Innovation by teams in Shanghai, China : cooperative goals for group confidence and persistence
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
British Journal of Management
Publication Date
6-1-2009
Volume
20
Issue
2
First Page
238
Last Page
251
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Abstract
Organizations increasingly ask teams to stimulate innovation but research is needed to identify the conditions when teams have the confidence and persistence to innovate successfully. Using the concepts of cooperation, competition, group potency and initiative, this study proposes that relationships where team members believe that their goals are cooperative in that one person's goal attainment helps others reach their goals lay the foundation for innovation. Specifically, cooperative goals convince team members that they have the group potency to complete a range of tasks and the initiative to persist to overcome obstacles and innovate. In contrast, competitive, negatively related goals and independent, unrelated goals are hypothesized to undermine confidence, persistence and innovation. Group members from 101 teams from various organizations in Shanghai, China, completed a survey with measures of cooperative, competitive and independent goals, group potency, and initiative; their project leader completed the measure of innovation. Structural equation analysis supports the theoretical framework that cooperative goals help group members develop the confidence of group potency and the initiative to persist to accomplish tasks and innovate. These results suggest that cooperative goals and group potency and initiative are important conditions that help teams innovate for organizations and thereby specify conditions that can help groups realize their potential to achieve innovation for organizations.
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-8551.2008.00563.x
Print ISSN
10453172
E-ISSN
14678551
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2008 British Academy of Management
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Wong, A., Tjosvold, D., & Liu, C. (2009). Innovation by teams in Shanghai, China: Cooperative goals for group confidence and persistence. British Journal of Management, 20(2), 238-251. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2008.00563.x