MULTILEVEL THEORY OF TEAM DECISION-MAKING - DECISION PERFORMANCE IN TEAMS INCORPORATING DISTRIBUTED EXPERTISE

The purpose of this research was to develop and test a theory of decis ion-making performance for hierarchical teams with distributed experti se. This theory identifies 3 core team-level constructs (team informit y, staff validity, and hierarchical sensitivity) and 3 constructs belo w the team level that are central to decision-making accuracy in hiera rchical teams with distributed expertise. Two studies are presented to test the proposed theory. A total of 492 college students worked on a computerized command-and-control simulator. Results from these studie s are discussed in light of the theory. Similarities and differences i n results across the 2 studies are discussed, as are potential modific ations of the theory considering the data. Finally, implications of th e theory for applied team contexts are elaborated.