The Effects of Group-Level and Individual Contributions on Business Simulation Team Performance

Studies of team performance in business simulations have not investigated the effect of a “star member” of the team on team performance outcomes. This article reports the findings of a study examining the role of team composition variables, team function variables and the effect of a star player on team score in an undergraduate business simulation. As hypothesized, team performance is associated with the performance of a single outstanding player. Among team composition variables, only intrinsic motivation of team members is associated with team score. A composite measure of team function that included team trust, communication and goal clarity was also significantly related to team performance. We discuss the implications of this for team projects and business simulations in particular.