The Role of Supervisors in a South African Team-based
Date
2011-04-04
Authors
Deysel, Jacob Johannes
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Abstract
The importance of teamwork in facilitating workplace change and increasing
productivity is widely recognised. While the benefits of teamwork are often overpromoted,
the difficulties of implementation are likewise often underestimated.
The supervisor is a key driver and enabler of the development of learning within
an organisation; however, the importance of the role of the supervisor in
teamwork implementation has tended, in the past, to be overlooked, so that only
limited research has so far been undertaken in this regard. This study aims to
identify both barriers encountered by, and presented by, supervisors to the
successful implementation of teamwork and to promote a better understanding of
the role of supervisors in teamwork implementation.
The research methodology applied in this study, which forms part of the
interpretive paradigm of the social sciences, employs the case study
methodology. The qualitative case study investigated the implementation of a
workplace organisation initiative consisting of teamwork at Consolidated Minerals
Limited (CML), a large South African mining operation. The researcher utilised
participative observation, semi-structured interviews and documentary
investigation to construct a rich database in order to provide a holistic view of the
barriers to teamwork implementation both as encountered by, and presented by,
supervisors.
Three key themes, consisting of institutional culture, the motives of senior
management and the changing role of the supervisor, emerged during the
analysis of the research findings. Institutional culture was seen to impact
significantly on teamwork, since such culture plays a key role in establishing the
foundation on which teamwork initiatives are rolled out. The institutional culture
was further recognised as impacting on the preparation of the organisation for
the successful adoption of a teamwork culture, as well as influencing the ability of
the organisation to learn from its mistakes. The reason for the implementation of
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teamwork by senior management emerged as a second theme for the study. The
underlying motivation behind its implementation needs to be clearly
communicated to, and understood by, both management and employees and
must result in benefits for both parties. The research indicates that, where the
reason for the implementation of teamwork is questionable, its implementation
will continuously encounter resistance from the workforce. The changing role of
the supervisor is a third issue that had a significant impact on the ability of
supervisors to adapt their managerial style to teamwork requirements.
By considering these underlying themes during the implementation process, the
research should assist companies to focus their attention on the importance of
institutional culture, as well as allowing management to rethink why they want to
implement teamwork. Companies should also be encouraged to take another
look at job descriptions, compensation schemes, career pathing and the
performance evaluation of supervisors. In so doing, management should more
easily be able to stimulate active involvement from a key player, the supervisor,
in the teamwork implementation process.
Description
MBA - WBS
Keywords
Teams, Productivity, Teamwork, Workplace change