Functional interdependence and effectiveness Sample Clauses

Functional interdependence and effectiveness. Functional interdependence enhances group performance for several reasons. First, as people become more and more functionally dependent upon one another, they need to cooperate more and need to coordinate their actions in order to reach an effective level of performance. Previous research demonstrated that more functional interdependence is accompanied with more cooperation (Xxxxxxxx & Xxxxxxx, 1972; Xxxxxxx, 1973; Xxxxxxx & Xxxxxxx, 1989; Xxxxxxx, 1995). This reasoning is also apparent in the early studies of the coordination-performance relationship (e.g., Xxxxx, 1983), in which Xxxxx hypothesized and found a positive relationship between the coordination of task interdependencies and performance. Moreover, high functional interdependency within a group also decreases individual autonomy because each group member is dependent upon others to perform well (e.g., Xxxxxxxx, 1983; Xxx xxx Xxxx et al., 1998; Xxxxxx, 1999). In addition, individual contributions become more visible to all group members in highly functional interdependence situations. As a consequence, group members are likely to feel more responsible for the groups’ task (Xxxxxx & Xxxxxxxxx, 1991; Xxx xxx Xxxx et al., 1998) and are more likely to see the work as challenging (cf. Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxx & Xxxxxxx, 1996) which we expect to result in more individual efforts enhancing performance. Based on this previous research and theorizing on how functional interdependence influences both individual and group performance, we formulated the following two hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: Functional interdependence is positively associated with individual performance. Hypothesis 2: Functional interdependence in a group is positively associated with group performance. A high level of functional interdependence among group members is also expected to increase learning of the group members. Learning is a process (Xxxxxxx & Xxxxx, 1978; Xxxxxxxxx, 1999) and