It's About Time - A Longitudinal Adaptation Model of High-Performance Work Teams

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Devaraj, Sarv; Jiang, Kaifeng
• 署名单位: University of Notre Dame; University System of Ohio; Ohio State University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/apl0000372
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 433-447
• 关键词: adaptation and change; high-performance work teams; longitudinal effect; piecewise growth modeling

摘要

Work teams have become an essential part of organizations, but how implementation of work teams influences performance outcomes over time still remains unclear. This study aims to explore this issue by examining implementation of high-performance work teams (HPWTs) in a manufacturing context. We draw upon team development and adaptation literature and organizational change literature to propose a 2-phase adaptation model whereby the growth rates of performance outcomes initially decline after implementation of HPWTs and later increase and become higher than the rates before implementation. Over a 4-year period, a field quasi-experiment was conducted in 20 plants producing automation and control equipment for a Fortune 500 firm and collected monthly data regarding plant-level labor productivity and inventory turnover before and after implementation of HPWTs. Results based on piecewise growth modeling indicate that the growth rate of labor productivity declines immediately after conversion to HPWTs and recovers to the original level but not higher, whereas the growth rate of inventory turnover does not decline significantly but shows a long-term improvement. We discuss the effects of HPWT implementation on the 2 dependent variables and provide implications for practices and future research.