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Organizations are increasingly called upon to solve complex problems in changing conditions that require the combined knowledge, skills, perspectives, and efforts of multiple individuals. These dynamic situations often require dynamic team composition. Dynamic team composition is sometimes thought of as synonymous to changes in membership, however, we contend that it also can occur through other means including team member development, the alignment between team member capabilities and the team's tasks, and changes in the accessibility to team member capabilities. Given the lack of overarching theories to organize and provide guidance on research and practice related to dynamic team composition, we take an interdisciplinary approach and leverage the fundamental concepts of potential and kinetic energy as a guiding framework to integrate the disparate literatures on dynamic team composition. We bring dynamic team composition to the forefront and delineate four types of dynamic team composition through

Future space exploration will require crews to live and work together for an extended period in an isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environment, with high levels of autonomy from Earth. Such circumstances increase the importance of interpersonal relationships and require team members to keep conflicts manageable and rely on one another for social support. Although there is a wide body of literature from traditional teams on team conflict, less is known about the nature and role of conflict for teams that operate in ICE environments. We collected and analyzed daily open-ended conflict reports from five 4-person crews living and working in an ICE environment. Concept mapping suggested four types of conflict: (1) noted discords, (2) work disagreements, (3) interpersonal tensions, and (4) interpersonal breakdowns. The patterns of conflict type and timing of conflicts varied by team. Results suggest a more nuanced conflict typology may be helpful in understanding the relationship between conflict and key outcomes such as team performance in ICE settings, as well as how conflict is best managed.

Space crews venturing beyond low Earth orbit will experience unprecedented levels of autonomy and unpredictable challenges. Mission success will require effective teamwork. How do teamwork capabilities change over time in isolation and confinement? To explore this question, 4, 4-member crews who participated in the 30-day campaign of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA)'s Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) were observed. Crews endured isolation, confinement, and communication delays. Teamwork capabilities were observed along four critical dimensions: generate (creativity tasks), choose (intellective tasks), negotiate (cognitive conflict tasks), and execute (psychomotor tasks). A battery of team task was administered requiring the crew to generate, to choose, and to negotiate. Execute performance was assessed using NASA's multi-mission space exploration vehicle (MMSEV) task. Team task batteries were performed on Mission Days 11, 16, and 30. Execute performance was assessed on 18 of 30 days. Findings show behavioral team performance (cognitive conflict and psychomotor tasks) increases over time, whereas conceptual team performance (creativity and intellective tasks) declines. Implications of these results were considered for future research and the design of countermeasures that support crew functioning.

Twenty-first century organizations often rely on teams to enact their strategy and to enhance their flexibility in interacting with their external environment over time. Team composition, or the configuration of team member attributes, can influence team effectiveness and is an important consideration in the management of teams. To date, however, there is limited guidance on how seemingly smaller team composition decisions can contribute to organizational effectiveness and competitive advantage. We draw on strategic human resource management (HRM), HRM, and industrial and organizational psychology literatures to develop a conceptual framework for strategic team composition decisions. We describe how organizations use teams to enact their strategy (i.e., fit), and use adaptive teams and networks of teams to achieve fit in a dynamic environment (i.e., flexibility). Using the concepts of fit and flexibility, we develop four guiding principles for strategic team composition decisions.

We demonstrate an approach to perform significance testing on the association between two different network-level properties, based on the observation of multiple networks over time. This approach may be applied, for instance, to evaluate how patterns of social relationships within teams are associated with team performance on different tasks. We apply this approach to understand the team processes of crews in long-duration space exploration analogs. Using data collected from crews in NASA analogs, we identify how interpersonal network patterns among crew members relate to performance on various tasks. In our significance testing, we control for complex interdependencies between network ties: structural patterns, such as reciprocity, and temporal patterns in how ties tend to form or dissolve over time. To accomplish this, Separable Temporal Exponential Random Graph Models (STERGMs) are used as a parametric approach for sampling from the null distribution, in order to calculate p-values.

