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Bringing Employees Closer: The Effect of Proximity on Communication When Teams Function under Time Pressure
Abstract
Some studies have assumed close proximity to improve team communication on the premise that reduced physical distance increases the chance of contact and information exchange. However, research showed that the relationship between team proximity and team communication is not always straightforward and may depend on some contextual conditions. Hence, this study was designed with the purpose of examining how a contextual condition like time pressure may influence the relationship between team proximity and team communication. In this study, time pressure was conceptualized as a two-dimensional construct: challenge time pressure and hindrance time pressure, such that each has different moderating effects on the proximity–communication relationship.
... As team members are embedded in the same social context, they tend to experience similar, if not the same, stressors at the same time (Sacramento et al., 2013). Just as individuals have to deal with both challenging and hindering conditions at work (Cavanaugh et al., 2000), members of innovation teams are likely affected by such opposing forces as well (Chong et al., 2012;Rodríguez-Escudero et al., 2010). Distinguishing between different types of team stressors has proven useful because of their differential effects on team processes and outcomes. ...
... Although the challenge-hindrance distinction provides a useful foundation for understanding how team stressors may serve to differentially impact the creativity and efficiency of innovation teams, the precise mechanisms that mediate the effects of these different types of stressors have yet to be described (Cronin et al., 2011;van Knippenberg, 2017). Indeed, we are only at the beginning of examining the differential effects of team stressors in the context of innovation teams (Chong et al., 2012;Rodríguez-Escudero et al., 2010). Examining the differential effects and mechanisms is important because it is likely that the ways in which stressors shape outcomes at the individual level of analysis may not translate to the team level of analysis (Razinskas & Hoegl, 2020). ...
... We thus agree with prior research that individual-level frameworks of stressors, such as the challenge-hindrance stressor framework (e.g., Podsakoff et al., 2007), are useful in understanding how team stressors shape the processes and outcomes of innovation teams. Some evidence exists for challenge and hindrance team stressors to differentially shape the performance of innovation teams (Chong et al., 2011;Chong et al., 2012;Rodríguez-Escudero et al., 2010;Sacramento et al., 2013). For example, Rodríguez-Escudero et al. (2010) showed that the most typical hindrance team stressors (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict) impair both the quality of products developed and the efficiency of innovation teams (i.e., the degree to which they adhere to schedule and budget objectives; Hoegl & Parboteeah, 2007). ...
Despite the clear relevance of stressors for the creative work performed by individuals, how they affect teams in their ability to innovate is poorly understood. Thus, the question as to what kind of, and by which mechanisms, team stressors may give rise to better innovation team performance needs further consideration. We address this issue by applying the challenge–hindrance stressor framework to the team level of analysis in the context of innovation teams. By integrating insights from social identity theory and the attentional focus model, we highlight the importance of identity‐ and information‐based mechanisms in transmitting the differential effects of challenge and hindrance team stressors on the performance of innovation teams. We test our arguments for two of the most prominent indicators of innovation team performance (i.e., team creativity and team efficiency) in a multi‐informant sample of team members, team‐internal leaders, and team‐external managers from 114 innovation teams. Our findings support the opposing effects of challenge and hindrance team stressors in predicting innovation team performance through the two differential mechanisms. Specifically, for team efficiency, both team stressors come with the cost of team task conflict (i.e., the information‐based mechanism). However, whereas challenge team stressors enhance collective team identification (i.e., the identity‐based mechanism), hindrance team stressors undermine collective team identification, thereby aggravating their already negative effect on team efficiency. In terms of team creativity, our results suggest that both types of team stressors exert their indirect effects solely via the identity‐based mechanism. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
... As team members are embedded in the same social context, they tend to experience similar, if not the same, stressors at the same time (Sacramento, Fay, and West, 2013). Just as individuals have to deal with both challenging and hindering conditions at work (Cavanaugh et al., 2000), members of innovation teams are likely affected by such opposing forces as well (Chong et al., 2012;Rodríguez-Escudero, Carbonell, and Munuera-Aleman, 2010). ...
... Although the challenge-hindrance distinction provides a useful foundation for understanding how team stressors may serve to differentially impact the creativity and efficiency of innovation teams, the precise mechanisms that mediate the effects of these different types of stressors have yet to be described (Cronin, Weingart, and Todorova, 2011;van Knippenberg, 2017). Indeed, we are only at the beginning of examining the differential effects of team stressors in the context of innovation teams (Chong et al., 2012;Rodríguez-Escudero, Carbonell, and Munuera-Aleman, 2010). Examining the differential effects and mechanisms is important because it is likely that the ways in which stressors shape outcomes at the individual level of analysis may not translate to the team level of analysis (Razinskas and Hoegl, 2020). ...
... We thus agree with prior research that individual-level frameworks of stressors, such as the challenge-hindrance stressor framework (e.g., Podsakoff, LePine, and LePine, 2007) are useful in understanding how team stressors shape the processes and outcomes of innovation teams. Some evidence exists for challenge and hindrance team stressors to differentially shape the performance of innovation teams (Chong et al., 2011;Chong et al., 2012;Rodríguez-Escudero, Carbonell, and Munuera-Aleman, 2010;Sacramento, Fay, and West, 2013). For example, Rodríguez-Escudero and colleagues (2010) showed that the most typical hindrance team stressors (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict) impair both the quality of products developed and the efficiency of innovation teams (i.e., the degree to which they adhere to schedule and budget objectives; Hoegl and Parboteeah, 2007). ...
Despite the clear relevance and the numerous investigations of workplace stressors for individuals to excel, such stimuli affecting team members embedded in the social context of work groups are less explored. Thus, why certain team stressors promote, while others inhibit, team performance still needs further consideration. Therefore, this study draws on the challenge-hindrance stressor framework and extends it to the team level of analysis. Moreover, this article advances this framework on the team level with two key team dynamics within the team stressors—team performance relationships, that is, team commitment and intrateam conflict. The posited hypotheses are tested on a multi-respondent sample (team-external managers, team leaders, and members) of innovation project teams. The findings not only empirically support the opposing nature of challenge and hindrance team stressors in predicting team performance, but also reveal the positive (via team commitment) and negative (via intrateam conflict) mediating pathways such team stressors take. While challenge team stressors solely pass through the positive route via team commitment, hindrance team stressors follow the negative route via intrateam conflict as well as the positive route with a reverse (i.e., negative) effect. Resulting implications are discussed.
... Specifically, face-to-face communication has been associated with poorer performance in teams under (Caballer et al., 2005), potentially undermining the benefits of reduced physical distance between team members. Chong et al. (2012) reached a similar conclusion that teams under high time pressure do not benefit from being in close proximity, and that time pressure can moderate the relationship between proximity and communication effectiveness. ...
... Prior research found that spatial location did not determine a tie but rather the strength of a relationship (McPherson et al., 2001). Additional research will need to be conducted to conclude the strength of a relationship under differencing time pressure environments, as Chong et al. (2012) found those under periods of high time pressure did not benefit from close proximity. ...
Workplace collaboration depends on communication and is critical in building design. For large, highly diverse teams, such as those found in architecture and engineering (A/E) who work under timebased deadlines, homophily—or the tendency to seek interactions with others of similar backgrounds and values—can play a role in how individuals communicate. Homophily is potentially damaging to teams that must coordinate information from a diverse membership, since communication may become less likely to occur across disciplines. Therefore, this research examines the extent to which a sampled A/E team exhibits homophily in their information exchanges across multiple communication media, when under the moderating effect of two different levels of time pressure. The study uses a social network analysis of the communication patterns in an 18-member studio team working for a national A/E firm located in the southeastern United States. The results show some evidence of homophily as a predictor of information exchanges when controlling for the hierarchical ties within the studio team and the physical distance between its members in the office. In a low time pressure work environment, face-to-face communication was more likely when members were of the same gender. This effect was not present when the team was under high time pressure, where face-to-face interactions were instead more likely between members of the same discipline. Homophily in phone communication was found in the generational similarity of team members, regardless of time pressure. There was little evidence that homophily was a predictor of email communication. These results have implications for the design of studio workplaces that support information-rich interactions, the assignment of individual designers to project teams that are more likely to interact with co-workers from different backgrounds, and organizational policy regarding the use of specific communication media based on the project schedule and time pressure.
... Insights from goal-setting theory (Locke and Latham 2002) show that challenging goals are a strong motivator and help a team focus its activities on achieving the goal they perceive are attainable. Other studies have shown that challenging time pressure is seen as a positive stressor and enhances team performance (Podsakoff, LePine et al. 2007;Chong, Van Eerde et al. 2011;Chong, van Eerde et al. 2012). Under conditions of challenging time pressure (i.e. a pressure that promotes goal achievement) we hypothesize that teams will work with each other to produce the required decision. ...
... ;Ancona, Goodman et al. 2001;Mitchell and James 2001;Arrow, Poole et al. 2004;Saunders and Ahuja 2006;Street and Ward 2012).The widely accepted inverted-U-model(Chong, van Eerde et al. 2012) shows that superior performance can be associated with time pressure up to a certain level. At some point along the inverted-U, the time pressure results in inferior performance levels. ...
Newer information systems development approaches such as agile methods, which emphasize a sense-and-respond approach, increase the number of operating decisions made regularly within the development team. These methods are being used by an increasing number of organizations as a means of improving the agility of the development process. Development teams are required to make regular group decisions and team members work closely with each other to develop software in time-boxed iterations. However, the literature lacks a clear understanding about how the cohesion of the development teams impacts the decisions made under the time pressures imposed on teams by the agile methodology. There is a paucity of literature examining the impact team cohesion has on the decision-making quality of an agile process. This research-in-progress paper seeks to fill this void by examining the impact the group cohesiveness of decision-making teams have on the relationship between time pressure and decision quality during the software development process. By reviewing and analyzing the literature on group decision making, time pressure, group cohesion and decision quality we begin to develop a group decision-making model for better predicting decision quality based on time pressures and group cohesiveness. 1 INTRODUCTION The groundwork for the study of decision making in operational environments was laid when Herbert Simon first advanced the idea that the psychology behind decision making was a fundamental aspect of organizational management (Simon 1959; Simon 1979). Since then, scholars have continuously sought to understand the contextual factors surrounding the decision-making process (Nunamaker, Dennis et al. 1991; Brodbeck, Kerschreiter et al. 2007; Weber and Morris 2010; Appelt, Milch et al. 2011). Driven by the understanding that decision making is a major factor for organizational success (Ireland and Miller 2004), numerous theories of decision making have been put forward which attempt to describe the conditions under which the optimum decision-making environment can be achieved. As information becomes more readily available and decision-making scenarios become increasingly complex. One major stream of research on decision making focuses on the behavioural features and cognitive abilities of the decision makers. Making informed decisions involves the gathering of all pertinent information and the processing of that information to establish an output choice from a number of possibilities. While there have been major technological advances in group decision support systems (GDSS), the behavioural side of the decision making process lags behind the technology, with many reporting that decision makers often do not use the technology at their disposal (Kayande, De Bruyn et
... Although proximity is an essential factor for team performance, team members tend to feel distant during virtual collaboration because they are geographically dispersed. However, recent research explained the paradoxical phenomenon, in which someone feels close to geographically distant team members, by proposing a model of perceived proximity [19] and emphasized psychological or perceived proximity as an important factor for VTs' performance [20][21][22]. ...
... Perceived proximity refers to "a dyadic and asymmetric construct which reflects one person's perception of how close or how far another person is" [19, p. 983] or "a cognitive and affective sense of relational closeness" [22, p. 1219]. Perceived proximity is regarded as an essential concept for understanding collaborative but geographically distributed work and has been given considerable attention in recent literature on team work [15,[19][20][21][22]28]. The results obtained by O'Leary and Wilson [22] suggested that physical proximity (i.e., geographic closeness measured in miles or kilometers) does not affect the quality of relationships in geographically distributed teams but perceived proximity does affect these relationships. ...
Because of intense competition, organizations are devoting more effort to improving employees’ creative performance. Using virtual teams of employees who collaborate and communicate through information and communication technologies, it is possible to creatively solve organizational problems through a flexible use of scattered knowledge resources in organizations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two kinds of trust networks (i.e., cognitive-based and affective-based trust networks) on employee creative performance during virtual collaboration. In addition, the author examined the impact of perceived proximity (i.e., a cognitive and affective sense of relational closeness) on the relationship between the trust networks and creative performance. This study provides academic and practical implications for establishing competitive strategies and utilizing virtual teams.
... Experience refers to an individual's exposure to different problems and their related solutions (Ansoff, 1988;Brockmann and Simmonds, 1997). With experience, individuals develop more expansive knowledge structures organized around implicit principles and abstractions that become advantageous when attempting to make appropriate decisions when exposed to a variety of problems and solutions (i.e. by gaining more experience) (Chi et al., 1988;Day and Lord, 1992;Hogarth, 1987). Experience, in particular the breadth of experience, has been found to play an important role in the decision-making process (Beyer et al., 1997). ...
... Managers who succumb to pressure engage in reduced information sharing pertaining to capabilities and resources (Chong et al., 2012). In today's business environment, one of the primary sources of pressure for managers derives from the globalization of markets. ...
Purpose
Although a great deal of research has focused on global marketing strategy development and implementation, little research has focused on the global marketing managers charged with the responsibilities of developing and implementing such strategy. The aim of this paper is to develop a model that identifies a set of soft skills that have the ability to increase the effectiveness of global marketing managers in making the tactical adaptations necessary to develop and implement global marketing strategy in an increasingly complex and dynamic marketplace.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model is developed with coinciding propositions.
Findings
The model developed theorizes that the ability of global marketing managers to make tactical adaptations to the firm's global marketing strategy (and thus enhance performance) is driven by the soft skills of tacit knowledge, experience, learning, unlearning, intuition, self‐confidence, flexibility, prioritization of problems, working under pressure and ambiguity tolerance.
Practical implications
The model highlights the specific soft skills that firms can work to foster in their global marketing managers and educators can work to incorporate within a curriculum. Through the development of these soft skills within a firm's global marketing managers, the firm can achieve a competitive position within the marketplace.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to conceptualize a specific set of soft skills that enhance a global marketing manager's ability to make tactical adaptations to the firm's global marketing strategy by which the firm can be more competitive. As such, this study provides for a better understanding of how soft skills relate to the development and implementation of global marketing strategy and how firms can be more competitive by not only employing unique human capital, but by developing global marketing managers who are more effective at adapting to constantly changing global market conditions.
... These challenges bring a high psychological risk to employees. The psychological risk is particularly high among female employees, who play multiple social roles, new employees, who lack social experience, and old employees, who find it hard to keep abreast with the times, adapt to new environment, and learn new things [5][6][7][8][9][10]. ...
As the competition between enterprises intensifies, employees have witnessed a decline of psychological health year by year and severe anxiety and depression. To ensure the normal work of employees, it is important to implement psychological occupational therapy intervention (POTI). The previous studies on corporate occupational values focus on the behavioral variables and attitude variables related to occupations. The research paradigm does not suit a specific group of employees. Therefore, this paper explores the individual differences in POTI guided by the realization of occupational values. For a specific group of employees, the correlations of the psychological problems with job attitude, job involvement, and psychological health level were reasoned logically, a theoretical model was established, and the full-model map was plotted to illustrate the influence of the realization of occupational values over POTI. Then, the evaluation data on the psychological intervention effect of 2,800 employees were explored based on multikernel learning, and an individual difference prediction model was constructed through multikernel learning. Finally, the predicted results of different groups of employees were compared, revealing the effectiveness of our algorithm.
... Third, based on the definition that hurrying under time pressure increases the speed of action for faster performance, it is constructed using the equivalent interval scale of four questions derived from previous studies [72,73]. ...
This study aims to reduce the possibility of human mistakes and accidents among airline cabin crew by identifying the cause of human errors by focusing on the importance of the causal relationship between human factors and human errors. According to statistical analysis, among the five human factors, physical fatigue, psychological stress, and the complacency of cabin crew had a positive impact on human errors. However, hurrying under time pressure and the distractions caused by external factors do not significantly affect human errors. Human errors have a negative impact on job crafting and mental health. This study analyzed the human factors influencing the cabin crew’s errors and revealed the importance of complacency, which was not covered in previous studies. Finally, the research implications, limitations, and future studies were discussed.
... Perceived proximity. Concerning proximity, actual distance has been found to influence the quality and frequency of communication in organizational settings (Chong et al., 2012;Nurmi & Hinds, 2020). At the same time as employees' physical workspaces are shrinking and becoming more shared, increasing proximity (Khazanchi et al., 2018), the mediated work environment is expanding across time and physical boundaries, decreasing proximity, yet paradoxically in many cases increasing perceived proximity. ...
This study investigates the relationships between the use of various organizational ICTs, communication visibility, and perceived proximity to distant colleagues. In addition, this study examines the interplay between visibility and proximity, to determine whether visibility improves proximity, or vice versa. These relationships are tested in a global company using two waves of panel survey data. ESM use increases communication visibility and perceived proximity, while controlling for prior levels of visibility, proximity, and the use of other organizational ICTs. The influence of ESM on network translucence and perceived proximity is generally stronger than the impact of other technologies on these outcomes. These results highlight the importance of considering various aspects of the technological landscape conjointly, as well as distinguishing the two dimensions of communication visibility. Finally, the results indicate that perceived proximity has causal priority over communication visibility, indicating that communication visibility exists partly as an attribution of perceived proximity to distant colleagues, and is not solely inferred from the use of organizational ICTs.
... Insights from goal-setting theory (Locke and Latham 2002) show that challenging goals are a strong motivator and help a group focus its activities on achieving the goal they perceive are attainable. Other studies have shown that challenge time pressure is seen as a positive stressor and enhances group performance (Chong et al. 2011;Chong, van Eerde, Rutte and Chai 2012;Podsakoff, LePine and LePine 2007). Under conditions of challenge time pressure (i.e. a pressure that promotes goal achievement) we hypothesize that groups will work with each other to produce the required decision. ...
Group decision making is increasingly important for the successful completion of software development projects.
Group oriented development approaches such as agile methods, which emphasize a sense-and-respond approach are
becoming an integral part of software development. These methods are being used by an increasing number of
organizations as a means of improving the agility and quality of the development process, and within these
processes groups are increasingly involved in critical decision making. Groups are required to make regular group
decisions and group members work closely with each other to develop software in time-boxed iterations. However,
the literature lacks a clear understanding about how varying degrees of time pressure affects the decision outcomes
of the development groups. As group cohesion is viewed as the most fundamental issue facing group decisionmaking processes, in this research-in-progress paper we develop a research instrument to measure the impact of time
pressure and group cohesion on decision-making outcomes
... While making speedy decisions often has a negative connotation, such as neglecting important information, when the group feels motivated they will process information quicker and take into account salient cues relative to the decision that needs to be made. Studies have shown that challenge time pressure is seen as a positive stressor and enhances group performance (Chong et al., 2011;Chong et al., 2012;Podsakoff et al., 2007). Groups that perceive themselves to be under challenging time pressure will adopt problem-solving approaches to achieve quality and timeliness. ...
Two of the key themes in contemporary information systems development (ISD) literature are (i) how to build and release systems in shorter time frames and (ii) how to enable development groups to build systems in a cohesive manner. This is reflected by today's predominant contemporary ISD methods such as agile, their distinguishing feature being an explicit emphasis on continuous, timely releases and a facilitation of effective group collaboration and communication. In a survey of 119 software developers we explore the effects of group cohesion and two types of time pressure, hindrance and challenge, on the decision-making quality of ISD groups. Our results showed challenge time pressure and group cohesion to have a positive effect with hindrance time pressure having no significant impact. We discuss the implications of this and offer insights with respect to theory and practice for those wishing to improve the decision-making quality of their ISD groups.
... Furthermore, we could not control for the proximity in the location where project members were working. It may affect how teams involved in new product development communicate ( Chong et al., 2012 ), as well as learning and creativity ( Gong and Xin, 2019 ). ...
Project management teams are often fluid, changing in composition over projects. Fluidity enables innovative project success, as it allows organizing social capital dynamically across projects. In this study, we argue for an optimum between fluidity and stability. We operationalize project management fluidity as the degree of intactness of the whole team from one project to the next. In a sample of 5370 projects of video game development over ten years using information obtained by web crawling on the internet, we find an inverted-U-shaped relation between intactness and project success, assessed as sales, expert reviews, and consumer reviews. We show that optimal intactness shifts according to project context; higher success occurs at lower levels of intactness when projects require more innovation. Finally, we replicate our findings using intactness of relations between project managers and their operational teams. We discuss the implications for project management, and potential future research.
... Furthermore, we could not control for the proximity in the location where project members were working. It may affect how teams involved in new product development communicate ( Chong et al., 2012 ), as well as learning and creativity ( Gong and Xin, 2019 ). ...
Project management teams are often fluid, changing in composition over projects. Fluidity enables innovative project success, as it allows organizing social capital dynamically across projects. In this study, we argue for an optimum between fluidity and stability. We operationalize project management fluidity as the degree of intactness of the whole team from one project to the next. In a sample of 5370 projects of video game development over ten years using information obtained by web crawling on the internet, we find an inverted-U-shaped relation between intactness and project success, assessed as sales, expert reviews, and consumer reviews. We show that optimal intactness shifts according to project context; higher success occurs at lower levels of intactness when projects require more innovation. Finally, we replicate our findings using intactness of relations between project managers and their operational teams. We discuss the implications for project management, and potential future research.
... opposite direct effects on team performance(Chong, van Eerde, Chai, & Rutte, 2011) and opposite interaction effects with the geographic proximity of team members affecting their communication(Chong, van Eerde, Rutte, & Chai, 2012). ...
The contemporary work environment is characterized by an ongoing trend to embed employees in teams because of their expected abilities for handling complex tasks and integrating diverse sets of knowledge and skills. However, leveraging this potential is endangered by stimuli within and outside of teams that take a toll on cohesion and teamwork among team members. Understanding the role that stressors and demands play in the work‐related functioning of teams and their members is therefore an increasingly important challenge in the organizational behavior literature. Whereas research on stressors and demands has primarily focused on the individual level, we expand the research scope by considering these phenomena to be multilevel. We perform an interdisciplinary review of the literature on these stimuli in teams and show how related research, such as that on destructive leadership, may benefit from a more balanced account and integration of frameworks on stressors. Our multilevel review is informative for the literature on stressors and demands at the individual and team levels, as it offers an important conceptual grounding for how and why various stimuli in this social environment differentially influence both the collective entity and its individual team members.
... An important issue in many large consulting firms is how to distribute the consultants across the consulting firm's offices. Communication theory suggests that communication between people can be strongly driven by physical proximity between them, especially for innovation-related communication [47][48][49][50][51]. However, consultants perform much of their work on the premises of external clients. ...
There has been an increasing interest in understanding how social networks evolve over time. The study of network dynamics is often based on modeling the transition of a (small) number of snapshots of the network observations. The approach however is not suitable for analyzing networks of event streams where edges are constantly changing in frequency, strength, sentiment, or type in real time.
In this paper, we present a relational event model that directly models interaction rates as a function of endogenous and exogenous variables. The effects of these variables are likely to be dynamic over time themselves. To properly capture the dynamic nature of the network drivers, we develop a moving window approach that can accomodate arbitrarily long memory lengths. We show how Bayes factors and posterior model probabilities can be used to quantify the statistical evidence in the data for the existence, direction, and relative strength of the network drivers, over time.
We illustrate the approach by analyzing streams of email messages about innovation activities between employees in a consultancy firm. We allow the drivers of these email exchanges to vary over time and consider two different memory lengths (60 days versus 150 days).
The proposed methodology can be used to uncover new insights about interaction dynamics in real time event networks. For instance, the illustrative analyses reveal how similarity (in terms of expertise, tenure, or geographic location) affects email network dynamics and how this gradually changes over a year.
... [228][229][230][231][232]). And yet, despite these glaring theoretical shortcomings, Arousal Theory continues to be taught as a fundamental "law" in psychology and the broader realms of human behaviour research: from product development teamwork [233] to the piloting of aircraft [234], from competing in sport [235] to solving complex cognitive puzzles [236]. ...
... As a consequence, the group loses important functionality, including monitoring errors and managing workload. 64 Another important aspect of teams under pressure was described by Funke et al. 65 and Moon et al., 66 who found that excessive workload was associated with a reduction of communication and coordination in a team. According to Piquette et al., 67 communication breakdown within the team has negative effects on decision making. ...
Objective This paper provides a narrative overview of the literature concerning clinical decision-making processes when staff come under pressure, particularly in uncertain, dynamic and emergency situations.
Methods Studies between 1980 and 2015 were analysed using a six-phase thematic analysis framework to achieve an in-depth understanding of the complex origins of medical errors that occur when people and systems are under pressure and how work pressure affects clinical performance and patient outcomes. Literature searches were conducted using a Summons Search Service platform; search criteria included a variety of methodologies, resulting in the identification of 95 papers relevant to the present review.
Results Six themes emerged in the present narrative review using thematic analysis: organisational systems, workload, time pressure, teamwork, individual human factors and case complexity. This analysis highlights that clinical outcomes in emergency situations are the result of a variety of interconnecting factors. These factors may affect the ability of clinical staff in emergency situations to provide quality, safe care in a timely manner.
Conclusions The challenge for researchers is to build the body of knowledge concerning the safe management of patients, particularly where clinicians are working under pressure. This understanding is important for developing pathways that optimise clinical decision making in uncertain and dynamic environments.
What is known about the topic? Emergency departments (EDs) are characterised by high complexity, high throughput and greater uncertainty compared with routine hospital wards or out-patient situations, and the ED is therefore prone to unpredictable workflows and non-replicable conditions when presented with unique and complex cases.
What does this paper add? Clinical decision making can be affected by pressures with complex origins, including organisational systems, workload, time constraints, teamwork, human factors and case complexity. Interactions between these factors at different levels of the decision-making process can increase the complexity of problems and the resulting decisions to be made.
What are the implications for practitioners? The findings of the present study provide further evidence that consideration of medical errors should be seen primarily from a ‘whole-of-system’ perspective rather than as being primarily the responsibility of individuals. Although there are strategies in place in healthcare organisations to eliminate errors, they still occur. In order to achieve a better understanding of medical errors in clinical practice in times of uncertainty, it is necessary to identify how diverse pressures can affect clinical decisions, and how these interact to influence clinical outcomes.
... The practical justification for considering time pressure is that in our fast-paced society, people often have to make decisions under time pressure, and especially then the sharing of tacit or private information would be relevant. From a theoretical perspective, previous research has shown that time pressure lowers decision quality in groups, in the laboratory as well as in actual teams (Bowman and Wittenbaum 2012;Chong et al. 2012;De Dreu 2003), supposedly because time pressure increases the need for cognitive closure (NFCC), that is, the desire to reach quick decisions in ambiguous situations (Webster and Kruglanski 1994). Moreover, the motivated information processing in groups (MIP-G) model predicts that social motivation and epistemic motivation such as NFCC, separately and, most importantly, in interaction, affect information processing and sharing in groups. ...
In today’s knowledge economy, given the increasing number of online collaborative platforms, it is even more important to understand and manage the sharing of information. Although it is widely accepted that technological design affects how people use a platform, it is a real challenge to constantly stimulate information sharing (IS), also because individuals often behave strategically, that is, share relatively unimportant information, but keep the important private information for themselves. This research aims to understand how people’s motivations and aspects of communication technology interact to affect IS. Specifically, we expand the view of IS as strategic behaviour by investigating (1) how social motivation (prosocial vs. pro-self) and time pressure (high vs. low), interactively, impact strategic IS and (2) how technological features (push- vs. pull-information display) can increase the sharing of private information. Across two experiments, we found that push-information displays increase the sharing of private information. This held especially for individuals with a prosocial motivation. Additionally, we found that actual and not perceived time pressure impacts (private) IS. Implications for technological design choices and knowledge management are discussed.
... geographical dispersion, asynchronous communication) make the management of highly unstructured and diverse innovation phases, such as the FFE, a challenge for serial innovators (Frishammar et al., 2011). Moreover, given the high uncertainty and the time restrictions that development teams face when pacing development activities, the impact of time pressure on VPTs' ability to successfully meet the FFE goals also needs further consideration (Chong et al., 2012). This study draws on two VPTs from two engineering-related Industry-Academia collaboration projects. ...
In this paper, we study the fuzzy front-end (FFE) of innovation in the context of temporary virtual project teams (VPTs). We argue that despite the importance of innovation for today’s organizations, and the prevalence of VPTs in most industries, there are no studies examining how the innovation process plays out in this context. We draw on two temporary VPTs (Saint-Germain and Los Innovadores) from two different engineering-related Industry-Academia collaboration projects. Saint-Germain was a 24-hour-long VPT of five engineers dispersed in two countries. Los Innovadores was a 5-month-long VPT of engineers and designers dispersed across five countries. We collected interview, observation, documentary, and other data from both teams from start to end of the VPT lifecycle, which we analysed thematically. Our analysis is still underway and so far: (a) starts to unpack the different phases of the innovation process (Case 1) and different activities within each phase (Cases 1 and 2); and (b) hints at factors that may be influencing the FFE in the VPTs under study. We present these preliminary thoughts and outline the expected contributions of our study.
... Communication preference: Knell and Chi (2012), Troth et al. (2012), Henderson (2008), Canary and Spitzberg's (1987), Chong et al. (2012), Hoegl and Gemuenden (2001), Mayfield and Mayfield (2009) and Liang and Picken (2011) suggest to analyse the mechanics of communications between leader and team members and how it affects the process and outcomes (De Vries et al., 2010) ...
