Information reliability and team reflection as contingencies of the relationship between information elaboration and team decision quality

Although previous research has found a positive relationship between information elaboration and team decision quality if team members possess diverse information, we know little about the boundary conditions of this relationship. In this study, we provide a more nuanced understanding of these boundary conditions by focusing on team-external and team-internal contingencies. Based on a sample of 52 student teams working on a decision-making task, we find a complex three-way interaction between information elaboration, information reliability, and team reflection in explaining team decision quality. The relationship between information elaboration and team decision quality was not significant when teams were confronted with unreliable information independent of their level of reflection. However, for teams confronted with reliable information, the relationship between information elaboration and team decision quality was positive for low levels of reflection but negative for high levels of reflection. Our results provide important implications for our understanding of information elaboration, team reflection, and the context of team decision making.