Team boundary activity: a review and directions for future research

IF 1.6 Q3 MANAGEMENT

Team Performance Management Pub Date : 2017-08-07 DOI:10.1108/TPM-06-2016-0029

Chitra Dey, M. Ganesh

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引用次数: 15

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is an examination of the literature on team boundary activity to trace how team boundary activity has evolved as a construct and examine the dimensions of team boundary activity and their relationships. It highlights the need for a deeper examination of the dimensions of buffering and reinforcement, and why buffering and reinforcement are required. It presents the case of why it is important to study this topic and maps out areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews conceptual and empirical papers published on team boundary activity in reputed journals between the years 1984 and 2016. Findings The focus of research in team boundary activity has been on external interactions of the team (boundary spanning), and very few papers have studied the activities through which the team defines and defends its borders (boundary strengthening). These boundary-strengthening activities can be equally important for innovation and learning in externally dependent teams. Further, there is a need to clearly distinguish these constructs from other variables like team identification. Another area that has here-to not been researched is the relationships between the dimensions of team boundary activity. Last, there is a need to consider a wider range of antecedents, outcomes and moderators of team boundary activity. Research limitations/implications This paper is based on past empirical and conceptual papers, identified using search terms such as team boundary activity, team boundary spanning and external communication. Other related areas can also be explored for identifying variables of interest. Originality/value As opposed to previous reviews which focused mainly on team boundary spanning, this paper considers all dimensions of team boundary activity, with special focus on buffering and reinforcement. It proposes a 2 × 2 framework to explain the effect of boundary-spanning and boundary-strengthening activities on the achievement of team objectives. It examines the cyclical nature of relationship between team boundary activity and team performance. It highlights measurement issues in the area of team boundary activity.

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团队边界活动：未来研究的回顾和方向

目的本文的目的是审查有关团队边界活动的文献，以追踪团队边界活动作为一种结构是如何演变的，并考察团队边界活动及其关系的维度。它强调需要对缓冲和加固的尺寸进行更深入的检查，以及为什么需要缓冲和加固。它介绍了为什么研究这个主题很重要，并为未来的研究规划了领域。设计/方法论/方法该论文回顾了1984年至2016年间在知名期刊上发表的关于团队边界活动的概念和实证论文。研究结果团队边界活动的研究重点是团队的外部互动（边界跨越），很少有论文研究团队定义和捍卫边界的活动（边界强化）。这些边界强化活动对于外部依赖团队的创新和学习同样重要。此外，还需要将这些结构与团队识别等其他变量明确区分开来。另一个尚未研究的领域是团队边界活动维度之间的关系。最后，需要考虑更广泛的团队边界活动的前因、结果和调节因素。研究局限性/含义本文基于过去的经验和概念论文，使用团队边界活动、团队边界跨越和外部沟通等搜索术语进行识别。还可以探索其他相关领域，以确定感兴趣的变量。原创性/价值与以往主要关注团队边界跨越的综述不同，本文考虑了团队边界活动的各个维度，特别关注缓冲和强化。它提出了一个2×2的框架来解释边界跨越和边界强化活动对团队目标实现的影响。它考察了团队边界活动和团队绩效之间关系的周期性。它强调了团队边界活动领域的测量问题。

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来源期刊

Team Performance Management MANAGEMENT-

CiteScore

3.40

自引率

29.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： This international journal contributes to the successful implementation and development of work teams and team-based organizations by providing a forum for sharing experience and learning to stimulate thought and transfer of ideas. It seeks to bridge the gap between research and practice by publishing articles where the claims are evidence-based and the conclusions have practical value. Effective teams form the heart of every successful organization. But team management is one of the hardest challenges faced by managers.