33rd International Academic Conference, Vienna

THE INFLUENCE OF TEAM EFFICACY AND INTRA-GROUP RELATIONSHIP ON PERFORMANCE AND ATTRIBUTION

EYAL ECKHAUS, JEFFREY KANTOR, GALIT KLEIN

Abstract:

The current study examines the influence of team efficacy and intra-group relationship on team performance and team attribution in cases of success and failure. One hundred and twenty nine accountancy students (43 teams) participated in a board game in which one out of three teams won. Findings show that intra-group relationship influences team performance via the mediation of team-efficacy. We also found that positive intra-group relationship was connected to internal locus of causality while negative relationship was linked to external factors, suggesting on group-serving bias. This pattern was differentiated between the two groups in relation to performance. The winning team attributed higher earning capital to internal causes and a lower amount to external factors. This pattern was reversed in the losing team; higher amount of capital was attributed to external reasons, while lower amount was attributed to internal causes. We explained this pattern by differences in team-efficacy and intra-group relationship.

Keywords: team-efficacy, performance, intra-group relationship, attribution, locus of causality