International Handbook of Organizational Teamwork and Cooperative Working

Citation

Narasimhan, K. (2005), "International Handbook of Organizational Teamwork and Cooperative Working", The TQM Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 375-376. https://doi.org/10.1108/tqmm.2005.17.4.375.1

Forty‐five authors, in addition to the editors, have contributed to this handbook. Michael West is director of Research and Professor of Organizational Psychology at Ashton Business School; Dean Tjosvold is chair professor of Management, Lingnan University in Hong Kong; and Professor Ken Smith is from the University of Maryland, USA. All three have written profusely and have served on editorial boards of a number of international refereed journals.

The handbook comprises 28 chapters grouped into six sections. Section one comprises five chapters. The first four chapters provide an overview by identifying common concepts such as teamwork, cooperation, conflict, trust, and the values of community. The fifth chapter provides an analysis of cooperation and competition – an individual's internal (psychological) and external (material, action, and social) situational contexts – based on different models such as goal‐based theory of behaviour, game‐theory, and social‐cognition theory.

The psychology of individuals in groups is the theme of section two, which contains four chapters. In the first chapter, the authors argue that cooperation of individuals in groups is determined by trust within the group and how they define their identity and attachment. The second chapter explores conflict within teams and how it can be used to maximize team effectiveness; and presents a simplified model to illustrate the relationship between the types of conflict and team outcomes. The next chapter is based on a holistic view of conflict and it is argued that there is no one‐best‐way of solving task‐conflict; and a contingency approach is put forth. The final chapter presents a meta‐analysis of the research on cooperation among adults and the factors that enhance the effectiveness of cooperation in group work.

Section three, comprising eight chapters, is the longest (197 pages) of the six parts, and deals with team‐based organizations, team decision making and power in groups and organizations, etc. The chapters examine central issues in various types of teams such as self‐managing teams, temporary task forces, and work improvement teams. The issues examined include team leadership, training for and within teams, and using conflict constructively. Other topics explored include the ways of overcoming the interpersonal risks faced in everyday task to improve self and organizational learning, managing workforce diversity to enhance cooperation, factors likely to influence innovation implementation, the process of skill acquisition to improve effectiveness in the knowledge‐intensive era, and the phenomenon of social loafing (loss in motivation and individual effort) in teams.

Integrated Organizations is the theme of section four, and is covered in seven chapters. The focus is on the types of organizational structures, processes, and incentives to promote collaboration in organizations, and how and why team‐based capabilities may lead to a competitive advantage. The role of information systems and social networks (for example, virtual teams) for managing teamwork, in this age when dispersed “netcentric” organizations are increasing in numbers, are covered in some depth. The final chapter of this section describes a strategic human resource management perspective and highlights implications for senior management.

Section five is a brief one with three chapters and deals with alliances between organizations. The first chapter gives an overview of the role of organizational teamwork in relationship marketing acting both as representatives of the organization to the outside world and as internal customers of other divisions and of management. The second chapter looks at strategic alliances and the evolution of trust across organizational levels, and factors that facilitate and hinder trusts from travelling across levels. The final chapter focuses on effective collaboration between organization from Eastern (Asian) and Western cultures.

Section six is the concluding chapter. After considering various issues (such as emotions within and between teams) related to teamwork covered in previous sections highlight pressing research issues such as power and hierarchy, leadership in cooperative contexts, organizational justice, and cooperation in cross‐cultural contexts.

Each of the chapters end with copious references and the handbook contains comprehensive author and subject indexes. It is a valuable resource for students, trainers and practitioners who are interested in either research or practice.