A survey of the prevalence and nature of teambuilding interventions in South African organisations

Abstract

South African organisations follow international trends and also increasingly make use of teams and teambuilding. However, no study can be found on the prevalence and nature teambuilding interventions used by South African organizations. As an explorative study the current research uses a survey to study the existing scenario regarding the application of teambuilding in local organizations. It reports on the prevalence, nature, type and purpose of teambuilding interventions used. It is found that the use of teambuilding is widespread and confirms perceptions that most organizations make use thereof. The study also raises issues that would warrant further research, like the real or perceived success of teambuilding; reasons to why it is so prevalent and why particular types are preferred and the need to bridge the gap between academia and practice through research focusing on the local and therefore “African” context.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Eastern Academy of Management International Conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in July 2007.