The effects of member expertise on group decision-making and performance

Authors: Bonner B.L.¹; Baumann M.R.²; Dalal R.S.³

Source: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Volume 88, Number 2, July 2002 , pp. 719-736(18)

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Abstract:

This study assesses the effects of member expertise on group decision-making and group performance. Three-person cooperative groups and three independent individuals solved either an easy or moderately difficult version of the deductive logic game Mastermind. Experimental groups were given veridical performance information, i.e., the members' rankings on prior individual administrations of the task. Control groups were not provided with this information. Results supported the predictions of this study: (1) groups gave more weight to the input of their highest performing members with the group decision-making process being best approximated by post hoc “expert weighted” social decision schemes and (2) groups performed at the level of the best of an equivalent number of individuals.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, 1645 East Campus Center Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA 2: University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA 3: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA

Publication date: 2002-07-01