Contextualization and Context Theorizing in Teams Research: A Look Back and a Path Forward

Abstract

In this paper we review recent field research on teams in the workplace with the objective to help advance research about teams and their external context. We investigate contextualization by reviewing the research settings in which teams have been studied, and we investigate context theorizing by reviewing work where external context variables have been explicitly modeled. We propose guidelines to improve contextualization and avenues to explore context theorizing.

Acknowledgements

We thank Desmond Ang, Doug Giddings, Emily Seitz, and Stephanie Smith for their help with screening, coding, and references. We are grateful for the guidance of editors Matt Cronin and Laurie Weingart, and thought-provoking feedback from John Mathieu.

ORCID

Mary M. Maloney http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9561-5176

Henrik Bresman http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7499-2407

Mary E. Zellmer-Bruhn http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9115-7200

Gregory R. Beaver http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9601-7063

Notes

1. It may be that this is somewhat a function of the fact that the journals we reviewed are largely US based.

2. Note that the distinction we refer to here is different from Hollenbeck et al.’s (2012) dimension of authority differentiation in teams, since that clearly references leadership among “team members”.

Additional information

Funding

Research support from The HEAD Foundation in Singapore is gratefully acknowledged.