Preview

Belbin s Team Role Model Applications

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
11170 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Belbin s Team Role Model Applications
Journal of Management Studies 44:1 January 2007
0022-2380

Belbin’s Team Role Model: Development, Validity and
Applications for Team Building*

Aitor Aritzeta, Stephen Swailes and Barbara Senior
University of the Basque Country; University of Hull; Highfield House Consultancy abstract This paper brings together research into and using the team role model developed by Belbin (1981, 1993a) in an attempt to provide an exhaustive assessment of construct validity in light of the conflicting evidence so far produced. Role theory is used to contextualize the origins of the model. The psychometric properties of the Team Role Self-Perception Inventory used to assess a person’s likely behaviour in a team are examined along with 43 empirical studies that have tested theoretical associations between team roles and other cognitive or behavioural traits. While the evidence is mixed, we conclude that, on balance, the model and its accompanying Inventory have adequate convergent validity. However, strong associations between some team roles are observed, indicating weak discriminant validity among some scales in the Inventory. Through its coverage of important areas of teamworking, the paper contributes to the practitioner and research communities by providing fresh insights into aspects of teamworking and by suggesting new research agendas.

INTRODUCTION
Effective teamworking has become a basic concern for most organizations. While many factors influence a team’s performance, considerable attention has been given to the influence of team member diversity in terms of roles played in a team. The team role model made popular by Meredith Belbin in relation to management teams (Belbin,
1981, 1993a) and available commercially through Belbin Associates (1988) is widely used in practice and has featured extensively in research on teams at work. The model is used by many organizations including FTSE-100 companies, multinational agencies, government bodies and consultants and has been



References: Anderson, N. and Sleap, S. (2004). ‘An evaluation of gender differences on the Belbin Team Role SelfPerception Inventory’. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, 429–37. Aritzeta, A. and Ayestaran, S. (2003). ‘Aplicabilidad de la teoría de roles de equipo de Belbin: un estudio longitudinal comparativo con equipos de trabajo’ [‘Applicability of Belbin’s team roles theory: a Aritzeta, A., Ayestaran, S. and Swailes, S. (2005a). ‘Team role preference and conflict management styles’. Aritzeta, A., Senior, B. and Swailes, S. (2005b). ‘Team role preference and cognitive styles: a convergent validity study’ Arroba, T. and Wedgwood-Oppenheim, F. (1994). ‘Do senior managers differ in the public and private sectors?’ Balderson, S. J. and Broderick, A. J. (1996). ‘Behaviour in teams: exploring occupational and gender differences’ Bales, R. F. (1950). Interaction Process Analysis; A Method for the Study of Small Groups. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley. Bales, R. F. and Slater, P. E. (1955). ‘Role differentiation in small decision-making groups’. In Parsons, T Barker, V. L., Patterson, P. W. and Mueller, G. C. (2001). ‘Organizational causes and strategic consequences of the extent of top management team replacement during turnaround attempts’ Baron, H. (1996). ‘Strengths and limitations of ipsative measurement’. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 69, 49–56. Beck, D., Fisch, R. and Bergander, W. (1999). ‘Functional roles in work groups – an empirical approach to the study of group role diversity’ Belbin Associates (1988). Interplace: Matching People Through Jobs. Cambridge: Belbin Associates. Belbin, M. (1981). Management Teams, Why They Succeed or Fail. London: Heinemann. Belbin, M. (1993a). Team Roles at Work. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Belbin, M. (1993b). ‘A reply to the Belbin Team Role Self-Perception Inventory by Furnham, Steele and Pendleton’ Belbin, R. M. and Life, E. A. (1983). ‘Management development for the management team’. In Taylor, B. Belbin, M., Aston, R. and Mottram, D. (1976). ‘Building effective management teams’. Journal of General Management, 3, 23–9. Benne, K. D. and Sheats, P. (1948). ‘Functional roles of group members’. Journal of Social Issues, 4, 41– 50. Biddle, B. (1979). Role Theory: Expectations, Identities and Behaviors. New York: Academic Press. Broucek, W. G. and Randell, G. (1996). ‘An assessment of the construct validity of the Belbin Self-Perception Inventory and Observer’s Assessment from the perspective of the five-factor model’ Cameron, K. M. and Quinn, R. E. (1999). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. Based on the Competing Values Framework Cattell, R. B., Eber, H. W. and Tatsuoka, M. M. (1970). The Handbook for the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Costa, P. T. and McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) Professional Manual Davis, J., Millburn, P., Murphy, T. and Woodhouse, M. (1992). Successful Team Building: How To Create Teams That Really Work Dulewicz, V. (1995). ‘A validation of Belbin’s team roles from 16PF and OPQ using bosses’ ratings of competence’ Dulewicz, V. and Higgs, M. (1999). ‘Can emotional intelligence be measured and developed?’. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 20, 242–52. Fisher, S. G. and Macrosson, W. D. K. (1995). ‘Early influences on management team roles’. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 10, 8–15. Fisher, S. G., Macrosson, W. D. and Sharp, G. (1996). ‘Further evidence concerning the Belbin Team Role Self-perception Inventory’ Fisher, S. G., Hunter, T. A. and Macrosson, W. D. K. (1998a). ‘The structure of Belbin’s team roles’. Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, 71, 283–8. Fisher, S. G., Macrosson, W. D. K. and Wong, J. (1998b). ‘Cognitive style and team role preference’. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 13, 544–57. Fisher, S. G., Hunter, T. A. and Macrosson, W. D. K. (2001a). ‘A validation study of Belbin’s team roles’. Fisher, S. G., Macrosson, W. D. and Semple, J. H. (2001b). ‘Control and Belbin’s team roles’. Personnel Review, 30, 578–88. Fisher, S. G., Hunter, T. A. and Macrosson, W. D. (2002). ‘Belbin’s team role theory: for non-managers also?’ Furnham, A., Steele, H. and Pendleton, D. (1993a). ‘A psychometric assessment of the Belbin Team-Role Self-Perception Inventory’ Furnham, A., Steele, H. and Pendleton, D. (1993b). ‘A response to Dr Belbin’s reply’. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 66, 261. Graen, G. B. (1976). ‘Role making processes within complex organizations’. In Dunnette, M. D. (Ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology Graen, G. B. and Scandura, T. A. (1987). ‘Toward a psychology of dyadic organizing’. Research in Organizational Behavior, 9, 175–208. Holland, J. L. (1985). Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments. Ilgen, D. R. and Hollenbeck, J. R. (1991). ‘The structure of work: job design and roles’. In Dunnette, M. D. Jackson, C. (2002). ‘Predicting team performance from a learning process model’. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17, 6–13. Jarzabkowski, P. and Wilson, D. C. (2002). ‘Top teams and strategy in a UK university’. Journal of Management Studies, 39, 355–81. Katz, D. and Kahn, R. L. (1978). The Social Psychology of Organizations, 2nd edition. New York: John Wiley and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Behavior styles are the styles or persona of an individual, which will tell us about one another whether; we are dominant, cautious, or interactive. Each style is different and neither is better or worse than the other each has the ability to compliment one another. Behavioral styles are an integral part to the dynamics of a team or group and in order to have an effective team one must understand the different behavioral styles the make up each team member. There are assessments available to us assist us with analyzing the different styles and letting us know which one of the styles we are. In this paper we will show how the DiSCâ Platinum Rule Behavioral Style Assessment viewed our individual personas, then compare, and contrast the behavioral styles of each team member and how they work together as a team.…

