Managing Uncertainty: An Experiment on Delegation and Team Selection

2023 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Hamman, John R.; Martínez-Carrasco, Miguel A.

Abstract: We study how organizations use team selection and delegation of authority jointl ... Expand

Abstract: We study how organizations use team selection and delegation of authority jointly to navigate uncertain environments. To do so, we model a managerial decision environment in which a manager both determines the skill heterogeneity of the workers and determines whether to retain or delegate the ability to allocate tasks. Delegation enables better-informed workers to allocate tasks more efficiently when uncertainty is high relative to the incentive conflict between manager and worker. Our novel approach allows us to illustrate that this conflict is endogenously determined by the team selection decision. Experimental data support—although not globally—the direction of our theoretical hypotheses and offer insight into how and why choices deviate from expected behavior. Notably, we identify behavioral characteristics that aid decisions along each dimension. Deliberative thinking improves all decisions under low uncertainty and improves team selection regardless of the level of uncertainty. Risk tolerance improves all decisions in highly uncertain situations and helps managers optimally delegate decision rights in all settings. The results highlight potentially costly ways in which managers seek to simplify their decisions but show how deliberative thinking and risk tolerance can improve performance in a complementary manner.History: This paper has been accepted for the Organization Science Special Issue on Experiments in Organizational Theory.Funding: The authors thank Florida State University and the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics for financial support.Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.1545. Collapse

Topics: organization structure environmental uncertainty data quality decision making task interdependence

Methods: experiment regression analysis method logistic regression descriptive statistic parametric test

Theories: organizational theory transaction cost economics agency theory theory of bounded rationality

Effective Information Infrastructures for Collaborative Organizing: The Case of Maasai Mara

2023 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Håkonsson, Dorthe Døjbak; Larsen, Erik Reimer; Eskildsen, Jacob Kjær

Abstract: This study focuses on how collaborative organizing is achieved in a natural-reso ... Expand

Abstract: This study focuses on how collaborative organizing is achieved in a natural-resource commons, organized as an actor-oriented structure. In a framed field experiment, teams of Maasai livestock owners played a board game related to sustainable usage and preservation of a commons (in this case, grazing areas). We examine team decisions over time and draw inferences about the difference between two information infrastructures: one that enables learning about the ecosystem and one that enables shared situational awareness. We also examine the effectiveness of these information infrastructures in obtaining sustainable usage and preservation of a commons, finding that participants who are subjected to an information infrastructure that enables shared situational awareness are more effective than those subjected to an information infrastructure that only enables learning about the ecosystem. This, we argue, is because shared situational awareness enables members to address their interdependencies related to both task and knowledge interdependence. In other words, without shared situational awareness, they are less efficient at coordinating their actions, despite sharing collaborative values. Based on our findings, we argue that actor-oriented structures should be designed to include information infrastructures that specifically address members’ interdependencies. Funding: This work was financially supported by the Interacting Minds Centre (IMC). Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.1642. Collapse

Topics: information technology infrastructure situational awareness collaborative consumption open source online community

Methods: experiment chi squared test field experiment simulation qualitative interview

Theories: loss aversion

The Dual Challenge of Search and Coordination for Organizational Adaptation: How Structures of Influence Matter

2023 | Organization Science | Citations: 1

Authors: Koçak, Özgecan; Levinthal, Daniel A.; Puranam, Phanish

Abstract: Organizations increasingly need to adapt to challenges in which search and coord ... Expand

Abstract: Organizations increasingly need to adapt to challenges in which search and coordination cannot be decoupled. In response, many have experimented with “agile” and “flat” designs that dismantle traditional forms of hierarchy to harness the distributed knowledge of specialized individuals. Despite the popularity of such practices, there is considerable variation in their implementation as well as conceptual ambiguity about the underlying premise. Does effective rapid experimentation necessarily imply the repudiation of hierarchical structures of influence? We use computational models of multiagent reinforcement learning to study the effectiveness of coordinated search in groups that vary in how they influence each other’s beliefs. We compare the behavior of flat and hierarchical teams with a baseline structure without any influence on beliefs (a “crowd”) when all three are placed in the same task environments. We find that influence on beliefs—whether it is hierarchical or not—makes it less likely that agents stabilize prematurely around their own experiences. However, flat teams can engage in excessive exploration, finding it difficult to converge on good alternatives, whereas hierarchical influence on beliefs reduces simultaneous uncoordinated exploration, introducing a degree of rapid exploitation. As a result, teams that need to achieve agility (i.e., rapid satisfactory results) in environments that require coordinated search may benefit from a hierarchical structure of influence—even when the apex actor has no superior knowledge, foresight, or capacity to control subordinates’ actions. Funding: Puranam thanks the Desmairis Fund at INSEAD for supporting the Organizations and Algorithms project. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.1601. Collapse

Topics: social influence agile software development organizational context task interdependence crowdfunding

Methods: experiment reinforcement learning design methodology descriptive statistic agent based simulation

