Event Characteristics and Team Adaptation in Extreme Contexts: Evidence from an Antarctic Summer Campaign

Team adaptation in context: An integrated conceptual model and meta-analytic review

Organizations use teams as an adaptive and flexible response to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Team adaptive performance, which is team performance under changing environmental conditions, can be facilitated by motivational mechanisms. In this paper, we investigated the effect of team rewards on team adaptive performance. Noting the temporal nature of team adaptation and emergent states, we hypothesized that team reward consistency over time (as compared to inconsistency) would result in higher team adaptive performance. We further posited that team efficacy beliefs and team distributive fairness perceptions would partially mediate this relationship. We used a between-subjects (team reward condition: consistent or inconsistent) experimental study with 43 3-person student teams who performed a coordination task with a change in the task at the midpoint. The empirical results supported our predictions. Team reward consistency led to higher team adaptive performance. Team distributive fairness perceptions fully mediated this relationship. Team reward consistency also resulted in higher team efficacy beliefs, which also contributed to team adaptive performance. Thus, our paper highlights the importance of team rewards on team adaptation.

Here, we report a longitudinal experiment testing the combined effects of leadership style and the magnitude of the disruption on team adaptive performance over time. We hypothesized that teams led by a directive leader would outperform teams led by an empowering leader when task conditions do not change (pre-change), while teams with an empowering leader would outperform teams with a directive leader under changing task conditions (post-change), especially when task changes are high in magnitude. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a 2 (leadership: directive/empowering) x 2 (magnitude of the disruption: low/high) experiment with repeated measures of team performance before and after the change occurred. Sixty-seven three-member teams participated in a computer-based firefighting simulation. Evidence from discontinuous growth modeling partially supported our hypotheses by showing that before the task change, directively led teams outperformed teams led by an empowering leader. After the task change, however, directively led teams still outperformed teams with empowering leaders. The magnitude of the disruption had a significant main effect on team adaptive performance but did not significantly moderate the effect of leadership style. Implications for the team adaptation literature and the management of teams under complex, changing conditions are discussed.

In this longitudinal laboratory study, we investigated the effects of an adaptive followership training intervention on team adaptive performance. One hundred two four-person teams were assigned to one of the six conditions resulting from the 2 (adaptive followership training vs. control training) x 3 (change magnitude: team, task, or team & task) factorial repeated measures design. Results revealed the magnitude of change exerted a moderating effect on the relation between adaptive followership training and team adaptive performance, such that adaptive followership training significantly increased team adaptive performance when teams faced both a task and a team change, but not when they faced only a task or a team change. Additionally, we found that adaptive followership increases leader psychological safety across change conditions, and that leader psychological safety mediates the positive effect of adaptive followership on team adaptive performance in the team and task change condition. Our work extends both team adaptation and followership literatures and enhances organizational practice, providing vital insights for training program development to increase teams’ ability to adapt effectively during environmental complexities.

Team adaptability is just beginning to be understood by researchers. Team training, team effectiveness, and adaptability have provided researchers with a pool of evidence that can be leveraged into meaningful team adaptability research. However, team adaptability is different from individual adaptability. Teams have processes that individuals do not. Furthermore, team adaptability refers to more than just effective performance. The following paper identifies 2 team processes that past literature indicates is important to adaptability (feedback and shared mental models). Theoretical issues and practical training issues are examined to help determine their role in adaptive teams.

The objective of this research is to investigate the link between team cohesion and team adaptive performance (TAP) directly and via team ambidexterity. This research also examines the moderating effect of team empowerment climate on the link between team cohesion and TAP. Data were collected through a time-lagged design (two waves) from a sample of 62 teams consisting of 296 software developers working in the software development industry in Pakistan. The team-level hypothesised framework was analysed through Hayes’ PROCESS Macro using SPSS. The results revealed that team cohesion positively influences TAP directly, as well as via team ambidexterity. Moreover, the results also reveal that team empowerment climate positively moderates the direct association between team cohesion and TAP. This study implies that the managers of software houses should enable software developers to address challenging and uncertain situations by promoting high-quality relationships among team members and by supporting a perception of an empowered climate within teams. This study makes an important contribution to the nascent literature on TAP by highlighting team cohesion as a predecessor of TAP and by examining employee ambidexterity as a mechanism in this relationship.

