Simulation-Aided Assessment of Team Performance: The Effects of Transient Underachievement and Knowledge Transfer

Abstract

Many organizations have considered implementing teamwork as an approach to improve organizational performance and boost the learning process of workers. Despite the benefits offered by teamwork, literature has also shown negative aspects of this kind of work setting, including the transient initial team underachievement known as process loss. Studies have been dedicated to investigate the effect of implementing teamwork strategies on team productivity. However most of these studies remain observational in nature, partially due to the complexity associated with performing physical experimentation in teamwork manufacturing settings and the study of human cognition. The current study proposes the use of simulation as a strategy to conduct experimentation in this kind of setting. This work capitalizes on simulation to investigate the joint effect of knowledge transfer and process loss on team productivity for manufacturing settings. The joint effect of these factors on team productivity still remains unknown in current literature of teamwork.