Attaining organization - Dissertation Example

The primary aim of this thesis is to identify the technical and team roles critical to the functioning of an outsourced software development team in company Y. Belbin's 9 team role analysis will be used to analyse the team roles (Belbin Associates, 2006, online). 1.2. Research QuestionBased on the primary aim, the secondary aim of this thesis is established in the framework of the primary research environment. It is stated as follows:What team skills are missing in an outsourced software development team in Company Y contracted by Company X I.

ContextThis chapter provides a brief context for this thesis. First, the history of Belbin's 9 team role analysis is documented (Belbin Associates, 2006, online). The next section contains the justification for this study. The last section defines the terms used in this study. 2.0. The Origins of Belbin's 9 Team Role AnalysisThe concept of team role is steep in history and has taken on center stage in recent years when flatter flexible organisational structures (Drucker, 1992, p.95), worker empowerment and teamworking (Webb, 2003, online), and interdependence that is a main feature of the modern semi-automated work (Smith et al., 1994, p.33) are the trend.

Amongst the various team role classifications, that of Belbin (Belbin Associates, 2006, online) has become famous due to the ease with which a team member's most intrinsic team roles are identified through administration of the Belbin Self-Perception Inventory (SPI) (Senior and Swailes, 1998, p.1). The Belbin Team Role Self-Perception Inventory (SPI) is a famous and widely used metrics for identifying an individual's team roles. Over a span of nine years, Meredith Belbin and a group of researchers based at Henley Management College,.

The concept of team role is steep in history and has taken on center stage in recent years when flatter flexible organisational structures (Drucker, 1992, p.95), worker empowerment and teamworking (Webb, 2003, online), and interdependence that is the main feature of the modern semi-automated work (Smith et al., 1994, p.33) are the trends. Amongst the various team role classifications, that of Belbin (Belbin Associates, 2006, online) has become famous due to the ease with which a team member’s most intrinsic team roles are identified through administration of the Belbin Self-Perception Inventory (SPI) (Senior and Swailes, 1998, p.1). The Belbin Team-Role Self-Perception Inventory (SPI) is a famous and widely used metrics for identifying an individual’s team roles.

Over a span of nine years, Meredith Belbin and a group of researchers based at Henley Management College, England, researched the behavior of managers from around the globe. Managers participating in the study were given a series of psychometric tests and assigned to teams of different compositions while they executed complicated management activities. Their main personality traits, intellectual patterns, and behaviors were evaluated during the activities. As time went by different groups of behavior were identified as underpinning the success of the teams.

These were called “team roles”. The team roles can be categorized into three categories of action-oriented roles, namely the shaper, the implementer/worker, and the completer-finisher.