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Background Belgian primary care is facing significant challenges due to increasing healthcare demands and an overall decline in the workforce. Most general practitioners (GPs) work solo or in mono-disciplinary practices, leading to suboptimal outcomes in areas such as preventive care and health promotion. In response, the Ministry of Health introduced a “New-Deal” for GPs, which includes additional funding to support innovative practice organisation models. A think tank of GP representatives was established to guide the initiative, with input from practising GPs gathered for further insight. This study aims to identify the professionals needed to support GPs in daily practice, define their roles, and explore the conditions necessary for integrating them into the GP-centred model of care. Methods Eleven focus groups were conducted with 122 GPs, ensuring geographical and linguistic diversity across Belgium. Participants were selected through purposive sampling to ensure a diverse range of organisational models across the country. A structured focus group guide was designed, incorporating three scenarios to examine tasks commonly encountered in GP practices. Data analysis was conducted using a codebook developed through an inductive approach. Results GPs expressed a preference for relatively small-scale teams, generally consisting of nurses and receptionists. The role of a practice assistant was more ambiguously defined, positioned between clinical and administrative responsibilities. Key tools for effective team integration included co-location, well-defined protocols, a shared electronic health record, care coordination, and unified logistical management, all of which are critical to fostering multidisciplinary collaboration. Conclusions This study explores Belgian GPs' preferences for integrating healthcare professionals into their practices, with team composition adjusted to workload and patient needs. However, the traditional autonomy of practice design may hinder change. Future research is needed to refine financial models and integration tools for collaborative care.

In this article, we examine the concept of humility among chief executive officers (CEOs) and the process through which it is connected to integration in the top management team (TMT) and middle managers' responses. We develop and validate a comprehensive measure of humility using multiple samples and then test a multilevel model of how CEOs' humility links to the processes of top and middle managers. Our methodology involves survey data gathered twice from 328 TMT members and 645 middle managers in 63 private companies in China. We find CEO humility to be positively associated with empowering leadership behaviors, which in turn correlates with TMT integration. TMT integration then positively relates to middle managers' perception of having an empowering organizational climate, which is then associated with their work engagement, affective commitment, and job performance. Findings confirm our hypotheses based on social information processing theory: humble CEOs connect to top and middle managers through collective perceptions of empowerment at both levels. Qualitative data from interviews with 51 CEOs provide additional insight into the meaning of humility among CEOs and differences between those with high and low humility.

Despite growing recognition that team integration improves project outcomes in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, the mechanism through which integration translates into value co-creation remains empirically unexamined. This study addresses this gap by investigating the mediating role of team cohesion in the relationship between team integration and value co-creation, conceptualized as a second-order construct comprising relational commitment, collaboration and innovation. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), social exchange theory (SET) and relational coordination theory (RCT), a mediation model was tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) with data from 386 managers involved in medium- and large-scale AEC projects in Lima, Peru. The results confirm that team integration significantly enhances value co-creation (β = 0.662, p < 0.001), with team cohesion serving as a complementary mediator (indirect effect = 0.217, p < 0.001). The model explains 89.4% of the variance in value co-creation. Project budget and managerial experience showed no significant effects, underscoring the primacy of team dynamics over structural factors. This study contributes the first empirical evidence of team cohesion as a mediating mechanism between integration and value co-creation in AEC projects within an emerging economy context.

Background: Project team integration is a critical characteristic influencing the effective execution of projects. However, court-building projects in Kenya, funded by the World Bank and the Government, have experienced significant delays and cost overruns.   Objective: This study hypothesizes that project team integration does not significantly affect the execution of court buildings in Kenya concerning time, cost, site disputes, and quality.   Methods: A mixed-methods research strategy was employed, incorporating questionnaires, interview guides, and document content analysis. The validity and reliability of the results were verified using principal component analysis and Cronbach alpha approaches. Descriptive statistics analysed quantitative data, while correlation and regression analyses were used for inferential statistics.   Results: The findings indicated that project team integration significantly influenced project execution in terms of time but did not have a notable impact on cost, site disputes, or quality.   Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of team integration as a key driver for efficiency and success within the construction industry. By fostering collaborative and cohesive team environments, organizations can achieve substantial improvements in project scheduling and timely completion, ultimately ensuring the successful delivery of high-quality infrastructure projects.   Implications: The research provides valuable insights for project management practitioners, policymakers, scholars, and stakeholders involved in court construction implementation in Kenya.