Team composition, or the configuration of team member attributes, is a key enabling condition for effective teamwork. A well-composed team has the required complement of knowledge and skills, while also considering how the individual differences of team members, such as personality traits, values, and demographics, combine to shape teamwork and, ultimately, team performance. Theories from social, personality, and organizational psychology are used to explain how team composition influences the attitudes, behaviors, and thinking of teams and their members. Team member attributes can range from malleable characteristics, such as knowledge and expertise, to relatively enduring differences between team members, such as demographic variables (e.g., race) or personality traits; attributes are often referred to as knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs). A distinction is often made between surface-level and deep-level composition variables. Surface-level variables are readily detectable characteristics (e.g., race) or easily accessible information (e.g., professional background) that can shape perceptions prior to interaction as well as affect, behavior, and cognition as team members interact. Deep-level variables are underlying, psychological differences between team members, such as personality traits, that shape affect, behavior, and cognition as team members interact. In general, deep-level composition variables have a stronger and longer lasting influence on teamwork and performance than surface-level variables. In team composition research, the unit-level configuration is of interest. Different models and operationalizations are used to capture how characteristics of team members combine to shape teamwork and performance. They range from simple operationalizations, such as the team mean on a specific trait (e.g., team mean conscientiousness), to complex diversity operationalizations that consider the alignment of multiple attributes (i.e., faultline strength). The goal of team composition research is to identify the KSAOs and configurations that shape teamwork and team performance, and then use this information in the management of teams. Teams can be composed ahead of time to maximize team effectiveness; members can be selected to have optimal fit with other team members and the team task. Team composition information can also be used to inform how to best manage a team over time; for example, how to reward the team. High-level information on team composition can be found in books on team effectiveness, with more comprehensive reviews in annual reviews and book chapters. Cutting-edge team composition theories and research are published in peer-reviewed academic journals, with secondary coverage in news outlets, trade journals, and magazines.

Extreme teams complete their tasks in unconventional performance environments and have serious consequences associated with failure. Examples include disaster relief teams, special operations teams, and astronaut crews. The unconventional performance environments within which these teams operate require researchers to carefully consider the context during the research process. These environments may also create formidable challenges to the research process, including constraining data collection and sample sizes. Given the serious consequences associated with failure, however, the challenges must be navigated so that the management of extreme teams can be evidence based. We present an approach for conducting actionable research on extreme teams. Our approach is an extension of mixed-methods research that is particularly well suited for emphasizing context. The approach guides researchers on how to integrate the local context into the research process, which allows for actionable recommendations. At the same time, our approach applies an intentionally broad framework for organizing context, which can serve as a mechanism through which the results of research on extreme teams can be meaningfully accumulated and integrated across teams. Finally, our approach and description of steps address the unique challenges common in extreme-team research. While developed with extreme teams in mind, we view our general approach as applicable to more traditional teams when the features of the context that impinge on team functioning are not adequately represented by typical descriptions of context in the literature and the goal is actionable research for the teams in question.

BACKGROUND Future space exploration, such as a mission to Mars, will require space crews to live and work in extreme environments unlike those of previous space missions. Extreme conditions such as prolonged confinement, isolation, and expected communication time delays will require that crews have a higher level of interpersonal compatibility and be able to work autonomously, adapting to unforeseen challenges in order to ensure mission success. Team composition, or the configuration of member attributes, is an important consideration for maximizing crewmember well-being and team performance. METHODS We conducted an extensive search to find articles about team composition in long-distance space exploration (LDSE)-analogue environments, including a search of databases, specific relevant journals, and by contacting authors who publish in the area. RESULTS We review the team composition research conducted in analogue environments in terms of two paths through which team composition is likely to be related to LDSE mission success, namely by 1) affecting social integration, and 2) the team processes and emergent states related to team task completion. DISCUSSION Suggestions for future research are summarized as: 1) the need to identify ways to foster unit-level social integration within diverse crews; 2) the missed opportunity to use team composition variables as a way to improve team processes, emergent states, and task completion; and 3) the importance of disentangling the effect of specific team composition variables to determine the traits (e.g., personality, values) that are associated with particular risks (e.g., subgrouping) to performance.

