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Exploring the Conditional Benefits of Team Diversity: The Interaction of Task Requirements and Team Composition on Tacit Coordination Efficiency

Birchmeier, Zachary P
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1091631663

Abstract Details

2004, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Psychology.
Reviews and meta-analyses (Jackson, 1992; Levine & Moreland, 1990; Wood, 1987) suggest that the benefits of diverse team composition are moderated by the requirements of the team’s task. Homogeneous teams may find it easier to converge toward common behaviors; heterogeneous distributions of attributes within diverse teams may provide helpful cues for distributing effort across multiple tasks. However, diverse teams may have difficulty pooling their efforts tacitly to complete a single task. In this experiment, all male, all female and mixed gender teams solved 10 sets of logic and anagram problems of both high and low difficulty. The payoff for correctly solving a problem depended on its difficulty level and the number of members attempting the problem. Teams performed under one of two coordination rules. Under a matching rule, the payoff for solving a problem increased as the number of members attempting the problem increased. Under a delegating rule, the payoff for solving decreased as the number attempting increased. Although members performed as a team via computer-mediated channels, explicit communication was not allowed, save for once after the 7th trial. After each trial, feedback included the number of members that had attempted and solved each problem and the amount earned by the team. Teams that were rewarded for matching improved their efficiency tacitly across trials. In contrast, teams that were rewarded for delegating tasks improved their coordination very little until they were allowed to communicate after the 7th trial. Discussion via instant messenger after the 7th trial lead to nearly optimal coordination under both matching and delegating rules on the last three trials. No effects of team composition were observed, and team diversity was not a reliable moderator of success given rewards for matching or delegating coordination. Effects of team composition, at least under anonymous and depersonalized conditions, seem overshadowed by the effects of being rewarded as a team for coordinating task choices. Practical implications are discussed for the expectations that managers may make of teams in different stages of their development and the moderation of these changes considering the type of reward system that teams are assigned.
Garold Stasser (Advisor)
73 p.
team coordination; team composition; team diversity

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Birchmeier, Z. P. (2004). Exploring the Conditional Benefits of Team Diversity: The Interaction of Task Requirements and Team Composition on Tacit Coordination Efficiency [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1091631663

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Birchmeier, Zachary. Exploring the Conditional Benefits of Team Diversity: The Interaction of Task Requirements and Team Composition on Tacit Coordination Efficiency. 2004. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1091631663.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Birchmeier, Zachary. "Exploring the Conditional Benefits of Team Diversity: The Interaction of Task Requirements and Team Composition on Tacit Coordination Efficiency." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1091631663

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1091631663
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© 2004, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.