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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to address the still unresolved issue of explaining the mixed diversity effects on team performance found in empirical research. A special focus is on context factors that have remained systematically unexplored with regard to their potential moderating role. Design/methodology/approach -This review thoroughly analyses 30 empirical studies on direct diversity-performance effects. Information on team context is collected and compared according to diversity type and its relationship with performance. As meta-analyses and narrative reviews provide contradicting evidence, empirical studies are evaluated in terms of regression results as well as correlation coefficients. Findings -The comparison of regression and correlation results finds contradictions concerning the trend towards positive or negative relationships. Context factors with moderating potential are discovered for some of the tested diversity variables. Reported curvilinear relationships seem to be responsible for non-significant outcomes of linear analyses. Research limitations/implications -This review is limited as it only includes studies on direct relationships of diversity and performance whereas work on the link of diversity and team processes is not considered. Empirical diversity studies in the future should include more detailed information on context factors, especially descriptive data of the sample population. New research in this field should furthermore test whether non-linear relationships exist as they might be the cause for nonsignificant linear relationships. Originality/value -This paper provides valuable insights for researchers investigating the impact of diversity on team performance as it highlights the importance of descriptive context information and potential moderating variables.

"Never change a winning team" is a well-known heuristic that recommends not altering the composition of successful teams. Using game-level observations of the highest German soccer league over a period of seven seasons, we find that the number of changes in the starting line-up is significantly lower after wins than after losses, taking suspensions and unobserved team heterogeneity into account. We show that teams of coaches who follow the heuristic do not win significantly more often, and that coaches significantly decrease the number of changes in the starting line-up even after wins caused by the exogenous home field advantage. These results provide first suggestive evidence that coaches may be influenced by behavioural concerns when following the heuristic to not change winning teams. Summary"Never change a winning team" is a well-known heuristic that recommends not altering the composition of successful teams. Using game-level observations of the highest German soccer league over a period of seven seasons, we find that the number of changes in the starting line-up is significantly lower after wins than after losses, taking suspensions and unobserved team heterogeneity into account. We show that teams of coaches who follow the heuristic do not win significantly more often, and that coaches significantly decrease the number of changes in the starting line-up even after wins caused by the exogenous home field advantage. These results provide first suggestive evidence that coaches may be influenced by behavioural concerns when following the heuristic to not change winning teams.

"Never change a winning team" is a well-known heuristic that recommends not altering the composition of successful teams. Using game-level observations of the highest German soccer league over a period of seven seasons, we find that the number of changes in the starting line-up is significantly lower after wins than after losses, taking suspensions and unobserved team heterogeneity into account. We show that teams of coaches who follow the heuristic do not win significantly more often, and that coaches significantly decrease the number of changes in the starting line-up even after wins caused by the exogenous home field advantage. These results provide first suggestive evidence that coaches may be influenced by behavioural concerns when following the heuristic to not change winning teams. Summary"Never change a winning team" is a well-known heuristic that recommends not altering the composition of successful teams. Using game-level observations of the highest German soccer league over a period of seven seasons, we find that the number of changes in the starting line-up is significantly lower after wins than after losses, taking suspensions and unobserved team heterogeneity into account. We show that teams of coaches who follow the heuristic do not win significantly more often, and that coaches significantly decrease the number of changes in the starting line-up even after wins caused by the exogenous home field advantage. These results provide first suggestive evidence that coaches may be influenced by behavioural concerns when following the heuristic to not change winning teams.