The focus of this thesis is to explore the composition of the Skunk works’ innovation team, which directly influences team performance. Such research is important in order to understand how the Skunk works team deals with innovation. Specifically, how the team’s size, diversity and the roles of team members can influence its performance and have an effect on its success. During the time when we were looking for the definition of Skunk works we mostly found that it is a small group of highly qualified and skilled people in different fields. However, we did not find so many theories about the composition of Skunk works teams. This was due to the high level of secrecy in this field, because Skunk works was originally used only for military purposes. To have a more clear view, we decided to use theories from different research fields, such as research about Skunk works itself, and about team and team composition. We found that it is quite easy to find literature about the role of the leader as a member of the innovation team, who can also be known as the “champion”. However, on another hand we found that it is quite difficult to find information about the whole team, specifically about roles in the team. We believe that, even though the leader has a key role, a well-balanced combination of roles should be also taken into consideration in such teams. The research method deployed in this thesis is multiple-case study, where we have used three cases which are operating in different companies and industries, such as entertainment, scientific research and industrial manufacturing, as well in different geographical positions, such as Sweden and Spain. We have collected data via interviews and secondary data, where we interviewed a representative of these three companies via personal interviews and by e-mail. The findings from this thesis provide evidence that the team composition elements, such as roles in the team, as well its size and diversity can influence on further efficiency of the team. During our research we found that all three companies, especially teams in those companies, could be good examples of Skunk works. Moreover, during the research we found that our findings can be in line with existing studies, that it is unnecessary that the project should be in total secret or fully mandated and that there are a lot of other types of Skunk works teams as well. Also during the research we confirmed with other present studies required characteristics for the “champion” and for other team members. Another finding was about the optimal number of team members in a Skunk works team. The main conclusions drawn from this thesis are that firstly, the composition of a Skunk works team can influence the further team productivity and success of the project. Secondly, that the optimal size of team should not exceed ten people. Thirdly, we can conclude that properly chosen roles as well as characteristics of team members can have an influence on the further success of an innovation project. / Antonio Estevez Luna

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Team cohesion represents arguably the most studied team construct as it has been consistently shown to be associated with improved performance. However, although cohesion is now understood to be an emergent state—as it develops over a team's life cycle—research has yet to uncover the dynamic nature of cohesion. The current study was designed to particularly test the impact of team personality composition both on the initial status of cohesion, and on changes in cohesion over time. 80 newly formed teams performed a highly interdependent team task, and team cohesion was measured over six time points. Personality was measured prior to the task and calculated at the team level, as both an average and a variability score. After performing longitudinal hierarchical linear modeling, results indicated that team personality impacts cohesion differently at initial status and over time. In particular, higher team agreeableness predicted greater slopes of cohesion, but not initial cohesion levels. Also, higher extraversion predicted greater initial status of cohesion, but not greater slopes. These results present important boundary conditions for understanding the role of team personality composition on team cohesion. / Master of Science

Teams are pervasive in organizations and provide an important contribution to organizational productivity. Since Hackman's (1987) seminal work, the team research focus has shifted from describing teams to outlining how researchers might use points of leverage, such as team design, to increase team effectiveness. There has been a wealth of research on team design variables that relate to team effectiveness. However, more than 15 years later, the team design literature remains fragmented and is inconsistent, and conclusions regarding optimal team design are difficult to make. The present study sought to unify the team design research by proposing a conceptual model and testing hypothesized relationships between specified design variables and team effectiveness using meta-analytic techniques. Specifically, the objectives of this study were to: (a) identify team design variables over which researchers and practitioners have some degree of control, (b) summarize the literature related to each of these variables, (c) hypothesize how each of the design variables are related to team effectiveness, (d) assess the relationship between these variables and team effectiveness using meta-analysis, (e) assess the influence of specified moderator variables (e.g., study setting, team tenure) on the team design variable/team effectiveness relationships, (f) make theoretically- and empirically-based recommendations for the design of effective teams, and (g) highlight areas in need of additional research. Results indicated that several team design variables show promise as a means of increasing team effectiveness. The strength of the team composition variable/team performance relationships was dependent on the study setting (lab or field); however, the study setting had considerable overlap with the type of team assessed (intellectual or physical). For lab studies (intellectual teams), team general mental ability (GMA) and task-relevant expertise were strong predictors of team performance, while team personality variables were unrelated to team performance. In field studies (physical teams), team agreeableness and conscientiousness had stronger relationships with team performance than team GMA and team task-relevant expertise. Team task design variables (e.g., task significance) had consistent, positive relationships with team performance, and several team structure variables (e.g., degree of self- management) were also related to team performance.

