Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice Copyright 2005 by the Educational Publishing Foundation

2005, Vol. 9, No. 3, 189 –204 1089-2699/05/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/1089-2699.9.3.189

Team Goal Commitment and Team Effectiveness: The Role of Task

Interdependence and Supportive Behaviors

Caroline Aubé Vincent Rousseau

HEC Montreal University of Montreal

The objectives of this study were to test the relationships between team goal commit-
ment and 3 criteria of team effectiveness (i.e., team performance, quality of group
experience, and team viability) as well as to examine the moderating effect of task
interdependence and the mediating role of supportive behaviors. Data were gathered
from a sample of 74 teams working in 13 Canadian organizations. Results indicated that
team goal commitment is positively related to all 3 criteria of team effectiveness. In
addition, task interdependence moderates the relationship between team goal commit-
ment and team performance. Furthermore, supportive behaviors mediate the relation-
ships that team goal commitment has with team performance and the quality of group
experience. Implications of these findings and future research needs are discussed.

Keywords: work teams, team goal commitment, team effectiveness, task interdepen-
dence, supportive behaviors

Increasingly, much of the work in North ence of work teams is not a panacea for all
American and European organizations is ac- organizational problems (Buzaglo & Wheelan,
complished in teams (Porter & Beyerlein, 1999; Mueller, Procter, & Buchanan, 2000).
2000). According to many authors, the imple- Whereas some teams are very successful, others
mentation of teams is one of the most common are confronted with a series of failures. Clearly,
changes in work settings (Devine, 2002; Mohr- it is not sufficient to merely put individuals
man, Cohen, & Mohrman, 1995; Sundstrom, together in the hope that they will automatically
McIntyre, Halfhill, & Richards, 2000). A work know how to work effectively in a team
team may be defined as a permanent and formal (Rentsch, Heffner, & Duffy, 1994; Salas, Bowers,
group of at least two interdependent individuals & Cannon-Bowers, 1995).
who are collectively responsible for the accom- In this context, many studies have indicated
plishment of one or several tasks set by the that goal setting at the team level is an inter-
organization (Gladstein, 1984; Sundstrom, De- vention that considerably enhances team perfor-
Meuse, & Futrell, 1990). Many advantages are mance (for research reviews, see Aubé, Rous-
associated with the use of work teams in orga- seau, & Savoie, in press; Locke & Latham,
nizations, including increased productivity, 1990; O’Leary-Kelly, Martocchio, & Frink,
flexibility, innovation, and employee satisfac- 1994; Weldon & Weingart, 1993). In work set-
tion, as well as decreased production costs, turn- tings, a team goal generally refers to the level of
over, and absenteeism (Goodman, Ravlin, & task outcomes that team members have to
Schminke, 1987; West, Borrill, & Unsworth, achieve (Weldon & Weingart, 1993). In other
1998). Nevertheless, it remains that the pres- words, it establishes the threshold of success
explicitly in terms of quantity, quality, speed of
work, or deadlines (e.g., produce 25 units before
Caroline Aubé, Department of Management, HEC Mon-
the end of the month; reduce returns by 15%
treal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Vincent Rousseau, School over the next year). Setting a goal at the team
of Industrial Relations, University of Montreal, Montreal, level means that team members must reach it
Quebec, Canada. collectively. Thus, team goals are connected to
Correspondence concerning this article should be ad-
dressed to Caroline Aubé, HEC Montreal, 3000 Chemin de
the performance of the team. Even if team
la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, Quebec H3T 2A7, Can- members are involved in the goal-setting pro-
ada. E-mail: [email protected] cess, in hierarchical work teams, supervisors
189
190 AUBÉ AND ROUSSEAU

