Quality Management Journal

ISSN: 1068-6967 (Print) 2575-6222 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uqmj20

Team Players and Teamwork: The New

Competitive Business Strategy

To cite this article: (1997) Team Players and Teamwork: The New Competitive Business Strategy,
Quality Management Journal, 4:2, 17-17, DOI: 10.1080/10686967.1997.11918780

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10686967.1997.11918780

Published online: 24 Apr 2018.

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Reviews
use of multiple levels of analysis, maintenance of a diverse
mix ofcompetencies among the team members, identifica-
tion ofstress factors that affect me group. and measurement.
At this time Guzzo indicates that there is not unity of
theory or method among investigators, in that differences
outweigh similarities. Of course, this very fact makes the
topic a fertile field for the inquiring mind to explore.
T he Society for Industr ial and Organizational
Psychology, which sponsored thisvolume on cutting-edge
theory; research, and practice of team decision making
and effectiveness, should be commended. The material
presented draws together the significant theoretical and
empirical developments in the ways of approaching many
of the issues that have to do wi th teams in organizations.
Team Playersand Teamwork. The New Competitive
Business Strategy. Glenn1\1. Parker. 1990. San Francisco:
jessey-Bass Publishers. 178 pages.
Predicated on the concept of personal styles postulated
by Carl Jung and popularized by the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator, Parker presents an insightful research-based
team model that focuses on team player styles.The model
is based on information gained fro m a structured survey
instrument mailed to the chief executive officers and vice
presidents of human resources of the 100 top companies
in the 1987 FORTUNE list of America's most-admired
corporations. Fifty-one swvey instruments were returned.
The research suggests that there are four styles of players
who contribute to team success. The players are viewed
as (1) contributors-the task-oriented team members;
(2) collaborators-the goal-directed team members;
(3) communicators- the process-oriented team members;
and (4) challengers-the questioning team members.
Teams are characterized by 12 behaviors exhibited by
their members. Each one provides an insight into the
....ery nature of successful teams and the work they do.
\ Vhile they all are well presented, four seemed to be par-
ticularly informative: clear purpose, consensus decisions,
style diversity, and self-assessment. These behaviors are
not a mere list of idealistic notions for the perfect team,
rather they are descriptions of observable traits that are
manifested to various degrees in successful teams.
Giventhe models of a team and its fou r styles of play-
ers, Parker works to illustrate how a team develops as the
\WOUS styles of its members contribute to or detract from
its purpose. Tuckrnans four stages of team development
(forming, storming, norming, and performing) are used to
establish this process. A significant element of the descrip-
tion of this process is that [he stages are clearly identified
as pans of a model rather than a consistent picture of the
real world. This is a refreshing change from the view that
man)' cookbook team-building theorists purport in their
popularpress handbooks and manuals.
Throughout his book, Parker stresses the importance
of having a balance of team player styles. By balance he
means having the capability to use the various styles when
required by the team. 111is is stated as: (1) completingtheir
work in a high-quality manner; (2) reaching their goals
with a strong commitment; (3) developing and maintain-
ing a positive team climate; and (4) raising questions
about the team's goals and methods. He clearly discusses
the effect of overload and missing styles on the team's
development and function. But in final analysis, the
burden of maintaining this balance rests with the team's
own self-assessment.
Parker's research and integration of contemporary
team concepts serves as an enduring treatise on the subject
for management, team members, and those whofacilitate
the process of teamwork.
QM)W 4, no. 2 17