How Do Military Teams from Different Nations Perform in a Game-Based Simulated Environment?

Abstract

An experiment was completed in a game-based environment in five countries to study differences on team performance. Military teams of four were asked to look for hidden weapons in a small town without angering the local citizens (thus gaining goodwill and/or badwill). The results showed differences in performance between the different nations. However, other factors such as English ability, computer experience and age also affected performance. Three related, but somewhat different performance measures were used: Performance score, Goodwill points and Badwill points. Further analyses revealed a pattern indicating that different nations may have used different strategies solving their task. The team characteristics were related to Performance and Goodwill, but not related to Badwill. Speculatively, English proficiency could be one important criterion for success in multinational coalitions, but it does not fully explain the obtained differences on team performance from the experiment.

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