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Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (74)
Despite the oft touted benefits of having differences in how people think about a task, teams often are not able to capitalize on their heterogeneity. The problem, we demonstrate, is that representational gaps—fundamental incompatibilities in the way that team members conceptualize the problem and solution space—degrade the knowledge synthesis capa...
Despite the oft touted benefits of having differences in task-related cognition, teams often do not capitalize on their heterogeneity. We add a nuance to this literature by examining representational gaps — fundamental incompatibilities in the way that team members conceptualize the problem and solution space — and show that they have a unique effe...
We examine the effects of conflict and conflict asymmetry on creativity in interdisciplinary teams. Testing our hypotheses on teams working on graduate-level nanobiotechnology projects, we found task conflict to have a positive relationship with creativity whereas relationship conflict had a negative relationship with creativity. Our results also r...
The authors examine the effects of having representational gaps—fundamental incompatibilities in the way that team members conceptualize the problem and solution space—on team processes, performance, and affective reactions. In a laboratory study, the authors find that representational gaps hurt performance by decreasing information elaboration and...
Intergroup research has focused primarily, if not solely, on how an intergroup comparative context primes social categorization. The current research examines how individual differences, in terms of distinct forms of social self (the relational versus collective self), differentially drive social categorization and zero-sum resource allocation acro...
Through three studies of interacting small groups, we aimed to better understand the meaning and consequences of process conflict. Study 1 was an exploratory analysis of qualitative data that helped us to identify the unique dimensions of process conflict to more clearly distinguish it from task and relationship conflict. Study 2 used a broader sam...
Even within teams of peers, certain individuals have more power than others. Individual members may
have essential skills and experience, networks outside the team, or status within the organization that
give them more power than the average team member (French & Raven, 1959; Hollander, 1958). How
these powerholders use their power may vary from te...
Leaders frequently form stronger relationships with certain subordinates moreso than others, creating an inner circle of close friendships and an outer circle of more distant relationships. Three studies examine the effects of inner-circle membership on group dynamics and interpersonal influence in hierarchical teams. Study 1 finds that, compared t...
The article presents management science research on the influence of self-perception in decision making. The differences between individuals who have relational self-perception in which they identify themselves as individuals who relate to a group and those who identify as a member of the group collective are examined. It is found that aspects of b...
Increased diversity in the workforce brings several benefits. However, organizations may also face challenges as they seek to embrace diversity within team-based work environments. In this paper, we attempt to gauge the magnitude of this challenge by examining the level of diversity that results when individuals self-select their own team members....
In this longitudinal study, the authors examine the relationships between task, relationship, and process conflict over time. They also look at the role of conflict resolution in determining whether certain forms of intragroup conflict are related to the appearance of other forms of conflict over time. Their findings indicate a negative and long-la...
This article explores the linkages between strategies for managing different types of conflict and group performance and satisfaction. Results from a qualitative study of 57 autonomous teams suggest that groups that improve or maintain top performance over time share 3 conflict resolution tendencies: (a) focusing on the content of interpersonal int...
In this paper, we examine the mediating role of relationship, task, and process conflict in the much debated relationship between intra-group trust and group performance. We test these relationships with two different studies, including one longitudinal study of student workgroups. We propose and find that high levels of intragroup trust are negati...
“Diversity” in employee teams does not always equal superior performance
Interdisciplinary teams have the potential for greater creativity in organizations. Interdisciplinary teams draw on a variety of functional expertise and divergent perspectives to facilitate the production of creative ideas. However, interdisciplinary teams do not necessarily produce creative work because members are reluctant to share their unique...
Within the organizational literature, the emphasis on group performance has tended to overshadow issues of group composition and structure. In this chapter we urge group scholars to turn their attention to the topic of hierarchy in organizational groups. We focus on hierarchy as defined by both status and power. We propose that understanding how or...
