
areas.
The specified objectives are:
 To provide students advanced knowledge and to create specific business managemen t
skills in a global context. These skills refer to: organizing and strategic planning of
the companies; awareness of the need to integrate the environmental and ethical
concepts in all economic activities; identify the legal and institutional issues in th e
economic field; knowledge of the decisional context tools and how to apply them in
order to solve the issues in a company.

43Objectives of the Business Administration specialization: http://www.feaa.uaic.ro/ro/main/page/321

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

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 To develop the cr itical and analytical capacity i n relation to joint ventures and
multinational management ;
 To develop the students‟ skills in interpersonal and international relations ;
 To guide students in developing both individual abilities as well as the ability to work
in a team ;
 To provide knowledge necessary in order to make economic decisions and taking
account of all the regulations in the economic environment;
 To improve the ability of graduates to work in local, regional and national networks
connected to the European development;
 To develop research projects with multinational impact on the career choices;
 To provid e training in order to enable graduates to pursue further studies in the
country or abroad;
 To provide real support and an exciting career path for the foreign students who
choose to learn in the Iași city.
3.2 Methodology
The purpose of this research was designed in order to better understand the concept of
team management and effectiveness in the Business Administration specialization as well as
the student's perception of the team as a whole, the im portance of the l eadership role, team
relationships and the process of reaching team effectiveness in an organization . In order to
achieve these goals, 27 questions were formulated through the use of a questionnaire, out of
these 27 questions, 15 questions were selected in order to generate 5 hypotheses.
Research Objectives, Research Questions and Research Hypotheses
The Objectiv es of the Research
The objectives established in order to achieve the proposed goals of the research are the
following:
 To verify the feeling of membership , identify the most efficient type of team and
measure the highest criteria on being chosen in a team in the B.A specialization ;
 To identify and measure the importance, expected qualities and functions of a leader
in a team;
 To measure the importance of team relationships and trust in reaching team
effectiveness (trust, conflicts, cohesion);
 To measure the factors contributing to the cohesiveness of a team;
 To identify and measure the occurrence of conflicts in a team;
 To verify if the student has improved in a team and to measure the improved abilities;
 To identify the difficulty of reaching team effectiveness in the B.A specialization and
to measure the factors which should be improved in order to ease the process;

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

29
The Questions of the Research
In order to generate the hypotheses, the following questions were used:
Q1. Have you ever felt as being part of a team while in the Business Administration
specialization?
Q2. If yes, then on which type of team did you feel most performant with?
Q3. Which were the ma jor criteria on why you were chosen in a team?
Q4. Do you think the leader is an important part in a team?
Q5. In your own opinion, how would you rate the following expected leader qualities for
team effectiveness?
Q6. How would you rate the following lead ership functions in terms of their importance?
Q7. Do you consider team relationships to be an important part in reaching team
effectiveness?
Q8. Do you consider trust is important in building team relationships?
Q9. How would you rate the following factors in the contribution to the cohesiveness of a
team?
Q10. Are conflicts commonly met in a team?
Q11. How would you rate the occurrence of the following conflicts?
Q12. Do you consider that working in a team has improved your abilities as an individua l?
Q13. If yes, then how would you rate the following abilities based on your improvement?
Q14. Based on your experience, is reaching team effectiveness difficult in the Business
Administration specialization?
Q15. How would you rate the importance of improving the following factors in order to ease
this process?
The Hypotheses of the Research
The hypotheses which were generated by the questions are the following:
H1. The feeling of membership and performance is most noticed in the Interdependent type
of team, with the highest criteria of selection being the relationships with the members.
H2. The leader represents an important part of a team, with the most expected quality being
the responsibility and the function of performing team tasks.
H3. Team relationships (trust, cohesiveness , and conflicts ) are an important part in reaching
team effectiveness, with the most important factor for the cohesiveness being the interactions

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

30
between the members and the occurrence of conflicts being commonly met, especially by
sharing a different opinion.
H4. The B.A specialization has improved the student‟s abilities, with the most improved
ability being the communication .
H5. Reaching team effectiveness is a di fficult process which requires more determination
from the students in order to ease it.
Research Methods

The organization chosen for the research is the Business Administration
specialization . The sample consists of 90 students (50 males, 40 females) that have been part
of a team during their study at the BA specialization . All 3 years of the studies program were
chosen for achieving an unbiased overview which might happen if only one of the years was
chosen. Each sample has the same chance of being chose n.
The sampling method used was the Convenience sampling due to the fact that the
Business Administration students used as sample should be representative for the entire
population of students.
The sampling method used proved that the students of the Busi ness Administration
program as sample are representative for the Economics faculty but may not be representative
for the entire student body of the University.

