The purpose of the study was to contribute to the knowledge currently existing in small-group research regarding the common set of conditions and processes necessary to produce the assembly effect within teams. More specifically, the study sought to demonstrate that teams heterogeneous in information-processing preferences, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), are necessary to produce quality solutions to complex, multi-stage problems. Furthermore, instructions that facilitate consensus are required for the production of team decisions with greater quality than those of its most capable members.
Undergraduate business students (N = 360) completed the MBTI and were arranged in homogeneous and heterogeneous teams. Participants completed the Winter Survival Exercise, a complex exercise involving formulation of a survival strategy and ranking a series of ambiguous survival items, first as individuals and subsequently in teams. Teams were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions: instructed in consensus decision making and not-instructed in consensus decision making.
A 2 X 2 between subjects factorial design was employed to investigate the research questions. The hypotheses tested compared several mean decision performance measures among 4-person teams (n = 90) differing in composition (homogeneous vs. heterogeneous) and experimental condition (consensus instructed vs. not-instructed).
As hypothesized, heterogeneous teams performed better (p < .05) than homogeneous teams at the problem-solving task. However, the composition main effect was not statistically significant in the occurrence of the assembly effect. Also hypothesized, the proportion of consensus-instructed teams achieving the assembly effect was greater (p < .05) than not-instructed teams. However, the decision mode main effect was not statistically significant in the performance on the problem-solving task. The hypothesized interaction effect, which would have heterogeneous consensus-seeking teams outperforming all others, was not supported. Discussion of findings and recommendations for further research are offered.
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