Team diversity refers to the differences between team members on any attribute that may lead each single member of the group to perceive any other member of the group as being different from the self of this particular member. These attributes and perceptions refer to all dimensions people can differ on, such as age, gender, ethnicity, religious and functional background, personality, skills, abilities, beliefs, and attitudes.

Teams are pervasive in organizations and provide an important contribution to organizational productivity. Since Hackman's (1987) seminal work, the team research focus has shifted from describing teams to outlining how researchers might use points of leverage, such as team design, to increase team effectiveness. There has been a wealth of research on team design variables that relate to team effectiveness. However, more than 15 years later, the team design literature remains fragmented and is inconsistent, and conclusions regarding optimal team design are difficult to make. The present study sought to unify the team design research by proposing a conceptual model and testing hypothesized relationships between specified design variables and team effectiveness using meta-analytic techniques. Specifically, the objectives of this study were to: (a) identify team design variables over which researchers and practitioners have some degree of control, (b) summarize the literature related to each of these variables, (c) hypothesize how each of the design variables are related to team effectiveness, (d) assess the relationship between these variables and team effectiveness using meta-analysis, (e) assess the influence of specified moderator variables (e.g., study setting, team tenure) on the team design variable/team effectiveness relationships, (f) make theoretically- and empirically-based recommendations for the design of effective teams, and (g) highlight areas in need of additional research. Results indicated that several team design variables show promise as a means of increasing team effectiveness. The strength of the team composition variable/team performance relationships was dependent on the study setting (lab or field); however, the study setting had considerable overlap with the type of team assessed (intellectual or physical). For lab studies (intellectual teams), team general mental ability (GMA) and task-relevant expertise were strong predictors of team performance, while team personality variables were unrelated to team performance. In field studies (physical teams), team agreeableness and conscientiousness had stronger relationships with team performance than team GMA and team task-relevant expertise. Team task design variables (e.g., task significance) had consistent, positive relationships with team performance, and several team structure variables (e.g., degree of self- management) were also related to team performance.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2004. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-54).