    • 1599 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A team demands ‘collaborative, not competitive, effort, where each member takes responsibility for the performance of the team rather than just their own individual performance’ (Torrington and Hall 2002:p.317).…

    • 2491 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    R. M. Belbin, Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail, Butterworth Heinemann, 2003. Accessed on web page https://moodle1.carnegiecollege.ac.uk/ 15/1/13…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Kozlowski, S. W. and B. S. Bell. ―Work Groups and Teams in Organizations.‖ Bormann, W. C., D. R. Ilagan, D. R., and R. Klimoski. In Comprehensive Handbook of Psychology: Vol. 12 Industrial and Organizational Psychology. New York, Wiley.…

    • 1731 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Simon Cowell is a British Music Executive and entrepreneur. Like many entrepreneurs he has had it all, lost it all and got it all back again.…

    • 2585 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    There is no perfect person but the perfect team before he developed this theory (Belbin, 1981). He also mentioned that ‘a team of six was found to be the most suitable for enabling a management team to tackle a complex problem’(Belbin, 1981, p.116), meaning that there are some of the team members would have to perform as more than one role (Fisher et al., 1997). There is, however, no scheme of power and control exploring in this well established team roles theory. It can not measure the power and control to form a group of subjects, whose functions are already recognized. That is to say, a forecast should be conducted regarding their attitude to the team from a consideration of each Belbin team role. If it is possible, then the validity of using Belbin’s 9 Team Roles model could have been built (Fisher et al., 2000). In terms of the 9 team roles, it is still debatable though the 9 characteristics can be clearly defined one from another. It definitely looks like in vain to discriminate between implementer and complete-finisher roles in practical. Therefore, HR managers or specific trainers could take individuals with their strong preferences as exchangeable when it comes to the contributions to the team works…

    • 1296 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1981 Meredith Belbin published a book entitled Management Teams. The book enlists his research into organisational teams and how factors of personality can impact upon the efficiency of day to day activity. The theory is now universally applied in organisation in order to assess an individuals unique traits and place that individual in a suitable role in accordance with their Self Perception Inventory, a test of behavioural patterns also developed by Belbin.…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Varied Selection Tools

    • 1502 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job…

    • 1502 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bibliography: Adair, J., 1987, Effective Team Building: How to Make a Winning Team, Pan Macmillan…

    • 4173 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Belbin Teamwork Essay

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One of the first, and perhaps most well-known, theories is that of Meredith Belbin and his team role theory. Belbin believes that there within a functioning team there are nine various team roles that are significant for most team’s success. These nine roles can be used to identify people’s behavioural strengths and weaknesses in the workplace. It is often the case that people will identify with two or three team roles and feel most comfortable with these, but they can manage to cover a few other roles if necessary, while the remaining roles they prefer not to take on at all. (Belbin Associates,…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fisher, K., Rayner, S., Belgard, W., (1995). Tips for teams: A ready reference for solving common team problems.…

    • 2593 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Leadership Style

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Fiedler’s research demonstrates, in essence, if you don’t fit the team mold, you are unfit to lead the team. The contingency model asserts that leadership styles can be gauged by the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale. This model posits leadership styles on a spectrum ranging from task motivated, low LPC, or relationship motivated, high LPC. The contingency aspect ties the leadership styles to situational variables of the organization.…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this essay I will be writing about my own experience in working within a team, linking in Belbin’s Theory. This includes the importance of teamwork, how different roles can be formed and managing conflict. Followed by a summary of how the group and team working techniques can be improved.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Belbin Team Roles

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages

    References: Torstein Krause Johansen Department of Management & Organisation University of Stirling, ‘Predicting a Team’s Behaviour by Using Belbin’s Team Role Self Perception Inventory—Human Resource Management Dissertation’, August 16, 2003…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Belbin Test

    • 2637 Words
    • 14 Pages

    This version of the Belbin test has been taken from "Teambuilding" by Alistair Fraser and Suzanne Neville: The Industrial Society 1993.…

    • 2637 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays