2005] “The impact of hybrid team structures on performance and adaptation: Beyond mechanistic and organic prototypes

Building on the idea of asymmetric adaptability, this study focused on structural and compositional ways to arrange teams in order to maximize both initial performance and structural adaptability. Based on 64 teams that completed a command and control simulation, our results suggest that hybrid teams (teams structured using non-redundant, complimentary elements of both departmentation and centralization) were able to perform well initially and successfully shift structures, while teams structured in traditionally mechanistic and organic manners were not. Furthermore, high mean levels of emotional stability and extraversion helped to ease the difficult transition from organic to mechanistic team structures. The nature of jobs and organizational life is changing. Jobs are no longer static and the external environments that organizations have to deal with are becoming turbulent and unpredictable (Ilgen & Pulakos, 1999). Because of this, organizations need flexibility and the ability to perform well in different environments and situations. At the same time, competitive pressures faced by organizations are also mounting, which puts efficiency requirements at the center of most discussions of organizational design. Finally, many organizations are shiftin