BUS603: Managing People

Individuals with high conscientiousness are characterized by being hardworking and achievement-oriented. Further, conscientious individuals tend to be confident, and likely behave in a manner that is conducive to operating in a team environment. Even further, as noted, Bell's meta-analysis found that team-level mean conscientiousness was positively related to team performance. Thus, past research has illustrated positive relations between team-level conscientiousness and both group potency and team effectiveness.

We again draw upon COR theory, and apply a resource-based perspective to propose how team-level conscientiousness relates to the dynamics of group potency and team effectiveness. Another key proposition of COR is that initial resources can combine to positively influence the achievement of desired outcomes, and can help produce gains in resources, or alternatively, can provide additional resources to help maintain resources levels that may otherwise become depleted over time. Hobfoll argued that resources should be considered as "caravans," in which the combined functioning of resources best facilitates achieving desired outcomes (e.g., meeting goals, coping with stress). Based on the importance of team-level conscientiousness, we argue that team-level conscientiousness can function as a team "input" resource that can lead to gains in (i.e., higher) initial group potency. For instance, groups that see themselves as more collectively hard working will likely see themselves as having higher initial confidence in their ability to achieve the team's goals, because they know they will persist even when the task difficulty increases. In addition, increased team-level conscientiousness may provide another resource to the team to protect against loss of potency resources over time. Thus, teams with higher levels of conscientiousness will be able to better conserve their potency resources over time. This, in turn, will lead to increased team effectiveness. Thus: