The interactive effects of person-focused citizenship behaviour,task interdependence,and virtuality on team performance

A multifactorial between-groups experiment examined the effects of person-focused organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBP) on the performance of teams characterized by different levels of virtuality and task interdependence. Results reveal in low virtual teams the moderating effects of task interdependence on the OCBP–team performance relationship are positive; however, these effects are reversed in high virtual teams. Using social presence and task–technology fit theories, our results indicate that task context affects how OCBP impacts team performance, particularly across different levels of team virtuality. The implications for research on OCB and the management of virtual teams are discussed.     

TIME MATTERS IN TEAM PERFORMANCE: EFFECTS OF MEMBER FAMILIARITY, ENTRAINMENT, AND TASK DISCONTINUITY ON SPEED AND QUALITY

We compared the speed and quality of performance for familiar , initially unfamiliar but continuing , and one-shot (single session) teams. We also proposed and observed entrainment effects for task time limits. Over the course of weekly sessions with changing tasks, continuing teams reached speed levels of the initially familiar teams, but the one-shot teams were consistently slower. Continuing teams also tended to have higher-quality output than the one-shot teams. There were no differences in how quickly each type of group entrained to time limits on the tasks. Entrainment was not robust to task discontinuity (Task A, then B). However, entrainment on repeated trials of a task persisted even when a different type of task "interrupted" those repeated trials (Task A, then B, then A again). Results compel a richer incorporation of time as a medium for complex task sequences, and time-based constructs as a feature of team membership in the study of group effectiveness.     

不同任务情境中虚拟团队绩效过程模式

运用模拟实验,通过操纵任务类型和任务依存性,考察了不同任务情境中虚拟团队的各种绩效过程模式及其演化过程。研究发现：（1）三种绩效过程模式对团队任务绩效具有不同的作用,在整个过程中,团队成员都能够设置比较客观的目标;而方法模式只在第一和第三阶段表现出显著作用;信任模式在第一和第二阶段的显著作用,表现出后期受到学习效应的干扰。（2）在概念性任务中,任务依存性对团队任务绩效作用显著,而在行为性任务中,其作用不显著,而且,任务依存性对不同任务类型中的绩效过程模式具有不同的作用。     

A temporal common ground for learning: The moderating effect of shared mental models on the relation between team learning behaviours and performance improvement

In this longitudinal study, we integrated a team process and a learning curve perspective on team learning and empirically analysed whether team learning processes lead to performance improvement. In addition, we tested whether this relation is moderated by the similarity of team members’ task, team, and temporal mental models. We tested our model on a sample of 67 teams (314 individuals) competing in a management simulation over five consecutive time periods, using random coefficient modelling (RCM). Our findings suggest that team learning behaviours do not have a direct effect on the team learning curve, but temporal and task mental models are crucial for the translation of team learning behaviours into performance improvement. We found that when teams have similar task and temporal mental models, engaging in team learning processes is beneficial, whereas, when teams have dissimilar task and temporal mental models, it is detrimental to performance improvement. We did not find a significant effect for the moderating role of team mental model similarity. Our study emphasizes the importance of integrating different perspectives on team learning and provides support for the role of team cognition as a catalyst for team learning.     

Trust within teams: The relation with performance effectiveness

The acknowledgement that trust is important for the functioning of organizations has increased the demand for research showing how this importance is reflected on the behaviour of its members. In this article we focus on trust within teams and explore the relation with performance effectiveness. A model was tested relating trust with perceived task performance, team satisfaction, relationship commitment, and stress. In this model trust is presented as a multi-component variable with distinct but related dimensions. These include propensity to trust, perceived trustworthiness, cooperative and monitoring behaviours. Data from 112 teams collected in three social care institutions in The Netherlands were analysed with structural equation modelling to test the model. The results are supportive of the multi-component structure of trust and confirmed the importance of trust for the functioning of teams in organizations. The results suggest that trust is positively related with perceived task performance, team satisfaction, and relationship commitment, and negatively related with stress. In addition, perceived task performance was positively related with team satisfaction.     

Effects of task interdependence and communication technologies synchrony on performance in virtual teams

Effects of task interdependence and communication technologies synchrony on performance in virtual teams. Survey results of 197 employees from 41 work groups in a large multinational software firm were used to investigate the effects of within-group task interdependence and the degree of communication synchrony on performance in virtual teams (VTs). The analyses revealed a moderating effect of task interdependence on the relationship between the degree of communications synchrony and performance in VT. We found that superior VTs performance is contingent on the fit between the nature of the task (i.e., task interdependence) and the choice of communications modality. This study complements previous research providing additional evidence of how task-technology interaction affects VTs performance, and extends previous findings obtained with ad-hoc groups in laboratory settings to natural, organizational teams.     

The effects of clinical motor variables and medication dosage on working memory in Parkinson’s disease

In this study, we investigate the interrelationship between clinical variables and working memory (WM) in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Specifically, the aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between disease duration, dopaminergic medication dosage, and motor disability (UPDRS score) with WM in individuals with PD. Accordingly, we recruited three groups of subjects: unmedicated PD patients, medicated PD patients, and healthy controls. All subjects were tested on three WM tasks: short-delay WM, long-delay WM, and the n-back task. Further, PD encompasses a spectrum that can be classified either into akinesia/rigidity or resting tremor as the predominant motor presentation of the disease. In addition to studying medication effects, we tested WM performance in tremor-dominant and akinesia-dominant patients. We further correlated WM performance with disease duration and medication dosage. We found no difference between medicated and unmedicated patients in the short-delay WM task, but medicated patients outperformed unmedicated patients in the long-delay WM and n-back tasks. Interestingly, we also found that akinesia-dominant patients were more impaired than tremor-dominant patients at various WM measures, which is in agreement with prior studies of the relationship between akinesia symptom and basal ganglia dysfunction. Moreover, the results show that disease duration inversely correlates with more demanding WM tasks (long-delay WM and n-back tasks), but medication dosage positively correlates with demanding WM performance. In sum, our results show that WM impairment in PD patients depend on cognitive domain (simple vs. demanding WM task), subtype of PD patients (tremor- vs. akinesia-dominant), as well as disease duration and medication dosage. Our results have implications for the interrelationship between motor and cognitive processes in PD, and for understanding the role of cognitive training in treating motor symptoms in PD.     

Goal setting in teams: The impact of learning and performance goals on process and performance

This study examined the impact of three alternative types of goals (specific learning, general “do your best” learning, and specific performance) on team performance. Eighty-four-person teams engaged in an interdependent command and control simulation in which the team goal and task complexity were manipulated. Contrary to research at the individual level, teams with specific learning goals performed worse than did teams with general “do your best” learning goals or specific performance goals. The negative effects of specific learning goals relative to general “do your best” learning goals and specific performance goals were amplified under conditions of increased task complexity and were explained by the amount of coordination in the teams.     

Team structure and regulatory focus: the impact of regulatory fit on team dynamic

We report a within-teams experiment testing the effects of fit between team structure and regulatory task demands on task performance and satisfaction through average team member positive affect and helping behaviors. We used a completely crossed repeated-observations design in which 21 teams enacted 2 tasks with different regulatory focus characteristics (prevention and promotion) in 2 organizational structures (functional and divisional), resulting in 84 observations. Results suggested that salient regulatory demands inherent in the task interacted with structure to determine objective and subjective team-level outcomes, such that functional structures were best suited to (i.e., had best fit with) tasks with a prevention regulatory focus and divisional structures were best suited to tasks with a promotion regulatory focus. This contingency finding integrates regulatory focus and structural contingency theories, and extends them to the team level with implications for models of performance, satisfaction, and team dynamics.     

Type of stimulus mediates the relationship between working-memory performance and type of precocity

The relationship between type of stimulus (numeric and verbal) and type of precocity (mathematical and verbal) was examined in tasks designed to tap three aspects of working memory: encoding, capacity, and manipulation of information. The tasks included semantic categorization, odd-even categorization, recall of five-item lists after semantic categorization, and recall of items in a continuous paired-associates task. Correlations between task performance and the mathematical and verbal portions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT-M and SAT-V) were computed for gifted youth. There were no sex differences in the performance measures or in the pattern of correlations between performance and SAT scores. The analysis revealed positive relationships between SAT-M scores and numeric categorization latency, recall in the continuous paired-associate task with words and digits, and recall of digit lists. SAT-V scores were related only to word recall in the continuous paired-associate task and recall of word lists. In the working-memory tasks used, mathematical precocity is more strongly related to performance than is verbal precocity. The relationship is especially strong with numeric stimuli, even when the numeric stimuli are simply items to be remembered. The relationship between type of stimulus and type of precocity suggests underlying differences between verbally and mathematically precocious youth in how different types of stimuli are represented in memory.     

Functional versus dysfunctional team change: Problem diagnosis and structural feedback for self-managed teams

We describe and examine three changes (personnel, process, and structure) that self-managed teams can make to remedy performance problems. We also discuss why self-managed teams may over-emphasize process and (to a lesser extent) personnel changes over structural changes. Furthermore, we describe and test two specific diagnostic feedback interventions aimed at helping teams make functional structural change. Seventy-eight 4-person teams of undergraduate students participated in two trials of a networked laboratory simulation task. All teams were initially structurally misaligned and subsequently received (a) no feedback, (b) one type of feedback only, or (c) both types of feedback. Results confirmed that structurally misaligned teams demonstrated dysfunctional change by changing process more frequently than structure, with detrimental effects for subsequent performance. When teams received the feedback interventions, however, they were more likely to change their structure and thereby improve their performance.     

拖延对工作绩效的影响——压力偏好与任务类型的调节作用

本研究探索了压力偏好和任务类型在拖延行为对绩效产生作用过程中的调节作用。用问卷调查的方法对155人进行调查。结果发现：相比偏好压力者,厌恶压力者的工作绩效更容易受到拖延行为的影响;对于复杂任务,拖延对偏好压力者的绩效影响显著低于对厌恶压力者;而对于简单任务,两种类型人的绩效的差别并不明显。结论是,偏好压力者能够减弱拖延行为对其工作绩效的影响,尤其对于复杂任务,这种影响更加明显。     

团队权力分布差异对团队冲突的影响：程序公平和合法性的作用

近年来团队权力分布差异与团队冲突间关系受到了学界较大关注, 但相关研究结果仍存在分歧。通过对70个工作团队的调查, 探讨了团队权力分布差异对团队冲突(任务冲突、关系冲突)作用的边界条件。结果发现, 程序公平调节了两者间关系：当程序公平较高时, 团队权力分布差异与任务冲突、关系冲突负相关; 当程序公平较低时, 团队权力分布差异与任务冲突、关系冲突正相关。此外, 被中介的调节模型分析显示, 团队合法性感知中介了程序公平的上述调节作用。     

Understanding The Curvilinear Relationships between LMX Differentiation and Team Coordination and Performance

The leader–member exchange (LMX) literature argues that leaders develop different quality dyadic relationships with members in the same team (i.e., LMX differentiation). Research has generally not found support for a linear (i.e., main effect) relationship between LMX differentiation and team performance; rather, moderators typically determine whether the relationship is significantly positive or negative. Examining linear effect moderators alone, however, does not account for (a) potential curvilinear (i.e., inverted U‐shaped) effects, (b) explanatory mechanisms of how LMX differentiation influences team performance, or (c) moderators of curvilinear effects. Integrating social identity theory with LMX differentiation research, we propose inverted U‐shaped relationships between LMX differentiation and both team coordination (as a mediator) and team performance (as an outcome), and we examine both team size and team power distance orientation as moderators. Using data from 928 employees in 145 teams in 3 organizations, we found an inverted U‐shaped relationship between LMX differentiation and team coordination, which, in turn, partially mediated LMX differentiation's inverted U‐shaped relationship with team performance. Larger teams, or those with higher team power distance orientation, benefit more from LMX differentiation. By integrating social identity theory with LMX differentiation research, we enhance the understanding of the processes by, and conditions under, which LMX differentiation affects team performance both positively and negatively.     

Accuracy of drawing in a dual-task and resistance-to-distraction study: motor or attention deficit?

To determine whether manual incoordination is caused by attention deficit or not, we used an accuracy drawing task as a primary task in dual-task and resistance-to-distraction studies, and examined if thus measured attention could differentiate inattention (IA) and combined (CO) subtypes of ADHD. The secondary tasks and distractions failed to lower the primary task performance in IA, CO and control groups. We also compared the impairment scores of the accuracy drawing tasks from the Movement Assessment Battery for Children [Henderson, S. E., & Sugden, D. A. (1992). Movement assessment battery for children. London: Psychological Corporation.] between the groups with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or developmental coordination disorder-inaccurate drawing type (DCD-ID). There were no group differences in the impairment score between the control and the ADHD groups, and between ADHD and ADHD plus DCD-ID groups. We concluded that inaccurate drawing is not caused by attention deficit, but that it is a manifestation of a motor deficit as a separate entity from attention deficit.     

Psychoticism and attentional flexibility

In three separate experiments, we tested the hypothesis that a systematic relationship between psychoticism (P) and visual selective attention is infrequently observed because the tasks typically used to test individual differences in efficiency of attentional mechanisms do not entail attentional flexibility. We manipulated the selection rule of the computerized divided visual attention (DIVA) task to be either (a) a predictable, or (b) a random manner, and a secondary task was added to check the quality of high P scorers’ performance in an interference condition; and we also introduced breaks between DIVA tasks to allow for cue utilization. Results revealed that low P scorers outperformed high P scorers in the regular selection rule alternation condition (cue utilization possible), whereas high P scorers performed better in random alternation condition – high P scorers also showed performance superiority in the dual task condition unless stimuli presentation was speeded up. Thus, P does not necessarily impair attentional performance; indeed, our data point to performance advantages of high P, especially attentional efficiency in tasks requiring small demands of attentional control.     

When and why hierarchy steepness is related to team performance

This study develops and tests a contingency theory on the functions of status hierarchy steepness in teams. Findings from a field study among 438 employees working in 72 work teams across diverse business settings demonstrate that task complexity moderates the relationships between status hierarchy steepness, different types of team conflict, and team performance. Steeper status hierarchies were negatively related to both process and task conflict, and hence increased team performance in teams working on tasks with lower complexity but did not yield such clear conflict and performance effects in teams working on more complex tasks. By showing that various levels of task complexity determine whether status hierarchy steepness has a conflict-regulating function that drives team performance, this research generates valuable insights about the context dependency of team responses to status hierarchy steepness.     

Using Brunswikian theory and a longitudinal design to study how hierarchical teams adapt to increasing levels of time pressure

Brunswikian theory and a longitudinal design were used to study how three-person, hierarchical teams adapted to increasing levels of time pressure and, thereby, try to understand why previous team research has not necessarily found a direct relationship between team processes and performance with increasing time pressure. We obtained four principal findings. First, team members initially adapted to increasing time pressure without showing any performance decrements by accelerating their cognitive processing, increasing the amount of their implicit coordination by sending more information without being asked and, to a lesser extent, filtering (omitting) certain activities. Second, teams began and continued to perform the task differently with increasing time pressure, yet often achieved comparable levels of performance. Third, time pressure did affect performance because there was a level of time pressure beyond which performance could not be maintained, although that level differed for different teams. And, fourth, some adaptation strategies were more effective than others at the highest time pressure level. Taken together, these findings support the Brunswikian perspective that one should not necessarily expect a direct relationship between team processes and performance with increasing time pressure because teams adapt their processes in different, yet often equally effective ways, in an effort to maintain high and stable performance.     

Hierarchical control in redundant and non-redundant postural tasks

Prior studies of postural coordination have shown inconsistencies between hip-ankle coordination in redundant and non-redundant coordination tasks as well as predictions of the HKB model. These inconsistencies were investigated by testing the hypothesis that there are different hierarchical control structures for redundant (multiple potential task solutions) and non-redundant (a single task solution) coordination tasks (Bernstein, 1996). The transfer between a non-redundant postural tracking task and a redundant scanning task consisting of 16 hip-ankle relative phase patterns from 0° to 337.5° was investigated. The results showed that the transfer between the tasks was transitory, negative and occurred only from the non-redundant to the redundant task. This finding supports the hypothesis that inconsistencies between redundant and non-redundant coordination dynamics may be due to a hierarchical relation between control structures for the performance of these types of tasks.     

First,get your feet wet: The effects of learning from direct and indirect experience on team creativity

How does prior experience influence team creativity? We address this question by examining the effects of task experience acquired directly and task experience acquired vicariously from others on team creativity in a product-development task. Across three laboratory studies, we find that direct task experience leads to higher levels of team creativity and more divergent products than indirect task experience. Moreover, our results show that the difference in team creativity between direct and indirect task experience persists over time. Finally, our findings demonstrate that transactive memory systems fully mediate the effect of direct task experience on team creativity. Teams who acquired task experience directly are more creative because they develop better transactive memory systems than teams who acquired experience vicariously. We discuss how our findings contribute to understanding the effects of prior experience on team creativity, and the role of transactive memory systems in creative tasks.