The segmentation consists of the following items:

Gender: Male/Female Year of study: 1st Year, 2nd Year 3rd Year

Figure 1 .Question 26 . Gender Figure 2. Question 27 Year of Study

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

31
Research Instruments

In order to accomplish the goals of the study, a questionnaire form was created online
through the use of Google forms . The questionnaire represents a basic and most employed
technique for gathering primary information because of it is easy to use . This method was
chosen based on the fact that it has a low cost, uncertainties may be easily solved and less
time is req uired to completely gather the information. The exploratory research method used
was the que stionnaire (Attached in Appendix -Questionnaire ) from which we used charts,
graphs and Licker scale s to interpret data, and the other Appendix (Appendix -Means) used
contains relevant information in regards to the mean results obtained from using SPSS.
Taking into consideration that individuals are grouped into teams from their education
years and due to the fact that very few organizations are willing to offer data ab out their
employees or members , the survey was distributed for the Business Administration program
from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Iasi. The students that are
studying at this program were available and agreed to undertake the created questionnaire in
order to obtain the research results . The online questionnaire method was preferred over
interview due to low -cost, time limitations, and uncertainty of reaching a valid number of
respondents (due to absenteeism or conflicting sche dule). The final questionnaire is
developed out of 27 questions which allow a more complex analysis of the subject of team
effectiveness in organizations .
There was no need for filter questions since the questionnaire was directly passed to
the BA groups of students through the Facebook platform.
3.3 Research Results
By analyzing the responses from the questionnaire created through the Google forms
application, we have reached the following results:
1. Verifying the feeling of membership.

The majority of the BA Students
have responded that they felt as being part of
a team while in the specialization, with a
number of 83 respondents (92,22%)
choosing Yes, while the minority of 7
respondents chose No (7,78%).
It is obvious that the students will
have to work in a team while in the
specialization, but it is very important to
verify if the feeling of membership exists.

Figure 1-1. Question 1

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

32
2. Identifying the most performant type of team.

Regarding the most performant
type of team a BA students feels more
efficient in, the results of the research
show that 61 (70.93%) of the
respondents feel more efficient in the
Interdependent type, while 14 (16.28%)
respondents felt more efficient in the
Independent type an d lastly 11 (12.79%)
of the respondents felt more efficient in
the Dependent type of team.
Such results determine that the
students feel more efficient in a team
where the members rely on each other.

Figure 1-1. Question 2

3. Measur ing the major criteria on being chosen in a team .

Which were the major criteria on why you were chosen in a team?

Personal skills and abilities in different areas
Previous performance in another team
Previous membership on the same team
Relationship with the members
Random assignment by external factors

Figure 1-1. Question 3

By measuring the criteria on being chosen in a team, the majority of 60 (66.7 %)
respondents chose the Relationship with the members’ criteria, having a really important size
in contrast with the other criteria, the second one being Previous performance (39/43.3%) in
another team and the lowest being the Random assignment by external factors (30/33.3%)
(Notes , programs).
It is noticeable how the feeling of membership and the type of team selected is in relation the
criteria on being chosen in a team.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

33

4. Identifying the importance of the leader.

Do you think the leader is an important part in a team?

Figure 2 -1.Question 4

Very Low Imp Low Imp Neither High Imp Very High Imp

The majority of 61 (67.8%) of the respondents chose the High Importance , in addition, 19
(21.1) chose Very High Importance . Out of all the respondents of 90, this represents a clear
result that the leader represents an important part in a team.

