Favoritism at work place: An empirical study of its effects on team performance

People are social beings, and they form, join, and work together in teams to satisfy their needs. An organization comprises of many teams and all its activities are carried out through these teams. Employers can also grow more quality conscious through group interactions as they learn about other people's experiences, expectations and problems (Gates 1989). Teams are increasingly becoming the primary means for organizing work in contemporary business units. While organizations invest in building strong and cohesive teams, individual employees on the other hand may feel reluctant to participate in them. Their act of unwillingness to participate in the activities of teams is subject of investigation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine employee's perception on team and their willingness to participate in teamwork. Questionnaire was used to collect the data from middle management employees of the IT and ITES enabled Service Organizations. The findings of the study indicate that respondents recognized team as the most applicable professional technique for the success of the project but at the same time suggest the existence of conflict, nepotism and tribalism in teams. However, the results of the actual perception on teamwork interestingly reveal that there might be a gap between the employees' perceptions about teams and their actual intentions to participate in team. The results show that the respondents may be opposed to the idea of joining teams due to the rampant problems of conflicts, nepotism and tribalism in teams.