Many international studies linked project success to specific factors such as leader-member exchange relationship theory (LMX), project culture, and team communication. The study expands our efforts to examine team communication as a mediator for the project success factors relations. 186 responses collected from different private and public organisations that represent different international nationalities in Abu Dhabi emirate in UAE. The study uses a series of confirmatory factor analysis to test the measurement models, and structural equation modelling to test project success factors' model relations, hypotheses, and team communication's mediating impact. The study contributes to the understanding of international practices in project management field. Moreover, the findings reveal to what degree team communication, project leadership, and organisational culture influence the project success. In the future, organisations and project leaders responsible for projects will be able to apply the outcomes to reduce project failure. (2015) 'Leadership, culture and team communication: analysis of project success causality – a UAE case', Int.
... The attention of previous studies has been focused on identifying internal antecedents of innovation capability and performance. For example, the influence of leadership styles (Oke, Munshi, & Walumbwa, 2009), organizational processes (Jespersen, 2012;Tyagi & Sawhney, 2010), and human capital (Beugelsdijk, 2008;Chong, Eerde, Rutte, & Chai, 2012) on innovation performance has been recognized. However, organizations are becoming increasingly networked with an increase in the number and intensity of collaborations for innovations and new product development (NPD). ...
In this study, we use blended theoretical arguments from resource dependence theory, social capital theory, and the knowledge-based view to posit that supply chain partner innovativeness enhances a firm's innovation strategy which in turn positively influences innovation performance. In addition, we argue that the effect of supply chain partner innovativeness on product innovation strategy could be further enhanced by innovation climate and having strategic relationships with key supply chain partners. Using data collected from 207 manufacturing firms in Australia, the findings show that key supply chain partner innovativeness has a positive effect on product innovation strategy. Further, the effect of supply chain partner innovativeness on innovation strategy is enhanced when firms have stronger strategic relationships with their key supply chain partners. Finally, we find that the joint influence of innovation climate and strategic relationships with key supply chain partners enhances the effect of supply chain partner innovativeness on innovation strategy. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.
... Also, it appears that through close proximity, people concentrate more to the local information at the expense of more remote information and place attention disproportionately at the local information rather than the team level, potentially distracting them from attending to the team as a whole -reducing sensemaking capability of teams. Next, it should be noted that, consistent with previous studies, team member proximity can be a moderator variable (Hoegl et al., 2007), or the relationship between team proximity and sensemaking capability is not always straightforward and may depend on some contextual conditions (Chong et al., 2012). Also, we found that there is no statistical association between team sensemaking capability and team member familiarity. ...
With the increasing popularity of organizational sensemaking in the literature, sensemaking capability of firms attracts many researchers and practitioners from different fields. Nevertheless, sensemaking capability is rarely addressed in the new product development (NPD) project teams in the technology and innovation management literature. Specifically, we know little about what team sensemaking capability is, its ingredients and benefits, and how it works in NPD projects (e.g., its antecedents and consequences). By investigating 92 NPD project teams, we found that (1) team sensemaking capability, which is composed of internal and external communication, information gathering, information classification, building shared mental models, and taking experimental actions, has a positive impact on the information implementation and speed-to-market; (2) information implementation and speed-to-market mediate the relationship between team sensemaking capability and new product success; and (3) team sensemaking capability mediates the relationship between team processes and information implementation and partially mediates the relationship between team processes and speed-to-market.We also found that team autonomy, interpersonal trust among team members, and open-mindedness of team members positively influence the development of team sensemaking capability. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study findings are discussed.
... Typical examples are: time urgency, polychronicity, pacing style, time perspective and time pressure (e.g. Chong, Eerde, Rutte, & Chai, 2012;Gevers, Rutte, & van Eerde, 2006;Souitaris & Maestro, 2010;Waller, Conte, Gibson, & Carpenter, 2001). They are treated as variables that describe teams' or team members' characteristics, or they are used to define temporal diversity variables that are supposed to represent stable characteristics of teams (e.g. ...
In this introduction to the special issue on Time and Change in Teams, we argue that the field of team research shows signs of a problem-method misfit with respect to the study of processes. Drawing on the distinction between differential and temporal (or variable vs. process) research, we scrutinise recent theories and research practices in the field, aiming to better understand the lack of congruence between research objectives and methods. We also discuss ways in which the gap between theory and method can be narrowed, and how the five studies making up this special issue contribute to this. We conclude with suggesting some future directions for the study of time and change in teams.
Purpose
The authors investigate when and why a subordinate's expressive suppression facilitates workplace creativity, building on the conservation of resources theory and considering the effect of the supervisor's expressive suppression and time pressure as boundary conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
Multisource data were collected from 132 teams in northwestern China, including 132 supervisors and 648 subordinates. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the effects.
Findings
The subordinate’s expressive suppression was positively related to their workplace creativity. Challenge time pressure was positively related to workplace creativity, and the subordinate’s expressive suppression was positively related to workplace creativity when challenge time pressure was lower and the supervisor's expressive suppression was higher. Hindrance time pressure was negatively related to workplace creativity, and a positive relationship between a subordinate's expressive suppression and workplace creativity was also found with less hindrance time pressure and greater expressive suppression by their supervisor.
Originality/value
By examining the role of the supervisor as a source of downward spillovers in various time pressure contexts, the study explains why a subordinate’s suppression facilitates workplace creativity from the conservation of resources perspective.
The global manufacturing industry is entering an era of considerable growth and innovation due to radical developments in advanced technologies. Knowledge remains crucial in improving product design, decision making, productivity, and increasing the speed of innovation. Communication is at the heart of knowledge exchange between stakeholders, especially those with different technical and social backgrounds. However, significant barriers exist when sharing product design knowledge due to the lack of available formalized tools and methods. In this article, to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration among stakeholders during product design, a method to systematically improve the understanding of target objects, including the composition of the object, nature of the object, and tools to support its related communication, is proposed. Further, a knowledge representation framework is described which enables parties to clearly understand the characteristics of the object and greatly improve communication efficiency. A case study is presented to validate how the proposed framework provides valuable insights into the improvement of design communication and contributes to global manufacturing development.
The aim of this thesis was to link individual, contextual and communicational factors during a group activity and to study theirs effects on collective performances and workload during collaborative task. Our first study focused on linking workload measurement in a group context and the temporal structure of communication within the group. Results showed that the temporal structure of communication is modified by the amount of workload estimate by the group. Indeed, the time spent sharing the information was more important when the workload was lighter. The aim of the second study was to examine the interaction between context (face to face or at distance), communication modes (oral, written), workload and personality on performances. A first analysis of the collected data allowed us to model the interactions between these factors and their effects on performances. The resulting model predicted effects of the communication mode, the context as well as the workload estimation on performances. In addition, some personality traits contributed also to the performances, either directly of by means of the workload level. Thus, the best performances were obtained in face to face condition, with oral communication, with open mind participants. The second axis of the data analysis aimed to study the relationship between the structure of the participant’s personality and the workload level. Statistical analysis highlighted that those who are categorised as friendly and conscientious personalities, when in a group task context estimated the level of workload weaker in comparison with other. The last axis confirmed the links between the temporal structure of communication and the workload level within a group. Finally, the third study provided a applied component to this basic research by testing the recommendations based on our previous studies. The results indicated that the addition of precise instruction and specific tools to realize the task supported the development of structured operating strategies the participants to develop structured operational strategies improving collective performances.