Team Adaptation to Discontinuous Task Change: Equity and Equality as Facilitators of Individual and Collective Task Capabilities Redevelopment

2023 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Li, Alex Ning; Sherf, Elad N.; Tangirala, Subrahmaniam

Abstract: Teams often need to adapt to planned discontinuous task change or fundamental al ... Expand

Abstract: Teams often need to adapt to planned discontinuous task change or fundamental alteration of tasks, tools, and work systems. Although team adaptation theories have made substantive progress in explaining how teams can respond to change, they have not adequately considered the unique impact that discontinuous task change can have on teams. Such change can render not only collective but also individual task capabilities obsolete and necessitate a multilevel task relearning process. Drawing on the team compilation model, we suggest that adaptation to discontinuous task change is akin to team (re)development. We posit that teams are more effective when they approach discontinuous task change by first focusing on the rebuilding of individual task capabilities and only later shifting their attention to the rebuilding of team-level task capabilities. Moreover, we argue that the uncertainty caused by discontinuous task change makes reward fairness salient such that equity and equality in rewards are particularly useful in motivating members to (re)develop individual and collective task capabilities, respectively. We provide support for these arguments using survey, qualitative, and archival data from 115 manufacturing teams and discuss the implications of our findings for both research and practice. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.1621. Collapse

Topics: team productivity human resource management task interdependence social norm task productivity

Methods: theory development survey design archival research qualitative interview survey

Theories: adaptation-level theory

Value co-creation for digital innovation: An interorganizational boundary-spanning perspective

2023 | Information & Management | Citations: 0

Authors: Shi, Yunfei; Cui, Tingru; Kurnia, Sherah

Abstract: Despite the enthusiasm for engaging in interorganizational collaboration to enab ... Expand

Abstract: Despite the enthusiasm for engaging in interorganizational collaboration to enable digital product innovation, firms often face challenges in integrating knowledge across organizational boundaries. Our research examines how collaborating firms use Interorganizational Systems (IOS) tools and project coordinators to overcome knowledge boundaries in different types of ideation tasks. Drawing on boundary-spanning theory, we concep­ tualize IOS tools as boundary objects, project coordinators as boundary spanners, and the interdependence of ideation tasks as moderators of the impacts of boundary objects and spanners on knowledge integration. Our findings suggest that IOS tools help overcome syntax and semantic knowledge boundaries by transferring and sharing information when the interdependence of idea implementation tasks is high, and project coordinators help overcome pragmatic knowledge boundaries by building reciprocity of innovation participants when the interdependence of idea generation tasks is high. Our research contributes to value co-creation literature by developing a boundary-spanning mechanism to explain the roles of boundary objects and boundary spanners in overcoming different knowledge boundaries to enable digital product innovation at the inter-firm level. Collapse

Topics: innovation management digital innovation task interdependence idea generation boundary spanning

Methods: survey design methodology qualitative interview survey design post-hoc analysis

Theories: boundary objects theory

The Role of Resources in the Success or Failure of Diverse Teams: Resource Scarcity Activates Negative Performance-Detracting Resource Dynamics in Social Category Diverse Teams

2023 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Yu, Siyu; Greer, Lindred L.

Abstract: Increasing the social category diversity of work teams is top of mind for many o ... Expand

Abstract: Increasing the social category diversity of work teams is top of mind for many organizations. However, such efforts may not always be sufficiently resourced, given the numerous resource demands facing organizations. In this paper, we offer a novel take on the relationship between social category diversity and team performance, seeking to understand the role resources may play in both altering and explaining the performance dynamics of diverse teams. Specifically, our resource framework explains how the effects of social category diversity on team performance can be explained by intrateam resource cognitions and behaviors and are dependent on team resource availability. We propose that in the face of scarcity in a focal resource (i.e., budget), diverse (but not homogenous) teams generalize this scarcity perception to fear that all resources (i.e., staff, time, etc.) are scarce, prompting performance-detracting power struggles over resources within the team. We find support for our model in three multimethod team-level studies, including two laboratory studies of interacting teams and a field study of work teams in research and development firms. Our resource framework provides a new lens to study the success or failure of diverse teams by illuminating a previously overlooked danger in diverse teams (negative resource cognitions (scarcity spillover bias) and behaviors (intrateam power struggles)), which offers enhanced explanatory power over prior explanations. This resource framework for the study of team diversity also yields insight into how to remove the roadblocks that may occur in diverse teams, highlighting the necessity of resource sufficiency for the success of diverse teams. Collapse

Topics: team productivity research and development decision making task interdependence human resource management

Methods: survey field study structural equation modeling theory development laboratory experiment

Incentivizing Creativity in Virtual Groups

2022 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Brkovic, Patrick; Sabel, Christopher; Nüesch, Stephan

Abstract: Creativity is the key element of organizational success. Yet, adequately incent ... Expand

