We offer a new conceptualization and measurement models for constructs at the group-level of analysis in small group research. The conceptualization starts with classical notions of group behavior proposed by Tönnies, Simmel, and Weber and then draws upon plural subject theory by philosophers Gilbert and Tuomela to frame a new perspective applicable to many forms of small group behavior. In the proposed measurement model, a collective property is operationalized as shared interpersonal action that explicitly allows us to control for systematic (method) error and random error. Group members act as key-informants of group properties and processes and are treated as methods in a multi-trait multi-method setting to validate our models. The models are applied to empirical data of 277 three-person groups to develop and illustrate new procedures for ascertaining variation in measures due to hypothesized construct(s), method error, and random error. Implications and guidelines for small group research are discussed.
Prior research has identified set-based design as a method that accounts for the high level of uncertainty that is associated with the design of innovative products or systems. Rather than precisely specifying a system architecture in the early design stages, set-based design builds on designing a system and its architecture in an evolutionary way. The literature on set-based design has studied how a system's design evolves by moving from a number of optional design ideas to the final system through gradually eliminating unfeasible design ideas and continually developing design ideas for which engineers increasingly establish feasibility. However, little is known about how firms set up the design process and the organization to successfully create new products with set-based design. Our research contributes to closing this gap. First, we study how firms determine the number (i.e., portfolio) of design ideas to pursue, an important step of the early design process. Second, we study how firms organize for set-based design by assigning teams to develop design ideas and eventually design a system's architecture. Our research uses an exploratory case study approach, investigating five cases in three different firms. First, we find that the early design process is characterized by the absence of formal idea evaluation and selection. Instead, firms start to pursue all initially created design ideas, evaluating and selecting them in an evolutionary manner as the design project progresses. Second, we identify two organizational approaches associated with set-based design: assign one team to pursue all ideas or assign one team per design idea.