usually set team goals (Manz & Sims, 1987). extent to which team goal commitment is re-
These assigned goals are described as official lated to team performance and to two additional
because they publicly reflect the legitimate pur- criteria of team effectiveness, namely, the qual-
pose and mission of the team (Perrow, 1961). ity of group experience and team viability.
A substantial amount of research on goal Moreover, we investigated the moderating ef-
processes has been carried out at the individual fect of task interdependence on these relation-
and group (team) level (for a review, see Locke ships. Finally, the mediating role of supportive
& Latham, 1990). The core findings of these behaviors in the relationships between team
studies are that specific and difficult goals lead goal commitment and the three criteria of team
to higher levels of performance than do easy effectiveness was examined.
goals or no goals (Locke & Latham, 2002).
However, according to the goal-setting theory, a Effects of Team Goal Commitment
goal cannot have an impact on performance
unless it is accepted and internalized by the Commitment to team goals is generally un-
individual (Earley & Shalley, 1991). In other derstood in an expectancy–value framework
words, as Hollenbeck and Klein (1987) stated, (Weldon & Weingart, 1993). Specifically, com-
“goal commitment is a necessary condition for mitment is a function of the expectancy that
goal setting to work” (p. 219). In team settings, goal attainment is possible and the attractive-
team goal commitment means that team mem- ness or value placed on reaching the team goals.
bers feel an attachment to the team goals and Conceptually, individuals who are highly com-
that they are determined to reach these goals mitted to a goal direct their cognitive and be-
(Weldon & Weingart, 1993). havioral resources toward attaining the goal,
Many authors have focused on the measure- whereas individuals with low-goal commitment
ment of goal commitment (e.g., DeShon & Lan- may be distracted from the assigned goal and
dis, 1997; Hollenbeck, Klein, O’Leary, & may put efforts into unrelated activities because
Wright, 1989; Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck, they have not internalized the goal (Renn,
Wright, & DeShon, 2001), the antecedents of 2003).
goal commitment (e.g., Hollenbeck & Klein, The role of team goal commitment in team
1987; Hollenbeck, Williams, & Klein, 1989), performance depends on the conceptualization
and especially the moderating effect of goal of performance. As stated by Wofford, Good-
commitment on the relationship between goal win, and Premack (1992), “the performance
difficulty and performance (e.g., Locke, 1968; variable has been operationalized in two ways
see the meta-analysis of Donovan & Radose- in goal setting literature: that is, (a) as the quan-
vich, 1998). Much less attention has been given tity or quality of output or productivity and (b)
to the effects of goal commitment on the behav- as the discrepancy between the goal level and
ior of individuals and on individual and team the performance level (goal achievement)” (p.
outcomes. Some studies have indicated that 600). With regard to the first conceptualization,
goal commitment at the individual level may be which is often used in laboratory studies, re-
associated with work-related processes and out- search indicated that goal difficulty level inter-
comes (e.g., Klein & Kim, 1998; Renn, 2003). acts with goal commitment to predict perfor-
At the team level, studies have investigated the mance (Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck, & Alge,
influence that group (team) goal commitment 1999). More specifically, the highest level of
may have on group (team) performance (e.g., task outcomes can be reached when individuals
Hecht, Allen, Klammer, & Kelly, 2002; Hyatt & have to attain difficult goals and are committed
Ruddy, 1997). However, the research on team to them. Either goal difficulty level or goal
goal commitment as a determinant of team per- commitment may have a main effect on perfor-
formance and other criteria of team effective- mance when the range of the other variable is
ness is still in its infancy. restricted. Thus, difficult goals can lead to
The purpose of this research was to investi- higher levels of performance than easy goals, if
gate the effects of team goal commitment in the individuals are committed to the goals (Hol-
team contexts. In the current study, we focused lenbeck & Klein, 1987). Furthermore, when
on commitment toward assigned team goals. goals of equivalent difficulty level are assigned
More specifically, we aimed to determine the to individuals, those who are strongly commit-
 TEAM GOAL COMMITMENT AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS 191

ted to these goals will perform better than those Hypothesis 1: Team goal commitment is
who are less committed to these goals (Klein & positively related to team performance.
Kim, 1998). In short, goal difficulty level and
goal commitment interact with each other to Other Criteria of Team Effectiveness
determine the level of task outcomes (Weldon
& Weingart, 1993). Given that the purpose of a team is to produce
In accordance with the second conceptualiza- a good or a service, team performance is the
tion, the assessment of team performance con- most frequently used criterion of team effective-
sists in comparing task outcome level with the ness (Ilgen, 1999; Shea & Guzzo, 1987). How-
standards established by team goals (Hackman, ever, team performance is not the only effec-
1987; Pritchard, Jones, Roth, Stuebing, & Eke- tiveness criterion that is relevant in organiza-
berg, 1988; Reilly & McGourty, 1998). The tional settings. Indeed, considering the multiple
more the task outcome level is close to or ex- constituency approach, team effectiveness can
ceeds the level established by the goal, the be assessed by different constituencies, such as
better is the team performance. In organiza- supervisors and team members (Hackman,
tional settings, the supervisors transmit their 1987; Pritchard et al., 1988; West et al., 1998).
expectations about the required level of task From this perspective, in addition to team per-
outcomes to team members and judge the formance, two other criteria of team effective-
team’s productivity and the quality of its work ness were taken into account in this research,
according to the assigned goals. Considering namely, the quality of group experience and
this view of team performance (i.e., in terms of team viability. The quality of group experience
goal attainment), team goal commitment may refers to the extent to which the social climate
have a main effect on team performance regard- within the work team is positive (McGrath,
less of the goal difficulty level (Wofford et al., 1991; Repetti, 1987). The use of this criterion
1992). Indeed, it does not matter much whether enables one to assess whether team members
the team goals are easy or difficult, because have developed and maintained positive rela-
team performance refers to the level of goal tionships while accomplishing their tasks. This
attainment. Consequently, the more the team criterion is similar to McGrath’s (1991) notion
members are committed to their assigned team of group well-being, which is defined as the
goals, the more they will be willing to take maintenance of positive interaction among team
measures to reach them and the better will be members. However, because well-being is an
their team performance. experience of the individual (Repetti, 1987), the
The current study investigated in organiza- label quality of group experience was chosen
tional settings the relationship between team instead of group well-being. This is intended to
goal commitment and team performance as- reflect a team-level construct as opposed to
sessed as a function of assigned team goals. At member well-being, which is an individual-
the empirical level, some studies with under- level construct (Sonnentag, 1996). Nonetheless,
graduates have confirmed that team goal com- these two constructs are closely connected, be-
mitment may increase the level of task out- cause a positive social environment is likely to
comes when difficult goals are assigned (Klein be necessary for psychological well-being of
& Mulvey, 1995; Mulvey & Klein, 1998; individuals (Repetti, 1987). Moreover, Hack-
Resick & Bloom, 1997; Whitney, 1994), but man (1987) argued that “the group experience
they have provided no information regarding should, on balance, satisfy rather than frustrate
goal attainment. In field settings, only the study the personal needs of group members” (p. 323).
by Hyatt and Ruddy (1997) supports the link Consequently, the quality of group experience
between team goal commitment and a criterion reflects the team members’ point of view about
measure similar to goal attainment (i.e., the the common social environment.
comparison between the average response time Team goal commitment may be related to the
and an organizational plan). To test whether the quality of group experience. Indeed, team mem-
main effect of team goal commitment on team bers committed to team goals are likely to rec-
performance is supported in organizational con- ognize that they are collectively accountable for
texts, we put forward the following, first hy- achieving them, which induces a “we are in it
pothesis: together” attitude within the team (Tjosvold,
192 AUBÉ AND ROUSSEAU

