Guido Hertel

Motivation of software developers in Open Source projects: an Internet-based survey of contributors to the Linux kernel

Abstract The motives of 141 contributors to a large Open Source Software (OSS) project (the Linux kernel) was explored with an Internet-based questionnaire study. Measured factors were both derived from discussions within the Linux community as well as from models from social sciences. Participants’ engagement was particularly determined by their identification as a Linux developer, by pragmatic motives to improve own software, and by their tolerance of time investments. Moreover, some of the software development was accomplished by teams. Activities in these teams were particularly determined by participants’ evaluation of the team goals as well as by their perceived indispensability and self-efficacy.

Managing distance by interdependence: Goal setting, task interdependence, and team-based rewards in virtual teams

Virtual teams, i.e., work groups in which members collaborate from distant locations predominantly based on electronic communication media, are increasingly introduced in organizations due to new opportunities of electronic communication media and recent trends of globalization and teamwork. Among the main challenges of virtual teams is the maintenance of high work motivation due to reduced face-to-face interaction. The current study examined whether these motivational challenges can be compensated by the experienced interdependence within virtual teams. Consistent with our expectations, the result of a field study with 31 virtual teams showed that management practices related to goal, task, and outcome interdependence correlated with the effectiveness of the teams. In more effective teams, quality of goal setting processes and task interdependence were higher compared to less effective teams. Positive effects of task interdependence were particularly present during the first year of virtual teamwork. Moreover, the use of team-based rewards as operationalization of outcome interdependence was also positively related with team effectiveness. Further analyses revealed that the positive effects of these management practices were partially mediated by motivational processes of the team members. Implications for successful virtual teamwork are discussed.

Effects of Process Feedback on Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance in Virtual Teams

In virtual teams, the lack of feedback and information about team processes is a major problem. To encounter this challenge of virtual teamwork, team process feedback was provided by an Online-Feedback-System (OFS). It contained feedback regarding motivation, task-related aspects, and relationshiprelated aspects. A longitudinal study of 52 virtual teams with student participants was conducted. Teams that used the OFS showed an increase in performance compared with controls that did not use the OFS. Furthermore, results indicate initial motivation as a moderating variable on the improvement caused by the OFS. Positive OFS effects were found on motivation and satisfaction for the less motivated team members. Furthermore, for less motivated team members, effects of the OFS on performance were mediated by interpersonal trust. Overall, results imply that team process feedback has a positive effect on motivation, satisfaction, and performance in virtual teams.

Motivation Gains of Inferior Group Members : A Meta-Analytical Review

In recent years, a growing number of studies have demonstrated that individuals can exert higher motivation when working in a group compared to working individually. This is particularly true for less capable, inferior group members. To aggregate these findings and to examine preconditions as well as moderating influences on motivation gains of inferior group members, the authors conducted a meta-analysis (17 studies, N=2,240). Results indicated that the overall motivation gain effect of inferior group members observed is moderate and significant (g=.60). Moderator analyses revealed substantial influences of task structure, performance information, physical presence, gender, and task type.

Fair and dependent versus egoistic and free: effects of semantic and evaluative priming on the ‘Ring Measure of Social Values’

Two experiments investigated the influence of priming trait concepts associated with cooperation versus competition on cooperative choices in the ‘Ring Measure of Social Values’. While models of associative memory explain priming effects on immediate associative responses, they fail to provide a sufficient account for the impact of priming on deliberate, voluntary behaviours, because the same activated concepts (e.g. ‘strong’, ‘profit’, ‘success’) may foster opposite behavioural tendencies (i.e. raise competitive impulses or remind the individual of a cooperation norm). The hypothesis is proposed and tested that the evaluative component of the prime stimuli moderates the behavioural tendency (approach versus avoidance) elicited by the semantic priming component. Accordingly, Experiment 1 shows that both positively toned concepts linked to cooperation as well as negatively toned concepts linked to competition lead to increased cooperative choices. Experiment 2 demonstrates that simple, invariant properties of the prime stimuli are more readily extracted than more complex, interactive prime relations. In general, the priming effects are confined to subjects who lack a consistent, pre-experimental value orientation.

Do Shy People Prefer to Send E-Mail?

Personality aspects are largely neglected in existing models of media preferences. Based on a functional approach, it is hypothesized that media preferences are affected by Extraversion and Neuroticism particularly in situations that correspond to the motivational implications of these traits. The results of a questionnaire study (N = 228) on preferences for communication media with varying levels of media richness (face-to-face conversation, e-mail) revealed Extraversion and Neuroticism as significant predictors of media preferences. Moreover, these effects were mediated by the motivational manifestations of these traits in social situations (i.e., social skills, social anxiety). Finally, the effects were moderated by the potential threat of a communication situation, showing significant trait effects particularly in social conflicts.

