the effect of general cognitive ability, teamwork ksa's, and the "big five"

142 Pages·1998·6.47 MB·English

THE EFFECT OF GENERAL COGNITIVE ABILITY, TEAMWORK KSA'S,
AND THE "BIG FIVE" PERSONALITY FACTORS ON THE
PERFORMANCE OF ENGINEERING DESIGN TEAMS:
WLICATIONS FOR THE SELECTION OF TEAMS
A Dissertation
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Faculty of Business
McMaster University
O Copyright by Susan Kichuk, December 1996
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THE SELECTION OF TEAMS
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (1 997) McMaster University
(Business Administration) Hamilton, Ontario
TITLE: The Effect of Geneml Cognitive Ability, Teamwork KSA's, and The "Big
Five" Personality Factors on the Perfionnance of Engineering Design
Teams: Implications for the Selection of Teams.
AUTHOR: Susan Leigh Kichuk, B.E.Sc. (University of Western Ontario)
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Willi H.W iesner
NUMBER OF PAGES: ix, 130
ABSTRACT
General cognitive ability, Teamwork KSA's, and the "Big Five" personality factors
(Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Openness to
Expenence) were examined as potential selection measures for three-person Engineering
design teams. This study used objective product evaluations as the performance critena
for the teams rather than measures of satisfaction and self-reported performance which
had been used as proxies for performance in past studies. Self-reports of satisfaction and
performance were rneasured in order to test the validity of using these measures as proxies
for objective performance.
In the short penod of tirne over which this study took place, it was apparent that
some teams were able to perform at a minimally acceptable level, and some were not.
Successful tearns were characterized by higher composite levels of general cognitive
ability, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Emotional Stabiiity, and Teamwork KSA scores than
their unsuccessful counterparts. However, from a selection standpoint, only general
cognitive ability and Neuroticism provided unique variance in differentiating successfûl
fiom unsuccessful teams. The heterogeneity of Conscientiousness was negatively related
to the performance of successful teams.
Team member self-reports of satisfaction and performance were moderately
reiated to the team's product performance, although the relationships were not wflicientiy
large to suggest that a proxy relationship exists.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks goes to my advisor Dr. Willi Wiesner for his guidance throughout
the dissertation process and to the Innovation Research Centre at McMaster University in
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada for the hancial support required to make this research
possible. Thanks also goes to my cornmittee members Dr. Rick Hackett, Dr. Naresh
Agarwal, and Dr. Ken Deal for their insightfùl comments on earlier drafts of this
dissertation.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
.
LIST OF TABLES .
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION
2. LITERATURE REVIEW .
Context of the Review
The Dependent Variable
The Independent Variables
3. METHOD.
Subjects
Engineering Product Design Task
Procedure .
Measures
Analyses
4. RESULTS ANDD II FOR THE PRIMART
Results
Discussion -
CONTENTS
Ch apter
5. SUPPLEMEIWARY ANALYSIS, RESULTS, AND DISCUSSlON .
Introduction .
Q 1: Self-Reported Performance Measures as a Proxy for
Objective Performance
42: Possible Deterrninants of Longevity .
43: The Relationship Between the Tearnwork KSA test
and Self-Reponed Performance
Appendix
1. SUPPLEMENTARY ILLUSTRATIONS
2. SUPPLEMENTARY ANALYSES
REFERENCES
vii
TABLES
Table
Descriptives and inter-correlations for the Independent Variables
-
Descriptives for the Independent Variables NZS and ZS Subsets
Correlations Between the Independent Variables and
Performance for the NZS Subset .
Self-Reported Outcome Measures and Performance
- Group Levei .
Individual Level Dependent Variables for the NZS Subset .
Correlations Among the Independent Variables at the
Individual Level
Correlations Between the Independent and Dependent Variables
Possible Determinants of Longevity .
Possible Determinants of Satisfaction .