Team Cognition Under Algorithmic Management: Evidence from Distributed Software Development Teams
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Algorithmic management is embedded in distributed software development, yet its implications for shared cognition and technical outcomes remain unclear. Drawing on team cognition, this study examines algorithmic management, team mental models, supportive leadership, and technical delivery performance. Data were obtained from 324 professionals nested in 72 software development teams participating in Horizon Europe projects. Team-level path analyses linked survey measures to six GTmetrix indicators. Algorithmic management was positively associated with team mental models and associated with more favorable values on four of the six GTmetrix indicators; Total Size and First Contentful Paint were not significant. The interaction between algorithmic management and supportive leadership was statistically significant but opposite to H3: supportive leadership weakened the association between algorithmic management and team mental models. Team mental models did not significantly predict any technical indicator, and none of the bootstrapped indirect effects was significant; thus, H4 and H5 were unsupported. Theoretically, the findings delineate the limits of the proposed linear algorithmic management-team mental models-performance explanation rather than establish a new mechanism. Practically, algorithmic systems and supportive leadership should be configured as differentiated but jointly designed sources of coordination: systems provide visibility and standardized signals, whereas leaders provide interpretation, exception management, and relational support.
Source: Information
DOI: 10.3390/info17101039
Authors: Ömür Paçacı, Ayse Günsel, Serdar Bozkurt
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,930
OpenAlex ID: W7214067962