Zvi H. Aronson

The Role of Personality in New Product Development Team Performance

Although the role of personality in team performance is not well understood, research suggests that personality plays a critical role in the effective performance of teams. Personality variables should be especially important for new product development (NPD) teams which typically include highly coordinated activities among multidisciplinary members. The five-factor model provides a consistent structure for understanding how personality relates to different kinds of behavior and is used as a framework for reviewing literature related to team performance. The same model is then used to form a set of research propositions that can serve to guide future research on the role of personality in NPD teams. Because the literature suggests that the role of personality is dependent upon the type of task involved, we differentiate our research propositions for two specific types of new product development: incremental innovation and radical innovation. We offer research propositions for the average level of each of the five-factor model variables and performance in the two types of teams. Finally, we suggest a set of research propositions for the effect of heterogeneity of personality on performance in radical and incremental innovation teams.

The role of leader personality in new product development success: An examination of teams developing radical and incremental innovations

Teams developing innovations work in a context ripe with uncertainty, and handling this uncertainty places special demands on the leaders of such teams. We empirically tested the role of leader personality in the success of two different types of New Product Development (NPD) teams: radical and incremental. Using the five-factor model of personality as a framework, results based on a sample of 116 NPD teams suggest that for NPD leaders, conscientiousness and emotional stability are important variables for NPD success. Additionally, depending upon the type of innovation, specific personality variables may be more important. Strong support was found for our proposal that NPD teams working on radical innovations would benefit from a more open leader. Radical NPD teams operate under conditions of market and technical uncertainty. More open leaders should be more easily able to encourage and handle new ideas that are necessary for managing radical innovations. Implications for selection and training of individuals to lead radical NPD teams are provided.

Personality Validity: The Role of Schemas and Motivated Reasoning

We explored the role of schemas and motivated reasoning in personality assessment. Utilizing a sample of 299 participants, we investigated whether applying for a specific job leads applicants to adopt a schema. Once adopting the schema, the respondents use that schema in a way that inaccurately reflects what their behavior is. Consequently, as hypothesized, there is a lowering of validities, in comparison with assessing personality in a neutral setting. An intriguing implication of our research is that personality measurement for selection might be shifted from the employment setting to more neutral settings, such as a counselor setting, in order to be optimized.

Antecedents and Consequences of Project Team Potency: An Investigation of the Role of Project Team Culture in the Development of Project Team Potency

We examined the effect of project team culture on the evolution of project team potency in a sample of 110 project teams. Little is known about the factors responsible for the development of project team potency - the collective belief of a project team that it can be effective. Results revealed that project team culture is related to project team potency, and that project team potency is related to project success. Our findings provide project leaders with a tool on how to enhance project success by influencing project team potency, through a change in project team culture

An Investigation of the Role of Project Culture in Team Efficacy and Success in Project-Based Work

We examined the effect of project team culture on the evolution of team efficacy in a sample of 118 project teams. Little is known about the factors responsible for the development of team efficacy — the collective belief of a project team that it can be effective. Results reveal that culture in project-based work, is related to the project team’s efficacy, and the project team’s efficacy is related to success. Our findings provide project leaders with an alternative informal lever to enhance project success, by influencing team efficacy in project-based work.

Understanding the role of team member personal style in project performance: Does the type of innovation matter?

Teams are progressively becoming primary in the way employees in organizations conduct work. We investigated the role of staff personal style in project performance for teams working on incremental...

Personal style, culture and performance outcomes in projects: what is the role of project leader individual differences?

We centred the effect of project leader personal style on culture in project-based work. Little is known about dispositional factors of the project leader and how they contribute to culture in projects. The current study, based on a sample of 121 project teams, illustrates that individual differences in the project leaders personal style are related to culture in project-based work. In conjunction, we showed how culture can be used by the leader to trigger performance outcomes in projects. Recommendations to re-consider selection and training for project leaders are provided.

Managing the intangible aspects of a project: the affect of vision, artifacts, and leader values

This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright. Full text is not available on IEEE Xplore for these articles.

Exhibiting Leadership Behaviors in Project-Based Work: Does Team Personal Style Composition Matter

Teams are increasingly becoming primary in the way employees in organizations conduct work. The effects of similarities and differences among team members in projectbased work influence every aspect of that work. We explored the relationship between team composition attributes and team members’ team leadership and facilitation behaviors, drawing from the literature on similarity-attraction effect. Data from two time points that are 12-week apart were collected from 144 professional employees working in 48 work teams to test the study’s hypotheses. Using HLM 6.0 [45]the current study shows that when it comes to team composition, members of a team who are similar on the personal style traits extraversion and neuroticism, that have an affective tone, demonstrate greater team leadership and facilitation behaviors, we refer to as team process behaviors. We provide implications for generating team leadership and facilitation behaviors in project-based work.