Purpose Team composition research considers how configurations (e.g., team-level diversity) of team members’ attributes (e.g., personality, values, demographics) influence important outcomes. Our chapter describes key issues in understanding and effectively managing team composition over time. Methodology/approach We discuss how context shapes team composition. We review empirical research that examined relationships between team composition, and team processes and emergent properties over multiple time points. We review research that examined how composition can be effectively managed over the lifecycle of a team. Findings Context shapes the nature of team composition itself (e.g., dynamic composition). To the extent that membership change, fluid boundaries, and multiple team membership are present should be accounted for in research and practice. The research we reviewed indicated no, or fleeting effects for surface-level (e.g., demographics) composition on the development of team processes and emergent properties over time, although there were exceptions. Conversely, deep-level composition affected team processes and emergent properties early in a team’s lifespan as well as later. Team composition information can be used in staffing; it can also inform how to best leverage training, leadership, rewards, tasks, and technology to promote team effectiveness. Social implications Teams are the building blocks of contemporary organizations. Understanding and effectively managing team composition over time can increase the likelihood of team. Originality/value Our chapter provides novel insights into key issues in understanding and effectively managing team composition over time.

We examined the extent to which a trainee's gender interacts with the gender of the trainer, as well as the gender composition of the classroom, to influence the trainee's knowledge acquisition. Hypotheses based on asymmetrical relational demography arguments were tested with a multilevel model on data collected from 1,515 predominantly Hispanic adult trainees in 115 classrooms taught by a total of 22 different trainers. Results supported an asymmetrical relational demography effect for the relationship between trainee-trainer gender dissimilarity and knowledge acquisition, such that trainer-trainee dissimilarity was related to knowledge acquisition for female trainees, but not for male trainees. No effects on trainee knowledge acquisition were observed for the trainee gender and classroom gender composition interaction. Exploratory analyses suggested that the racial diversity of the classroom was related to the knowledge acquisition of female trainees, but not male trainees.

We examined the influences of different facets of psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Concern, Norm Acceptance, and Goal Priority) on team functioning at 3 different performance depictions: initial team performance, end-state team performance, and team performance change over time. We also tested the extent to which team-member exchange moderated the relationships between facets of psychological collectivism and performance change over time. Results from multilevel growth modeling of 66 teams (N = 264) engaged in a business simulation revealed differential effects across facets of psychological collectivism and across different performance measurements. Whereas facets concerned with affiliation (Preference and Concern) were positively related to initial team performance, reliance was negatively related to initial team performance. Goal Priority was a strong predictor of end-state performance. Team-member exchange moderated the relationship between performance change and 3 of the 5 facets of psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Norm Acceptance). Implications for team composition and team training are discussed.

The authors revisited the demographic diversity variable and team performance relationship using meta-analysis and took a significant departure from previous meta-analyses by focusing on specific demographic variables (e.g., functional background, organizational tenure) rather than broad categories (e.g., highly job related, less job related). They integrated different conceptualizations of diversity (i.e., separation, variety, disparity) into the development of their rationale and hypotheses for specific demographic diversity variable—team performance relationships. Furthermore, they contrasted diversity with the team mean on continuous demographic variables when elevated levels of a variable, as opposed to differences, were more logically related to team performance. Functional background variety diversity had a small positive relationship with general team performance as well as with team creativity and innovation. The relationship was strongest for design and product development teams. Educational background variety diversity was related to team creativity and innovation and to team performance for top management teams. Other variables generally thought to increase task-relevant knowledge (e.g., organizational tenure) and team performance were unrelated to team performance, although these variables were almost never studied as the variety conceptualization (i.e., the conceptualization that can reflect the breadth of knowledge that can be applied to the task). Team mean organizational tenure was related to team performance in terms of efficiency. Race and sex variety diversity had small negative relationships with team performance, whereas age diversity was unrelated to team performance regardless of diversity conceptualization. Implications for staffing teams and future research are discussed.

