Management Team Learning Orientation and Business Unit Performance

• Published in: Journal of applied psychology Vol. 88; no. 3; pp. 552 - 560
• Main Authors: Bunderson, J. Stuart, Sutcliffe, Kathleen M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01.06.2003
• Subjects: Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Business; Business and Industrial Personnel; Business Management; Cooperative Behavior; Employee Performance Appraisal; Employment; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Goal directed; Group Performance; Human; Humans; Inservice Training; Job Performance; Learning; Male; Management; Management development; Management Personnel; Management teams; Models, Psychological; Occupational psychology; Organization and management. Professional relation; Organizations; Personnel Management; Professional Competence; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Studies; Teams; Teamwork; Work behaviour; Working groups; Learning; Human; Acquisition process; Orientation; Professional competence; Work team
• ISSN: 0021-9010; 1939-1854
• DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.3.552

Although research has suggested that teams can differ in the extent to which they encourage proactive learning and competence development among their members (a team learning orientation ), the performance consequences of these differences are not well understood. Drawing from research on goal orientation and team learning, this article suggests that, although a team learning orientation can encourage adaptive behaviors that lead to improved performance, it is also possible for teams to compromise performance in the near term by overemphasizing learning, particularly when they have been performing well. A test of this proposition in a sample of business unit management teams provides strong support. The results confirm that an appropriate emphasis on learning can have positive consequences for team effectiveness.