Purpose– This study aims to contribute to the team learning literature, by analyzing how reflective team learning is related to interfering events and to subsequent team adaptation.Design/methodology/approach– Longitudinal data were obtained from 33 project teams consisting of 131 students. Participants answered an online questionnaire three times during the term. The data were analyzed at the team level by conducting multiple hierarchical regression and bootstrap analyses.Findings– Results show an indirect effect of interfering events on team adaptation through reflective team learning, supporting recent models of episodic team processes and interruptive events. Findings indicate that reflective team learning is related to situational events and subsequent team adaptation. It was concluded that events that interfere with team action in a given time period stimulate the occurrence of reflective behavior, resulting in team adaptation.Research limitations/implications– The sample size is rather small, the context is very specific and the study focuses on reflective team learning. Therefore, future studies should try to replicate the findings with larger samples in other work contexts and also explore other facets of team learning.Practical implications– The findings are valuable for managers because they highlight the opportunities interferences offer for team learning and how they can be used to achieve team adaptation.Originality/value– This study contributes to team learning research by shedding light on emerging conditions of team learning processes. It provides empirical support for current models of team learning and team adaptation by analyzing longitudinal data.

Disentangling the Effects of Team Competences, Team Adaptability, and Client Communication on the Performance of Management Consulting Teams

Exploration missions to asteroids and Mars will bring new challenges associated with communication delays and more autonomy for crews. Mission safety and success will rely on how well the entire system, from technology to the human elements, is adaptable and resilient to disruptive, novel, or potentially catastrophic events. The recent NASA Extreme Environment Missions Operations (NEEMO) 20 mission highlighted this need and produced valuable "lessons learned" that will inform future research on team adaptation and resilience. A team of NASA, industry, and academic members used an iterative process to design a tripod shaped structure, called the CORAL Tower, for two astronauts to assemble underwater with minimal tools. The team also developed assembly procedures, administered training to the crew, and provided support during the mission. During the design, training, and assembly of the Tower, the team learned first-hand how adaptation in extreme environments depends on incremental testing, thorough procedures and contingency plans that predict possible failure scenarios, and effective team adaptation and resiliency for the crew and support personnel. Findings from NEEMO 20 provide direction on the design and testing process for future space systems and crews to maximize adaptation. This experience also underscored the need for more research on team adaptation, particularly how input and process factors affect adaption outcomes, the team adaptation iterative process, and new ways to measure the adaptation process.

The study explored the status of the creative andragogy practices of ALS teachers in the selected public schools of Panabo City Division. Also, it investigated the significant difference of the creative andragogy practices when analyzed by schools category. With the use of probability sampling, 156 public school ALS teachers were selected as the respondents in the quantitative phase while 10 informants were invited in the in-depth interview. Utilizing the sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, the data collated were analyzed through the use of Mean and ANOVA while thematic analysis was used in qualitative phase. Results revealed that there was a high creative andragogy practices among ALS teachers which was confirmed by the responses of the informants. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the creative andragogy practices when analyzed by school category. In the qualitative phase, the informants confirmed that ALS teachers exemplified creative andragogy practices. These emerging themes include commitment to innovative instructional design, excellence in strategy implementation, effectiveness in delivery and engagement, thoughtful and diverse assessment practices. Based on the findings, it was further suggested that higher officials in the Department of Education and school heads may identify means on how to provide further support to ALS teachers in order to strengthen their creative andragogy practices. Keywords: Creative Andragogy Practices, Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods, Panabo City Division, Philippines

Despite its pervasive and harmful nature, sibling violence is often trivialised as a harmless and inconsequential form of familial aggression. The primary goal of the present study was to analyse the relationship between self-reported experiences of sibling violence during childhood to examine the dynamics of this issue. A sequential explanatory mixed-method design was used for data collection. The quantitative element of the study involved 595 emerging adults, while the qualitative element examined the dynamics of sibling violence during childhood. The results of the quantitative analysis, previous literature, and theoretical constructs informed the development of a focus group discussion guide. Data obtained from the survey were analysed using thematic analysis before integrating the quantitative and qualitative findings. The results revealed that the majority of respondents were female (73.9%), aged 20 to 21 years old (49.9%), and had three to four siblings (50.3%). Most respondents reported having experienced psychological violence (57.7%) and frequently had disputes with their younger sisters (52.8%), with an average age difference of three to four years (25.9%). Additionally, the analysis showed a significant moderate relationship between self-reported experiences of aggression and sibling violence (r = .615, p < 0.01) during childhood. Through a sequential explanatory mixed method approach, this study highlights the complexity of sibling violence and makes the case for increased awareness and targeted intervention to address this form of family conflict.