5. Measuri ng the expected leader qualities for team effectiveness .
In your own opinion, how would you rate the following expected leader qualities for team effectiveness?
The respondents were asked to rate the expectedness of the leader qualities based the following
rating: 1- very low 2 – low 3 – neutral 4 – high 5 – very high

Figure 2 -1. Question 5 Figure 2 -2. Question 5

Figure 2 -3. Question 5 Figure 2 -4. Question 5

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

34

Figure 2 -5. Question 5 Figure 2 -6. Question 5

Figure 2 -7. Question 5

Out of all the figures which represent the expected leader qualities for team
effectiveness, we can identify that the majority of the respondents, in number of 62 (68.9%)
chose the Responsibility quality as being of very high expectance in a leader , and with a mean
score of 4.6 . Other qualities which closely follow by is Forthcoming quality with a number
44 respondents (48.9%) rating it as of very high expectance and a mean score of 4.36 . Even
though all of the presented leader qualities are of a notable importance, it was important to
measure the most expected quality when looking for a leader in a team.
Regarding the lowest expect ed leader quality , we can identify the Authority quality
rated as being of low expectance, with a number of 22 (24.4%) respon dents.
As a final finding regarding the expected leader qualities, we can easily determine that
a responsible leader is the most sought quality in a leader. It is also important to note that all
of the leader qualities which the student had to rate are of extreme importance for every
leader, but what this section of the study wanted to find was which of the presented qualities
the most were sought for when looking for a leader. Of course, such a finding is only biased
for the Business Administration special ization and it serves as an orientation should a further
study come through, which could more deeply analyze the presented qualities, given the same
sample and a different timeline. A more simple view can be observed in the Annexes -Means
section

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

35
6. Measuring the importance of the leadership functions.
How would you rate the following leadership functions in terms of their importance?
The respondents were asked to rate the leadership functions in terms of their importance based on
the following rating : 1- very low 2 – low 3 – neutral 4 – high 5 – very high

Figure 2-1. Question 6 Figure 2-2. Question 6

Compose the team Define mission

Figure 2-3. Question 6 Figure 2-4. Question 6

Structure and plan Challenge the team
Figure 2-5. Question 6 Figure 2-6. Question 6

Perform team tasks Provide feedback

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

36

Figure 2-7. Question 6 Figure 2-8. Question 6

Monitor the team Provide resources
By measuring the figures representing the leadership functions in terms of their
importance, we can identify that the most important function chosen by the respondents, in
number of 50 (55.6%) was the Perform team tasks, with a rate of high importance and a
mean score of 4.25 . Closely following by are the Structure and plan function, rated by the
respondents as having a high importance (46/51.1%) and a mean score of 4.18 , and the
Define mission function, also rated with a high importance (45/50%) and a mean score of
4.03
The lowest rated leadership function in terms of importance were the Challenge the
team , with a low importance rated by 12 (13.3%) respondents and a mean score of 3.5 and the
Monitor the team function , with a low importance rated by 11 (12.2 %) of the respondents.
It is important to notice that we can identify no major discrepancy between the
functions, and that they all represent important leadership functions, with some being more
highly rated than the others. As a final observation, it is n oticeable that the most important
leadership function is to perform team tasks , according to the BA students.
7. Identifying the importance of team relationships in reaching team effectiveness
Do you consider team relationships to be an important part in reaching team effectiveness?
The respondents were asked to rate the importance of team relationships based on the following
rating: Strongly Disagree, 2 -Disagree, 3 -Neither, 4 – Agree, 5 -Strongly Agree
Based on the results, we can easily
identify that the team relationships are an
important part in reaching team
effectiveness, with the majority of the
respondents choosing Agree (60/66.7%)
followed by the Strongly Agree chosen by
23 (25.6%) respondents.
Figure 3-1. Question 7

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37
8. Identifying the importance of trust in building team relationships
Do you consider trust is important in building team relationships?
The respondents were asked to rate the importance of trust in building team relationships based on
the following rating: Strongly Disagree, 2 -Disagree, 3 -Neither, 4 – Agree, 5 -Strongly Agree

By analyzing the results, we
can identify that the trust in building
team relationships represents a high
importance, with 47 (52.2%) of the
respondents choosing Agree
followed by 30 (33.3%) respondents
which chose Strongly Agree .
Figure 3 -1. Question 8

9. Measuring the factors contributing to the cohesiveness of a team.
How would you rate the following factors in the contribution to the cohesiveness of a team ?
The respondents were asked to rate the factors in terms of their importance based on the following
rating: 1 – very low 2 – low 3 – neutral 4 – high 5 – very high
Figure 3 -1. Question 9 Figure 3 -2. Question 9
Time spent together Interactions between the members
Figure 3 -3. Question 9 Figure 3 -4. Question 9

