Extracting Team Mental Models Through Textual Analysis

An approach, called map analysis, for extracting, analyzing and combining representations of individual’s mental models as cognitive maps is presented. This textual analysis technique allows the researcher to extract cognitive maps, locate similarities across maps, and combine maps to generate a team map. Using map analysis the researcher can address questions about the nature of team mental models and the extent to which sharing is necessary for effective teamwork. This technique is illustrated using data drawn from a study of software engineering teams. The impact of critical coding choices on the resultant findings is examined. It is shown that various coding choices have systematic effects on the complexity of the coded maps and their similarity. Consequently, a thorough analysis requires analyzing the data several times under different coding choices. For example, re-analysis under different coding scenarios revealed that although members of successful teams tend to have more elaborate, more widely shared maps than members of non-successful teams, this difference is significant only when the data is unfiltered. Thus a better interpretation of this result is that all teams have comparable models, but successful team are able to describe their models in more ways than are non-successful teams. Recently there has been an upsurge of interest in individual and team mental models (Reger and Huff, 1993; Johnson-Laird, 1983; Klimoski and Mohammed, 1994; Eden, Jones and Sims, 1979; Carley, 1986a; Roberts, 1989; Weick and Roberts, 1993; Walsh, 1995). On the one hand, differences in individual mental models are potentially valuable for organizational performance enabling the organization to learn from different individual’s experiences (Knorr-Cetina, 1981; Latour and Woolgar, 1979). On the other hand, common team mental models are seen as critical for team learning and team performance (Hutchins, 1990, 1991a, 1991b; Fiol, 1994). The relation of individual mental models to team mental models, and the value of team models to team and organizational performance is the subject of much debate. Teams are being used in organizations with increasing frequency. However, the conditions for team success are not well understood. Thus the cognitive processes underlying team behavior are in need of investigation. Indeed, a variety of important organizational issues can be cast in terms of team mental models. For example, to what extent must individuals share their mental models if they are to operate effectively as a team? Do successful teams have different team mental models than non-successful teams? Or, are there certain types of information that more commonly appear in team models? While there is general agreement that it would be useful and important to examine team mental models there is little understanding as to how to uncover, derive, code, or analyze such models. We must address this methodological question before we can even begin to address these important theoretical questions.