Abstract
South African organisations face unique challenges that require optimal use of resources to improve business results. Effective collaboration is considered a powerful strategy to achieve this. Measuring the extent of collaboration can help to identify required changes in business practices. As far as could be established, there is no evidence of collaboration instruments developed and validated in South Africa. Thomson, Perry, & Miller (2007) developed a collaboration measurement instrument in the USA. The aim of this study was to validate this instrument for a South African context.
Additional items were designed for further development of the sub-scales, as suggested by Thomson et al. (2007). The revised questionnaire consisting of 31 items (17 original and 14 new) was distributed electronically to 4200 employees in two organisations, with 343 valid responses received. Reliability and construct validity was tested as was convergent validity of the norms factor with the Trust in Teams Scale.
The results of the study support a four-factor, 29 item model of collaboration when applied to a South African sample. Cronbach Alphas of the four factors are: Factor 1: Governance (α = .95), Factor 2: Mutuality (α = .92), Factor 3: Norms (α = .90), Factor 4: Autonomy (α = .85). CFA fits were at an acceptable level: RMSEA = 0.099 within the 90% confidence interval of 0.093 and 0.104. CFI’s are between .86 and .99. Convergent validity of the Trust in Teams scale with the norms factor of the Thomson, Perry and Miller (2007) Collaboration Instrument shows a moderate fit with the data: CFI = 0.85, RMSEA = 0.15 within the 90% confidence interval of 0.14 and 0.15.
An understanding of the conditions related to effective collaboration and measurement thereof could equip managers and Human Resources practitioners to address collaboration opportunities and obstacles. This study provides a valid measure of collaboration in two South African industries.
M.Phil.