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Reward systems and self-managed team success.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

This paper investigates the role that self-managed teams have with different alternative reward systems. More specifically, it addresses improving self-managed teams through increasing their members' motivation. This can be done through alternative reward systems, reward distribution, evaluation, and congruence between rewards and goals of the organization. Specific suggestions for improving each of these variables in self-managed teams are discussed. Implications are given for managers and instructors implementing self-managed teams.

Introduction

Employees, more than ever before, are finding themselves spending time in teams within organizations (Barker, Melville, & Pacanowsky, 1993; Dominick, Reilly, & McGourty, 1997). These teams can be assembled for various reasons such as decision-making (Hansford & Diehl, 1988; Hirokawa & Pace, 1983; Jankowski & Nyerges, 2001; Poole & Roth, 1989) and problem-solving (Hirokawa, 1983; Limayem & DeSanctis, 2000; Poole, 1981; Poole, 1983; Roy, Gauvin, & Limaem, 1996; Taylor & Lanni, 1981) to mention two. Teams perform tasks collectively within organizations rather than as separate individuals (Hirokawa & Keyton, 1995; Jarboe, 1988; Oetzel, 2001; Ost, 1990). Therefore, since teams are playing a larger role within organizations, it becomes imperative that organizations ensure that teams are functioning to their full potential. Hence, successful teams within an organization lead to a successful organization (Kanter, 1993; Mesch, Farh, & Podsakoff, 1994; Olaniran, 2001).

Organizations are always searching for innovative ways to surpass the competition, and one way to do so is through motivating employees. When studying teams, researchers often find motivation to be a vital factor. Teams with higher levels of employee motivation are more productive and efficient than those with lower levels of motivation (Hirokawa & Keyton, 1995; Hogarty, 1994; Kalman, Monge, Fulke, & Heino, 2002). Thus, it becomes vital to ensure that teams have high levels of motivation. One way to analyze methods to increase motivation within teams is to study specific variables that may have a relation to motivation such as team-based reward systems. These methods become even more important when studying self-managed teams since these teams have more control over their own behaviors than do teams that are lead by a manager. The system by which the self-managed teams are assembled must be understood since the system is the structure by which the team functions. One can argue that the reward system under which the team is working influences the behaviors of the members of the self-managed team. Moreover, the team members' motivation is influenced to some extent by the reward system that is in place and the goals set forth by the reward system (Gross & Bacher, 1993). Thus, finding ways to improve team-based reward systems in self-managed teams is imperative to increase employees" motivation and subsequently their productivity (Gross & Bacher, 1993). This paper will explore...

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