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the determinants of team engagement emerging as a collective team-level phenomenon under time pressure context. The paper particularly explores how teams working under time pressure conditions use their social resources to develop into highly engaged teams.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper develops a conceptual framework along with related propositions by integrating diverse literature from the field of team processes, leadership and engagement. The arguments are theoretically embedded into the job demands-resources (JD-R) model to explain the emergence of team engagement under time pressure conditions.
Findings
The suggested conceptual model based on the JD-R model reveal that teams working under time pressure conditions view it as a challenging job demand and, hence, use their social resources as a coping mechanism, thereby developing into highly engaged teams. However, the paper finds that for team engagement to emerge under time pressure, teams require two important determinants. These two main determinants are team leader engaging behaviors and team climate. Engaging team leader’s behaviors include four sub-components: emotional agility, use of humor, efficient delegation and quality of feedback. Team climate constitute three sub-components: open communication, fun at work and compassion within the team. Only teams which have a strong team climate and team leaders’ engaging behaviors tend to have high team engagement under time pressure contexts.
Research limitations/implications
The paper offers implications for both HR and line managers in team-based organizations to promote factors that enhance team engagement, for teams to perform under time pressure situations.
Originality/value
The paper identifies determinants of team engagement under time pressure context and further adds to the understanding of team processes by theoretically exploring how time pressure as a job demand can be channeled in a positive manner for promoting team engagement by using teams’ social resources: team leader’s engaging behaviors and team climate.
The team members’ expertise has been shown to increase team effectiveness when it is actively coordinated. While in face-to-face teams such expertise coordination unfolds through direct interaction, expertise coordination in dispersed teams is unlikely to evolve automatically. In this context, shared leadership, that is, the distribution of leadership influence across multiple team members is argued to serve as initiating mechanism for expertise coordination.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine how a speculative animal behaviour modification experiment conducted over 100 years ago evolved into a scientific law of human behaviour that is now widely cited in managerial psychology texts and journals. The paper considers the implications of this evolution for the theory and practice of work stress management in particular, and managerial psychology in general.
Design/methodology/approach
– Using insights from social constructivist studies of science the empirical evidence supporting the Yerkes-Dodson Law (YDL) is examined and found wanting. The role played by the simple graphical representation of the YDL in its popularisation is considered.
Findings
– Analysis reveals that the YDL has no basis in empirical fact but continues to inform managerial practices which seek to increase or maintain, rather than minimise, levels of stress in the workplace as a means to enhance employee performance.
Practical implications
– Practitioners should not seek to increase performance through the manipulation of employee stress levels.
Originality/value
– The paper brings attention to the potentially harmful ways the publication of long-discredited models of stress and performance can influence management practice.
This paper investigates and discusses the opportunities and possibilities of mobile and ubiquitous technologies in the NPD process. During the 2012 EGPR—internationally based NPD process in virtual environment, we made an analysis on technologies and services that were used for the purposes of the course. Our particular interest was, what platforms the students used for different tasks of the NPD process, and are there any mobile alternatives. Since mobile technologies rely more and more on cloud services this opens many other issues as well: intellectual properties rights, protection of personal information, availability of services and information for different participants, standardization of the protocols which should be well considered before any engineering process such as NPD. Our first observations showed that on one side student participants use more and more of different mobile and cloud technologies available, but on the other side there are situations where they still feel much more comfortable when using “old-fashion” technologies, especially when communicating. One interesting fact is also constantly growing wish of students to use the IT web services which they are familiar with despite all necessary IT infrastructure for their work is provided by the course organizers. This is especially important message for the organizers of such courses, to learn how to balance between accepting the opportunities of new internet tools and threats of privacy and control over the intellectual property.
Purpose
– The aim of this paper is to examine whether team-members' psychological proximity affects the degree of teamwork quality and therefore affecting the team performance.
Design/methodology/approach
– A survey instrument was developed based on extant literature reviews, and administered among information technology professionals. Collected data were analysed using partial least square (PLS) method.
Findings
– Team-members' psychological proximity is found to be significantly related to teamwork quality. The magnitude of relational coefficients between sub-dimensions of psychological proximity and those of teamwork quality turned out to be different from each other.
Research limitations/implications
– Psychological proximity is found to critically influence teamwork and performance in IT teams. Also, the four-factor model developed from previous literature is validated for further use. Snowball sampling using IT professionals is the major limitation of this study.
Originality/value
– Studies on teamwork quality that employs psychological proximity are scarce. Socialising in workplaces is sometimes viewed as an unproductive activity, however, socialising decreases psychological proximity among team-members, increasing teamwork quality. In addition, examining the psychological proximity in team-members adds to the growing literature on teamwork quality.
An extensive body of literature indicates the importance of teamwork to the success of innovative projects. This growing awareness, that "good teamwork" increases the success of innovative projects, raises new questions: What is teamwork, and how can it be measured? Why and how is teamwork related to the success of innovative projects? How strong is the relationship between teamwork and various measures of project success such as performance or team member satisfaction? This article develops a comprehensive concept of the collaboration in teams, called Teamwork Quality (TWQ). The six facets of the TWQ construct, i.e., communication, coordination, balance of member contributions, mutual support, effort, and cohesion, are specified. Hypotheses regarding the relationship between TWQ and project success are tested using data from 575 team members, team leaders, and managers of 145 German software teams. The results of the structural equation models estimated show that TWQ (as rated by team members) is significantly associated with team performance as rated by team members, team leaders, and team-external managers. However, the magnitude of the relationship between TWQ and team performance varies by the perspective of the performance rater, i.e., manager vs. team leader vs. team members. Furthermore, TWQ shows a strong association with team members' personal success (i.e., work satisfaction and learning).
A field study was used to examine the common belief that barriers around offices are desirable because they reduce interaction, thus allowing more time for accomplishing tasks. If this were true, we would expect to find more interaction in offices with fewer barriers. The opposite was found in the field study conducted in two high-technology firms. Partition height, number of partitions, and the use of a door or a secretary were all positively associated with one or more forms of interaction activity. A desk positioned away from the office entrance was the only barrier found to be negatively associated with interaction. These relationships were independent of variables representing task characteristics, job type, work experience, demographic characteristics and sociability.
Concurrent engineering (CE) tools are intended to
increase the concurrency of multidisciplinary design by integrating
various enabling technologies such as computer-aided
design, computer-aided manufacturing, group decision support
systems, expert systems, and communication networks. If the
long term viability of CE depends on effectively developing
and deploying CE tools, the assumptions about how CE design
tasks are most successfully performed and the roles of tools
in facilitating that work should be carefully reviewed. This
paper identifies the human factors assumptions made by the CE
tool development community and compares them to conclusions
drawn from existing literature on the role of technologies in
performing technical work. This comparison suggests that the
assumptions made by the CE tool development community are
likely to inhibit CE tools from successfully enabling the CE
process. Recommendations for remedying this state of affairs are
offered in the form of restated assumptions that are consistent
with documented behaviors of people using similar technologies
and potential development strategies for CE tool developers.
We investigated the effects of intragroup and cross-subgroup communications in an experimental field study on demographic faultlines. The results indicated that faultlines explained more variance in perceptions of team learning, psychological safety, satisfaction, and expected performance than single-attribute heterogeneity indexes. In addition, cross-subgroup work communications were effective for groups with weak faultlines but not for groups with strong faultlines. Overall, this study extends the original faultline model, documents the utility of the concept of faultlines, and identifies some of their effects on work group outcomes.
