Do we really need A‐shaped coordinators? A comparison across specialists versus generalists in coordinated exploration

Coordinated exploration involves effectively integrating discoveries from different areas of expertise to identify high-value combinations of alternatives. Extant literature suggests that a coordinator holding A-shaped skills might play a crucial role in supporting groups in this process. We posit that the role of A-shaped coordinators in driving exploration might change based on the nature of the team. Using agent-based simulation, we compare the performance of groups of specialists and groups of generalists in the presence versus absence of an A-shaped coordinator. We find that the presence of an A-shaped coordinator constrains search toward mutually compatible combinations and reduces incompatible exploration trajectories, consistently improving specialists' average performance as well as their likelihood of identifying the global peak. In contrast, groups of generalists benefit only in terms of average performance. Coordination can improve alignment and guide early search toward compatible alternatives, particularly in more rugged landscapes, when the coordinator's evaluations are highly accurate, or when smaller regions are assigned. However, coordination does not expand groups of generalists' exploratory breadth and often increases the risk of premature convergence on suboptimal local peaks.