Abstract: Creativity is the key element of organizational success. Yet, adequately incentivizing people to be creative remains a problem without uniform solution. This study investigates the effect of incentive systems that rely on supervisor discretion on creativity of virtual groups. Adopting Social Interdependence Theory, we experimentally assess the effect of forced distribution rating systems (FDRS) and unrestricted distribution rating systems (UDRS) on idea generation and idea selection of groups collaborating in a virtual setting. We show that the competitive FDRSs -in which not every group member can obtain a top ranking -enhance idea generation, idea selection and overall creativity of virtual groups. We contribute to the literatures on creativity, virtual collaboration and incentive systems. Collapse

Topics: idea generation virtual teamwork task interdependence productivity pandemic

Methods: experiment descriptive statistic statistical hypothesis test experimental task survey

Understanding information systems success: a hybrid view

2022 | European Journal of Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Jewer, Jennifer; Compeau, Deborah R

Abstract: The information systems (IS) success model, introduced in 1992, provided IS rese ... Expand

Abstract: The information systems (IS) success model, introduced in 1992, provided IS research with a comprehensive set of dependent variables for project success. While the model addresses both process and variance considerations, the latter has dominated the research. Concurrently, the benefits of hybrid theories have been discussed in the literature, and there have been calls for an integrated view of IS success that includes the process perspective. We build on this momentum by presenting a hybrid model based on a longitudinal case study of the development and implementation of a patient-flow decision-support system at a large not-for-profit hospital. Our model remains true to the DeLone and McLean framing but elaborates on the process elements. The hybrid model expands our ability to analyse multiple dimensions of IS success and integrates diverse research findings into the IS success model, providing a revised version for future research to extend. Collapse

Topics: IS success information system use digital dashboard user satisfaction human computer interaction

Methods: qualitative interview case study survey conceptual modelling focus group

Theories: information systems success model complex adaptive system

Bilateral, Collective, or Both? Formal Governance and Performance in Multisourcing

2022 | Journal of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Krancher, Oliver; Oshri, Ilan; Kotlarsky, Julia; Dibbern, Jens

Abstract: While multisourcing offers benefits such as access to best-of-breed resources a ... Expand

Abstract: While multisourcing offers benefits such as access to best-of-breed resources and enhanced competition, it also presents clients with a new governance challenge, namely the need to ensure that vendors not only deliver their individual contributions but also collaborate to produce a coherent joint outcome. Clients can address this challenge by combining bilateral governance focused on each vendor's individual performance with collective governance aimed at the vendors' joint performance. However, it is unclear how the simultaneous application of bilateral and collective governance affects multisourcing performance. Indeed, the literature falls short in systematically differentiating these governance mechanisms and empirically examining their interplay. Drawing on existing work on multisourcing and on the outsourcing governance literature, we argue that bilateral and collective governance direct efforts toward different performance dimensions (individual vs. joint), invoke different metaphors (market vs. team), and promote conflicting norms (competitive vs. cooperative), which can result in trade-offs when bilateral and collective governance mechanisms are combined. Results from a survey of 189 multisourcing arrangements support our expectation that bilateral and collective governance promote different performance dimensions. Notably, one collective governance mechanism, conflict management procedures, contributes to both individual and joint performance. We find substitutional effects between bilateral and collective governance in relation to joint performance but not individual performance, indicating that the benefits of collective governance for joint performance are more easily compromised than the benefits of bilateral governance for individual performance. We also observe complementary effects within collective governance mechanisms. Our key contribution lies in theorizing and empirically examining the effects and interplay of bilateral and collective governance in multisourcing. Collapse

Topics: outsourcing business process management task interdependence digital ecosystem procurement management

Methods: survey SEM tool data transformation theory development confirmatory factor analysis

Division of Labor Through Self-Selection

2022 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Raveendran, Marlo; Puranam, Phanish; Warglien, Massimo

Abstract: Self-selection–based division of labor has gained visibility through its role in ... Expand

Abstract: Self-selection–based division of labor has gained visibility through its role in varied organizational contexts such as nonhierarchical firms, agile teams, and project-based organizations. Yet, we know relatively little about the precise conditions under which it can outperform the traditional allocation of work to workers by managers. We develop a computational agent-based model that conceives of division of labor as a matching process between workers’ skills and tasks. This allows us to examine in detail when and why different approaches to division of labor may enjoy a relative advantage. We find a specific confluence of conditions under which self-selection has an advantage over traditional staffing practices arising from matching: when employees are very skilled but at only a narrow range of tasks, the task structure is decomposable, and employee availability is unforeseeable. Absent these conditions, self-selection must rely on the benefits of enhanced motivation or better matching based on worker’s private information about skills, to dominate more traditional allocation processes. These boundary conditions are noteworthy both for those who study as well as for those who wish to implement forms of organizing based on self-selection. Collapse

Topics: task structure organizational productivity task interdependence anonymity task productivity

Methods: computational algorithm agent based simulation descriptive statistic theory development experiment

Theories: lemon market theory