What helps team learning? Egalitarianism, hardship, and leadership in Australian Army teams

Abstract

While the Australian Army’s ability to generate military force relies on team learning, little attention has been paid to understanding when, where and why Australian Army teams learn. To answer this research question, chapter 1 reviews the research into military team learning in the Australian Army. The primary research into the Australian Army’s learning organisation capabilities (which includes team learning) was the Australian Army Learning Organisation (AALO) research project. Next, chapter 2 takes a critical look at the AALO construct; I identify three fundamental conceptual flaws which have remained unaddressed. Chapter 2 concludes with a reconceptualisation of the AALO as an empirically grounded, multilevel and multidimensional taxonomy. Chapter 3 empirically evaluates (i) if the AALO/DLOQ model was multilevel, (ii) assumptions of nomological isomorphism of the AALO/DLOQ construct, and finally (iii) proposes and tests a mediation model (where learning-oriented leadership mediates the direct effect of rank on the other learning organisation dimensions). The results show that learning-oriented leadership plays an important role in mediating the effect of rank on other learning organisation dimensions and that the effect was isomorphic, that is, found at the individual and team levels. Finally, I conclude chapter 3 by identifying and selecting a target variable which clarifies the outcome of the AALO model, namely, team learning. Chapter 4 reviews the team learning literature, with particular focus on the contingencies which shape the effect of team power disparity on team outcomes. These include team context (e.g., teams in extreme environments), team leadership, and team climate. Finally, I review the literature on team-level effects of deployment within military. This chapter presents the rationale for the development of the team-level moderated mediation model (chapter 5, Papers 2 and 3) and individual-level multiple mediation model (chapter 6, Paper 4). In chapter 5, I introduce a new team context or moderator, hardship (operationalised as deployment), which is expected to shift team-level effort of power disparity to a positive. I introduce a new team mediator, egalitarianism, which mediates a positive effect on team learning. Paper 2 details the theoretical development of a proposed moderated mediation model. Paper 3 reports on the quantitative evaluation of the team-level moderated mediation model. Next, in chapter 6, I take an individual-level perspective to identify specific leadership styles or practices which can be included into military practice to improve team learning. Chapter 6 presents Paper 4, which evaluates an individual-level multiple mediation model, which establishes the effect of learning-oriented leadership, transformational and transactional leadership on, first, mediating between individual rank and psychological equality (individual-level egalitarianism) and, then, team learning. The discussion chapter (chapter 7) is a narrative, discursive paper (Paper 5), which synthesises and integrates the results of all papers and discusses the policy and practical implications of the findings. Paper 5 presents these findings to a non-academic, practitioner audience (namely, the Australian Army). Finally, in chapter 8, I conclude the thesis by drawing out important aspects of my results, identifying key questions for future researchers and limitations of my research, and recommending further investigations.