Prospectus Defense - I/O Psychology

Understanding the Impact of Team Cohesion on Performance Improvement in the Workplace

Edgar Rangel

Department of Psychology, Grand Canyon University

PSY–803 Behaviorism

Dr. Paladino

July 11, 2023

Understanding the Impact of Team Cohesion on Performance Improvement in the Workplace

Problem Statement

It is not known how the impact of team cohesion affects workplace performance improvement, exploring the relationships between cognitive aspects of emotions, leadership psychology, and workplace attitudes and cultures. Examining the impact of cognitive processes and behaviors on performance, through quantitative study seeks to understand the key factors that promote or hinder performance improvement in organizations.

Research Questions

Through examination, the following research questions and hypotheses are necessary for the study

· RQ1 : Does team cohesion significantly influence task management and goal attainment in organizations?

· H10 There is no significant relationship between team cohesion and task management as well as goal attainment in organizations.

· H1A There is a significant positive relationship between team cohesion and task management as well as goal attainment in organizations.

· RQ2 : To what extent does team cohesion impact performance evaluation and strategy implementation in organizations?

· H20 There is no significant relationship between team cohesion and performance evaluation as well as strategy implementation in organizations.

· H2A There is a significant positive relationship between team cohesion and performance evaluation as well as strategy implementation in organizations.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this research is to quantitatively identify and analyze the key factors that significantly influence problem-solving approaches, task management, performance evaluation, strategy implementation, goal attainment, and indicators tracking in organizations to examine how it impacts team cohesion. 

Emphasis Area and Dissertation Topic

The study area is a Ph.D. in Psychology emphasizing Industrial and Organizational Psychology. The research focus for this project is understanding the impact of team cohesion on performance improvement in the workplace. This topic touches on both the cognitive aspect of emotions and the psychology of leadership. Thus, there is recognition of the physical and mental capacity of the individual and the group as a whole. In essence, the study aims to understand what prompts the attitudes and cultures within a workplace (Gelfand et al., 2017). By looking at the impact of the mental picture of thinking as started either by a behavior, there is recognition of how these elements, in general, affect performance. Behaviors guide the approach to problem-solving and, in the process, involve how a team can coexist hence its task management and completion. At eth same time, it can affect performance evaluation, strategy implementation to goal attaining, and indicators tracking.

Justification for the Research

According to history, human relations and their value concerning attitudes in the workplace and societal etiquette can change with civil rights movements. Societal etiquette allows for appreciation of specific traits or their discrimination and thus can often affect criteria for talent choice. At the same time, it can affect the micro-cultures that grow within an organization. As such, with a positive working environment, it is expected that positive reinforcement and motivation will be supported. On the other hand, if negatively reinforced attitudes are present, there is an expectation that there will be an unconducive environment for the employee to perform well. However, what dictates that which is acceptable within a culture and a social group in a small setting can be affected by the school of thought of the individuals (Riggio, 2017). It is thus essential to understand the psychology behind social change and the development of these environments to devise approaches to proper policy controls and tools of performance appraisals.

Foremost Theorists Associated with Crowd Behaviors and Mass Imitation

Two prominent theorists recognize the potential of similar thinking and mob mentality through the influence of individuals in a group. According to Le Bon Gustavo and Tarde Gabriel, their theories look at the following of mob psychology as instinctual for self-preservation. The fundamentality of the two theorists is in the element that emotions can often steer individuals towards bonding and, thus, similar ways of interactions. A crowd is led easily when there is the benefit of personal preservation and an additional feeling of belonging and safety (Borch & Schiermer, 2021). Characteristically, by looking at the theory, there is an underlying element that points to the organization's actions in support of specific ways of behavior, affecting how those can be perceived as positive or negative. As a result of the perception, a group can be drawn to behave in specific ways as a result of expected positive outcomes. Thus Borch & Schiermer (2021) analyze the theory and determine that there is a foundational truth that can be deduced from the human need for gratification hence the behavioral change to match it.

Theoretical Framework

For this research, Le Bon’s theoretical framework will benefit the study. According to the theoretical framework, crowd mentality can lead to improbable logic and acceptance of sentiments against personal values. Le Bon suggests that crowd behavior is influenced by the “individuals yielding to perforce that is under restraint”; hence there is the destruction of certain faculties and exaltation of others to a higher degree. Using a cross-cultural reference as a concept that could influence microculture development, keeping the group together has to be motivated by a similar purpose within the workspace. This allows for the recognition of an almost “double life” as individuals become different the further they move from their group. In the end, behaviors stimulating performance are influenced by self-gain (Mutonyi et al., 2020). Therefore, the needs of the majority can supersede personal conditions. With this in mind, if the group vies for better rewards, they will likely be cohesive to complete activities. The theorists are supported by several scientists like Lee et al. (2018), who point to the potential of security as the primary motivator for banding. The theoretical framework thus relates to the research by pointing out external influences on performance. Thus, the impact of team cohesion could be motivated by personal and group needs.

Data Collection & Data Analysis Procedures

The research examines data from different angles and as such, different data collection and analysis procedures will be used as detailed in this section.

Permissions

Prior to data collection, there are required permissions/approvals that have to be carried out. These include

· Site approval (if applicable)

· Permission to use each instrument

· If using archival data, permission to use the data

· Obtaining administrative guide and validation information on each instrument from owner/literature

· GCU Chair and Committee Approvals

· AQR Approval

· IRB Approval

· Informed Consent form from individual participants

Sampling

For a successful data collection, the following sampling strategy and sample selection will be used.