Background/Objectives: Population aging and the rise in chronic diseases challenge healthcare systems to adopt person-centered approaches, especially in palliative care (PC), where symptom management remains limited. Physiotherapy plays a key role in alleviating discomfort but faces inconsistent integration in Portugal due to lack of recognition. Variations in intervention methods hinder uniform care delivery, limiting timely patient access to comfort-focused treatments and knowledge. This study aims to deepen the understanding of physiotherapy’s role in Portuguese PC to improve its integration into teams and enhance patient access to comfort care. Methods: This study used a descriptive qualitative approach with online focus groups (FG), guided by Krueger and Casey’s methodology and adhering to the COREQ checklist. A non-probabilistic convenience sample of physiotherapists working in palliative care across mainland Portugal and the islands was selected based on inclusion criteria. Three FGs were planned with up to ten participants each. However, due to availability and attendance issues, only 15 physiotherapists participated: 5 in FG1 (in-hospital PC units), 6 in FG2 (inpatient units), and 4 in FG3, the minimum appropriate number from community-based units. Results: Physiotherapy plays a crucial yet underrecognized role in PC, emphasizing the need for its full integration into care teams rather than reliance on late, on-call referrals. Techniques such as positioning, mobilization, pain and dyspnea relief, adapted exercises, massage, music therapy, and emotional support are employed. Conventional physiotherapy tools are used and personalized according to the patient’s context, duration, setting, dosage, and individual needs. Conclusions: Physiotherapy should be recognized as a fundamental part of PC, contributing not only to the prolongation of life but also to ensuring comfort and dignity for patients and their families. To achieve this, its role within multidisciplinary teams must be strengthened and supported by regulations that guarantee access and the formal integration of physiotherapists. However, a significant gap remains in patients’ regular access to comfort-focused interventions at the appropriate time, perhaps due to the considerable variation in physiotherapy practices depending on the patient and care setting, which presents a challenge for knowledge development both in Portugal and globally.

The allocation of members in software development teams has a direct impact on the software project's success. Several approaches have been proposed to deal with this task, mainly using optimization techniques to manage the cost, scope, and time constraints, where experience and backgrounds represent important resources; however, when there is no previous teamwork between the candidates the problem might escalate. For software development team formation different variables are considered from the individual profiles, along with team characteristics such as team size, members' geographic location, or team roles; while it can be expected that the team interaction influences its members' performance. In this paper, a mathematical model is introduced as a means to understand how individuals evolve as a result of their interaction, presenting an overview of team behavior as a whole. The model simulates the individuals clustering according to similarities, and the variation of the individual states as a result of their interaction. In the model, adjustable parameters include the number of individuals, the number and degree of their characteristics with an expected probability of manifestation, the degree of similarity among them for clustering, and the probability of clustering. The model is applied to an approach based on interactive styles and the Team Software Process methodology team roles, simulating their interactive style degree adaptability over time.

Purpose This study aims to test the authors’ theory that in an integrated sales team, the larger team (either from the acquiring or acquired firm) dominates the smaller team, even though it may be less competent than the smaller one, and that the level of competence of the integrated entity with the dominant but inferior larger team is bound to deteriorate. Design/methodology/approach The study tests the theory by conducting a laboratory experiment. Findings The results from the experiment show that an asymmetrical employee composition structure creates merger dominance in the post-integration group and influences the integration performance. Research limitations/implications Considering the lack of mergers and acquisitions research in the marketing literature, the author believes that this study contributes new information to the literature. The finding that an integrated entity with a dominant but inferior larger partner will demonstrate a resulting degeneration of competence invites empirical research for validation. Practical implications The integration of sales teams is central to ensuring revenue growth and driving the value that mergers promise but often fail to realize. The study findings provide some practical insights in this regard. Originality/value Mergers between asymmetrical partners are common phenomena. However, few studies have investigated how an unequal size of sales teams in pre-merger firms influences the effective integration of different sales teams. To fill this research gap, this study examines whether the involvement of an unequal number of salespeople from pre-merger firms in a post-merger sales team may influence its post-merger performance.