This study examined the relationship between job satisfaction and task and contextual performance. Specifically, it assessed this relationship for overall as well as facets of job satisfaction. Four hundred and forty-four employees in a manufacturing plant completed measures of job satisfaction and their supervisors completed measures of task and contextual job performance. Results indicate that the relationships between overall job satisfaction and task and contextual performance were the same. However, when the facets of job satisfaction were considered, different relationships emerged. There was a stronger relationship between satisfaction with supervision and contextual performance compared to task performance. In contrast, there was a stronger relationship between satisfaction with work and task performance compared to contextual performance. Results indicated the importance of considering different facets with the job satisfaction and job performance relationship, as well as the importance of matching predictors and criteria in terms of their levels of specificity.

Summary We investigated feedback acceptance by participants (N ¼ 141) in an operational developmental assessment center (AC). Consistent with predictions based on self-enhancement theory and the Affective Infusion Model, results indicated that higher assessor ratings were associated with higher feedback acceptance, and this relationship was partially mediated by the participant’s affective reaction to the feedback session. Participants’ self-ratings of their AC performance did not affect this relationship suggesting no support for our prediction based on self-verification theory. We also investigated the role of participants’ self-ratings of agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability in feedback acceptance by testing specific moderated mediation hypotheses. Extraversion was related to feedback acceptance through the affective reaction to the feedback session. Agreeableness moderated the affective reaction to the feedback session and feedback acceptance relationship such that there was a strong relationship between affective reaction and feedback acceptance for highly agreeable participants, but no relationship for low agreeable individuals. For low agreeable individuals, there was a positive direct relationship between the assessor ratings and feedback acceptance which was not observed for highly agreeable individuals. The hypothesized role of emotional stability in predicting feedback acceptance was not supported. Implications for the delivery of feedback in developmental ACs are discussed in light of these findings. Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Using a longitudinal design, the authors examined the criterion-related validity of two operationalizations of task-specific team efficacy that differed in their approximation to the level of analysis of the criterion, team performance. Data were obtained from 85 highly interdependent dyadic teams trained over a 2-week period to perform a complex perceptual-motor skill task. Results indicated that, as expected, the operationalization with a team-level referent (referent-shift consensus) was superior to the operationalization with an individual-level referent (additive) across all three data collection periods. For the referent-shift consensus operationalization, within-team agreement and the criterion-related validity improved between the first and second data collection periods but not between the second and third. However, for both operationalizations, despite the increased strength of the team efficacy and team performance relationships, efficacy ratings collected later in the study protocol did not explain unique variance in subsequent team performance once the effect of previous performance was statistically controlled.

Teams are best positioned for success when certain enabling conditions are in place such as the right mix of individuals. Effective team staffing considers team members’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) as well as the configuration of team member KSAOs and their relations, called team composition. In practice, however, how to integrate team composition considerations into team staffing to facilitate outcomes such as team cohesion can seem nebulous. The purpose of this chapter is to describe how team member KSAOs and their configurations and relations affect team cohesion, and suggest how this information can inform team staffing. We frame team cohesion as an aspect of team human capital to understand when it may be an important consideration for staffing. We describe multilevel considerations in staffing cohesive teams. We summarize theories that link team composition to team cohesion via interpersonal attraction, a shared team identity, and team task commitment. Finally, we propose a six-step approach for staffing cohesive teams, and describe a few areas for future research.

Because measures of person-organization (P-O) fit are accountable to the same psychometric and legal standards used for other employment tests when they are used for personnel decision making, the authors assessed the criterion-related validity of P-O fit as a predictor of job performance and turnover. Meta-analyses resulted in estimated true criterion-related validities of .15 (k = 36, N = 5,377) for P-O fit as a predictor of job performance and .24 (k = 8, N = 2,476) as a predictor of turnover, compared with a stronger effect of .31 (k = 109, N = 108,328) for the more commonly studied relation between P-O fit and work attitudes. In contrast to the relations between P-O fit and work attitudes, the lower 95% credibility values for the job performance and turnover relations included zero. In addition, P-O fit's relations with job performance and turnover were partially mediated by work attitudes. Potential concerns pertaining to the use of P-O fit in employment decision making are discussed in light of these results.

