Linking Team Composition to Team Performance: An Application to Postdisaster Debris Removal Operations

This paper considers how changes in team composition (such as the number and rate of turnover of team members) are linked to team performance, as assessed in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and equality (i.e., distribution of effort). Study data are taken from a large-scale, postdisaster debris removal operation in the USA, collected through existing transaction-level data logging systems. The data enable a detailed (and objective) examination of team performance, thus overcoming many shortcomings of retrospective methods such as questionnaires. The results show that the increased turnover diminishes performance along all dimensions, while an increased team size contributes to effectiveness but reduces equality. Implications of this study for theory and future empirical work are both discussed.