Team roles and team performance in defence acquisition

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine the extent to which Belbin's team role theories are relevant and can be used to predict performance in the context of the Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) responsible for acquisition within the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Design/methodology/approach – A sample of seven IPTs across the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) and the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) completed Belbin's (1981) manual 8 Role Self Perception Inventory in order to determine their team role preferences. A team performance survey, developed by Barbara Senior in 2005, was then used to determine perceived process performance. The relationship between these two variables was examined in detail. Findings – The results provide support to the proposition that Belbin's Team Role Theory is relevant in MoD acquisition. Certain team roles are more predominant in certain functional roles within IPTs and this duplication could have a negative impact on performance, given Belbin's assertion that “balanced” teams will perform better than “unbalanced”. The difficulties in objectively assessing team role balance (both narratively and statistically) are discussed in detail. Research limitations/implications – Whilst a representative sample of IPTs was investigated, a longitudinal study of a more extensive sample is required to substantiate these initial findings. Practical implications – Belbin's Team Role Theory provides a cost effective means of potentially improving performance in defence acquisition. Originality/value – While there have been some unpublished studies into functional roles in MoD teams, there is a research lacuna with regard to the examination of team roles as a factor influencing performance in defence acquisition.