Exploring Effective Coordination Structures and Functioning in Multiteam Systems
Abstract
Military operations, much like operations in most organizations, have been redefined by technology and globalism (Hesketh & Neal, 1999). Work is increasingly more complex in nature, and organizations find that innovation is essential to staying ahead of the curve. Traditional forms of collaboration are not sufficient, as complex problems require more complex collaborative structures, such as MTSs (DeChurch & Zaccaro, 2010). Research on teams has been extremely informative, and will continue to be useful as a foundation for our understanding of MTSs. However, in a world where problems, strategies, and consequences are increasingly interconnected (Zaccaro, Marks, DeChurch, 2012), it is important to broaden the scope beyond a single team and explore the interdependence between teams. My proposed research centers on two issues. The first is a fundamental issue: how to design effective collaboration. If work is truly becoming more complex, what are organizations giving up by not structuring collaborations appropriately? My research aims to compare traditional large interdisciplinary teams to MTS structures, and additionally, explore different types of MTS structures. The second issue is unique to MTSs. I will explore the factors that enable the effectiveness of both the MTS and the comprising teams. A unique feature of the proposed model of MTS effectiveness is that it incorporates the team layer. If teams should not be studied in isolation of their embedding context (DeChurch & Zaccaro, 2010), then it follows that MTS effectiveness will not be fully elucidated without examination of the attributes, processes, and effectiveness of the comprising teams. To explore these ideas, I will use archival data collected as part of a series of large quasi-experimental studies on MTS. The data consist of student samples from several universities enrolled in several different courses. The overarching framework for these studies consisted of creating teams of students within classrooms and matching them with other teams across classrooms to create MTSs. The data include perceptions of affective, behavioral, and cognitive processes as well as performance measures. In addition, the proposed research includes new data collection through an in-person MTS activity. In addressing the loaded issue of how to work and work well in an MTS, this research is a step towards embracing the complexity of teamwork in context. This work broadens the scope of MTS effectiveness by examining both team and MTS centric factors that impact both team and MTS functioning and success. This work also promises to impact the military. The military is no stranger to MTS collaborations both in research and practice. Military application of this work includes understanding how to better structure complex MTS collaborations in order to leverage these collaborations for optimum outcomes. Second, this work can uncover warning signs of failing MTS collaborations important for the development of interventions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 11, 2018
- Source ID
- W911NF1710444
Entities
People
- Raquel Asencio
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- University of Virginia