Bechtoldt, M.N., DeDreu, C.K.W. & Nijstad, B.A. (). Team personality diversity, group creativity, and innovativeness in organizational teams.

Link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carsten_De_Dreu/publication/228739619_Team_Personality_Diversity_Group_Creativity_and_Innovativeness_in_Organizational_Teams/links/02e7e51d5113b77dc3000000.pdf

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Annotation: This is of the few studies that directly measures personality variables on specific group performance outcomes. The authors focus on group creativity and innovation as dependent variables. Independent variables include Big Five personality trait inventory assessments, one of the most commonly used measures of individual personality. However, focusing on creativity and innovation is a unique approach to the study of how different personalities can work together most effectively. Many organizational teams depend on the groups total creative output or the ability to think creatively during a problem-solving process. Traits like openness to experience and conscientiousness are linked with high creative performance. The authors also make suggestions for overcoming some of the problems in diverse teams, such as the fact that working alone can often be necessary for stimulating creativity among some individuals.

Capretz, L.F. & Ahmed, F. (2010). Why do we need personality diversity in software engineering? ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes 35(2): 1-11.

Link: doi>10.1145/1734103.1734111

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Annotation: This study is unique because it applies research in personality diversity in work groups to one specific environment: software development. The authors claim that personality diversity would promote many of the goals of software development firms. Within software development, homogenous teams end up forming organically. This leads to weaknesses in that the developers do not verbalize their feelings and lack the levels of emotional intelligence required for the highest level of team performance. This study uses the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a sophisticated tool for measuring personality characteristics, helping improve the external validity of the study. The authors also differentiate between different types of software engineering applications, as different tasks would warrant different outcomes. The results can be useful for managers seeking to form the most effective teams, comprised of people who are already able to overcome or work with their diverse personalities.

Chowdhury, S. (2005). Demographic diversity for building an effective entrepreneurial team. Journal of Business Venturing 20(6): 727-746.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2004.07.001

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Annotation: This research does not just talk about the effects of individual personality trait diversity on team performance or organizational effectiveness, but also discusses possible reasons why. For example, differences in personality can be inked to different thinking styles or different cognitive approaches to crisis, conflict, and problem solving. With a team comprised of diverse personalities, a leader can then rely on having access to a wider range of inputs that can certainly help improve outcomes and performance. Demographic diversity is less important than leaders have believed, but this does not obfuscate the fact that personality diversity can also lead to conflicts between group members. This research shows how diverse personality teams need to learn how to pool their respective cognitive resources and cultivate the emotional intelligence needed for inter-group harmony. The current study focuses mainly on entrepreneurial teams, which is appropriate for my research.

Harrison, D.A. & Klein, K.J. (2007). Whats the difference? Academy of Management Review 32(4): 1199-1228.

Link: doi: 10.5465/AMR.2007.26586096

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Annotation: The authors address different types of diversity, including pay level and personality diversity, claiming that research on organizational diversity has been too inconclusive to be of any practical value. The authors offer a new model for conceptualizing workplace diversity, grouping it into separation, variety, and disparity types of diversity rather than focusing more narrowly on demographic or trait features. Using this framework, the authors show how leaders can maximize the potential of diverse teams better by understanding the type of diversity, and how to resolve conflicts within teams.

Jackson, S.E., Joshi, A. & Erhardt, N.L. (2003). Recent research on team and organizational diversity. Journal of Management 29(6): 801-830.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0149-2063(03)00080-1

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Annotation: This research is like a systematic review of the literature. First, the authors clarify different types of diversity. Then, they conduct a review of more than sixty published papers assessing the effects of workplace diversity on teams and organizations, using an adopted SWOT analysis method. Although methodologically weak, the study does point to the growing body of evidence on personality and attitudinal diversity and how it can impact performance outcomes. The results do not show how different personalities work together, but can nevertheless provide good background knowledge for my research.

Mohammed, S. & Angell, L.C. (2004). Surface? and deep?level diversity in workgroups: examining the moderating effects of team orientation...…of psychology. American Psychological Association 1(2014): 4-16.

In light of the content of this course, what additional insights do you have on your proposed dissertation topic?

My proposed dissertation topic is in the area of organizational psychology, and focuses on the ways different personalities within a group, team, or whole organization can impct the growth, development, and effectiveness of that team. Organizations and their leaders can benefit from further inquiry into personality, or what is known as a deep-level diversity factor. Currently, I am formulating my research by conducting reviews of literature. I am writing down the methodologies, operationalized variables, and findings from various published studies to help guide my own research questions. Ideally, I would employ a mixed-methods approach, combining a large-scale quantitative study with qualitative analysis. If I hope to achieve this goal, it will require a tremendous amount of time, energy, and financial resources. The quantitative assessments will require that I have access to standardized personality assessments including Big Five measures as well as the Myers-Briggs. I intend to use as many established personality indicators as possible.

The most difficult aspect of my research will be operationalizing the dependent variables. Finding a content expert will help me overcome these types of obstacles at this early stage in my dissertation, and will also help me with time management (The Dissertation, n.d.). I need to determine how to best measure organizational growth, or organizational effectiveness. Researchers have focused on other variables like innovation, or have measured performance outcomes using quantitative scales. I may suggest a longitudinal study that traces the performance and growth of an organization over a long period of time. The problem with this idea is that over a long period of time, there may be too many personnel changes. Therefore, I need to focus more specifically on work teams, tracing their performance using specific metrics that the team leaders themselves describe. I could also set up an experimental clinical condition, but this may hurt external validity. My designated content expert will help influence my research plans, helping me to design the best possible mixed-methods study (PhD in Psychology: Best practices: finding a chair & committee member, 2018).