1984). Thus, the determination to reach shared Koenig, 1976). When the interdependence is
goals is likely to incite team members to facil- high, team members should contribute interac-
itate building and maintaining positive relation- tively to task accomplishment (Tesluk, Mathieu,
ships within the team in order to join their Zaccaro, & Marks, 1997). When the interdepen-
efforts to attain team goals (Weldon & Wein- dence is low, team members have to work in-
gart, 1993). On this basis, team goal commit- dependently from each other. The moderating
ment is likely to enhance the quality of group effect of task interdependence would appear to
experience. We formulated the following hy- be as follows: The higher the task interdepen-
pothesis: dence, the more team goal commitment is con-
nected to team performance. That is, team goal
Hypothesis 2: Team goal commitment is
commitment would have a greater impact on
positively related to the quality of group
team performance in a context where team per-
experience.
formance corresponds to the result of a collec-
Team viability may be defined as the team’s tive effort (high interdependence) than in a con-
capacity to adapt to internal and external text where team performance refers essentially
changes as well as the probability that team to the sum of the individual contributions (low
members will continue to work together in the interdependence). Thus, at a lower level of task
future (Hackman, 1987; Sundstrom et al., 1990; interdependence, team members should focus
West et al., 1998). Throughout the team’s exis- more on individual accomplishment than on
tence, team members may have to deal with team accomplishment, and consequently, team
many changes, such as working with new goal commitment may have a lower impact on
equipment and integrating a new member. team performance. However, the moderating
Team viability is likely to be increased by team role of task interdependence on the relationship
goal commitment, because the commitment to a between team goal commitment and team per-
goal implies that individuals persist in the face formance remains to be supported by empirical
of difficulties (Locke, Shaw, Saari, & Latham, data. Thus, we formulated the following hy-
1981). Thus, team members who are highly pothesis:
committed to their team goal will take action to
cope with internal or external changes in order Hypothesis 4: The higher the task interde-
to reach the team goals. Team members who are pendence is, the stronger is the relationship
not very committed to their team goals would be between team goal commitment and team
less inclined to really try to adapt to changes. performance.
Considering that team goal commitment is ex-
pected to correlate positively with team viabil- Taking into account that task interdepen-
ity, we put forward the following hypothesis: dence may moderate the link between team goal
commitment and team performance, we de-
Hypothesis 3: Team goal commitment is signed the current study to be an exploratory
positively related to team viability. examination of the moderating effect of task
interdependence on the relationships involving
the other two criteria of team effectiveness.
Moderating Role of Task Interdependence
Thus, the higher the task interdependence is, the
According to many authors, task interdepen- stronger the impact that team goal commitment
dence is likely to moderate1 the relationship may have on the quality of group experience
between team goal commitment and team per- and team viability. We therefore formulated the
formance (Klein & Mulvey, 1995; Resick & following hypotheses:
Bloom, 1997; Weldon & Weingart, 1993). Task
interdependence is defined as the extent to Hypothesis 5: The higher the task interde-
which the behavior of one team member influ- pendence is, the stronger is the relationship
ences the performance of others (Thompson,
1967). In other words, it is the extent to which 1
A variable plays a moderating role when it affects the
team members must actually work together to direction and/or the strength of the relation between two
perform the task (Van de Ven, Delbecq, & other variables (Baron & Kenny, 1986).
 TEAM GOAL COMMITMENT AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS 193

