22935: Gender Composition in Multiteam Systems: The Moderating Role of Task and Communication Structures (session 25911)

This study examines how task structure and communication mode influence the relationship between gender composition and performance in multiteam systems, distinguishing between leadership teams and component teams. Employing the “Lack of Fit Model” and Gender Role Theory as a theoretical lens, we analyze why the fit of the multiteam system, in terms of gender composition and performance, is influenced by alternative task structures and communication structures, even though teams are performing the exact same task when considered from a gender-type perspecive. Using a sample of 101 multiteam systems, consisting of 303 sub-teams and in total 1,207 participants, we find that task structure and communication modality significantly moderate the impact of gender composition on team outcomes. Women-dominated leadership teams performed better in face-to-face settings, while men-dominated leadership teams performed better in virtual environments. Similarly, women-dominated component teams thrived in functionally interdependent tasks, whereas men-dominated component teams performed better in independent, divisional tasks. These findings highlight the importance of considering both the structural context and gender composition when designing and managing multiteam systems. Our results suggest that organizations can enhance performance by aligning task and communication structures with the strengths of their teams’ gender compositions. This research contributes to the understanding of gender dynamics in teams by demonstrating that performance outcomes are not only shaped by gender diversity or the gender-type of the task, but also by the structural context in which teams operate, offering practical implications for optimizing performance in diverse, multiteam settings.

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