title: Management team learning orientation and business unit performance.
abstract: Although research has suggested that teams can differ in the extent to which they encourage proactive learning and competence development among their members (a team learning orientation), the performance consequences of these differences are not well understood. Drawing from research on goal orientation and team learning, this article suggests that, although a team learning orientation can encourage adaptive behaviors that lead to improved performance, it is also possible for teams to compromise performance in the near term by overemphasizing learning, particularly when they have been performing well. A test of this proposition in a sample of business unit management teams provides strong support. The results confirm that an appropriate emphasis on learning can have positive consequences for team effectiveness.
authors.affiliation: John M Olin School of Business, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA. bunderson@olin.wustl.edu
authors.forename: J Stuart
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bunderson
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Sutcliffe
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal; D004651:Employment; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D007858:Learning; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010559:Personnel Management; D011361:Professional Competence