(2015-08-15) Kruse, Ronald J; Anbar, Michael; Burns, Sarah E; Cohen, Bernard P
Research teams may be studied as social systems organized along dimensions of status, such as rights to evaluate others and to allocate rewards. “Status consistency” is the degree to which salient statuses an individual possesses are at the same level; “status ambiguity” occurs when ranks are unknown or unclear. Relevant dimensions of status are those both within a team and in the larger society, such as gender and ethnicity. Both status inconsistency and status ambiguity interfere with communication, and that reduces team efficiency.
(2015-08-15) Kruse, Ronald J; Anbar, Michael; Cohen, Bernard P
The authors analyze structures and processes in multidisciplinary teams to identify factors that lead to synergistic outcomes from those that do not. They use the analysis to describe settings most likely to produce synergistic outcomes. Generally, situations that foster interaction and exchange of ideas are most appropriate to develop synergy, but several structural and interaction factors—including bureaucratic organization of work, reward systems, status inconsistency and status ambiguity.