Role-Specific Versus Cross-Role Preparation for Decision-Making Teams

摘要

The authors tested the effect of role-specific versus cross-role preparation on subsequent team-level performance in a complex, decision-making task, specifically a simulation of a business management team. Prior to forming 3-member teams for the simulation, participants were prepared individually for either one specific management role-marketing, operations, or finance-or across all three roles in rotation. Thereafter, teams whose members had role-specific preparation performed significantly better on objective measures of business performance (i.e., profit and market share) than teams whose members had cross-role preparation. Furthermore, participants who received role-specific preparation rated their teammates more highly on indicators of a transactive memory system (TMS)-especially specialization versus credibility and coordination-than did participants in cross-role teams. Results indicated that role-%%%specific preparation set up the preconditions for a differentiated TMS, in which there is considerable individualized knowledge and skills, versus an integrated TMS, in which there is greater shared knowledge and skills. As a framework for future research, the authors propose a model that incorporates the key elements of a TMS, specifically, each team member's task-relevant knowledge and skills, their subjective awareness of other member's knowledge and skills, and the communication channels between members.