CHAPTER ONE

1.1     INTRODUCTION

          Teamwork is a means of improving manpower utilization and potentially raising performance of not just the individual but the organization ultimately, because it can expand the output of individuals through collaboration. Thus, employees who work in teams become the standard for the organization (Alie, Bean and Carey, 1998). With support from top management, employees work confidently in teams to increase organizational productivity. Nowadays, managers are assigning more team projects to employees with opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and develop their skills (Hartenian, 2003).Teamwork has the potential of improving the performance of individual employees and the organization, though it needs to be nurtured over time (Ingram, 2000).         

1.2     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

          Team building has emerged as the most important group phenomenon in organizations that enables managers to harness the energies of all employees to determine their strength and maximize both group and individual productivity. Team building seeks to maximize both individual and group productivity through the attainment of organizational goals and also it is meant to integrate the lower level staff and the top management in organizations so that they can work more effectively and produce more profit. It is an inspiration to boost productivity of employees and it involves a series of activities designed to create cohesion and a feeling of social support (Adiar 1986).

          Team building has been used in some organizations where managers ultimately depend on the ability of their members to work in concert to accomplish competitive supremacy. The managers use the team approach to link and align the resources available towards the attainment of the organizational goals and also they facilitate group harmony (Dwivedi, 2006). This shows that in team building, employees and the top management must be in speaking terms in order to work successfully. If communication is not present people tend to have confusion, disunity and conflict in their organizations. Team building aims at employees coming together voluntarily to find solutions to problems encountered in their day to day working lives. A team can have eight to fifteen compatible members of a department who meet regularly to take the initiative to identify problems and find alternative solutions. These members think of how to implement these solutions in suitable areas and thus cooperation instead of confrontation. Team building has not only helped to improve productivity and performance but also has brought about harmonious relations among employees together with bringing out the creative talents of its members.

          Nigerian Breweries Plc employees are confined to work in a busy and isolated environment. Team building helps them to socialize with one another and to be psychologically prepared to work together to achieve the set goals of the organization. Team building in banks came as a remedy to achieve high performance in employees in the late 1980s and early 1990s when there was a reduction in profitability in an organization.

1.3     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

          As much as team building plays an instrumental role in organizations, its actual effect in manufacturing companies has not been fully articulated or felt. Information on the relationship between team building and employee performance in the manufacturing company remains scanty and for this reason, the researcher sought to find out the actual effects of team building on performance of employees.

          The major challenge of teamwork in the Nigerian Breweries Plc is the differences in the level of competence of team members while highly competent team members tries to increase the work place, the lowly competent ones tries to slow down the work place. This leads to the over working/stressing of highly competent team members while the less competent ones are relaxing. Also, individual social/cultural differences among team members constitute a challenge to effective teamwork.