Competitiveness between teams Similarities between orientation and value

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

38
Based on the results obtained from the respondents, we can determine that the factor
with the highest rating is Interactions between the member factors , with a very high rating of
45 (51.1%) respondents in regards to the contribution of cohesiveness, and a mean score of
4.36. Regarding the lowest contribution to the cohesiveness in a team, we can observe the
Competitiveness between teams factor , with a rating of low c ontribution resulted from 19
(21.3%) respo ndents and a mean value of 3.39 points.
We can determine that the feeling of membership which we studied in the previous
goal is noticeable when talking of team relationships and its contribution to team
effectiven ess.
Regarding the results of this point, we can determine that the highest contribution to
team cohesiveness is the time spent together factor, closely followed by the interactions
between members. As well, more of the information is available in the Anne xes-Means
section.
10. Verifying if conflicts are commonly met in a team from the BA specialization.

By analyzing the graph we can
easily determine that the conflicts are
commonly met in a team, based on 83
(92.22%) respondent‟s affirmation, while
a small number of 7 (7.78%) respon dents
chose No.

Figure 3 -1. Question 10
11. Measuring the occurrence of conflicts.
How would you rate the occurrence of the following conflicts? The respondents were asked to rate the
occurrence of the conflicts based on the following r ating: 1 Non Existent, 2 Rare, 3 Normal, 4
Common, 5 Very Commo n
Figure 3 -1. Question 11 Figure 3 -2. Question 11

Sharing a different op inion Poor planning

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

39

Figure 3 -3. Question 11 Figure 3 -4. Question 11
Misunderstanding the task Lack of team focus and motivation

Figure 3 -5. Question 11

Self-centered Individuals

By observing the results regarding the occurrence of the conflicts, we can determine
that the highest number of the respondents, 59 (65.6%), chose the Sharing a different opinion ,
with a common rate of occurrence and a mean score of 4.36 points . Other similarly high rated
occurrence is the Lack of team focus and motivation where a number of 39 (43.8%)
respondents also rated it as having a high occurrence and a mean score of 4.00 p oints.
As we can observe from the results, the occurrence of the presented conflicts is
noticeable in the teams, as a further proof of the conflict existing in the BA student teams. It
is of extreme importance to understand the occurrence of these conflict s in order to prevent
them or to solve them in time. Such conflicts can affect the team effectiveness and the
relationship development between the members. Relevant information to know is that the Self
centered individuals’ factor was rated as the lowest occurred conflict, with a mean value of
3.61. Such a result is relevant in studying the B.A teams, and it gives us further information
which says that the students are not centered on themselves, but more on the team.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

40
12. Verifying if working in a team a t the Business Administration specialization has
improved the abilities of the individual.

Out of the 90 respondents,
the majority of 84 (93.33%) agreed
that working in a team has
improved their abilities as an
individual, while 6 respondents
(6.67%) di d not notice any
improvement in their abilities.
Such a result is an expected one,
since the organization offers a
variety of information from
different fields of study, which
ultimately do improve the
student‟s abilities.
Figure 4-1. Question 12

13. Measuring the improvement of the abilities based on the students’ rating.
If yes, then how would you rate the following abilities based on your improvement?
The respondents were asked to rate the improvement of the specified abilities based on the
following rating: 1 – very low 2 – low 3 – neutral 4 – high 5 – very high

Figure 4 -1. Question 13 Figure 4 -2.Question 13

Communication Knowledge of different fields of study

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

41
Figure 4 -3. Question 13 Figure 4 -4.Question 13

Cooperation Commitment
Figure 4 -5. Question 13 Figure 4 -6.Question 13

Solving Problems Adaptability

As we could determine from the Q12 pie chart, the student does indeed acknowledge
that by working in a tea m, his abilities improved. Now, by analyzing the graphs in regards to
the improvement of the abilities, the st udents, in number of 49 (56.3%) , rated the
Communication ability with a high rating as being their most improved ability , and a mean
score of 4.22 . Other similarly high rated abilities is Cooperation, with a mean score of 4.02
The least rated improved ability according to the respondents was Commitment with a
number of 30 (34.5%) rating it as neutral and a mean score of 3.66 points .
We can observe that the majority of the abilities the students had to choose from have
been rated accordingly to their own opinion of their improvement and we can observe no
major discrepancy between the graphs.
As a conclusion o f this part of the research, we can determine that the most improved
ability, while working in a team at the Business Administration specialization, was the
communication ability , closely followed by cooperation.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