Intelligence researchers traditionally focus their attention on the individual level and overlook the role of intelligence at the interindividual level. This research investigated the interplay of the effects of intelligence at the individual and interindividual levels by manipulating the intelligence-based composition of dyadic training teams. Using a sample of 176 young adult males and a complex computer-based criterion task, homogeneous and heterogeneous dyadic training teams were created based on intelligence scores, and both team and individual performance were assessed throughout 10 h of training. Results indicated a strong additive influence of intelligence on team performance and a slightly positive nonadditive effect in uniformly high (HH)-ability teams. Trainees' individual skill acquisition was strongly correlated with the performance of their teams. However, nonadditive partner effects were observed such that high-ability trainees acquired significantly more skill when paired with high-ability partners instead of low- ability partners, but low-ability trainees benefited very little from being paired with high-ability partners.

We examined the extent to which member ability and personality relate to differences in team performance and team efficacy in a task setting that simulated the high degree of role interdependence and human-technology interaction found in many military contexts. 168 male participants were assigned to dyadic teams and trained for two weeks to learn and perform a complex computer task that simulated the demands of a dynamic aviation environment. Participants also completed measures of general mental ability, psychomotor ability, and the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability). Team performance and team efficacy were assessed multiple times throughout training. Results indicated that ability was a critical determinant of both performance and efficacy, and personality traits yielded an incremental contribution to both performance and efficacy. In particular, psychomotor ability and conscientiousness were the strongest and most consistent factors associated with team effectiveness.

The authors used meta-analytic procedures to examine the relationship between specified training design and evaluation features and the effectiveness of training in organizations. Results of the meta-analysis revealed training effectiveness sample-weighted mean ds of 0.60 (k 15, N 936) for reaction criteria, 0.63 (k 234, N 15,014) for learning criteria, 0.62 ( k 122, N 15,627) for behavioral criteria, and 0.62 (k 26, N 1,748) for results criteria. These results suggest a medium to large effect size for organizational training. In addition, the training method used, the skill or task characteristic trained, and the choice of evaluation criteria were related to the effectiveness of training programs. Limitations of the study along with suggestions for future research are discussed. The continued need for individual and organizational development can be traced to numerous demands, including maintaining superiority in the marketplace, enhancing employee skills and knowledge, and increasing productivity. Training is one of the most pervasive methods for enhancing the productivity of individuals and communicating organizational goals to new personnel. In 2000, U.S. organizations with 100 or more employees budgeted to spend $54 billion on formal training (“Industry Report,” 2000). Given the importance and potential impact of training on organizations and the costs associated with the development and implementation of training, it is important that both researchers and practitioners have a better understanding of the relationship between design and evaluation features and the effectiveness of training and development efforts. Meta-analysis quantitatively aggregates the results of primary studies to arrive at an overall conclusion or summary across these studies. In addition, meta-analysis makes it possible to assess relationships not investigated in the original primary studies. These, among others (see Arthur, Bennett, & Huffcutt, 2001), are some of the advantages of meta-analysis over narrative reviews. Although there have been a multitude of meta-analyses in other domains of industrial/organizational psychology (e.g., cognitive ability, employment interviews, assessment centers, and employment-related personality testing) that now allow researchers to make broad summary statements about observable effects and relationships in these domains, summaries of the training effectiveness literature appear to be limited to the periodic narrative Annual Reviews. A notable exception is Burke and Day (1986), who, however, limited their meta-analysis to the effectiveness of only managerial training. Consequently, the goal of the present article is to address this gap in the training effectiveness literature by conducting a metaanalysis of the relationship between specified design and evaluation features and the effectiveness of training in organizations. We accomplish this goal by first identifying design and evaluation features related to the effectiveness of organizational training programs and interventions, focusing specifically on those features over which practitioners and researchers have a reasonable degree of control. We then discuss our use of meta-analytic procedures to quantify the effect of each feature and conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for both practitioners and researchers.

