Understanding the assembly of interdisciplinary teams and its impact on performance

Lungeanu, Alina; Huang, Yun; Contractor, Noshir

doi:10.1016/j.joi.2013.10.006

Cited by 81 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(89 reference statements)

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“…This reflects researchers’ motivation to reduce uncertainty in the collaboration. Prior research has demonstrated that researchers are more likely to submit grant proposals with those with whom they have previously worked and that these proposals are more likely to be funded[46]. The second (reported by 48%) and third (37%) most important priorities were for researchers to seek collaborators who are recognized as successful researchers and good collaborators.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the growing discipline of dissemination and implementation science in health

et al. 2017

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Background The field of dissemination and implementation (D&I) research in health has grown considerably in the past decade. Despite the potential for advancing the science, limited research has focused on mapping the field. Methods We administered an online survey to individuals in the D&I field to assess participants’ demographics and expertise, as well as engagement with journals and conferences, publications, and grants. A combined roster–nomination method was used to collect data on participants’ advice networks and collaboration networks; participants’ motivations for choosing collaborators was also assessed. Frequency and descriptive statistics were used to characterize the overall sample; network metrics were used to characterize both networks. Among a sub-sample of respondents who were researchers, regression analyses identified predictors of two metrics of academic performance (i.e., publications and funded grants). Results A total of 421 individuals completed the survey, representing a 30.75% response rate of eligible individuals. Most participants were White (n = 343), female (n = 284, 67.4%), and identified as a researcher (n = 340, 81%). Both the advice and the collaboration networks displayed characteristics of a small world network. The most important motivations for selecting collaborators were aligned with advancing the science (i.e., prior collaborators, strong reputation, and good collaborators) rather than relying on human proclivities for homophily, proximity, and friendship. Among a sub-sample of 295 researchers, expertise (individual predictor), status (advice network), and connectedness (collaboration network) were significant predictors of both metrics of academic performance. Conclusions Network-based interventions can enhance collaboration and productivity; future research is needed to leverage these data to advance the field.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the growing discipline of dissemination and implementation science in health

et al. 2017

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“…This reinforces our understanding that assembling teams with diverse cognitive resources is more likely to yield innovation. While researchers rarely team up with individuals who possess different knowledge sets, in other research we discovered that when this does occur, such teams are more likely to accomplish innovative outcomes, in this case the funding of a research proposal (Lungeanu et al, 2014). Unfortunately, we are unable to replicate those findings here because we do not have access to collaborations that did not result in publications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Taken together with net findings about cognitive dissimilarity, this study suggests that innovation in networked research is most likely when teams draw upon individuals with diverse knowledge resources, but who also have prior collaborations with each other or with common others. The key to sustaining innovation in such teams is to reduce the possibility that close collaboration results in a reduction of the diversity in their knowledge expertise (Lungeanu et al, 2014). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Diversity and Network Ties on Innovations

Lungeanu

Contractor

2014

American Behavioral Scientist

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This study examines the influence of different types of diversity, both observable and unobservable, on the creation of innovative ideas. Our framework draws upon theory and research on information processing, social categorization, coordination, and homophily to posit the influence of cognitive, gender, and country diversity on innovation. Our longitudinal model is based on a unique dataset of 1,354 researchers who helped create the new scientific field of Oncofertility, by collaborating on 469 publications over a four-year period. We capture the differences among researchers along cognitive, country and gender dimensions, as well as examine how the resulting diversity or homophily influences the formation of collaborative innovation networks. We find that innovation, operationalized as publishing in a new scientific discipline, benefits from both homophily and diversity. Homophily in country of residence and working with prior collaborators help reduce uncertainty in the interactions associated with innovation, while diversity in knowledge enables the recombinant knowledge required for innovation.

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“…Similarly, the research by Lungeanu, Huang, and Contractor () also illustrates how the structural and relational (i.e. prior collaboration and citation relationships) properties of familiarity influence the collaborative process relative to the self‐organization of interdisciplinary team formation, for NSF grant proposals.…”

Section: The Mechanisms Of Team Formationmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Social‐psychological Aspects of Team Formation: New Avenues for Research

Bailey

Skvoretz

2017

Sociology Compass

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The ubiquity of teams in the modern workplace cannot be denied, as Curseu, Kenis, and Raab (2009, p. 30) note, “team formation is a challenge in modern organizations as most of them use teams to perform a variety of organizational tasks.” How teams form is, therefore, a question of much practical interest. Research illustrates that stratified social systems influence the choice and decision‐making behaviors that shape group and team formation (Hechter, 1978). From a structural social psychological perspective (Sell & Kuipers, 2009; Lawler, Ridgeway, and Markovsky, 1993), teams are like microcosmic societies. They represent a process of social cohesion through interaction. Additionally, they can be organic, mechanical, homogeneous, and heterogeneous. In other words, teams are structural and cultural artifacts of societies. Members of society through interaction create these “social artifacts,” which may consist of hierarchically organizing sets of individuals into a group, or multiple groups, relative to power and status dimensions. In this paper, we aim to show how contributions from social psychology have informed research on team formation. Thus, two research questions guide this paper: What are the mechanisms of team formation via partner selection for self‐organizing teams? In what ways, can these studies advance scholarship focusing on the social psychology of inequality? To establish a foundation for understanding the various studies on team formation, we begin with a general overview on how team and team formation has been conceptualized. Next, we examine the social psychological research on team formation via partner selection. In doing so, we note the importance given to the 4 major mechanisms of team formation emerging from the literature: competence, homophily, familiarity, and affect. Lastly, we conclude the paper with a discussion addressing the research questions guiding this paper and suggest opportunities for social psychologists to consider for future team formation studies.

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Understanding the assembly of interdisciplinary teams and its impact on performance

Cited by 81 publications

References 74 publications

Mapping the growing discipline of dissemination and implementation science in health

Mapping the growing discipline of dissemination and implementation science in health

The Effects of Diversity and Network Ties on Innovations

The Social‐psychological Aspects of Team Formation: New Avenues for Research

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