42
14. Identifying the difficulty in reaching team effectiveness in the Business
Administration specialization.
Based on your experience, is reaching team effectiveness difficult in the Business Administration
specialization?
The respondents we re asked to rate the difficulty of reaching team effectiveness in the BA
specialization based on the following rating: Very easy , 2-Easy , 3-Neither, 4 – Hard , 5-Very Hard

Figure 5 -1. Question 14

According to 54 (60%) students, reaching team effect iveness was rated by the
majority as being hard , while very hard was rated by 14 (15.6%) respondents and as being
easy and very easy by 11 (12.2%) respectively 1 (1.1%).
15. Measuring the importance of improving specific factors in order to ease the reachi ng
effectiveness process.
How would you rate the importance of improving the following factors in order to ease this
process?
The respondents we re asked to rate the specific factors which had to be improved in order to ease
the process of reaching team eff ectiveness in the BA specialization based on the following rating: 1-
very low, 2 – low, 3 -neutral, 4 -high, 5 -very high.
Figure 5 -1. Question 15 Figure 5 -2 Question 15

More determination from the students Direct involvement of the professor

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

43
Figure 5 -3. Question 15 Figure 5 -4 Question 15

Recognition of performance Assigning tasks based on the team’s area of specialty

Figure 5 -5. Question 15

Increased feedback from the professor

Based on the results from the questionnaire, the majority of the students, in number of
44 (46.7 %) suggested that in order to ease the process of reaching team effectiveness in the
BA specialization, there should be an increase in the determination from the students . Such a
rating has been identified as being of a high importance and a significant me an value of 4.25.
Another very close factor of high importance is assigning tasks based on the team’s
area of specialty, with 44 of the respondents (48.9%) , and a mean value of 4.03 and
recognition of the performance, with 45 respondents (50%) considering it of a high
importance and a mean value of 4.16
It is really easy to notice that there is no significant discrepancy between the factors,
and that the students rated it according to their own opinion/experience. However, the need
does exist and since the process of reaching team effectiveness in the Business
Administration is a difficult one, as stated by the students, it is of high importance to be able
to understand how to ease the process, which is what this study has been so far conducting
and trying t o identify, analyze and measure.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

44

Part Questions Objectives Hypotheses
Part I

Membership in a
team , most
performant type
of team and
criteria of being
chosen in a team. Have you ever felt as being part of a
team while in the Business
Administration specialization?
If yes, then on which type of team did
you feel most performant with?
Which were the major criteria on why
you were chosen in a team?
Verify the feeling of membership
Identify the most efficient type of
team .
Measure the highest criteria o n
being chosen in a team in the B.A
specialization.
The feeling of membership and
performance is most noticed in the
Interdependent type of team, with
the highest criteria of selection
being the relationships with the
members .
Part II
Importance of
leader, most
expected leader
quality, the most
important
leadership
function . Do you think the leader is an important
part in a team?
In your own opinion, how would you
rate the following expected leader
qualities for team effectiveness?
How would you rate the following
leadership functions in terms of their
importance?

Identify the importance of a leader
in a team .
Measure the most expected quality
of a leader .
Measure the most important
leadership function . The leader represents an important
part of a t eam, with the most
expected quality being the
responsibility and the function of
performing team tasks.

Part III
Team
relationships
importance, trust
importance,
contribution of
factors to
cohesiveness,
conflicts
occurrence and
measurement. Do you consider team relationships to
be an important part in reaching team
effectiveness?
Do you consider trust is important in
building team relationships?
How would you rate the following
factors in the contribution to the
cohesiveness of a team?
Are conflicts commonly met in a team?
How would you rate the occurrence of
the following conflicts?

Measure the importance of team
relationships and trust in reaching
team effectiveness (trust, conflicts,
cohesion) .
Measure the factors contributing to
the cohesiveness of a team .
Identify and measure the occurrence
of conflicts in a team . Team relationships (trust,
cohesiveness, and conflicts) are an
important part in reaching team
effectiveness, with the most
important factor for the
cohesiveness being the interactions
between the members and the
occurrence of conflicts being
commonly met, especially by
sharing a different opinion.

