Conference Proceedings

Abstract

Institutions today are more motivated to organize individuals with distinct talent to create innovations through knowledge integration and differentiation. But a smart team does not warrant performance. Previous researches have indicated that team members must jointly develop a shared mental model (SMM) so that their actions are effectively coordinated and innovations are induced. However, little is known about the mechanism how team SMM improves performance. This research conducted a case study to explore the processes by which SMMs were developed in a heterogeneous team. The results of this study show that team SMM is linked to team performance through both knowledge convergence and divergence. Team SMMs are hierarchically structured so that subordinate SMMs help team efficiency based on converged knowledge. With higher level SMM in effect, heterogeneous team benefits from knowledge divergence from the interplay between subordinate SMM and the adjacent superordinate SMM; the interplay establishes a team-level flow that auto-propels the team toward better outcome without outside interventions.