A dual-approach to project team optimisation : balancing the 'Shackleton' and 'weakest-link' effects

Prašnikar, Janez (author), Bole, Velimir (author), Redek, Tjaša (author)

This study discusses executive cross-department project team performance in relation to team competency structures. Detailed market-oriented (MO) competencies of team members and performance data are investigated. The empirical analysis based on relationship marketing theory and applied psychology theories shows that for the achievement of budget and deadline goals, it is primarily static competencies that matter; whereas, for the achievement of quality goals, also dynamic competencies matter. Moreover, the role of the strength distribution of competencies is stressed by arguing that team members with strong MO competencies matter for budget and deadline goals (Shackleton principle), while the weakest member has a critical impact on quality goals (weakest-link-of-the-chain principle).

• Language: English
• Keywords: group decisions, team performance, Shackleton principle, weakest-link-of-the-chain principle
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 145-167
• Numbering: Vol. 34, iss. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-172605
• UDC: 331.3
• ISSN on article: 1330-0288
• DOI: 10.5559/di.34.2.01
• COBISS.SI-ID: 235026691
• Publication date in RUL: 09.09.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Društvena istraživanja
• Shortened title: Druš. istraž.
• Publisher: Institut društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar
• ISSN: 1330-0288
• COBISS.SI-ID: 4174601

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Dvostruki pristup optimizaciji projektnoga tima
• Keywords: delovno mesto, timsko delo, delovna uspešnost