Part IV
Improvement of
students in the
team, measure the
improved
abilities.

Do you consider that working in a team
has improved your abilities as an
individual?
If yes, then how would you rate the
following abilities based on your
improvement?

Identify if the students have
improved in a team.
Measure the improved abilities.
The B.A specialization has
improved the student‟s abilities,
with the most improved ability
being the communication.
Part V
Difficulty in
reaching team
effectiveness in
the B.A
specialization
Importance of
factors designed
in order to ease
the process.
Based on your experience, is reaching
team effectiveness difficult in the
Business Administration specialization?
How would you rate the importance of
improving the following factors in
order to ease this process?

Identify if the difficulty in reaching
team effectiveness in the B.A
specialization.
Measure the importance of factors
which should be improved in order
to ease the process.
Reaching team effectiveness is a
difficult process which requires
more determination from the
students in order to ease it.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

45

Validation of Hypotheses
Based on the results of the research, the following hypotheses were validated:
 The feeling of membership and performance is most noticed in the Interdependent
type of team, with the highest criteria of selection being the relationships with the
members .
 The leader represents an important part of a team, with the most expected quality
being the responsibility and the function of performing team tasks .
 Team relationships (trust, cohesiveness, and conflicts) are an important part in
reaching team effectivene ss, with the most important factor for the cohesiveness being
the interactions between members and the occurrence of conflicts being commonly
met, especially by sharing a different opinion .
 The B.A specialization has improved the student‟s abilities , with the most improved
ability being the communication .
 Reaching team effectiveness is a difficult process which requires more determination
from the students in order to ease it.

The following hypotheses were not validated:

 No hypotheses were invalidated

The hypotheses which were generated have all been successfully validated through
intense research and clear and concise graphical representations, which were deemed more
suitable in order to provide the reader with an easier way to understand how some
representations were done, or how results were obtained.
A further explanation on the hypotheses and their validation can be found in the
conclusions section, where the final studies of the research have been expressed in a more
detailed way in order to ensure that the research can be interpreted in a simpler way, without
requiring the need of special knowledge or instruments.
Research Conclusions
In regards to the research conclusions, it is noticeable that the proposed objectives of
the research have all been accordingly dealt with, organized through questions and figures in
order to facilitate its understanding to the reader. The results have bee n represented through
the use of graphs which can be easily accessed through the table of figures section, should
further observation need to be done.
As far as the results go, the students of the Business Administration organization have
successfully con tributed to the study, and their perception on the given subjects of different

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

46
matters and areas have been integrated, measured and interpreted accordingly in the research
results section.
It is important to note that only the main proposed objectives of the research have
been studied, even if the questionnaire contains many more areas of study which contribute to
the team effectiveness, however, it is explained in more detail in the limitations section of the
thesis.
The hypotheses which were generated have been accordingly dealt with, as well as being sure
of their validation through different tests and interpretations.
By looking at the figures, it is noticeable that we cannot observe any discrepancies
within the va rious criteria, factors or elements the students had to choose from, which
indicates that the study has been created in order to gather data more efficiently, and to not
create any restraints towards the student‟s participation, or to put them into a state of
confusion when answering, as thus, the results have all been of pure nature and are deemed
valid since the obtained data has been obtained as far as the perception of the student was in
regards to the different fields of study the research tried to gat her information from.
The research results of this study can be used as guidance should further studies be
made through in order to analyze the perception on different organization, should other types
of tests or measures were decided to be made. The field s of study tried to cover the major key
points when thinking of the student‟s perception, however, such a study can be applied also
on different organization of different sizes, orientations or values since the concept of team is
the same for everyone give n the different notions and research done to prove its validation.
It is relevant for our study to verify the gender and year of study distribution across
the respondents in order to see if there are any major discrepancies. Fortunately for our study,
the gender distribution is balanced, with the majority of the respondents being Males
(50/55.56%) , followed by Females (40/44.44%). Regarding the year of study, it was relevant
to have different responses regarding the perception of team effectiveness across all the years.
The majority of the respondents were from the 3rd year (35/38.89%), followed by the 2nd year
(29/32.22%) and lastly by the 1st year of study (26/28.89%).
Another very important factor is that in order to better understand the graphics and th e
representations which were analyzed in the research result section, it is suggested to check
the section Annexes – Means, where the tables are able to provide more information in regards
to the results and how the interpretations were realized.