Purpose Team integration is a concept that has been widely fostered in alliances as a way of improving collaborative relationships between diverse organisations. However, deeper insights into the practice of high levels of team integration remain elusive. The purpose of this paper is to develop a deeper understanding of team integration through the “lived experience” of practitioners in an alliance. Design/methodology/approach This study employed a qualitative research methodology. Using a phenomenological examination, via the lived experiences of 24 alliance practitioners, the practice of alliance team integration has been investigated based on the key indicators that foster alliance team integration: team leadership, trust and respect, single team focus on project objectives and key results areas, collective understanding, commitment from project alliance board, single and co-located alliance team, and free flow communication. Findings The findings highlight that alliancing gives the project teams’ flexibility to change and adapt, to advance the collaborative environment and that successful integration of multi-disciplinary project teams requires commitment to the identified indicators. These findings have led to the development of a framework of leadership for successful alliance integrated practices. It is proposed that to influence the leadership for the purpose of achieving successful integration practice, a team-centric approach is required which includes four elements: task and relationship-oriented behaviours; collaborative learning environments; cultivating cross-boundary networks; and collaborative governance. Practical implications As team integration is the central tenet of alliance projects, greater understanding regarding the leadership of integration practice is of value in leveraging the benefits of outstanding performance. Also, the results of the study are expected to be informative and provide insight for alliance teams to help them proactively recognise how the context of integrated teams is influenced by specific indicators, impacting on the extent of integration practice. Originality/value This study contributes to the current body of knowledge concerning the insights from the “lived experience” of alliance teams towards achieving a greater understanding of what contributes to the leadership of successful integration practices.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to validate a list of key indicators (KIs) of team integration identified from construction management literature, identify the most significant KIs and provide suggestions on how to influence team integration, based on the opinion of an established construction peer group in New Zealand. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was conducted to identify and consolidate a set of KIs of team integration. Subsequently, a set of questions was designed to gain insight and opinion in terms of the significance and ranking of the identified indicators, as well as suggestions on how to influence the integration practice. Findings – Analysis of the survey results showed that all relevant indicators have a strong influence towards determining the success of team integration in construction projects. The top-ranked indicators that contribute towards successful team integration are all relationship orientated as follows; single team focus on goals and objectives, trust and respect, commitment from top management, free flow communication and no blame culture. A framework for influencing these indicators of team integration is proposed which includes four elements: first, team formation; second, contractual model; third, teamwork principle; and fourth, operational monitoring. Research limitations/implications – The findings are limited to practitioners’ perceptions who are registered with an established construction peer group in New Zealand. Practical implications – The results of the study are expected to provide insight for construction practitioners to help them embrace team integration practice and, hence, provide both the opportunity and a platform to enhance and measure their team performance. Originality/value – The paper recognises that while the process of integration is a result of a combination of many indicators, it further extends the team integration literature by providing insights into what are the dominant relationship indicators of team integration, and how to influence these indicators based on a proposed framework.

The impact of servant leadership, which emphasizes personal integrity and the needs of followers, has been examined in the literature. However, existing studies have not explored the influence of servant leadership by strategic leaders on the performance of employees. Drawing from social learning theory and collective social learning theory, we examined the effect of servant leadership by chief executive officers (CEOs) on employees' work outcomes. Our sample comprised 66 CEOs from intelligence-intensive companies in China, matched with 526 members of top management teams and 1,294 employees. Our results revealed that servant leadership by CEOs had a positive influence on the performance of employees. Further, top management teams' social integration, team knowledge integration, and employees' psychological empowerment acted as mediators of this relationship. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.