Team Learning: A Theoretical Integration and Review

With the increasing emphasis on work teams as the primary architecture of organizational structure, scholars have begun to focus attention on team learning, the processes that support it, and the important outcomes that depend on it. Although the literature addressing learning in teams is broad, it is also messy and fraught with conceptual confusion. This chapter presents a theoretical integration and review. The goal is to organize theory and research on team learning, identify actionable frameworks and findings, and emphasize promising targets for future research. We emphasize three theoretical foci in our examination of team learning, treating it as multilevel (individual and team, not individual or team), dynamic (iterative and progressive; a process not an outcome), and emergent (outcomes of team learning can manifest in different ways over time). The integrative theoretical heuristic distinguishes team learning process theories, supporting emergent states, team knowledge representations, and respective influences on team performance and effectiveness. Promising directions for theory development and research are discussed

Building the Infrastructure: The Effects of Role Identification Behaviors on Team Cognition Development and Performance

The primary purpose of this study was to extend theory and research regarding the emergence of mental models and transactive memory in teams. Utilizing Kozlowski et al.’s (1999) model of team compilation, we examine the effect of role identification behaviors and argue that such behaviors represent the initial building blocks of team cognition during the role compilation phase of team development. We then hypothesized that team mental models and transactive memory would convey the effects of these behaviors onto team performance in the team compilation phase of development. Results from 60 teams working on a command and control simulation supported our hypotheses

Purposeful empiricism: how stochastic modeling informs industrial marketing research

It is increasingly recognized that progress can be made in the development of integrated theory for understanding, explaining and better predicting key aspects of buyer–seller relationships and industrial networks by drawing upon non-traditional research perspectives and domains. One such non-traditional research perspective is stochastic modeling which has shown that large scale regularities emerge from the individual interactions between idiosyncratic actors. When these macroscopic patterns repeat across a wide range of firms, industries and business types this commonality suggests directions for further research which we pursue through a differentiated replication of the Dirichlet stochastic model. We demonstrate predictable behavioral patterns of purchase and loyalty in two distinct industrial markets for components used in critical surgical procedures. This differentiated replication supports the argument for the use of stochastic modeling techniques in industrial marketing management, not only as a management tool but also as a lens to inform and focus research towards integrated theories of the evolution of market structure and network relationships

A Substruction Approach to Assessing the Theoretical Validity of Measures

Background Validity is about the logic, meaningfulness, and evidence used to defend inferences made when interpreting results. Substruction is a heuristic or process that visually represent the hierarchical structure between theory and measures. Purpose To describe substruction as a method for assessing the toretical validity of research measures. Methods Using Fawcett\u27s Conceptual-Theoretical-Empirical Structure. an exemplar is presented of substruction from the Individual and Family Self-Management Theory to the Striving to be strong study concepts and empirical measures. Results Substruction tables display evidence supporting theoretical validity of the instruments used in the study. Conclusion A high degree of congruence between theory and measure is critical to support the validity of the theory and to support attributions made about moderating, mediating, causal relationships, and intervention effects

What Influences Open Defecation and Latrine Ownership in Rural Households?: Findings from a Global Review

In this review, the Water and Sanitation Program of the World Bank identifies commonalities and differences across sanitation market research studies it has conducted in eight countries since 2006 to determine factors that affect sanitation behaviors. Three specific behaviors -- open defecation, acquisition of toilets, and improvement of latrines -- are covered

Using Case Work as a Pretest to Measure Crisis Leadership Preparedness

Today’s leaders must thrive in a world of turbulence and constant change. Unstable conditions frequently generate crises, emphasizing the need for crisis leadership preparedness, which is missing from many business curricula. Thus, the purpose of this work was to develop a learning module in crisis leadership preparedness. As a baseline measure or pretest, 217 graduate students were asked to analyze two crisis leadership cases during the first week of an entry leadership class. Content analysis provided the method to identify where student analyses fell short. These gaps in learning then informed the creation of student learning objectives. Applying inquiry-based learning, I then suggest instructional methods that I incorporated into an active learning module to better prepare today’s leaders for crisis leadership

Recognizing Risk in Human Capital Investments: A Real Options Approach to Strategic Human Resource Management

An issue that has not yet been explored in the field of strategic human resource management (SHRM) is that of managing the ‘risks’ involved in human capital management of the firm. We address this issue using the real option theory framework. We argue that certain HR practices manage risk and generate opportunities for the firm by creating \u27options\u27 for its human capital management. These HR options help ensure stability of returns from human capital and thus sustain competitive advantage. Different types of HR options and the role of certain HR practices in creation of these options are discussed