Hm, now that I read well, I feel this research group does too much "snapshotting" of dynamics. Groups not performing well could have had their "norms" subjected to a harsh external force, such as, say, performance reviews, hire / fire / downsize / layoff, etc.

And where is the discussion of sociopathy and other classic psychological manipulations? You'd figure that subtle disruptors would be critical to the study, since I argue that middle management collapses in most large organizations due to the Machiavellian predilections of petty power brokering.