SUMMARY—As the workplace has become increasingly diverse, there has been a tension between the promise and the reality of diversity in team process and performance. The optimistic view holds that diversity will lead to an increase in the variety of perspectives and approaches brought to a problem and to opportunities for knowledge sharing, and henc...
We investigate the concepts and perspectives of conflict, power, and status developed across the disciplines of political science, psychology, and sociology. Although the different disciplines, at times, have different assumptions about actors and interactions, we find a great deal of similarity. This similarity allows us to uncover some general pr...
The impact of congruence between social and knowledge ties on performance in diverse groups was examined. Congruence occurs when group members who are socially tied share the same information and a stranger has any unique information. Incongruence occurs when group members who are socially tied possess different information, and one of them shares...
Leaders often establish personal relationships with their subordinates. These relationships are quite useful to both leaders and their followers. Such personal connections allow leaders to better motivate their subordinates, more efficiently communicate with them, increase trust, and receive informal feedback. In exchange, subordinates receive more...
Early efforts in the study of groups had an inherently temporal dimension, notably work on group dynamics and the related study of phases in group problem solving. Not surprisingly, the majority of work linking time to groups has focused on team development. By contrast, work on team performance has tended to take the form Input-Process-Output, in...
This article investigates the concepts and perspectives of conflict, power, and status developed across the disciplines of political science, psychology, and sociology. Although the different disciplines, at times, have different assumptions about actors and interactions, there is a great deal of similarity. This similarity allows one to uncover so...
The authors examined team demographic diversity, perceived team efficacy, intrateam conflict, and perceived team performance as predictors of members' intentions to remain in their team, a form of behavioral commitment. Eighty-three second-year MBA students randomly assigned to 28 three-person teams participated in a negotiation simulation. As hypo...
Toward phenomenology of groups and group membership - an introduction, H. Sondak Using existential-phenomenology to study a work team, R. Stablein Transitory interactions - fieldwork on the phenomenology of groups in organizations, A.B. Hargadon Why some teams emphasize learning more than others - evidence from business unit management teams, J.S....
This study examines intracultural negotiation within three different cultures--the United States (US), the People s Republic of China (PRC), and Japan. Within these cultures, we focus on the interactive effects of the self-concerns (operationalized as aspiration level) and other-concerns (operationalized as egoistic vs. prosocial motives) of negoti...
Multidisciplinary research on dynamics, problems, and potential of distributed work.
Technological advances and changes in the global economy are increasing the geographic distribution of work in industries as diverse as banking, wine production, and clothing design. Many workers communicate regularly with distant coworkers; some monitor and manipu...
A multi-faceted approach to process conflict is presented. In Study one, an exploratory analysis of qualitative data confirmed the existence of process conflict as separate from task conflict and relationship conflict. In addition, three distinct types of process conflict were found, including conflict surrounding work method or approach, schedulin...
In a longitudinal study, we found that higher group performance was associated with a particular pattern of conflict. Teams performing well were characterized by low but increasing levels of process conflict, low levels of relationship conflict, with a rise near project deadlines, and moderate levels of task conflict at the midpoint of group intera...
Previous research has shown that procedural fairness and outcome favorability interactively combine to influence people's reactions to their social exchanges. The tendency for people to respond more positively when outcomes are more favorable is reduced when procedural fairness (how things happen) is relatively high. This paper evaluates whether cu...
This study tested hypotheses developed from the distinct literatures on negotiations and coalitions and hypotheses integrating the two, In a complex, three-person negotiation simulation, subjects had to decide jointly how to allocate two resource pools, They were gir en multiple pieces of information regarding their negotiation preferences, coaliti...
This study examines the role of group composition and information distribution on group process and decision making. Three-person groups performed a decision task that involved solving a murder mystery (Stasser & Stewart, 1992). Groups were composed of (a) three individuals familiar to each other, (b) two familiar individuals and a stranger, or (c)...