ProblemformuleringTidigare forskning visar att revisionsteam överträffar prestationen av en enskild revisor. Forskningen fokuserar dock i huvudsak på rollstruktur i form av egenskaper och kompetenser på individnivå och sätter detta i relation till vilken påverkan det har på revisionskvalitet. Studier som istället utgår från sammansättning av revisionsteam och revisorsmedarbetares upplevelser av teamsammansättning är mer ovanliga. För att bidra till forskningen avser vi, med utgångspunkt i perspektiven sammansättning av medlemmar som redan finns tillgängliga på revisionsbyrån och rekrytering av nya medlemmar som ska ingå i framtida revisionsteam, öka förståelsen för hur sammansättning av revisionsteam upplevs av revisorsmedarbetare på olika revisionsbyråer. Syfte Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för revisionsmedarbetares upplevelser av sammansättning av revisionsteam på olika revisionsbyråer. Metod Studien är kvalitativ och antar en deduktiv ansats med induktiva inslag. Semistrukturerade intervjuer används som metod för datainsamling. Som ett komplement till semistrukturerade intervjuer har även en dokumentinsamling i form av annonser tillämpats. Slutsats Studien visar att det finns vissa skillnader mellan olika byråer dels vad gäller rekrytering av nya medlemmar som ska ingå i framtida revisionsteam men även sammansättning av medlemmar som redan finns tillgängliga på byrån. Den tydligaste skillnaden mellan byråerna är upplevelsen av hur diversifierad byrån är sett till rekrytering till byrån men även när det gäller sammansättning av olika revisionsteamen. Studien visar även på tydliga likheter mellan olika revisionsbyråer framförallt förmågan att etablera och utveckla kundrelationer samt samarbetsförmåga. Byråernas interna metodik om vinstintresse har en starkare påverkan jämfört med professionens metodik som främst syftar till att leverera en hög kvalitet på de tjänster som omfattas av professionen. Slutsats    Studien visar att det finns vissa skillnader mellan olika byråer dels vad gäller rekrytering av nya medlemmar som ska ingå i framtida revisionsteam men även sammansättning av medlemmar som redan finns tillgängliga på byrån. Den tydligaste skillnaden mellan byråerna är upplevelsen av hur diversifierad byrån är sett till rekrytering till byrån men även när det gäller sammansättning av olika revisionsteamen. Studien visar även på tydliga likheter mellan olika revisionsbyråer framförallt förmågan att etablera och utveckla kundrelationer samt samarbetsförmåga. Byråernas interna metodik om vinstintresse har en starkare påverkan jämfört med professionens metodik som främst syftar till att leverera en hög kvalitet på de tjänster som omfattas av professionen. / Problem Previous research shows that audit teams outperform the performance of an individual auditor. Research, however, mainly focuses on role structure in terms of individual skills and competencies. Studies based on the composition of audit teams and the team members’ experience of team composition is more unusual. In order to contribute to the research we intend to increase the understanding, based on the two perspectives, composition of members already employed at the audit firm and the recruitment of new members to be included in future audit teams, of how composition of audit teams are experienced by audit coworkers at various audit agencies. Aim The aim of the study is to increase the understanding of audit coworkers’ experiences of audit team composition at various audit agencies. Method The study is qualitative and assumes a deductive approach with inductive elements. Semi-structured interviews are used as method for data collection. As a complement to semi-structured interviews, a document collection in the form of ads have been applied. Conclusion This study shows that there are some differences between different agencies, partly as regards the recruitment of members to be included in future audit teams, but also the composition of members already available at the agency. The clearest difference between the agencies is the experience of how diversified the agency is regarding recruitment but also the composition of audit team. The study also shows clear similarities between different audit agencies, in particular the ability to establish and develop customer relationships, as well as collaborative skills. The agencies' internal methodology of profitability has a stronger impact than the profession's methodology that mainly aims to deliver a high quality of the services covered by the profession.

This study examined the growth patterns of action teams over time. Cognitive and non-cognitive (i.e., motivational) team composition variables were hypothesized to differentially predict initial levels of and changes over time in team performance. In order to test the hypotheses 78 two-person teams flew three equivalent missions on a low-fidelity computer-based Apache helicopter simulator. Random Coefficient Modeling analyses indicated that, as expected, team composition of general cognitive ability positively predicted initial team performance, whereas team composition of motivational traits did not. However, none of the team composition variables predicted team performance change. Implications, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Polystylism and Collage in Czech Music in the Second Half of the 20th Century by Robert Škarda Key words: czech music, collage, polystylism, postmodernism, quotation, style contraposition, team composition The topic of my thesis Polystylism and Collage in Czech Music in the Second Half of the 20th Century is the area of Czech composers' works based mainly on style contraposition, stylization of historical or jazz music and usage of quotations. My work is based on assumption of historicity of musical terminology. I consider the notions polystylism and collage as period musical terms and I attempt to reconstruct their meaning. Time definition of the thesis is delimited by the years 1960 and 2000. Lower time limit is selected regarding to nature of the topic - the 60s are the period when works and reflections belonging to the context of the notions polystylism and collage first appeared. The first part of my thesis focuses on the general mapping of the topic polystylism and collage. I summarized relevant musicology literature and I dealed with historical and teoretical relations of polystylism and collage to related terms (first of all postmodernism, montage and style), I was concerned with the context of European and American music and with question of polystylism and collage in Czech popular music....