between team goal commitment and the able team members to effectively cope with the
quality of group experience. different events or situations that can lessen
Hypothesis 6: The higher the task interde- their will to contribute to task accomplishment.
pendence is, the stronger is the relationship By supporting each other, team members pro-
between team goal commitment and team mote the integration of their contributions
viability. through mutual facilitation (Erez, Lepine, &
Elms, 2002). Consequently, team members can
complete their respective tasks in situations in
Mediating Role of Supportive Behaviors which they would have difficulty doing it indi-
vidually (Eby & Dobbins, 1997; Weldon &
The relationships between team goal commit- Weingart, 1993). In other words, team members
ment and the criteria of team effectiveness are can achieve tasks and reach goals that could not
likely to involve behavioral processes (Klein & be accomplished otherwise (Yeatts & Hyten,
Mulvey, 1995; Resick & Bloom, 1997; Weldon 1998).
& Weingart, 1993). Indeed, team goal commit- At the empirical level, some studies have
ment cannot directly influence team effective- revealed that team goal commitment is related
ness if team members do not show some key to team members’ supportive behaviors (Hyatt
behaviors. The most likely behavioral process & Ruddy, 1997), which in return are correlated
that could mediate2 these relationships is sup- to team performance (e.g., Alper, Tjosvold, &
portive behaviors, which may be defined as the Law, 1998; Campion et al., 1993; Campion,
extent to which team members voluntarily pro- Papper, & Medsker, 1996; Eby & Dobbins,
vide assistance to each other when needed dur- 1997). However, none of these studies has ex-
ing task accomplishment. These behaviors re- plicitly tested the mediating role of supportive
flect the enacted support that team members behaviors and has appropriately covered both
provide by choice to each other. Both instru- instrumental and emotional forms of support.
mental and emotional supports are integrated The expected mediating role of supportive be-
into this behavioral process (Tardy, 1985). In- haviors was tested in this study.
strumental support includes the various types of
tangible help that other team members may Hypothesis 7: Supportive behaviors medi-
provide (e.g., help with difficult tasks). Emo- ate the relationship between team goal
tional support refers to the things that team commitment and team performance.
members do that make others feel appreciated
and cared for, that bolster their sense of self- Supportive behaviors are also likely to influ-
worth (e.g., providing encouragement and pos- ence the other two criteria of team effective-
itive feedback). We chose the label supportive ness, namely, the quality of group experience
behaviors instead of social support (Campion, and team viability. More specifically, the sup-
Medsker, & Higgs, 1993), supportiveness port that team members provide to each other
(Gladstein, 1984), backup behaviors (Marks, can contribute to improve the social climate in
Mathieu, & Zaccaro, 2001), or cooperation work teams (Sarason, Sarason, & Shearin,
(Eby & Dobbins, 1997) to better reflect the 1986). Indeed, supportive behaviors may boost
enacted instrumental and emotional support self-esteem, strengthen morale, or provide a
among team members. sense of affiliation, which may improve the
Team goal commitment is likely to influence quality of group experience (Heaney, Price, &
supportive behaviors because of the collective Rafferty, 1995). Furthermore, by supporting
nature of team goals (Weldon & Weingart, each other, team members may be more able to
1993). Considering that team goal attainment cope with the internal and external changes that
requires the contributions of all team members, their team must face, which may increase team
their determination to reach these goals would viability (Podsakoff & MacKenzie, 1997; Sin-
lead them to support each other in order that clair, 2003). Consequently, this study tested the
everyone in the work team contribute to task
accomplishment. In turn, supportive behaviors 2
A mediating variable indicates a variable being between
are likely to improve team performance (Cam- the independent and dependent variables in a causal chain
pion et al., 1993). Indeed, these behaviors en- (Baron & Kenny, 1986).
194 AUBÉ AND ROUSSEAU

possibility that supportive behaviors act as a and (b) work with other team members at least
mediating variable in the relationships that team 40% of the team’s work time (e.g., each partic-
goal commitment may have with the quality of ipant had to work within the team at least 2 days
group experience and team viability. We formu- during a workweek of 5 days). Individuals who
lated the following hypotheses: met these criteria were judged sufficiently
aware of the workings of their team to partici-
Hypothesis 8: Supportive behaviors medi- pate in the study. Thus, team size varied be-
ate the relationship between team goal tween 2 and 22 members (M ! 6.3; SD ! 4.3).
commitment and the quality of group A total of 392 team members participated in this
experience. research. The participation rate within teams
Hypothesis 9: Supportive behaviors medi- varied between 50% and 100% (M ! 90%;
ate the relationship between team goal SD ! 15%). As for the supervisors, each one of
commitment and team viability. the 74 work teams participated in this research
and was assigned to the same team for at least 6
Method months. It should be noted that supervisors are
not considered team members in the current
Procedure and Sample study.
Data were collected using the survey method.
The research was conducted in work settings. Questionnaires were administered to employees
Organizations were invited to participate in the and supervisors in an on-site meeting room dur-
study through written invitations. Follow-up ing regular scheduled working hours. All survey
phone interviews were also conducted to pro- administrations were conducted by two pre-
vide additional information about the research trained research assistants. Participants were in-
to the managers and to gain information about formed that the study aimed to investigate team
the teams working in the organizations. functioning. They were also told that all indi-
For validity reasons, team selection is a cru- vidual responses would be kept confidential and
cial step in a field study. For that matter, it is anonymous. Before completing the survey, par-
advisable to make sure that groups identified by ticipants read and signed the informed consent
the business management are real work teams, form. The research assistants were unaware of
as defined in this article. Five criteria were used the hypotheses of the present study.
to select the teams (Hackman, 1987; Ilgen,
1999; Sundstrom et al., 1990): (a) The team had
to be recognized as a formal group in the orga- Measures
nization; (b) the team’s mission had to be con-
nected to the production of a good or a service; The data were collected from two sources,
(c) team members had to interact and share namely, team members and their supervisors.
resources in order to accomplish their tasks, Team members assessed team goal commit-
which means they are interdependent; (d) the ment, supportive behaviors, task interdepen-
team had to be embedded in a larger organiza- dence, and the quality of group experience. Su-
tional environment in which it maintains rela- pervisors, for their part, appraised team perfor-
tionships with external agents, such as suppli- mance, team viability, and team size. This
ers, customers, and other teams; and (e) team multisource assessment made it possible to
members had to work together on a relatively reduce common method biases (Podsakoff,
permanent basis, which means that the team’s MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003).
lifetime is undetermined. On the basis of these For all measures except team size, each
criteria, the sample was made up of 74 work item was linked to a 5-point scale ranging
teams working in 13 organizations located in from not true at all (1) to totally true (5).
the province of Quebec (Canada). These orga- Respondents were asked to refer to the team
nizations were from both public (43%) and pri- in which they work or the team that they
vate (57%) sectors. supervise while completing the questionnaire.
To establish the boundaries of each team, two In order to avoid errors concerning the level
criteria were used. Participants had to (a) have of analysis, each item explicitly referred to
been a member of the team for at least 3 months the team. The questionnaire was written in
 TEAM GOAL COMMITMENT AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS 195

