Structuring for team success: The interactive effects of network structure and cultural diversity on team potency and performance

C Troster, A Mehra, Daniel L Van Knippenberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This longitudinal study used data from 91 self-managed teams (456 individuals, 60 nationalities) to examine the interactive effects of a team’s task (“workflow”) network structure and its cultural diversity (as indexed by nationality) on the team’s “potency” (i.e., the team’s confidence in its ability to perform) and its performance (as rated by expert judges). We found that whereas the emergence of dense task networks enhanced team potency it was the emergence of (moderately) centralized task networks that facilitated team performance. These varied structural effects, moreover, were themselves contingent on team composition: the more culturally diverse a team, the more pronounced were the positive effects of network density on team potency and the higher the level of network centralization required for optimal team performance. The success of a team appears to hinge on the interplay between network structure and team composition.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)245-255
JournalOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Volume124
Issue number2
Early online date22 May 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2014

Bibliographical note

© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Structuring for team success: The interactive effects of network structure and cultural diversity on team potency and performance'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this