The education system fosters a sense of rivalry and competition from an early age, with peers competing to pass entrance examinations to gain entry into the elite Grandes Ecoles. A sense of team working is not encouraged in this process and does not therefore come naturally in later working life. People prefer to have definable, personal sets of objectives rather than to work in more general team roles. Thus teams are often defined as sets of specialists working on single issues for a strong leader.

Teams arranged between functional lines for the purpose of promoting one particular project (as found in the USA) are often difficult to implement, with loyalties being divided between the project team and the 'home base' of the team member.