A meta-analysis on gender differences in negotiation outcomes and their moderators.

This meta-analysis investigates gender differences in economic negotiation outcomes. As suggested by role congruity theory, we assume that the behaviors that increase economic negotiation outcomes are more congruent with the male as compared with the female gender role, thereby presenting challenges for womens negotiation performance and reducing their outcomes. Importantly, this main effect is predicted to be moderated by person-based, situation-based, and task-based influences that make effective negotiation behavior more congruent with the female gender role, which should in turn reduce or even reverse gender differences in negotiation outcomes. Using a multilevel modeling approach, this meta-analysis includes 123 effect sizes (overall N = 10,888, including undergraduate and graduate students as well as businesspeople). Studies were included when they enabled the calculation of an effect size reflecting gender differences in achieved economic negotiation outcomes. As predicted, men achieved better economic outcomes than women on average, but gender differences strongly depended on the context: Moderator analysis revealed that gender differences favoring men were reduced when negotiators had negotiation experience, when they received information about the bargaining range, and when they negotiated on behalf of another individual. Moreover, gender differences were reversed under conditions of the lowest predicted role incongruity for women. In conclusion, gender differences in negotiations are contextually bound and can be subject to change. Future research is needed that investigates the underlying mechanisms of new moderators revealed in the current research (e.g., experience). Implications for theoretical explanations of gender differences in negotiation outcomes, for gender inequalities in the workplace, and for future research are discussed.

Team processes, their antecedents and consequences: Implications for different types of teamwork

Although input–process–output models of teamwork are quite popular, relatively few studies have tested empirically the mediation of team design and team context variables on team effectiveness by team process variables. This review briefly describes mediation effects of team process variables. Moreover, moderating effects of different team tasks and types of teamwork are summarized. Based on this framework, we introduce and compare the four articles included in this special issue which provide examples of process-oriented studies in different types of teamwork. In doing so, these studies not only illustrate the variety of potential team process variables (e.g., communication between team members, team reflexivity and self-regulation, self-leadership of team members) but also different methodological strategies to explore them.

No time for compromises: Age as a moderator of the relation between needs–supply fit and job satisfaction

In the light of the current demographic change, organizations need to be aware of factors influencing job satisfaction of older workers in order to maintain high motivation and commitment. The present study addresses this issue by examining the moderating effect of age on the relationship between needs–supply fit and job satisfaction. Based on the general assumption that older workers are more sensitive to circumstances that threaten their well-being (Carstensen, 2006), we hypothesize that older as compared to younger workers should react more negatively to a misfit between their needs and available job supplies. Hence, older as compared to younger workers should report lower levels of job satisfaction when experiencing a misfit between needs and supplies. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of 471 employed workers from different occupational areas. Results confirmed our hypothesis for four out of five domains of needs–supply fit: Significant three-way interactions between needs, supply, and age were observed. The present result that older as compared to younger workers react more strongly to needs–supply misfits additionally underlines the benefits of considering age-related changes in work values and needs in age-sensitive human resource practices.

Does trust matter more in virtual teams? A meta-analysis of trust and team effectiveness considering virtuality and documentation as moderators.

Team trust has often been discussed both as requirement and as challenge for team effectiveness, particularly in virtual teams. However, primary studies on the relationship between trust and team effectiveness have provided mixed findings. The current review summarizes existing studies on team trust and team effectiveness based on meta-analytic methodology. In general, we assumed team trust to facilitate coordination and cooperation in teams, and therefore to be positively related with team effectiveness. Moreover, team virtuality and documentation of interactions were considered as moderators of this relationship because they should affect perceived risks during teamwork. While team virtuality should increase, documentation of interaction should decrease the relationship between team trust and team effectiveness. Findings from 52 studies with 54 independent samples (representing 12,615 individuals in 1,850 teams) confirmed our assumptions. In addition to the positive overall relationship between team trust and team effectiveness criteria (ρ = .33), the relationship between team trust and team performance was stronger in virtual teams (ρ = .33) as compared to face-to-face teams (ρ = .22), and weaker when team interactions were documented (ρ = .20) as compared to no such documentation (ρ = .29). Thus, documenting team interactions seems to be a viable complement to trust-building activities, particularly in virtual teams. (PsycINFO Database Record