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Optimizing work team composition in organizational and educational environments is an important task toward maximizing performance. Social science research has revealed that personality trait composition influences team cohesion and performance. However, this research has not been well-adapted into the IS context. In addition, prior research demonstrates how individual personality traits impact teams, but fails to appropriately characterize overall team personality composition. We expand this research by 1) characterizing holistic personality compositions, and 2) examining team learning in addition to performance in the IS context. We draw from theory on team performance and "Big 5" trait composition. Results demonstrate that teams comprised of homogenous versus heterogeneous personality compositions differ in their performance and learning. The primary implication of this research is that teams can benefit from a priori personality measurements and directed composition. Initially, optimal learning and effectiveness comes from homogenous teams. However, this may change over time.

The article reports progress concerning the design of a computer-assisted simulation training (CAST) platform for developing decision-making skills in police students. The overarching aim is to outline a theoretical framework for the design of computer-assisted simulation training to facilitate police students' development of search techniques in complex interactions within the built environment, learning to apply and perform the five "quick peek" techniques for information gathering and subsequent risk evaluation. The article draws on Luckin's (2010Luckin's ( , 2008) ecology of resources model of learner context informed with perspectives on reflective thinking from Schön (1983Schön ( , 1987. The article discusses design issues within the ecology of resources model applied on CAST for complex police situations.

Background Organizations of all types require the use of teams. Poor team member engagement costs billions of US dollars annually. Objective This study aimed to explain how team building can be accomplished with team video gaming based on a team cohesion model enhanced by team flow theory. Methods In this controlled experiment, teams were randomly assigned to a team video gaming treatment or a control treatment. Team productivity was measured during both pretreatment and posttreatment team tasks. After the pretest, teams who were involved in the team video gaming treatment competed against other teams by playing the Halo or Rock Band video game for 45 minutes. After the pretest, teams in the control treatment worked alone for 45 minutes. Then, all teams completed the posttest team activity. This same experimental protocol was conducted on 2 different team tasks. Results For both tasks, teams in the team video gaming treatment increased their productivity significantly more (F1=8.760, P=.004) on the posttest task than teams in the control treatment. Our flow-based theoretical model explained team performance improvement more than twice as well (R2=40.6%) than prior related research (R2=18.5%). Conclusions The focused immersion caused by team video gaming increased team performance while the enjoyment component of flow decreased team performance on the posttest. Both flow and team cohesion contributed to team performance, with flow contributing more than cohesion. Team video gaming did not increase team cohesion, so team video gaming effects are independent of cohesion. Team video gaming is a valid practical method for developing and improving newly formed teams.

Software development is primarily a team task that requires a high degree of coordination among team members [1]. Prior research has indicated that the composition of team member traits such as personality and culture can influence the performance of software teams [2]. However, this line of research does not give practical guidance on how to build teams with personnel constraints. Some research has built teams by starting with personality [2]. However, cultural traitswhich are also known to influence team performancehave not been examined in the same manner. This research, therefore, builds upon this stream by: 1) examining the effects of Hofstede's [3] latest sixdimensional model of national culture [4], 2) segmenting potential software team members into distinct cultural clusters, and 3) testing the outcomes of teams built upon homogeneous versus heterogeneous cultural compositions over time. Our results indicate that-consistent with prior research-homogeneous team compositions are initially better for performance. However, this effect reverses over time, and heterogeneous team compositions are superior.