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47
Limitations of the Research

As far as the limitations of the study go, it is important to note that the research
covered only but a small fraction of the team effectiveness concept, as such, many of the
initial thought objectives had to be removed in orde r to successfully complete the thesis
within the given guidelines and deadline. The objectives and hypotheses that we have reached
and validated are the ones that were the most relevant given our context and sample, as well
as what we proposed to study. Ev en if the study per se was a successful one which covered
what it was designed to do, there are still many areas which remain uncovered.
For example, the matter of the collective thinking was an objective which should have
given awareness and directions to wards its difficulty and to better understand how this
concept is relevant to the student. The collective thinking has lately been a concept which has
shown difficulty when applied, especially because it is hard to take all of the members
orientation and g roup it into a single one. The concept was considered because of its
relevance to the team‟s effectiveness.
Another objective was to identify the importance of the team composition (size,
diversity and attributes of each individual) and to measure the high est factor in the student‟s
perception, as well as identifying the most difficult stage to overcome during the
development in a team (forming, storming, norming, performing). Such a study was
considered relevant to the study because it was meant to give a certain view on the subject.
A relevant objective which was created through the study of the first chapter of the
thesis, had as an initial goal the identification of the most important category of the IPO
framework (based on the student‟s perception), whe re they had to choose from Inputs
(rewards, training, etc.), Processes (cooperation, coordination, communication) and
Outcomes (team viability, satisfaction of needs, productivity, etc.). Another part of the
objective was the identification of the most imp ortant mechanisms when talking about these
processes, where the students had to choose from Cognitive (share, organize and understand
relevant information), Affective (cohesiveness, team emotional stability) and Behavioral
(coordination, cooperation and co mmunication). This objective was considered to be too
complex, and as such has been left outside of the final research.
Other limitations of the study include the differences in choice between gender and
years , where relevant data could be pulled in order to better understand the perception per
years , however, due to restraints in time and thesis pages, such an objective could not be
achieved and remains to be studied in a further research along with the other initially
proposed objectives.

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

48
Conclusions

Through the modernization of the technology and the facilitations of the instruments
such as the Internet and other platforms, we have managed to reach our results faster than we
could have had a few years ago. Such results are easy to observe, analyze, measure and
observe.
The organization chosen for the research has been able to provide us with the sample
of 90 students which willingly accepted to complete the questionnaire in order to obtain the
research results. Luckily for the research, there were no problems met while conducting the
study.
We have succeeded in meeting the purpose of the research which was designed to
better understand the concept of team management and effectiveness in the Business
Administration specialization, which had as a major key element the students and their
perception of the team as a whole, the importance of the leadership role, the team
development and relationships and their importance in reaching team effectiveness in suc h an
organization, as well as reaching the objectives which we initially proposed, which were:
 Verifying the feeling membership and identifying the most efficient type of team;
 Measuring the criteria and identifying the most relevant one, when being chosen in a
team;
 To identify and measure the importance of team relationships (trust, conflicts and
their occurrence, and coherence) in reaching team effectiveness;
 To identify and measure if the student has improved in a team, and if so, which of his
abilities have improved the most;
 And lastly, to identify the difficulty in reaching team effectiveness in the Business
Administration specialization.
As we can see, all of the proposed objectives have been met and the most relevant
findings have all been used to t est the generated hypotheses. The most relevant data which we
can pull from the results are the following:
 The feeling of membership in the Business Administration is most predominant in the
Interdependent type, as the students have selected, and that the highest criteria of
selection is the relationship with the members.
This result, as the majority of the respondents chose so, is relevant not only because
almost all of the organizations and programs are using teams in order to create a higher rate
of perf ormance in the organization, but because it is very important to understand if the
members of the team are really connected to each other, in order to create the feeling of
membership . Regarding the interdependent type of team, it was really easy to foresee that the
majority would choose it. In an academic institution where the students are grouped into
teams, their major focus on achieving the tasks will always have as a need to rely on each
other i n order to get the job done, and lastly, such occasions of relying on each other is an
important step in building team relationships, thus understanding the criteria of selecting
being the relationship with the members .