French. Consequently, the items shown below effectiveness were developed for this research
have been translated into English. using the subject matter expert method. More
Team goal commitment. Commitment to specifically, two professors and three PhD
the team goals was assessed using three items candidates formulated items according to an
from the measure provided by Klein et al. analysis of construct domain of team perfor-
(2001). The items were adapted to reflect mance, the quality of group experience, and
team rather than individual goals. The Cron- team viability. The three items assessing team
bach coefficient alpha calculated in this study performance concern team goal achievement,
was .85. It should be noted that Klein et al.’s work quality, and productivity. To assess the
original scale contained five items. However, quality of group experience, three items con-
following a content analysis of the items, we cerning the quality of intrateam social climate
removed two items because they were not were used. Finally, the team viability scale
consistent enough with the definition of team included four items designed to measure the
goal commitment (DeShon & Landis, 1997). team’s capacity to adapt to changes, to solve
More specifically, one item aimed to measure problems, to integrate new members, and to
perceptions of goal difficulty (“It is hard to continue to work together in the future. The
take this goal seriously”); the other was rather items are listed in the Appendix. The Cron-
speculative and did not reflect the actual de- bach coefficient alphas were .82 for team
termination to attain the goal (“It would not performance, .96 for the quality of group ex-
take much to make me abandon this goal”). perience, and .84 for team viability.
Consequently, three items were retained from Team size. Team supervisors were asked to
Klein et al.’s original scale and were adapted report the number of members in each work
to the team level to form the team goal com- team.
mitment scale. The items retained were (a)
“We are committed to pursuing the team’s Results
goal”; (b) “We think it is important to reach
the team’s goal”; and (c) “We really care Data Aggregation and Preliminary
about achieving the team’s goal.” This last Analysis
item was reworded as a positive statement to
avoid reducing the validity of scale responses Even though the participants completed their
or inducing systematic error to the scale questionnaires individually, the level of analysis
(Hinkin, 1995). of each variable is the team. Consequently, in-
Task interdependence. Task interdepen- dividual team members’ perceptions were ag-
dence was assessed using an adapted version of gregated by taking the average team member
Campion et al.’s (1993) three-item measure response and expressing that as a team value.
(e.g., “In order to accomplish our work, we need To determine whether aggregation was appro-
each member’s contribution”). For this study, priate, we assessed within-group interrater
the Cronbach coefficient alpha was .78. agreement, using rwg (James, Demaree, & Wolf,
Supportive behaviors. No unique scale in 1984, 1993). Within-group interrater agreement
the scientific literature provided a complete as- was calculated for each team on each of the
sessment of supportive behaviors as defined in variables except for team performance and team
this article. Therefore, a five-item scale of sup- viability, which were assessed by the supervi-
portive behaviors was derived from a content sors. The obtained values were then averaged
analysis of existing measures (Campion et al., across the 74 work teams. Aggregation is justi-
1993; Dominick, Reilly, & McGourty, 1997; fied when the average rwg coefficient for each
Hyatt & Ruddy, 1997; Podsakoff, Ahearne, & variable is greater than .70, which was the case
MacKenzie, 1997). This scale taps both instru- in this study (see Table 1).
mental and emotional forms of support among Descriptive statistics (M and SD) and coeffi-
team members. The items are listed in the Ap- cient alphas for each variable are shown in
pendix. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha for this Table 1. Coefficient alphas varied from .78 to
scale was .89. .96, indicating that the measures used in this
Criteria of work team effectiveness. The study were fairly reliable. Moreover, signifi-
measures related to the three criteria of team cance tests (skewness, kurtosis, and Kolmogo-
196 AUBÉ AND ROUSSEAU

Table 1
Means, Standard Deviations, Average rwg, Reliabilities, and Correlations Between Variables
Variable M SD rwg 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Team goal commitment 3.89 0.54 .82 (.85)
2. Task interdependence 3.70 0.46 .72 .25* (.78)
3. Supportive behaviors 3.66 0.46 .83 .59** .40** (.89)
4. Team performance 3.88 0.70 — .30** .03 .36** (.82)
5. Quality of group experience 3.60 0.58 .78 .31** .24* .67** .25* (.96)
6. Team viability 3.85 0.79 — .26* .01 .29* .76** .19 (.84)
7. Team size 6.26 4.35 — .10 .12 #.05 .10 .11 .08
Note. N ! 74 teams. Reliability estimates (Cronbach’s alphas) are in parentheses.
* p " .05. ** p " .01.

rov–Smirnov) revealed that every variable ence, and team viability (see Table 2). Thus,
showed a roughly normal distribution. In addi- team goal commitment explained between 6.5%
tion, examination of the residuals indicated that and 9.1% of the variance of the criteria of team
multivariate assumptions of linearity and ho- effectiveness. The effect size of the relation-
moscedasticity were respected for all variables. ships involving team performance and the qual-
It should be noted that team size was included ity of group experience can be qualified as mod-
as a control variable in all analyses because it erate, whereas the effect size of the relationship
may have had an impact on the key variables involving team viability can be qualified as
(e.g., Curral, Forrester, Dawson, & West, 2001). low–moderate (Cohen, 1992).

