Understanding Group Effectiveness in a Newly Formed Distributed Group: An Action Research Perspective

摘要

This research-in-progress study investigates the effects of group development and social capital on the effectiveness on a newly formed distributed group. Informed by the literature on development theory (Arrow et al., 2000, McGrath and Tschan, 2004, Gersick, 1989, Tuckman and Jensen, 1977), social capital (Adler and Kwon, 2002, Burt, 1992, Coleman, 1988), and team effectiveness (Guzzo and Dickson, 1996, Kozlowski and Bell, 2003, Sundstrom et al., 1990) a conceptual framework is developed that identifies the relationships among group maturity, social capital, group processes, and performance outcomes of 11 historians from diverse organizations who are geographically dispersed across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.