As House, Shane, and Herald (1996) note, dispositional research (of which personality is a subset) has enhanced our understanding of organizational behavior and has important implications for pract...

Background. Few studies have examined the psychological costs of cervical screening, despite expressed concern over possible negative sequelae. Methods. Seventy-five women with mild or moderately dyskaryotic smears, under cytological surveillance, 75 women referred for colposcopy after a first-ever abnormal smear showing severe dyskaryosis, and 75 controls with recent negative cytology were interviewed at home, and their psychological adjustment was assessed. Results. Levels of distress were higher among women with an abnormal smear than among controls with a recent negative smear. Anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale range 0-21, "normal" range 0-7) was highest among those referred for colposcopy (mean 8.12, controls 5.88, P < 0.001); afterward, distress fell (mean 6.61, P < 0.001) but 20% remained highly anxious while awaiting treatment. In the surveillance group, adverse sequelae were less acute (mean anxiety 7.39, controls 5.88, P < 0.01) but more problems of social adjustment were evident (surveillance vs controls, P < 0.01). High anxiety was associated with social maladjustment (colposcopy, P < 0.001; surveillance, P < 0.01) and negative feelings about the self (P < 0.05). Current anxiety was unrelated to knowledge about abnormal smears, but in the surveillance group was related to satisfaction with the explanation provided (P < 0.05). Conclusion. A positive cervical smear may be psychologically traumatic for a significant minority of women, irrespective of management strategy.

Team mental models (TMMs) have received much attention as important drivers of effective team processes and performance. Less is known about the factors that give rise to these shared cognitive structures. We examined potential antecedents of TMMs, with a specific focus on team composition variables, including various facets of personality and surface-level diversity. Further, we examined implicit coordination as an important outcome of TMMs. Results suggest that team composition in terms of the cooperation facet of agreeableness and racial diversity were significantly related to team-focused TMM similarity. TMM similarity was also positively predictive of implicit coordination, which mediated the relationship between TMM similarity and team performance. Post hoc analyses revealed a significant interaction between the trust facet of agreeableness and racial diversity in predicting TMM similarity. Results are discussed in terms of facilitating the emergence of TMMs and corresponding implications for team-related human resource practices.

This study examined factors that may influence attributions of rape victims. Three hundred and three university students completed a questionnaire, which included a measure of dispositional empathy and a vignette depicted either a date rape or a stranger rape situation. Subjects rated the extent that they blamed the rape victim as well as the degree to which they identified with the victim and perpetrator. Results indicated that male students blamed the victim to a greater extent than did female students; students consistently attributed more blame to the victim in date rape situations than they did in stranger rape situations; and, while empathy was not associated with students' attributions, perceptions of similarity to the rape victim and perpetrator were both related to attributions of blame. These findings are consistent with the notion of “judgmental leniency” presented in Shaver's defensive attribution theory (1970). Implications for rape prevention efforts and future research are also discussed.

This study sought to unify the team composition literature by using meta-analytic techniques to estimate the relationships between specified deep-level team composition variables (i.e., personality factors, values, abilities) and team performance. The strength of the team composition variable and team performance relationships was moderated by the study setting (lab or field) and the operationalization of the team composition variable. In lab settings, team minimum and maximum general mental ability and team mean emotional intelligence were related to team performance. Only negligible effects were observed in lab settings for the personality factor and team performance relationships, as well as the value and team performance relationships. In contrast, team minimum agreeableness and team mean conscientiousness, openness to experience, collectivism, and preference for teamwork emerged as strong predictors of team performance in field studies. Results can be used to effectively compose teams in organizations and guide future team composition research.