Team creativity/innovation in culturally diverse teams: A meta‐analysis

This meta‐analysis investigates the direction and strength of the relationship between diversity in culturally diverse teams and team creativity/innovation. We distinguish the effects of two diversity levels (i.e., surface level vs. deep level) in culturally diverse teams and examine the moderators suggested by the socio‐technical systems framework (i.e., team virtuality and task characteristics in terms of task interdependence, complexity, and intellectiveness). Surface‐level diversity in culturally diverse teams is not related to team creativity/innovation, whereas deep‐level diversity in culturally diverse teams is positively related to team creativity/innovation. Moreover, surface‐level diversity in culturally diverse teams and team creativity/innovation are negatively related for simple tasks but unrelated for complex tasks. Deep‐level diversity in culturally diverse teams and team creativity/innovation is positively related for collocated teams and interdependent tasks but unrelated for noncollocated teams and independent tasks. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications.     

Influencing diversity beliefs through a personal testimonial,promotion-focused approach

Although researchers have highlighted the importance of diversity beliefs (i.e., team members' perceived value of diversity) for the elaboration of information in teams, little attention has been paid to whether and how diversity beliefs can be shaped. Drawing on theory and research on team diversity beliefs, we propose that diversity beliefs are more effectively influenced by interventions using a promotion (compared with a prevention) focus toward diversity and personal testimonial (compared with factual) knowledge. Results from an experiment conducted with 175 teams revealed that both a promotion focus and personal testimonial knowledge independently contributed to more positive diversity beliefs and consequently increased team elaboration of task-relevant information as well as integration of different perspectives. Our results reveal key factors that can influence diversity beliefs and underscore the pivotal role of diversity beliefs in improving the extent to which team members elaborate information and integrate diverse perspectives.     

When can culturally diverse teams be more creative? The role of leaders' benevolent paternalism

The current research examines the conditions under which cross‐cultural teams can realize their creative potential—a consequence of their cultural diversity. We propose that in more culturally diverse teams, team members are less open when communicating with each other, which impairs the team's ability to elaborate on the information contributed by different members, ultimately limiting team creativity. We further theorize that leaders' benevolent paternalism, a leadership style that is particularly prevalent in East Asian contexts, can reduce the negative consequence of intercultural diversity on intercultural communication openness. On the basis of multiwave, multisource data from 48 culturally diverse teams in China, we found that perceived intercultural diversity is negatively related to intercultural communication openness, which, in turn, is positively related to information elaboration, and ultimately, team creativity. Leader benevolent paternalism attenuates the negative relationship between intercultural diversity and intercultural communication openness. These findings enrich the literature on intercultural diversity by calling attention to communication‐related obstacles.     

From being diverse to becoming diverse: A dynamic team diversity theory

On the basis of the literature of open systems and team diversity, we present a new dynamic team diversity theory that explains the effect of change in team diversity on team functioning and performance in the context of dynamic team composition. Building upon the conceptualization of teams as open systems, we describe the enlargement and decline of team variety, separation, and disparity through member addition, subtraction, and substitution. Then, focusing on diversity enlargement, we theorize the contemporaneous and lasting effects of team diversity change on team performance change and on team processes and states leading to them. Dynamic team diversity theory expands the focus of team diversity research from teams' being more diverse than others to teams' becoming more diverse than before. It aims to advance team diversity research to be better aligned with the organizational reality of dynamic team composition. We also discuss methodological considerations in subsequent empirical testing of the theory and highlight how the theory and future research may help to guide organizational practice in recomposing work teams.     