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

49
 The leader is an important part of a team, having t he responsibility as the most
expected quality and the major function of performing team tasks.
The students, even if most of them work in teams where they rely on each other, have
identified based on their experience in the specialization that the leader does represent a very
important part in a team . As it was determined by the sample, the most expected quality of a
leader is to be responsible , to be the one that assumes the responsibility if anything goes
wrong, to be the major figure the members rely on in order to overpass the obstacles.
Regarding the function, the leader has to be involved when working in a team and to be able
to perform team tasks .
 Team relationships (trust, conflicts, cohesiveness) are very important in a team in
order to reach effec tiveness, with the most important factor of cohesiveness being the
time spent together and the occurrence of conflicts being commonly met, especially by
sharing a different opinion
As we could see from Chapter 2 (Reaching Team Effectiveness), the team
relationships are extremely important in order to reach team effectiveness . In an organization
such as the Business Administration specialization, the team relationships are the most
relevant in order to reach performance, in contrast with the teams in oth er types of work
places. By creating team relationships, the members create the feeling of cohesiveness and
build trust thanks to the time spent together throughout the years or projects assigned.
Regarding the occurrence of conflicts, such a factor is una voidable when talking about teams,
and as we could observe from the results, the occurrence of conflicts is commonly met,
especially when members share a different opinion .
 The business administration students consider that they have improved their abiliti es,
with the most improved ability being the communication.
Such a result is of no surprise, especially in a academic organization where the
professors are extremely talented in teaching the fundamentals of the economic system and
its functions, as well as creating teams which are prone to successfully complete the ir tasks
and to reach effectiveness. The majority of the students affirmed that by studying at this
specialization, their abilities improved , by learning different concepts and applying such new
abilities into different fields. The most improved ability is the communication , which is
extremely important in a team which wants to succeed. Being able to communicate with the
members and the leader in order to understand how to do certain things and how to approach
them or how to solve those, represents a key po int in reaching team effectiveness.
 Reaching team effectiveness is a difficult process, which requires more determination
of the students in order to ease it.
In a complex organization as the Business Administration organization, the process of
reaching te am effectiveness has been rated as being difficult , according to the students. Such a
process is difficult in any other type of organization, so this result is of no surprise. However,
such a process can be achieved faster or eased by an increased determination in the students
and the other specified factors, but what it was relevant to our study was the highest element

Robert Sebastian Cozaciuc Research on the B.A Students‟ Perception

50
noticed in order to ease the process, and that determination of the students . Motivation has
always been a key factor in teams, whi ch is why it is of no surprise if students desire more
recognition of their performance, especially after working so much on a project or
assignment, which could take days or weeks.
It is important to understand that the students are easily shaped in regar ds to the fields
they study, or more easily put, they do not have experience only in a certain field. Because of
the complexity and the variety the program offers, the study has been conducted in order to
see their perception as of now, so in the near futu re to conduct another type of study on the
same sample to check for differences in values.
The team concept is of extreme importance, especially nowadays, where most of the
organizations have understood that by creating effective teams, the performance and positive
results of the company, firm, corporation, would significantly increase.
As a final conclusion to the research, the study has been successfully been able to
understand and analyze the perception of the B.A students in regards to the organization and
process of reaching team effectiveness in an organization, as well as the important factors
which contribute to a great team.
The study only covered the most relevant results and data which were established in
the final objectives, however, the comple xity and amount of data was too detailed and big in
order to comprise it into this study, which is why the limitations section is required, where the
initially proposed objectives which decided to cover more areas of the concept of team
effectiveness, had to be removed in order to be able to successfully conduct the research. As
thus, the concept has been adequately handled in order to provide a general direction and
perception of the student as it currently is, however, there is no specified rule which say s that
such perception cannot change, which is why further studies have to be conducted , possibly
on the same sample of students, in order to verify, analyze and measure the discrepancies and
differences in vision, orientation and most importantly, in the perception.
In regards to the students, they have been able to successfully input the required data,
which was ultimately used to complete the research, in regards to their perception on the
different fields of study the research was designed to cover, as well as being able to associate
the theory and he objective of the research, which is deemed of a high importance nowadays,
since the teams have been evolving and gained more awareness, especially when so many
other studies have demonstrated how an effecti ve team can lead to great benefits and results
for an organization.

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43. Objectives of the Business Administration specialization: http://www.feaa.uaic.r o/ro/main/page/321

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Annexes – Questionnaire

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