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Can Gift-Giving Affect Team Performance?

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Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between the logic of gift and team performance. We explore this connection empirically, using a detailed data set from the National Basketball Association. In particular, we use the NBA Cares Community Assist Award as a way to measure gift-giving to the community. We explore the response of an entire team after one if its members has been recognized for his gift-giving behavior. Using two winners, we show that after a player has received the award there is an increase in the number of assists given by each member of the team, and that there is also an increase in the number of wins. Therefore, our results show that the team’s performance would improve after a player has been recognized because of his gift-giving attitude. This finding to management implies that managers’ incentivization of a sharing and giving philosophy would not only improve their relationship bond but it would also help them increase their performance.

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Notes

  1. However, Benedict XVI did not offer a vast work on the gift. It was rather a call that promoted several papers on the relationship of the gift and management.

  2. You can find more information about the award in communityassist.nba.com

  3. www.basketball-reference.com

  4. We consider performance here as an expression of the economist view of the human person, where contracts are posted in order to get something in return (Pirson and Lawrence 2010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IESE Business School-Universidad de Navarra, Av. Pearson 21, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Diego Arias Padilla

  2. Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland

    Xabier Barriola

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  1. Diego Arias Padilla
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  2. Xabier Barriola
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Correspondence to Diego Arias Padilla.

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Hereby, We Diego Arias Padilla & Xabier Barriola consciously assure that for the manuscript “Can Gift-Giving affect Team Performance?” the following is fulfilled:

1) This material is the authors’ own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere.

2) The paper is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.

3) The paper reflects the authors’ own research and analysis in a truthful and complete manner.

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Arias Padilla, D., Barriola, X. Can Gift-Giving Affect Team Performance?. Humanist Manag J 8, 1–10 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41463-022-00126-4

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