Team Syntegrity® as a Tool for Efficient Teamwork: An Experimental Evaluation in a Business Simulation

Martín-Cruz, Natalia; Pérez, Víctor Manuel Martín; Pérez-Ríos, José M.; Velasco-Jiménez, Iván

doi:10.1002/sres.2201

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…4. To see a study in which we did an empirical evaluation of the benefits derived from using TS in a group-decision context, see: Martín-Cruz et al (2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The application of organizational cybernetics and ICT to collective discussion of complex issues

Ríos

Jiménez

2015

Kybernetes

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to expose how organizational cybernetics (OC)-related concepts could be used in combination with information and communication technologies (ICT) to facilitate group discussions on complex issues, and to show its impact in a real case. Design/methodology/approach – A software inspired by OC and team syntegrity concepts has been developed with the aim of helping groups of people to deliberate around complex issues through the internet. Two groups of persons with similar backgrounds were chosen to pursue a deliberation process around the same issue. One had the support of ICT while the other did not. The authors used the same questionnaires with both groups, aimed at getting qualitative and quantitative information about the results obtained in each case. Findings – The results obtained show that the group working with ICT support did produce a better output (quality and quantity) than the group not supported with ICT as well as a higher degree of satisfaction in practically all indicators than the second group. Research limitations/implications – The authors are dealing with only one experiment and therefore cannot make a generalization. It would be desirable to repeat the experiment with various groups and in different contexts. Originality/value – An internet-based software inspired by OC concepts was created to facilitate the first phases (generation and aggregation of ideas) of a deliberation process and the authors measured, in an experiment with two groups of people with similar backgrounds, the impact of using it on the quality and quantity of information produced through the process.

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“…4. To see a study in which we did an empirical evaluation of the benefits derived from using TS in a group-decision context, see: Martín-Cruz et al (2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The application of organizational cybernetics and ICT to collective discussion of complex issues

Ríos

Jiménez

2015

Kybernetes

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“…It has 12 vertices each connecting 5 edges [14]. The key purpose of TS application is to improve the effectiveness of the decisions through: generating a high level of participation among individuals concerned with the problem; providing non-hierarchical structures and communication systems; using the diversity and wealth of knowledge available to each member of the group, as well as the knowledge generated by their mutual interactions; creating a collective awareness and consensus on the central issue under consideration [30,31].…”

Section: Team Syntegritymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multi-Methodological Approach to Complex Problem Solving: The Case of Serbian Enterprise

Zlatanović

2017

Systems

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Increasing complexity and diversity of management problems in modern enterprises requires the increasing diversity of models, methods, and methodologies. In creatively dealing with these complex, changeable and multidimensional management problems, i.e., problem situations, different systems methodologies for problem situations, structuring have been developed. Since no methodology is able to explore all aspects of the complex problems in enterprises, the topic of this paper is a multi-methodology approach that implies combining selected systems methodologies (Strategic Assumptions Surfacing and Testing, Team Syntegrity and Organizational Cybernetics) within a particular intervention. Therefore, research in the paper is relied on Critical Systems Thinking as a conceptual framework for combined use of systems methodologies. The paper aims to demonstrate how mixing the selected systems methodologies and tools can help managers in solving complex problems, such as the issues of strategy formulation and implementation in enterprises. Accordingly, combining these methodologies to support strategy formulation and implementation is applied to a Serbian enterprise.

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“…Published empirical examples of applications of TS are limited and mainly report on applications in the single organisation domain (e.g., Schecter, 1991;Holmberg 1997;Ahmad, 1999;Espinosa, 2000;Mejía & Espinosa, 2007;Martín-Cruz, Martín-Pérez, Pérez-Ríos, & Velasco-Jiménez, 2014). Published examples of its application outside of single organisational settings include world governance (e.g., Walsh, 1996), city or area planning (e.g., White & Lee, 2009;Diringer, 2010;Holmberg & Löfstedt, 2011), e-customs implementation (e.g., Henriksen &Rukanova, 2011), andinformation andcommunication technologies (e.g., Pérez Ríos &Jiménez, 2015).…”

Section: Team Syntegritymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proponents of TS argue that it is a useful tool for: (a.) assisting effective group decision making round complex problems (Leonard, 1996;Holmberg, 1997;Schwaninger, 2002;Espinosa & Harnden, 2007;Diringer, 2010;Reissberg, 2011;Pérez Ríos, 2012;Martín-Cruz et al, 2014;Pérez Ríos and Jiménez, 2015); (b.) promoting synergy in ideas which emerge from the total capacity of individual participants expertise (Leonard, 1996;Holmberg, 1997;Schwaninger, 2002;Pérez Ríos, 2012); (c.) supporting democratic dialogue -since the structure of the protocol supports non-hierarchical participation and connectivity amongst diverse participants (Leonard, 1996;Walsh, 1996;Holmberg, 1997;Schwaninger, 2002;Espinosa & Harnden, 2007;Pérez Ríos, 2012); (d.) encouraging self-reflection of participants through the role of team critics (Schwaninger, 2002); (e.) supporting high levels of participation (Pérez Ríos, 2012).…”

Section: Team Syntegritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Dealing With Pluralism And Marginalisation Processes In Multi-Organisational Collaboration: Augmenting The Viable System Model With Team Syntegrity

Clark¹

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Collaborations are often required to address ‘wicked’ social, economic and environmental problems, but are commonly ineffective, due to complexity inherent in collaborations and the problems they aim to address. This study responds to calls from scholars for a systemic approach for understanding and managing collaborations. Here, the Viable System Model (VSM) is used to support collaborative partners of a multi-organisational collaboration to identify critical management functions and communication channels necessary for system effectiveness and viability. Despite its promise in supporting partners to identify and plan for improvements to collaborative working arrangements, the VSM provides little guidance on how to manage multiple perspectives or power imbalances amongst partners during such an intervention. Being able to do so is essential for joined-up thinking, learning, and collective action in multi-organisational settings. This study augments the VSM by embedding it within a Team Syntegrity (TS) process methodology to ensure meaningful engagement and ‘fair dialogue.’In trialling this combination, an action research, multi-methodology approach was followed to answer the question: to what extent can a TS augmented VSM intervention address multiple perspectives and marginalisation processes? The intervention's effectiveness was evaluated drawing on data collected from workshop surveys, interviews, and a document review. The TS augmented VSM intervention supported collaborative partners in this study to collectively understand the purpose of the collaboration and its activities, problem areas that needed to be addressed for the collaboration’s effectiveness and viability, and a suitable structure for the collaboration moving forward. The study is novel in terms of the multi-methodological approach adopted, particularly how the use of TS and VSM lead to mutual benefits. This study demonstrates how the use of one informs the use of the other, and how insights from one may lead to insights from the other. Furthermore, this study suggests an original use of the VSM as a tool to define the ‘system in focus’ and a series of avenues for marginalisation that need to be taken into account in the design of an intervention. The findings are useful for anyone wanting to use the VSM and/or TS to better understand and improve a collaboration’s effectiveness and viability.

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Team Syntegrity® as a Tool for Efficient Teamwork: An Experimental Evaluation in a Business Simulation

Cited by 6 publications

References 17 publications

The application of organizational cybernetics and ICT to collective discussion of complex issues

The application of organizational cybernetics and ICT to collective discussion of complex issues

A Multi-Methodological Approach to Complex Problem Solving: The Case of Serbian Enterprise

Dealing With Pluralism And Marginalisation Processes In Multi-Organisational Collaboration: Augmenting The Viable System Model With Team Syntegrity

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