Geographically distributed teams are increasingly prevalent in the workplace, and research on distributed teams is ever more available. Despite this increased attention, we still know surprisingly little about how the dynamics of distributed teams differ from those of their collocated counterparts and how existing models of teams apply to this new form of work. For example, although it has been argued that distributed as compared with collocated teams have more severe conflicts that fester longer and resist resolution, few comparative studies investigate dynamics such as conflict in both distributed and collocated teams. In this study, we examine conflict, its antecedents, and its effects on performance in distributed as compared with collocated teams. Our goal is to understand how conflict plays out in distributed and collocated teams, thus providing insight into how existing models of conflict must be augmented to reflect the trend toward distributed work.
We report the results of a field study of 43 teams, 22 collocated and 21 distributed, from a large multinational company. As expected, the distributed teams reported more task and interpersonal conflict than did the collocated teams. We found evidence that shared identity moderated the effect of distribution on interpersonal conflict and that shared context moderated the effect of distribution on task conflict. Finally, we found that spontaneous communication played a pivotal role in the relationship between distribution and conflict. First, spontaneous communication was associated with a stronger shared identity and more shared context, our moderating variables. Second, spontaneous communication had a direct moderating effect on the distribution-conflict relationship, mitigating the effect of distribution on both types of conflict. We argue that this effect reflects the role of spontaneous communication in facilitating conflict identification and conflict handling.
This article focuses on the activities teams use to manage their organizational environment beyond their teams. We used semistructured interviews with 38 new-product team managers in high-technology companies, log data from two of these teams, and questionnaires completed by members of a different set of 45 new-product teams to generate and test hypotheses about teams' external activities. Results indicate that teams engage in vertical communications aimed at molding the views of top management, horizontal communication aimed at coordinating work and obtaining feedback, and horizontal communication aimed at general scanning of the technical and market environment. Organizational teams appear to develop distinct strategies toward their environment: some specialize in particular external activities, some remain isolated from the external environment, and others engage in multiple external activities. The paper shows that the type of external communication teams engage in, not just the amount, determines performance. Over time, teams following a comprehensive strategy enter positive cycles of external activity, internal processes, and performance that enable long-term team success.
Comprehensiveness has long been recognized as a key feature of marketing strategy decision making. However, few studies have examined its antecedents and the conditions under which it influences performance. This study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of marketing strategy by investigating project-level antecedents and outcomes of marketing strategy comprehensiveness (MSC). Drawing on contingency and institutional theories perspectives, the authors develop and test the effects of output and process rewards, task conflict, and project members' intra- and extraindustry relationships on MSC. They find that whereas process reward and extraindustry relationships are positively related to MSC, task conflict (when combined with conflict avoidance) hinders its development. Furthermore, the results indicate that MSC has a more positive effect on performance when implementation speed is higher. Finally, the authors discover that technology and market uncertainties differentially moderate the relationship between MSC and performance; the former has a positive effect, and the latter has a negative effect. The authors also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of their findings.
One of the more well-established findings in the research literature is that stress leads to a restriction or narrowing of attentional focus. In the present study, we extend this research to the group context. We propose that, in a team environment, the narrowing of attention induced by stress may result in a shift in perspective from a broad team perspective to a more narrow or individualistic self-focus, and this loss of team perspective may result in degraded team performance. The results of an empirical study found that stress resulted in a narrowing of team perspective and that team perspective was a significant predictor of team performance. Moreover, when the effects of team perspective were controlled, the effects of stress on team performance were substantially weakened. These results suggest that one way in which stress impacts team performance is by narrowing or weakening the team-level perspective required for effective team behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The chapter reviews the settings and research paradigms to illustrate that in some conflicts and in some negotiation settings some motives are more likely to emerge than in other settings. It also reviews past research on cognitive and motivational processes in conflict and negotiation, and introduces defensiveness and naive realism as barriers to dispute resolution. The chapter discusses the antecedents and consequences of social and epistemic motivation, respectively, and considers their influence on information processing biases and strategic choice. It presents the motivated information processing model and discusses the possibility that motives change during the negotiation. The motivated information processing model captures the influence of many variables—situational features such as power differences or time pressure, and individual differences in social value, cultural background, or need for cognitive closure—on cognitive processes and economic and psychological outcomes in conflict and negotiation. The chapter closes with alternative models of information processing and strategic choice in conflict and negotiation.
Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.
A theoretical framework is outlined in which the key construct is the need for(nonspecific) cognitive closure. The need for closure is a desire for definite knowledge on some issue. It represents a dimension of stable individual differences as well as a situationally evocable state. The need for closure has widely ramifying consequences for social-cognitive phenomena at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and group levels of analysis. Those consequences derive from 2 general tendencies, those of urgency and permanence. The urgency tendency represents an individual's inclination to attain closure as soon as possible, and the permanence tendency represents an individual's inclination to maintain it for as long as possible. Empirical evidence for present theory attests to diverse need for closure effects on fundamental social psychological phenomena, including impression formation, stereotyping, attribution, persuasion, group decision making, and language use in intergroup contexts.
Despite a growing sense that speed is critical to organizational success, how an emphasis on speed affects organizational processes remains unclear. We explored the connection between speed and decision making in a 19-month ethnographic study of an Internet start-up. Distilling our data using causal loop diagrams, we identified a potential pathology for organizations attempting to make fast decisions the "speed, trap." A need for fast action, traditionally conceptualized, as an exogenous feature of the surrounding context, can also be a product of an organization's own past emphasis. on speed. We explore the implications for research on-decision making and temporary pacing.
A model of cross-functional project groups was developed and hypotheses were tested in a study of 93 research and new product development groups from four companies. The results showed that functional diversity had indirect effects through external communication on one-year-later measures. Technical quality and schedule and budget performance improved, but group cohesiveness diminished. Functional diversity also had an indirect effect through job stress on group cohesiveness, which was again reduced. Implications for the development of conceptual models of cross-functional groups and their effective management are discussed.
Focusing on hybrid team culture within transnational teams as a facilitator of group interaction, we hypothesized a curvilinear relationship between team heterogeneity on nationality and effective performance. Through a qualitative field study, we developed a mediation model of the effects of transnational team dynamics. Two confirmatory laboratory studies followed. The hypothesized curvilinear relationship was confirmed, with homogeneous and highly heterogeneous teams outperforming moderately heterogeneous ones in the long run. Drawing from conceptual work on status hierarchies, group "faultlines," and group membership, we discuss implications for team structures in transnational settings.
A series of hypothesis concerning how charged behavior affects new product market performance and how charged behavior is, in turn, influenced by both team structural characteristics and contextual factors was proposed and tested. Data from new consumer product development teams is analyzed through structural equation modeling for hypothesis testing. Results show that highly charged teams are more likely to develop successful products. It also indicates that outcome interdependence, exposure to customer input, extent of competition, and interdepartmental connectedness are positively related to charged behavior.
This multi-method field study examines the relative effects of two kinds of leader behaviors—design choices and hands-on coaching—on the effectiveness of self-managing teams. Find- ings show that how leaders design their teams and the quality of their hands-on coaching both influence team self- management, the quality of member relationships, and member satisfaction, but only leaders' design activities affect team task performance. Moreover, design and coaching interact, so that well-designed teams are helped more by effective coaching— and undermined less by ineffective coaching—than are poorly designed teams. (Team Effectiveness; Team Leadership; Self-Managing Teams; Team Coaching)
How do executive teams make rapid decisions in the high-velocity mi- crocomputer industry? This inductive study of eight microcomputer firms led lo propositions exploring that question. Fast decision makers use more, not less, information than do slow decision makers. The former also develop more, not fewer, alternatives, and use a two-tiered advice process. Conflict resolution and integration among strategic de- cisions and tactical plans are also critical to the pace of decision mak- ing. Finally, fast decisions hased on this pattem of hehaviors lead to superior performance.
