Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea
Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea
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DOI：
10.2139/ssrn.1082392
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发表时间：
2009-12
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Karan Girotra;C. Terwiesch;K. Ulrich
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文献类型：
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作者：
Karan Girotra;C. Terwiesch;K. Ulrich
在各种各样的环境中，组织会针对某个问题产生多种可能的解决方案（想法），然后选择其中一些进行进一步开发。我们研究了两种团队结构对于此类任务的有效性——团队结构，其中团队在时间和空间上一起工作，以及混合结构，其中个人首先独立工作，然后一起工作。我们将团队的绩效定义为所识别的最佳创意的质量。先前的研究将绩效定义为想法的平均质量或产生的想法的数量，忽略了大多数组织所寻求的，即一些伟大的想法。我们建立了一个理论，将组织现象与四个不同的变量联系起来，这些变量控制所识别的最佳创意的质量：（1）产生的创意的平均质量，（2）产生的创意的数量，（3）产生的创意质量的差异，以及（4）团队辨别创意质量的能力。我们通过实验来检验这个理论。我们发现，以混合结构组织起来的团体能够产生更多的想法，产生更好的想法，并更好地辨别他们产生的想法的质量。此外，我们发现经常推荐的基于他人想法的头脑风暴技术会适得其反。表现出这种积累的团队既不会创造出更多的想法，也不会更好地建立在先前想法的基础上。
In a wide variety of settings, organizations generate a number of possible solutions to a problem---ideas---and then select a few for further development. We examine the effectiveness of two group structures for such tasks---the team structure, in which the group works together in time and space, and the hybrid structure, in which individuals first work independently and then work together. We define the performance of a group as the quality of the best ideas identified. Prior research has defined performance as the average quality of ideas or the number of ideas generated, ignoring what most organizations seek, a few great ideas. We build a theory that relates organizational phenomena to four different variables that govern the quality of the best ideas identified: (1) the average quality of ideas generated, (2) the number of ideas generated, (3) the variance in the quality of ideas generated, and (4) the ability of the group to discern the quality of the ideas. We test this theory with an experiment. We find that groups organized in the hybrid structure are able to generate more ideas, to generate better ideas, and to better discern the quality of the ideas they generate. Moreover, we find that the frequently recommended brainstorming technique of building on others' ideas is counterproductive; teams exhibiting such buildup neither create more ideas, nor are the ideas that build on previous ideas better.