Relationships Between Team Goal Moderating Effect of Task

Commitment and the Criteria of Team Interdependence
Effectiveness
The fourth, fifth, and sixth hypotheses pre-
Regression analyses were used to examine dicted that task interdependence positively
the first, second, and third hypotheses, which moderates the relationship between team goal
concern relationships between team goal com- commitment and the criteria of team effec-
mitment and the criteria of team effectiveness. tiveness. These hypotheses were tested
As predicted, team goal commitment was pos- through a hierarchical multiple regression in
itively and significantly ( p " .05) related to two steps, which is the procedure proposed by
team performance, the quality of group experi- Cohen, Cohen, West, and Aiken (2003). In

Table 2
Team Goal Commitment Main Effect Analyses
Model B SE B ! $R2
Dependent variable: Team performance
Step 1: Team size .01 .02 .07 .009
Step 2: Team goal commitment .38 .15 .29* .085*
Dependent variable: Quality of group experience
Step 1: Team size .01 .02 .08 .012
Step 2: Team goal commitment .33 .12 .30** .091**
Dependent variable: Team viability
Step 1: Team size .01 .02 .05 .006
Step 2: Team goal commitment .38 .17 .26* .065*
Dependent variable: Supportive behaviors
Step 1: Team size #.01 .01 #.11 .002
Step 2: Team goal commitment .51 .08 .60** .360**
Note. N ! 74 teams.
* p " .05. ** p " .01.
 TEAM GOAL COMMITMENT AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS 197

the first step, the dependent variable is re- ity of group experience and team viability
gressed on both the independent and moder- (see Table 3).
ating variables. In the second step, an inter- To illustrate the moderating effect, Cohen et
action term, created by the multiplication of al. (2003) recommended plotting the regression
the scores obtained from the two variables of the dependent variable on the independent
entered in the first step, is added to the re- variable at three values of the moderating vari-
gression model. To reduce the problem of able. These values are the mean of task inter-
multicollinearity due to the correlation be- dependence, one standard deviation below the
tween the first two variables entered in the mean, and one standard deviation above the
model and the interaction term, the scores of mean. Figure 1 illustrates how the relationship
the variables are centered before being mul- between team goal commitment and team per-
tiplied. The moderating effect is supported formance varies as a function of task interde-
when the regression coefficient associated pendence. A visual inspection of this figure
with the interaction term is significant. reveals that the form of the interaction is con-
As expected, results revealed that task in- sistent with Hypothesis 4. Indeed, the higher the
terdependence moderated the relationship be- task interdependence is, the stronger is the re-
tween team goal commitment and team per- lationship between team goal commitment and
formance. Indeed, the results of the hierarchi- team performance.
cal multiple regression in Table 3 show that
the regression coefficient corresponding to Mediating Role of Supportive Behaviors
the interaction term was significant ( p " .05).
More specifically, team goal commitment and Hypotheses 7, 8, and 9 predicted that support-
task interdependence explained 9% of team ive behaviors would mediate the relationships
performance variance. The addition of the between team goal commitment and the three
interaction term in the regression model sig- criteria of team effectiveness, namely, team per-
nificantly increased the percentage of ex- formance, the quality of group experience, and
plained variance by 6%. However, results in- team viability. These hypotheses were tested
dicate that task interdependence did not sig- using the method set out by Baron and Kenny
nificantly moderate the relationships between (1986). According to these authors, a mediating
team goal commitment and the two other cri- effect is confirmed when the following four
teria of team effectiveness, namely, the qual- conditions are satisfied: (a) the mediating vari-

Table 3
Task Interdependence Moderating Effect Analyses
Model B SE B ! $R2
Dependent variable: Team performance
Step 1: Team size .01 .01 .09 .009
Step 2: Team goal commitment (TGC) .48 .15 .37**
Task interdependence (TI) #.08 .18 #.05 .088*
Step 3: TGC % TI .60 .27 .25* .060*
Dependent variable: Quality of group experience
Step 1: Team size .01 .02 .05 .012
Step 2: TGC .25 .13 .23
TI .20 .15 .16 .117*
Step 3: TGC % TI #.26 .23 #.13 .016
Dependent variable: Team viability
Step 1: Team size .01 .02 .06 .006
Step 2: TGC .45 .18 .31
TI #.10 .21 #.06 .069
Step 3: TGC % TI .38 .32 .14 .019
Note. N ! 74 teams.
* p " .05. ** p " .01.
198 AUBÉ AND ROUSSEAU

Figure 1. Relationship between team goal commitment and team performance for high,
moderate, and low levels of task interdependence.

