Communication networks and team performance: selecting members to network positions

Area of Science:

• Organizational behavior
• Social psychology
• Communication studies

Background:

• The Carnegie perspective emphasizes how individuals' choices shape organizational structures.
• Communication network research explores how network positions influence group dynamics and performance.
• Understanding how individuals are selected into network roles is crucial for group effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how self-selection into communication network positions impacts group performance.
• To integrate the Carnegie perspective with expertise recognition to explain network formation.
• To test whether allowing choice in network positions improves group outcomes compared to random assignment.

Main Methods:

• A laboratory study was conducted to examine communication network formation.
• Participants were assigned to positions in a centralized communication network under two conditions: choice versus random assignment.
• Communication activity during a training phase was measured to identify predictors of central role selection.

Main Results:

• Individuals with higher communication activity during training were more likely to be selected for the central network position.
• The positive effect of choosing the central member on group performance was mediated by the selected member's communication activity.
• Groups that selected their central member performed comparably to, and often better than, groups with a randomly assigned central member.

Conclusions:

• Intra-team selection processes for network positions significantly influence group performance.
• Matching individual expertise to network roles through selection enhances group effectiveness.
• The study supports and extends the Carnegie perspective by highlighting the role of team-level network development processes.