When is female leadership an advantage? Coordination requirements,team cohesion,and team interaction norms

This study seeks to understand to what extent and in what contexts women leaders may be advantageous for teams. More specifically, this study examines how team leader gender relates to team cohesion, cooperative learning, and participative communication. Furthermore, the study argues that advantages derived from female leadership may be contingent on teams' coordination requirements. I propose that as teams' coordination requirements increase (i.e., with functional diversity, size, and geographic dispersion), teams with women leaders report more cohesion and more cooperative and participative interaction norms than those with men leaders. I aggregated survey responses from the members of 82 teams in 29 organizations at the team level. Findings from hierarchical linear modeling analyses suggest that female leadership is more positively associated with cohesion on larger and more functionally diverse teams and more positively associated with cooperative learning and participative communication on larger and geographically dispersed teams. These results call for more research on boundary conditions on the relationship between leader gender and team outcomes, on the role of relational leadership on complex and diverse teams and, ultimately, on the potential mediating role of cohesion and team interaction norms on the relationship between leader gender and team performance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface‐ and deep‐level diversity in workgroups: examining the moderating effects of team orientation and team process on relationship conflict

The increased use of teams in organizations, coupled with an increasingly diverse workforce, strongly suggests that we should learn more about how team diversity affects functioning and performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the differential impact of surface‐level diversity (gender, ethnicity), deep‐level diversity (time urgency, extraversion), and two moderating variables (team orientation, team process) on relationship conflict over time. Hypotheses were tested by tracking 45 student project teams in a longitudinal design. Results revealed that team orientation and team process moderated the diversity–conflict link. Specifically, team orientation helped to neutralize the negative effects of surface‐level (gender) diversity on relationship conflict. In a similar manner, team processes worked to weaken the deleterious effects of deep‐level diversity (time urgency) on relationship conflict. In addition, relationship conflict resulted in lower perceived performance by team members. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The proficiency trap: how to balance enriched job designs and the team's need for support

The present study seeks to enlighten our understanding of ways to promote the performance of teams of professionals. Considering that job enrichment practices might block support for a team, and hence its performance, the study examined the moderating effects of cultural factors, namely individualism–collectivism and power distance, and the team leader's practices as a source of support in the job enrichment–team support relationship. Further, the study examined the mediating role of team support in improving the performance of professional teams. Results from 56 healthcare teams from different hospitals indicated that attempts to promote professionals' performance should consider at a minimum how to balance job enrichment practices and the team's need for support. The findings suggest that this balance could be achieved by emphasizing the support provided by the leader, and by strengthening the cultural values of low power distance and collectivism in the team. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Demographic antecedents and performance consequences of structural holes in work teams

This paper addresses two important questions concerning social fragmentation in work teams. First, from where do disconnections between team members, measured in terms of the proportion of structural holes within the work team, derive? Second, what are the consequences for team performance of having more or less structural holes between team members? In answering the first question, the research investigated whether demographic diversity in teams played a role in predicting the proportion of structural holes in team friendship networks. For 19 teams at a wood products company, there were no effects of ethnic and gender diversity on structural hole proportions. However, age diversity significantly reduced the extent of structural ‘holeyness.’ In investigating the second question, two countervailing tendencies were considered. In the absence of structural holes, teams are likely to be at low risk for new ideas. But fragmented teams in which team members are separated by many structural holes are likely to have difficulty coordinating. The researchers demonstrated a curvilinear effect: a moderate level of structural diversity in teams was positively associated with team performance. Thus, the research suggested that it is structural diversity (measured in terms of the proportion of structural holes) rather than demographic diversity that matters in the prediction of team performance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Team mental models and their potential to improve teamwork and safety: A review and implications for future research in healthcare

The importance of team mental models (TMMs) - team members’ shared and organized understanding of relevant knowledge - for teamwork and team-performance, particularly in high-risk industries, has been recognized for almost two decades. In healthcare, however, systematic investigations on the influence of TMM on teamwork and team-performance had yet to be conducted at the time of this review, despite many authors considering the concept to be useful for medical teams. The lack of measurement procedures appropriate for settings as complex and dynamic as, for example, the operating room, represents a major obstacle for empirical research in healthcare. We systematically reviewed empirical studies on TMMs aiming to identify methods that could be applied in healthcare. In particular, we analyzed the methods used, and situations in which TMMs have been investigated. The reviewed studies were sorted according to task and team characteristics. We discuss the results of this review with regard to characteristics of healthcare teams including anaesthesia teams and teams of ward nurses. Each of these examples represents a distinct teamwork setting (e.g. long- vs. short-lived teams) and hence requires a different approach to TMM measurement (e.g. focus on task-model vs. focus on team-model). Implications for study design, feasible measurement approaches, and questions for future research on TMMs in healthcare are discussed. In sum, our findings highlight the possible significance of TMM research in healthcare and its potential benefits for team-performance and, ultimately, patient safety.     

