Social Influence Interpretation of Interpersonal Processes and Team Performance Over Time Using Bayesian Model Selection

The team behaviour literature is ambiguous about the relations between members’ interpersonal processes—task debate and task conflict—and team performance. From a social influence perspective, we show why members’ interpersonal processes determine team performance over time in small groups. Together, over time, dissenting in-group minorities who share information (via debate) with majorities, who selectively engage with them to consider their alternative proposals (via conflict), can improve their team performance (via innovation). The context/comparison model of social influence and its leniency contract extension to the special case of in-group minorities suggest a pattern of members’ interpersonal processes that unfolds over time to reconcile factions with the same social identity who hold different approaches to shared projects. Conditional on typical levels of task debate, we predict that (a) in early episodes, task conflict increases the relation between task debate and team performance; (b) in middle episodes, task conflict decreases the relation; and (c) in late episodes, task conflict increases the relation again. We explore our thesis using a longitudinal design with a sample of 60 student teams (360 individuals) working together for course credit over 5 months (21 weeks) to write a first business plan for a new venture. We use a multilevel structural equation modelling approach with Bayesian estimation. We found support for our theory expressed in informative hypotheses using Bayesian model selection. These results were not evident from conventional graphing and post hoc statistical probing of simple slopes against the null hypothesis.

Alan R. Johnson is a recent PhD graduate in Management and Entrepreneurship from EMLYON Business School, France. He is an accomplished team behaviour researcher and teacher with considerable knowledge of the applied research and methods literatures, and also extensive management experience. In his dissertation, he used social influence theory to show why members’ interpersonal communication processes overtime—task debate and task conflict about their shared projects—explains team effectiveness in innovative / new venture contexts with student teams. He also drew upon a deep understanding of multilevel and longitudinal research design, measurement, and data analysis to support his thesis. The main paper from this work is in press at the Journal of Management. In conjunction with several colleagues, Dr. Johnson is now working on grant applications for a field study of new venture teams sponsored by incubators in Sweden. He is serving a second term on the editorial board of Small Group Research, and received a best reviewer award from the Academy of Management in 2009.