Why and when hierarchy impacts team effectiveness: A meta-analytic integration

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Team Dynamics
• Management Science

Background:

• Hierarchy is a common organizational structure with debated impacts on team effectiveness.
• Previous research offers mixed findings on whether hierarchy benefits or harms teams.
• Understanding the mechanisms and boundary conditions of hierarchy's effects is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To meta-analytically investigate the mechanisms through which hierarchy influences team effectiveness.
• To examine boundary conditions that exacerbate or mitigate the effects of hierarchy.
• To synthesize existing research to provide a clearer understanding of hierarchy's net impact.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a meta-analysis of 54 studies involving 13,914 teams.
• Analyzed the relationship between hierarchy and team effectiveness (performance and viability).
• Investigated mediating roles of conflict- and coordination-enabling states and moderating factors.

Main Results:

• Hierarchy, on net, negatively impacts team effectiveness (performance: ρ = -.08; viability: ρ = -.11).
• This negative effect is mediated by increased conflict-enabling states.
• Team structure (membership instability, skill differentiation) and hierarchy mutability exacerbate negative effects by increasing conflict.

Conclusions:

• Hierarchy's negative impact on team effectiveness, primarily through conflict, is a significant finding.
• Certain team and hierarchy characteristics amplify these detrimental effects.
• Future research should explore conditions under which hierarchy might yield functional benefits, as current evidence largely supports dysfunctional views.