Typology of Work Groups in the Organization: The Combination of Social Capital and Group Effectiveness

Document Type : Research/Original/Regular

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Ph.D. Student, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Types of work groups have been investigated according to various features and variables, but today it has been noted that features such as social capital of the groups have been neglected, which can form different combinations of groups. Therefore, the present study aimed to provide a typology of groups based on their two characteristics of social capital and effectiveness. It also tried to describe, through follow-up studies, the best conditions that led to these two characteristics’ influence on the groups. To examine the groups, a quantitative-qualitative (mixed) research method was applied. The sample consisted of 30 groups and the data were collected by questionnaires (208 questionnaires) and interviews (12 in-depth interviews). The results of the quantitative phase showed that the groups were classified into four clusters based on their social capital and effectiveness. In the qualitative phase, after deepening the findings of the quantitative phase, the first cluster was named as self-managing teams, the second cluster was called disrupted groups, the third cluster was named as the evolving groups and the fourth cluster called mechanical groups. The findings of the qualitative phase also revealed that the effectiveness of social capital on the groups was dependent on the leadership style.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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Social Capital Management
Volume 5, Issue 2
July 2018
Pages 263-290

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