ABSTRACT
Teams, organisations, and mental models: Building a framework fo r research. Recent reviews of the mental models literature (eg, Klimosky & Mohammed,
1994) have highlighted the lack of consensus on what is meant by the term 'mental model'. Besides this problem of definition, there are empirical and theoretical problems in developing a conceptual model for research purposes. For instance, apart from several mental model frameworks (see Cannon-Bowers, Salas, Tannenbaum, and Volpe, 1995), there appears to be no theory of mental models which would enable accurate predictions in different contexts. What is needed, is an integrative framework which links the mental models literature to those other variables of interest which have been associated with the concept, eg, situation awareness (Endsley, 1995), team skills (Cannon-Bowers et al, 1995). The current paper addresses these issues through the development of a methodology which casts light upon the every day problems and issues confronting people in the workplace, and which was developed through a series of pilot studies in a large, national, government business enterprise. The research aimed to answer the following questions: (a) What are the shared understandings between employees
involved in problem solving teams, and how should these be measured? and (b) What team dynamics variables contribute to the development of shared mental models? A more general aim was to assess the success of a training program designed to facilitate employee participation (EP) in problem solving teams about workplace issues. The training program emphasised the importance of reaching consensus and shared or common perceptions in solving these problems.
