Abstract
Research on the effectiveness of multidisciplinary teams has been equivocal. In an attempt to understand when a team’s professional heterogeneity (PH) is positively related to innovation (INN), we proposed an integrative model in which shared mental models (SMMs) are theorized as a mechanism to leverage INN in highly multidisciplinary teams. In addition, we claim that transformational leadership (TL), which is usually regarded as a factor contributing to team effectiveness, will attenuate the effect of teams’ PH on team SMM. In a field study of 55 R&D teams in Israel, we found that SMMs mediated the relationship between PH and INN, and that TL moderated the relationship between PH and Team SMM. We discuss the theoretical and practical implication of these findings.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 678-692 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 3 Sep 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015 Taylor & Francis.
Keywords
- Innovation
- Multidisciplinary teams
- Shared mental models
- Transformational leadership
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Applied Psychology
- Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management