	Primary Sampling (Plan A)	Backup Sampling (Plan B)
Steps to Access/Identify Each Group of Participants & Corresponding Instrument(s)	Group 1: Identify group and instrument(s) Organizations in the tech industry using survey and interviews	Group 1: Organizations in the manufacturing industry using survey and interviews
Participation Criteria for Each Group	Group 1: Must belong to a company that has been fully functioning in the last 10 years and has an operations and maintenance team within its organization structure	Group 1: Must belong to a company that has been fully functioning in the last 10 years that at least hired an operations and maintenance team every two years
Sampling Strategy & Description for Each Group	Group 1: Stratified sampling by dividing the population into homogeneous subgroups or strata based on specific characteristics such as company's operational duration (fully functioning in the last 10 years), and presence of an operations and maintenance team within the organizational structure.	Group 1: Stratified sampling using relevant characteristic such as the hiring of an operations and maintenance team every two years.

Data Collection

Following the sampling, actual data will be collected following but not limited to the following steps.

· Step 1: Identify the target population: Individuals who belong to companies that have been fully functioning in the last 10 years and have hired an operations and maintenance team at least once every two years.

· Step 2 : Define the strata: Divide the target population into strata based on the hiring pattern of operations and maintenance teams. For example, create strata for companies that hired an operations and maintenance team every two years consistently, companies that hired irregularly, and companies that did not hire at all.

· Step 3: Determine the sample size: Determine the desired sample size based on considerations such as statistical power, precision, and feasibility.

· Step 4: Randomly select participants from each stratum: Randomly select participants from each stratum to ensure representation from different hiring patterns. The number of participants selected from each stratum should be proportionate to the stratum's size within the target population.

Data Management and Storage

Data is a resource and responsible management is required to ensure not only data viability but also protection. As such data will be stored secure external data storage systems backed up in password-protected servers such as cloud storage restricted by authorization. As such, the length of its storage will be determined by considering legal and ethical requirements during the consent formalization with discussion by both parties’ needs, wants, and protection measures. In order to ensure that the data is protected, there will be use of encryption for sensitive data, regularly updating security software, and employing access controls to limit data access to authorized individuals only. At the end of the research, the data will be destroyed by physically shredding hard copies of data or securely wiping electronic storage devices to ensure that the data cannot be recovered in compliance with legal and ethical requirements defined under the National Data Protection Laws.

Data Analysis

Statistical analysis will be used to analyze the data for this research. The following steps will be followed for each hypothesis.

Steps	Hypothesis 1	Hypothesis 2
1	Data Preparation through organizing and cleaning the dataset by checking for missing data, outliers, and formatting	Data Preparation through organizing and cleaning the dataset by checking for missing data, outliers, and formatting
2	Calculate descriptive statistics (e.g., means, standard deviations) for the variables of interest (team cohesion, task management, and goal attainment) to gain an overview of the data	Calculate descriptive statistics (e.g., means, standard deviations) for the variables of interest (team cohesion, task management, and goal attainment) to gain an overview of the data
3	Assumption checking for the chosen statistical test, such as normality and homogeneity of variances. If assumptions are violated, consider applying appropriate transformations or non-parametric alternatives	Assumption checking for the chosen statistical test, such as normality and homogeneity of variances. If assumptions are violated, consider applying appropriate transformations or non-parametric alternatives
4	Statistical testing to examine the relationship between team cohesion and variables using techniques such as correlation analysis (e.g., Pearson's correlation) or regression analysis.	Statistical testing to examine the relationship between team cohesion and variables using techniques such as correlation analysis (e.g., Pearson's correlation) or regression analysis.
5	Determine whether there is a significant relationship between team cohesion and task management as well as goal attainment. Look at the p-value associated with the test and compare it to the predetermined significance level (e.g., α = 0.05) to determine if the relationship is statistically significant.	Analyze the test results to determine whether there is a statistically significant relationship between team cohesion and performance evaluation as well as strategy implementation
6	Effect Size Calculation by assessing the magnitude of the relationship by calculating an appropriate effect size measure	Effect Size Calculation by assessing the magnitude of the relationship by calculating an appropriate effect size measure
7	Draw conclusions based on substantive meaning of effect size to reject/accept the null hypothesis thus determine significance of relationship between team cohesion	Draw conclusions based on conclusions based on the significance level and effect size measures thus determine significance of relationship between team cohesion and performance evaluation as well as strategy implementation

References

Borch, C., & Schiermer, B. (2021). Crowd and Collective Behavior. In  Handbook of Classical Sociological Theory (pp. 439-465). Springer, Cham.

Lee, C., Huang, G. H., & Ashford, S. J. (2018). Job insecurity and the changing workplace: Recent developments and the future trends in job insecurity research.  Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior,  5, 335-359.

Mutonyi, B. R., Slåtten, T., & Lien, G. (2020). Empowering leadership, workgroup cohesiveness, individual learning orientation and individual innovative behavior in the public sector: empirical evidence from Norway.  International Journal of Public Leadership,  16(2), 175-197.

Riggio, R. E. (2017).  Introduction to industrial/organizational psychology. Routledge.