Despite the fact that many firms are under pressure to reduce research and development (R&D) expenditures, there are few studies which test methods for containing costs associated with innovation. A multi-industry study of new product development projects suggests that development costs are lower when there are (a) high rewards for speedy development, high clarity of product concept, and low management interest in the project (criteria-related factors), (b) high use of external ideas and technologies (scope-related factor), (c) high number of product champions, low project leader's position in the organization, low project members' education level, and low team representativeness (staffing-related factors), and (d) low process overlap, low team proximity, low frequency of testing, and high use of CAD systems (structuring-related factors). The final model was significant at the p
This study investigated the communication behaviors and performances of 50 R&D project groups that varied in terms of group longevity, as measured by the average length of time project members had worked together. Analyses revealed that project groups became increasingly isolated from key information sources both within and outside their organizations with increasing stability in project membership. Such reductions in project communication were also shown to affect adversely the technical performance of project groups. Furthermore, variations in communication activities were more associated with the tenure composition of project groups than with the project tenures of individual engineers. These findings are presented and discussed in the more general terms of what happens in project groups with increasing group longevity.
Increasingly, collaborating with other people is as likely to take place over distance or time as it is face-to-face. Over recent years, an abundance of new communication technologies have been developed to mediate remote collaboration-- electronic mail, bulletin boards, document sharing, video conferencing, and the like. Yet, to date collaboration over distance remains substantially
Summary This chapter analyzes why computers and telecommunications haven't created computer- mediated work environments for collaboration that are as successful as physically-shared one. Our goals are first, to identify the mechanisms by which proximity makes collaboration easier, concentrating on the way it facilitates interpersonal interaction and awareness; and second, to evaluate how current computer-mediated communication technologies provide or fail to provide the key benefits of proximity. We use a decompositional framework which examines how visibility, co-presence, mobility, cotemporality and other affordances of media affect the important collaborative tasks of initiating conversation, establishing common ground, and maintaining awareness of potentially relevant changes in the collaborative environment.
This research examines the role of team-based superordinate identity in influencing new product performance. The author also
studies how several team-related factors affect superordinate identity and, through this psychological bond, influence new
product performance. The findings, based on a sample of 118 teams, reveal that superordinate identity indeed enhances the
performance of the new product developed by a team. Traditional group factors such as task interdependence and physical proximity
do not play any role in influencing either superordinate identity or new product performance. Team longevity improves superordinate
identity but has no effect on new product performance. Instead, a special team structure (i.e., high autonomy and outcome
interdependence) improves both superordinate identity and new product performance. If interdepartmental connectedness in the
firm is high, there is a reduced need for high autonomy in the team. Finally, the characteristics of the special team structure
influence new product performance only through superordinate identity.
This multi-method field study examines the relative effects of two kinds of leader behaviors--design choices and hands-on coaching--on the effectiveness of self-managing teams. Findings show that how leaders design their teams and the quality of their hands-on coaching both influence team self-management, the quality of member relationships, and member satisfaction, but only leaders' design activities affect team task performance. Moreover, design and coaching interact, so that well-designed teams are helped more by effective coaching--and undermined less by ineffective coaching--than are poorly designed teams.
In this article, we examine the use of the key informant methodology by researchers investigating interorganizational relationships. Authors have advocated the use of multiple informants to increase the reliability and validity of informant’s reports. However, interorganizational research still tends to rely on single informants. We investigated informant selection and obtaining perceptual agreement among multiple informants, two problems that may have inhibited widespread use of multiple informants. We suggest procedures for dealing with those problems and provide an illustrative application of our proposals.
We investigated the relationship between team empowerment and virtual team performance and the moderating role of the extent of face-to-face interaction using 35 sales and service virtual teams in a high-technology organization. Team empowerment was positively related to two independent assessments of virtual team performance - process improvement and customer satisfaction. Further, the number of face-to-face meetings moderated the relationship between team empowerment and process improvement: team empowerment was a stronger predictor for teams that met face-to-face less, rather than more, frequently.
We describe the development and validation of a new instrument, KEYS: Assessing the Climate for Creativity, designed to assess perceived stimulants and obstacles to creativity in organizational work environments. The KEYS scales have acceptable factor structures, internal consistencies, test-retest reliabilities, and preliminary convergent and discriminant validity. A construct validity study shows that perceived work environments, as assessed by the KEYS scales, discriminate between high-creativity projects and low-creativity projects; certain scales discriminate more strongly and consistently than others. We discuss the utility of this tool for research and practice.
This study investigated 3 broad classes of individual-differences variables (job-search motives, competencies, and constraints) as predictors of job-search intensity among 292 unemployed job seekers. Also assessed was the relationship between job-search intensity and reemployment success in a longitudinal context. Results show significant relationships between the predictors employment commitment, financial hardship, job-search self-efficacy, and motivation control and the outcome job-search intensity. Support was not found for a relationship between perceived job-search constraints and job-search intensity. Motivation control was highlighted as the only lagged predictor of job-search intensity over time for those who were continuously unemployed. Job-search intensity predicted Time 2 reemployment status for the sample as a whole, but not reemployment quality for those who found jobs over the study's duration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Tested several hypotheses concerning proactive feedback-seeking behavior (FSB) derived from the general assertion that feedback is a valuable individual resource. As such, feedback was hypothesized to be subjective to active seeking behavior by individuals. FSB was proposed as an instrumental response of employees attempting to achieve their goals within an evaluative context. Hypotheses relating such seeking to both personal (length of tenure, job involvement and tolerance for ambiguity) and organizational (contingency uncertainty and role ambiguity) variables were formulated and tested in a public utility. 172 marketing employees (average age 31.5 yrs) were surveyed on their perceptions of the role ambiguity, contingency uncertainty, tenure within the organization, and job involvement. All variables were found to predict FSB. The relationships between both role ambiguity and contingency uncertainty and proactive FSB were moderated by an S's ability to tolerate ambiguity. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
F. L. Schmidt and J. E. Hunter (1989) critiqued the within-group interrater reliability statistic (
rwg) described by L. R. James et al (1984). S. W. Kozlowski and K. Hattrup (1992) responded to the Schmidt and Hunter critique and argued that
rwg is a suitable index of interrater agreement. This article focuses on the interpretation of
rwg as a measure of agreement among judges' ratings of a single target. A new derivation of
rwg is given that underscores this interpretation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Discusses the need to demonstrate agreement among individuals' perceptions of climate prior to averaging climate scores from the perspective of aggregation. It is shown that estimates of agreement based on group mean scores have been incorrectly interpreted as perceptual agreement among individuals. Of initial importance is a study by J. A. Drexler (see record
1977-22375-001), who concluded that a considerable proportion of the variance in climate perceptions was accounted for by organizational membership. This conclusion has been employed recently by other authors to support the assumption that individuals in the same environment tend to agree with climate perceptions (e.g., J. R. Hackman and E. E. Lawler, Hackman and G. R. Oldham, and Oldham et al—see PA, Vols 46:9858, 54:2031, and 57:2102, respectively). It is demonstrated that Drexler's analysis provided inflated estimates of agreement among individuals, and the logic of the approach is extended to other studies in which inflated estimates of agreement appeared likely. (54 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Presents a new multivariate statistical technique that includes both individual and group effects and allows for nonindependence between group members in hierarchically nested designs in small-group research. In the present statistical technique, the estimated correlation matrices for the individual and for the group can be used as input into multivariate procedures (e.g., multiple regression, factor analysis). The application of the technique is illustrated for data on crowding in university residential environments. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)