able (supportive behaviors) must be signifi- Team goal commitment was related to support-
cantly related to the dependent variable (each ive behaviors, which supports the second con-
criterion of work team effectiveness); (b) the dition (see Table 2). Moreover, team goal com-
independent variable (team goal commitment) mitment was significantly related to team per-
must be significantly associated with the medi- formance, the quality of group experience, and
ating variable; (c) the independent variable team viability (see Table 2). These last results
must be significantly correlated with the depen- support the third condition.
dent variable; and (d) while regressing the de- To test Baron and Kenny’s (1986) fourth
pendent variable on both the independent and condition, we performed multiple regression
mediating variables, the regression coefficient analyses (see Table 5). When the dependent
of the mediating variable must be significant. If variable is team performance or the quality of
any of these conditions is not respected, then group experience, the results of the analyses
results do not support the mediating effect. Oth- indicate that the regression coefficients associ-
erwise, if all conditions are held, the regression ated with supportive behaviors were significant
coefficient of the independent variable must be ( p " .05) and that the regression coefficients
nonsignificant for a perfect mediation. If the associated with team goal commitment were
regression coefficient of the independent vari- nonsignificant ( p & .05). Consequently, the
able is significant, the mediation is said to be fourth condition is satisfied in these two first
partial, which means that the relationship be- cases. More specifically, results indicate that
tween the independent variable and the depen- supportive behaviors seem to have mediated
dent variable is not entirely explained by the perfectly the relationships between team goal
mediating variable. commitment and two effectiveness criteria,
The regression analyses indicate that the first namely, team performance and the quality of
three conditions were satisfied for each hypoth- group experience. However, the relationship be-
esis concerning mediating effects. More specif- tween team goal commitment and team viability
ically, supportive behaviors were significantly does not seem to have been mediated by sup-
( p " .05) related to team performance, the portive behaviors. In this case, the regression
quality of group experience, and team viability coefficients of team goal commitment and sup-
(see Table 4), which supports the first condition. portive behaviors were nonsignificant ( p & .05).
 TEAM GOAL COMMITMENT AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS 199

Table 4
Supportive Behaviors Main Effect Analyses
Model B SE B ! $R2
Dependent variable: Team performance
Step 1: Team size .02 .02 .11 .009
Step 2: Supportive behaviors .56 .17 .36** .131**
Dependent variable: Quality of group experience
Step 1: Team size .02 .01 .14 .012
Step 2: Supportive behaviors .85 .11 .67** .453**
Dependent variable: Team viability
Step 1: Team size .02 .02 .09 .006
Step 2: Supportive behaviors .50 .20 .29* .084*
Note. N ! 74 teams.
* p " .05. ** p " .01.

In sum, Hypotheses 7 and 8 are supported, but examines in more depth the relationships be-
Hypothesis 9 is not. tween team goal commitment and three criteria
of team effectiveness.
Results supported the predicted main effects
Discussion that team goal commitment is likely to have on
With the current study we aimed to investi- three criteria of team effectiveness. The com-
gate the consequences of team goal commit- mitment to team goals may influence team per-
ment in organizational settings. Traditionally, formance as assessed by the supervisors, which
the role of commitment toward goals was lim- is consistent with the results of Wofford et al.’s
ited to a moderating effect on the relationship (1992) meta-analysis at the individual level.
between goal difficulty level and performance Moreover, team goal commitment may help to
(e.g., Hollenbeck & Klein, 1987). However, enhance the quality of group experience and
more and more authors have emphasized the team viability. The effect sizes of team goal
potential role of goal commitment as a determi- commitment on team performance ($R2 ! .085),
nant of behaviors and outcomes (e.g., Renn, the quality of group experience ($R2 ! .091),
2003; Wofford et al., 1992). This research is in and team viability ($R2 ! .065) corroborate
keeping with this view and, more precisely, that it is a nonnegligible predictor of team ef-

Table 5
Supportive Behaviors Mediating Effect Analyses
Model B SE B ! $R2
Dependent variable: Team performance
Step 1: Team size .02 .02 .10 .009
Step 2: Team goal commitment .15 .18 .12
Supportive behaviors .45 .21 .29* .139**
Dependent variable: Quality of group experience
Step 1: Team size .02 .01 .16 .012
Step 2: Team goal commitment #.17 .12 #.16
Supportive behaviors .97 .14 .77** .469**
Dependent variable: Team viability
Step 1: Team size .01 .02 .07 .006
Step 2: Team goal commitment .19 .21 .13
Supportive behaviors .37 .25 .21 .094*
Note. N ! 74 teams.
* p " .05. ** p " .01.
200 AUBÉ AND ROUSSEAU

