Megan Chan, Leslie DeChurch, and Noshir Contractor
Abstract: Multiteam systems (MTSs), systems of interdependent teams, tackle complex organizational problems requiring input from multiple teams. The complexity of MTSs, originating from boundary issues to the disruptive effects of a large system, require effective leadership systems. Many MTSs lack formal leadership structures and rely on shared and coordinated leadership from individuals embedded in different teams. This study examines the social organization of leadership and its effects on individual and team performance. Leadership networks were investigated during a laboratory experiment conducted in a NASA space analog involving 120 individuals working in twenty-five 4-component team MTSs. Leadership networks were assessed after a 60-minute simulation, and performance indicators were derived based on a collective MTS decision and individual, team, and MTS outcomes. ALAAMs (Auto-Logistic Actor Attribute Models) were used to understand how leadership organizing signatures affect performance. Findings indicate that popularity and transitive leadership structures positively predicted individual performance. Followership activity and engaging in transitive structures negatively affected team performance. This study provides four contributions: 1) theorizing structural signatures characterizing collective leadership, 2) mapping those signatures onto performance, 3) expanding the conceptualization of MTS performance to incorporate interdependence, and 4) applying advances in network analysis to understand the effects of leadership organization.
Related work:
Chan, M., Contractor, N., & DeChurch, L. (2024, Apr 17-20). Leadership Signatures in Spaceflight Multiteam Systems [Symposium]. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, United States.
Chan, M., DeChurch, L., Contractor, N. (2023, August 4-8). The Leadership Signatures of Effective Multiteam Systems. [Conference Presentation]. Academy of Management, Boston, MA, United States.
Chan, M., DeChurch, L., Contractor, N. (2023, July 20-22). Characterizing Configurations of Effective Teams in Multiteam System Networks. [Conference Presentation]. INGRoup, Seattle, WA, United States.
Chan, M., DeChurch, L., Contractor, N. (2023, June 19-July 1). A Network Modeling Framework for Predicting Effective Individuals, Teams, and Multiteam Systems. [Conference Presentation]. Sunbelt, Portland, OR, United States.
Research supported by NASA awards NNX15AM32G, 80NSSC18K0221, and 80NSSC18K0276
Megan Chan 