Missing persons in the study of groups

This research examined relationships between team‐level variables with various patterns of individual non‐response. In the first analysis, professional basketball teams (n = 389) were used to study the relationship between team cooperation and team performance. In the second analysis, the same teams were used to study the relationship between team experience and team performance. In the third analysis, professional baseball teams (n = 1984) were used to study the relationship between team experience and team performance. Individuals were deleted from the complete data sets to simulate three different types of non‐response that might be encountered in organizational group or team research. In all three analyses, team‐level relationships were attenuated as individual members were deleted randomly. Team‐level relationships were also generally reduced as individuals were deleted as a function of their level of participation with the team. The overall amount of variance explained, however, showed a pronounced curvilinear effect. Namely, in all three analyses, the variance explained in team performance peaked when 30–40 per cent of the low‐participation members were deleted. Finally, in the first analysis, relationships were also attenuated as the least cooperative members were deleted from the data set. The results demonstrate the need for researchers to understand the diverse effects of various types of non‐response in team and group research. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differential implications of team member promotive and prohibitive voice on innovation performance in research and development project teams: A dialectic perspective

How and when does team member voice facilitate team innovation? Integrating research on member voice and a dialectic perspective of innovation, we advance a model in which team member promotive voice enhances team innovation through team knowledge utilization, whereas team member prohibitive voice enhances team innovation through team reflexivity in a nonlinear fashion. We further propose that the differential effects of team member promotive and prohibitive voice will be stronger at different stages (idea generation vs. idea implementation) of the innovation cycle. Survey data from 78 research and development project teams showed a positive indirect effect between team member promotive voice and team innovation through team knowledge utilization, although this relationship was also mediated through team reflexivity. Moreover, the indirect effect of team member promotive voice on team innovation via team knowledge utilization was stronger for teams in the idea generation stage of team innovation. Results also confirmed a nonlinear indirect relationship between team member prohibitive voice and team innovation via team reflexivity such that the positive effects of team member prohibitive voice tapered off at high levels. Contrary to our expectations, the effects of prohibitive voice held regardless of stage. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Antecedents and consequences of empowering leadership: Leader power distance,leader perception of team capability,and team innovation

The evidence that empowering leadership is an effective form of team leadership brings the question on what the antecedents of empowering leadership are into focus. We propose that empowering leadership is driven by considerations of the normative and situational appropriateness of empowering leadership that are associated with leader power distance value and leader perception of team capability. We propose that leader power distance and perceived team capability interact such that the influence of leader power distance on empowering leadership is stronger with higher perceived team capability. We extend our model to show that by affecting empowering leadership, the interaction of leader power distance and perceived team capability indirectly influences team innovation, an important team outcome associated with empowered teamwork. We tested our model in two multisource surveys in China: Study 1 of 84 technical teams and Study 2 of 83 financial service teams. We discuss how our study contributes to empowering leadership theory by providing a theoretical perspective that lends itself well to identifying other trait and situational antecedents of empowering leadership.     

Emotion regulation as a boundary condition of the relationship between team conflict and performance: A multi‐level examination

Although task conflict is widely believed to be beneficial whereas relationship conflict is destructive, evidence overall does not support this conclusion. This study develops the idea that the emotion regulation abilities of team members affect how they manage task and relationship conflict, both as individuals and as a team. Findings from a field study involving 39 teams support the argument that individuals skilled in emotion regulation can take advantage of task conflict to perform effectively and limit the negative impact of relationship conflict. Groups that have individuals highly skilled in emotion regulation were also found to make good use of team conflict. Results suggest that emotion regulation skills contribute to the effective management of task conflict and relationship conflict at both individual and group levels. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diversity and team outcomes: the moderating effects of outcome interdependence and group longevity and the mediating effect of reflexivity