fectiveness. These results show that commit- However, the results did not support the medi-
ment to team goals may have consequences on ating role of supportive behaviors in the rela-
outcomes at the team level. tionship between team goal commitment and
Furthermore, this study represents the first team viability. These last results do not neces-
attempt to empirically examine the moderating sarily imply that the relationship between team
effect of task interdependence on the relation- goal commitment and team viability is direct.
ships between team goal commitment and the They instead suggest that the mediating process
criteria of team effectiveness. As predicted, re- involved in this relationship, if there is one,
sults indicated that task interdependence signif- does not correspond to supportive behaviors, at
icantly moderates the relationship involving least as this variable was defined and measured
team performance. More specifically, team goal in this article.
commitment is more strongly related to team The findings related to team performance
performance when task interdependence is high and team viability are less influenced by com-
than when task interdependence is low. This mon method variance, because the indepen-
research thus highlights the role of task interde- dent variable (team goal commitment) and the
pendence in the study of the determinants of the dependent variables (team performance and
team performance. However, at an exploratory team viability) have been assessed by two
stage, task interdependence does not appear to distinct sources, namely, team members and
moderate the relationships between team goal supervisors (Podsakoff et al., 2003). There-
commitment and the other two criteria of team fore, the relationships involving those vari-
effectiveness, namely, the quality of group ex- ables are less likely to be spuriously inflated
perience and team viability. Though task inter- by common method variance. However, the
dependence influences the capacity of team goal use of a common source for the measurement
commitment to increase performance, it does of team goal commitment, task interdepen-
not affect the capacity of team goal commitment dence, supportive behaviors, and the quality
to enhance the quality of intrateam social envi- of group experience raises the question of
ronment and the adaptation of the team to how much of the explained variance in the
changes. In other words, the team members’ relationships between these variables is com-
commitment toward their team goals is likely to mon method variance and how much is true
increase the quality of group experience and variance. Nevertheless, considering the nature
team viability regardless of the level of task of these variables, team members are one of
interdependence. Thus, this study reveals the the best sources to assess them (Tesluk et al.,
differential effect of task interdependence ac- 1997).
cording to the criteria of team effectiveness.
Future studies should investigate other factors Limitations and Directions for Future
that might moderate the relationships between Research
team goal commitment and the criteria of team
effectiveness. The present study has a few limitations that
This study also reveals that at least two of the should be mentioned. First, team performance
observed relationships between team goal com- was assessed subjectively by the teams’ super-
mitment and team effectiveness are indirect. visors, which means that different biases may
The results indicated that supportive behaviors influence the assessment (e.g., recency effect,
completely mediate the relationships that team central tendency errors). However, considering
goal commitment has with team performance that supervisors are responsible for assigning
and the quality of group experience. These re- team goals and assessing team outcomes in or-
sults suggest that team members who are com- ganizational contexts, they are in the best posi-
mitted to their team goals are likely to adopt tion to provide data about team performance.
more supportive behaviors, which in turn may Second, this study was based on a cross-sec-
increase team performance and the quality of tional design in which data were collected dur-
group experience. Consequently, the current ing a one-time assessment without variable ma-
study shows that team goal commitment may nipulation. Therefore, this study does not pro-
enhance an important behavioral process that vide direct evidence of causal links between
increases two key criteria of team effectiveness. team goal commitment and the criteria of team
 TEAM GOAL COMMITMENT AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS 201

effectiveness. However, given the positive re- [Group regulating interventions and team perfor-
sults of this study, experimental and longitudi- mance: A theoretical model]. Travail Humain.
nal research should now be conducted in order Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The modera-
to obtain more definitive results about the di- tor–mediator variable distinction in social psycho-
logical research: Conceptual, strategic, and statis-
rection of causality. Finally, although the sam-
tical considerations. Journal of Personality and
ple size (N ! 74 work teams) was quite large Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.
for a study on work teams, it was insufficient to Buzaglo, G., & Wheelan, S. A. (1999). Facilitating
perform structural equation modeling (SEM) work team effectiveness: Case studies from Cen-
analyses. In addition to control measurement tral America. Small Group Research, 30, 108 –129.
error, SEM is the only analysis that allows Campion, A. C., Medsker, G. J., & Higgs, A. C.
complete and simultaneous tests of all the rela- (1993). Relations between work group character-
tionships. Taking into account the positive re- istics and effectiveness: Implications for designing
sults of this research, it would be beneficial in effective work groups. Personnel Psychology, 46,
future research to constitute a larger sample and 823– 850.
to perform SEM analyses. Campion, M. A., Papper, E. M., & Medsker, G. J.
(1996). Relations between work team characteris-
tics and effectiveness: A replication and extension.
Implications and Conclusion Personnel Psychology, 49, 429 – 452.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological
The prevalence of work teams in organiza- Bulletin, 112, 155–159.
tions highlights the need to understand factors Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S.
that influence team effectiveness. The current (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation
research extends the understanding of the mul- analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.).
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sults of this research indicate that team goal Curral, L. A., Forrester, R. H., Dawson, J. F., & West,
M. A. (2001). It’s what you do and the way that you
commitment may have a main effect on team
do it: Team task, team size, and innovation-related
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and team viability. In concrete terms, these re- Organizational Psychology, 10, 187–204.
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would be well advised to promote team mem- sionality of the Hollenbeck, Williams, and Klein
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These ways refer, for example, to the explicit- classification systems relevant to teams in organi-
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(Appendix follows)
204 AUBÉ AND ROUSSEAU

Appendix

Scale Items Created or Adapted for This Study

Supportive Behaviors 2. In our team, relationships are harmonious.

1. We help each other out if someone falls behind 3. In our team, we get along with each other.
in his/her work.

2. We cooperate to get the work done. Team Viability

3. We encourage each other to do a good job. 1. Team members adjust to the changes that hap-
pen in their work environment.
4. We recognize and value the contributions of
each member to task accomplishment. 2. When a problem occurs, the members of this
team manage to solve it.
5. We care about team members’ feelings and
well-being. 3. The new members are easily integrated into this
team.
Team Performance
4. The members of this team could work a long
1. The members of this team attain their assigned time together.
performance goals.
Note. The items presented have been translated
2. The members of this team produce quality work. from French.
3. This team is productive.

Quality of Group Experience Received November 11, 2004

Revision received April 20, 2005
1. The social climate in our work team is good. Accepted April 20, 2005 !