Research Topic Group: Teams/Organization Behavior

Our topic group aims to provide a platform that facilitates the discussing and understanding of teams in all aspects. A particular emphasis is placed on processes and dynamics created by team members interactions and interdependencies. Given that it is not the work of individuals in isolation, but the way in which they affect each other that sets teams apart from a collection of individuals, we are focused on learning how team members being and working together shapes outcomes at the dyad and team level.

Extended description

In this topic group, we discuss and study organizations in its smallest form: teams. Team are small groups of interdependent individuals who share responsibility for outcomes (Hollenbeck, Beersma, & Schouten, 2012). Nearly all organizations organize work via team-based structures (e.g., work groups, project teams, departments) which promote organizational adaptability. Discussing and studying teams allows a micro-level understanding of how relationships and interactions among individuals shape outcomes at a higher level (cf. Mathieu, Hollenbeck, van Knippenberg, & Ilgen, 2017).

Our topic group aims to provide a platform that facilitates the discussing and understanding of teams in all aspects. A particular emphasis is placed on processes and dynamics created by team members interactions and interdependencies. Given that it is not the work of individuals in isolation, but the way in which they affect each other that sets teams apart from a collection of individuals (cf. Marks, Mathieu, & Zaccaro, 2001), we are focused on learning how team members being and working together shapes outcomes at the dyad, and team level.

Specific questions that have been addressed in our topic group include, but are not limited to: How does a change in manager affect a football team’s functioning? What factors determine whether a team outperforms the sum of its parts?

Recent exemplary publications

• Meyer, B., van Dijk, H., & van Engen, M. (2022). (Mitigating) the self-fulfillment of gender stereotypes in teams: The interplay of competence attributions, behavioral dominance, individual performance, and diversity beliefs. Journal of Applied Psychology.
• Chan, Kai-Ying (Alice); Oerlemans, Leon; Meslec, Nicoleta (2021).  The impact of multiple project team membership on individual and team learning: A micro-meso multi-level empirical study. International Journal of Project Management.
• Radostina Purvanova & Renata Kenda (2021). The impact of virtuality on team effectiveness in organizational and non-organizational teams: A meta-analysis. Applied Psychology – An International Review.
• van Dijk, H., Shantz, A., & Alfes, K. (2020). Welcome to the bright side: Why, how, and when overqualification enhances performance. Human Resource Management Review, 30(2): 100688. 
• Meslec, N., Curseu, P.L., Fodor, O.C., Kenda, R. (2020). Effects of charismatic leadership and rewards on individual performance. Leadership Quarterly, 31(6): 101423.
• Mell, Julia; DeChurch, Leslie; Contractor, Nishir; Leenders, R. (2020). Identity asymmetries: An experimental investigation of social identity and information exchange in multiteam systems. Academy of Management Journal, 63(5): 1561-1590.