astronaut-astronomy-cosmos-2156.jpg

Project Fusion

nasa-logo-web-rgb.png

Background: As we set our sights on Mars, and other destinations beyond lower Earth orbit, we must enable coordinated teamwork across ‘Spaceflight Multi-Team Systems’ (SFMTSs) comprised of teams that are separated by unprecedented degrees of space and time. In ‘Project FUSION’ (Facilitating Unified Systems of Interdependent Organizational Networks), our team is developing a comprehensive ‘countermeasure toolkit’ to help facilitate SFMTS coordination and performance for the next frontier of space exploration. Project FUSION is a multi-pronged, multi-method, interdisciplinary effort with three research foci: (1) field investigations involving archival analysis of documents and interviews and observations involving NASA personnel; (2) development of agent-based models (ABMs) capturing the drivers of psychological relationships in SFMTS contexts; and (3) controlled experiments in laboratory and analog environments.

Funding Information: Project FUSION Facilitating Unified Systems of Interdependent Organizational Networks (10/01/2017-10/01/2023). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA #80NSSC18K0511). Carter, D.R. (PI), Shuffler, M. (Co-I), Schecter, A. (Co-I), DeChurch, L.A. (Co-I), & Contractor, N. (Co-I). Start date: February 15, 2018.

Research Team

Dr. Dorothy Carter, Dr. Marissa Shuffler, Dr. Leslie DeChurch, Dr. Noshir Contractor, Dr. Aaron Schecter, Dr. Steve Zaccaro, Dr. Shawn Burke, Dr. Lauren Landon, Dr. Alina Lungeanu, Jacob Pendergraft, Hayley Trainer, Justin Jones

 

america-analysis-business-926987.jpg

Connections that Drive FIRM Performance

 
NSF_4-Color_bitmap_Logo-2.png
 

Research Team

Dr. Dorothy Carter, Dr. Kristin Cullen-Lester, Dr. Stephanie Wormington, Dr. John Busenbark, Justin Jones, Dr. Gouri Mohan

This project is a collaborative partnership between the LINC Lab, the ILEAD Lab at the University of Houston, the Center for Creative Leadership, and the Gutierrez Energy Management Institute, and is supported in part, by funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Science of Organizations (SoO).

Background: Senior leaders are primarily responsible for developing and implementing organizational strategy, yet key middle managers have an important perspective on the organization’s current demands and capabilities. In fact, a firm’s strategic performance can depend on whether optimal networks of communication and influence exist among members of both upper as well as middle management. Unfortunately, sub-optimal networks often develop in organizations - people who lack the “right” skills may exert too much influence, the upward flow of communication and influence may be insufficient, or silos and subgroup priorities trump may share goals and coordinated action. 

Organizational leaders need to understand the networks within and beyond their groups in order to be able to intervene to promote productive connections. Therefore, our research team is partnering with organizations to measure, analyze, and visualize key aspects of their network. Participating organizations received personalized reports designed to help organizational leaders improve their understanding of the current patterns of communication and influence networks among top- and middle-level managers and recommendations to improve their strategic effectiveness. 

Funding Information: Strategic Leadership Systems: How Networks of Strategic Communication and Informal Influence Arise and Drive Firm Performance” (6/1/2019-5/31/2023). The National Science Foundation (NSF), Science of Organizations (SoO) #1853470. Carter, D.R. (Co-PI), Cullen-Lester, K. (Co-PI).

Watch the video below to learn more about the content of the survey


special-forces-2670427_1920.jpg

Next Generation Teams Research

 
 

Background: U.S. Army units are facing increasingly complex operational scenarios. To address these threats, Army leaders must have a better understanding of how to optimize human capital through team selection, staffing, and composition; have real-time methods of assessing teamwork and team performance in situ; and be able to manage coordination across units with varying structures, in a variety of contexts, and in light of events that impact team performance and potentially create the need for additional staffing decisions. Accordingly, the aim of this project is to develop tools that Army leadership can utilize to address many of the challenges related to team composition that will inherently be a part of future military operations.

Funding Information: Cooperative Agreement: Next Generation Teams Research (10/30/2019-04/30/2023)Salas, E. (PI), Thayer, A. (Co-I), Carter, D.R. (Co-I), Shuffler, M. (Co-I), Tannenbaum, S. (Co-I). U.S. Army Research Institute (ARI) Contract #W911NF1920173.


Other Research questions under consideration

 
  • How do past individual experiences influence future team performance?

  • How can we ensure that teams with changing team membership continue to perform?

  • What can we learn from the history of teamwork using inductive approaches?

  • How do perceptions of strategy emerge and align within complex systems?

  • How are leader decision-making strategies influenced and how do they change over time?