Background: The co-occurring use of tobacco and marijuana among young adults is an important behavioral phenomenon within the field of substance use. Studying tobacco and marijuana use together among young adults can provide important insight into patterns of initiation and continuation. Objectives: The primary goal of this study was to examine characteristics associated with co-use among young adults and to discover the ways experiences of co-users can help contextualize trends in co-use. Methods: This study employed a sequential explanatory mixed methods design. Quantitative analyses used 12 years of nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data (2005–2016) to assess the characteristics and experiences of young adult (21–30) co-users. Results from analyses of NHANES, prior literature, and theoretical constructs were used to develop a guide for 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with young adult co-users living in the state of Maryland. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Quantitative results and qualitative findings were integrated. The original NHANES analysis occurred during October and November 2017, interviews took place during December 2017 and January 2018, and all mixed methods integration was conducted in 2018. Results: Tobacco and marijuana co-users have unique characteristics and experiences compared to single product users; the experiences of co-users can offer unique insights on co-use. Meta-inferences emerged from integration. Conclusions/importance: Co-users conceptualize tobacco and marijuana differently and hold different risk perceptions for each substance. Co-users may be at risk for polytobacco product use. These findings highlight the profound influence these two substances have on young adult co-users’ experiences and behaviors.

The current study builds on the non-linear Dynamic Systems (NDS) perspective to test the assumption that change in sickness absenteeism is non-linear, and that such change is due to workload, team adaptability and task cohesion. Participants were 37 firefighter teams (n = 250 individuals) from a main European capital city. The research hypotheses were tested using SPSS and the “cusp” package, in the statistical software R. The results suggest that change in sickness absenteeism behaviours over time is non-linear, with the cusp catastrophe model predicting such behaviours better than the linear and logistic models. In our model, task cohesion functions as an asymmetry factor (i.e., the independent variable that determines the strength and discrepancy between the two stable states of the dependent variable) leading to a linear change in sickness absenteeism. Interestingly, both workload and team adaptability function as bifurcation (i.e., the independent variable that determines the change between the two stable states of the order parameter) and asymmetry factors leading to non-linear and linear change in sickness absenteeism over time. This study contributes to the growing evidence that incorporating the NDS perspective enables a better understanding of action teams, namely those working in extreme environments.

팀은 환경변화에 적응하는 중요한 조직의 수단으로 팀제와 관련된 많은 연구들이 팀 효과를 강화하는 요인에 대하여 초점을 맞추어 지면서, 지난 15년간 적응수행은 팀 효과를 강화하는 행위로서 주목을 받아 왔다. 팀 적응성과에 있어 많이 적용되고 있는 프로세스적 관점은 실제 적응이 발생하는 메카니즘을 설명 할 수 있지만, 다양한 적응과 관련된 행위를 포괄적으로 설명하는데 한계를 가지고 있으므로, 본 연구에서는 동적인 과업수행 행위에 초점을 두고 팀 적응성과를 환경변화에 대한 대응으로 발생되는 팀 성과로서 정의하였다. 적응성과를 측정하기에 적합한 액션팀인 특수 임무팀을 대상으로 팀 적응성과의 선행요인으 로서 팀장의 변혁적 리더십의 효과와 변혁적 리더십과 팀 적응성과의 관계에서 공유멘탈모델의 매개효과 를 검증하였다. 본 연구를 위하여 군 조직의 89개 특수 임무팀들을 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하였고, 불성 실한 응답을 제외하고, 65명의 특수 임무팀장들과 497명의 팀원들의 자료를 사용하여 통계 분석하였다. 매개효과 검증을 위하여 위계적 회귀분석을 실시한 결과, 특수 임무팀에서 팀장의 변혁적 리더십과 팀 적응성과 간의 관계에서 팀 공유멘탈모델은 유의한 정적인 부분 매개효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이러 한 결과는 팀장의 변혁적 리더십이 팀 구성원들 개인에게 새로운 과업환경을 극복할 수 있도록 동기부여 를 제공할 수 있으며 이러한 과정을 통해 구성원들은 자신의 과업환경의 변화에 적응함으로서 결과적으 로 팀 적응성과를 높이는 결과를 가져오게 하며, 동시에 팀장의 변혁적 리더십은 전문성을 가진 다양한 팀 구성원들이 사회적 정체성 갖도록 유도함으로서 다양한 정보의 공유를 가능하게 한다. 또한 팀장은 외부환경에 대한 중요한 정보를 제공하여 팀 구성원들이 직무환경에 대한 유용한 정보체계를 공유함으로 서 팀의 적응성과에 미치는 긍정적 효과를 실증하였다. 연구결과를 토대로 본 연구의 학문적 의의 및 실 무적 시사점, 그리고 한계점에 대하여 논의하였다.

An attitude scale for smart board use in education: Validity and reliability studies