Individuals′ concerns with entitlements and fairness are important in determining outcomes of negotiations. This paper examines the effects of organizational culture and resource valence on the decision rules individuals enact in creating fair resource allocations. It was hypothesized that organizational culture (economically oriented, relationship...
Most negotiation relationships consist of interactions that occur across time. This paper explores the influence of two variables on the outcomes of such negotiations: the mobility of negotiators and the frame of the short-term sacrifice required to reach long-term gain. Specifically, we focus on the integrativeness of agreements both within a stat...
Two studies were conducted examining the effects of power, distribution norms, and the scope of future interaction on small group negotiation. Subjects participated in a three-person negotiation exercise in which they had to reach agreements between two or three players to receive resources. In study one the effects of power position (high, medium,...
We conducted an experimental simulation to examine the impact of interfirm mobility and individual versus group decision making on managerial time horizons. Subjects played the role of firm members in a market consisting of several firms between which there existed the possibility of mobility. Within each firm, over several rounds of play, subjects...
We investigate how argument preparation (self-only, self/counter) and the timing of the first offer (immediate, delayed) combine to affect negotiation performance. Subjects participated in a dyadic negotiation concerning the out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit. Subjects prepared by generating a list of arguments in support of their case (self-only...
We investigate how a key structural aspect of negotiation—power—combines with aspiration level to affect the interaction pattern of negotiators. Conflicting research findings have revealed that in most cases negotiators with anequal balance of power reach agreements of higher joint gain than negotiators with an unequal power balance, but in some in...
This research combines the coalition and social dilemmas literature to understand the complexity of choice in small group decision making that occurs within organizations. In an exercise which simulates the organization as a resource dilemma, power balance (equal, unequal) is manipulated in five-person groups to examine its impact on coalition form...
We conducted an experimental simulation to examine the impact of interfirm mobility on managerial time horizons. Subjects played the role of firm members in a market consisting of several firms between which there existed the possibility of mobility. Within each firm, over several rounds of play, subjects negotiated how much to withdraw of a limite...
Subjects participated in a three-person negotiation exercise, in which they had to form two- or three-way coalitions to receive resources. The effects of power position (high, medium, low), distribution norms (contribution, need), and task meeting structure (caucus, joint) on the distribution of resources were examined. Most coalition theories assu...
This paper examines the tendency of group members to form coalitions when the effects of such behavior are harmful to the larger group. The groups under study must distribute a limited pool of resources among members in a social dilemma situation. If coalitions are formed, the resource is replenished at lower rate than if coalitions are not formed....
In an exercise which simulates the organization as a resource dilemma, discount rates were manipulated to examine their impact on coalition formation and group outcomes. Subjects played a 15-round resource allocation game. They had the option of forming coalitions, which decreased the size of the resource pool, or practicing collective resource all...
In an exercise which simulates the organization as a resource dilemma, discount rates were manipulated to examine their impact on coalition formation and group outcomes. Groups with a high discount rate used resource distribution strategies (coalition formation) that resulted in lower individual as well as group outcomes.
This research combines the coalition and social dilemmas literature to understand the complexity of choice in small group decision making within organizations. In an exercise which simulates the organization as a resource dilemma, power balance is manipulated in 5 person groups to examine its impact on coalition formation and group outcomes.
The impact of issue agendas, decision rule, and power balance on the quality of negotiated agreements in small groups was examined. Three-person groups negotiated an agreement on three issues, with each issue having five alternative levels. Groups using sequential agendas were less likely to achieve mutually beneficial agreements than groups using...
In this study we characterized small group negotiation as a mixed motive task that involved both cooperation and competition. We examined the impact of two group decision-making processes (decision rule and agenda) and one cognitive-motivational frame (aspiration level) on the quality of negotiated outcomes in small groups. Negotiation groups that...
Even within teams of peers, certain individuals have more power than others. Individual members may have essential skills and experience, networks outside the team, or status within the organization that give them more power than the average team member (French & Raven, 1959; Hollander, 1958). How these powerholders use their power may vary from te...