Reflexivity—the extent to which teams reflect upon and modify their functioning—has been identified as a possible key factor in the effectiveness of work teams. We examined the extent to which team composition affected team process (i.e., reflexivity) and in turn team outcomes (i.e., satisfaction, commitment, and performance). The results of diversity research thus far have been inconclusive in terms of positive or negative effects of team composition on team process and outcomes. In the current research, group longevity and outcome interdependence were expected to moderate the relationship between diversity on the one hand and reflexivity and team outcomes on the other hand. Reflexivity was expected to mediate these interaction effects. The current field study was conducted among 54 work teams from 13 different organizations. As predicted, few main effects were found. Instead, analyses showed interaction effects of diversity and outcome interdependence on the measures of reflexivity, satisfaction, and performance. As predicted, interaction effects were also found for diversity and group longevity on the measures of reflexivity, satisfaction, and performance. Three‐way interactions were found for satisfaction and commitment. Also, reflexivity was shown to mediate these relationships, indicating that the moderating effects of outcome interdependence and group longevity on the relation between diversity and team outcomes are due to the effects on process. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Team conflict management and team effectiveness: the effects of task interdependence and team identification

The present study explores the dynamics of conflict management as a team phenomenon. The study examines how the input variable of task structure (task interdependence) is related to team conflict management style (cooperative versus competitive) and to team performance, and how team identity moderates these relationships. Seventy‐seven intact work teams from high‐technology companies participated in the study. Results revealed that at high levels of team identity, task interdependence was positively associated with the cooperative style of conflict management, which in turn fostered team performance. Although a negative association was found between competitive style and team performance, this style of team conflict management did not mediate between the interactive effect of task interdependence and team identity on team performance. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adjusting to new work teams: Testing work experience as a multidimensional resource for newcomers

The successful performance adjustment of team newcomers is an increasingly important consideration given the prevalence of job‐changing and the uncertainty associated with starting work in a new team setting. Consequently, using sensemaking and uncertainty reduction theories as a conceptual basis, the present study tested work experience as a potential resource for newcomer performance adjustment in teams. Specifically, we tested work experience as a multidimensional predictor of both initial newcomer performance and the rate of performance change after team entry. We tested hypotheses using longitudinal newcomer performance data in the context of professional basketball teams. Although the traditional quantitative indicators of the length and amount of work experience were not meaningfully associated with newcomer performance adjustment, their interaction was. In addition, the qualitative indicator of newcomers' past transition experience revealed a significant, positive association with the rate of newcomer performance improvement following team entry. These results suggest that work experience is a meaningful facilitator of newcomer adjustment in teams and emphasize the dual consideration of both quantitative and qualitative work experiences. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multilevel review of stressor research in teams

The contemporary work environment is characterized by an ongoing trend to embed employees in teams because of their expected abilities for handling complex tasks and integrating diverse sets of knowledge and skills. However, leveraging this potential is endangered by stimuli within and outside of teams that take a toll on cohesion and teamwork among team members. Understanding the role that stressors and demands play in the work-related functioning of teams and their members is therefore an increasingly important challenge in the organizational behavior literature. Whereas research on stressors and demands has primarily focused on the individual level, we expand the research scope by considering these phenomena to be multilevel. We perform an interdisciplinary review of the literature on these stimuli in teams and show how related research, such as that on destructive leadership, may benefit from a more balanced account and integration of frameworks on stressors. Our multilevel review is informative for the literature on stressors and demands at the individual and team levels, as it offers an important conceptual grounding for how and why various stimuli in this social environment differentially influence both the collective entity and its individual team members.     

A review of perceived diversity in teams: Does how members perceive their team's composition affect team processes and outcomes?

In this paper, we review the growing literature on perceived diversity in teams. We aim to clarify the construct of perceived diversity and organize the findings in this emergent line of research. To do so, we develop a framework integrating research emerging on perceived diversity from across several different research fields. We propose that the nature of perceived diversity and its effects can be best understood by identifying the focal point of the diversity perceptions being studied: perceptions of self‐to‐team dissimilarity, of subgroup splits, and of group heterogeneity. Our review concludes that perceived self‐to‐team dissimilarity and perceived subgroup splits mostly have been linked to negative effects for individuals and groups, whereas perceived group heterogeneity has been shown to exert both positive and negative effects on group outcomes. Our review also draws attention to the problem that research on perceived diversity varies not only in definitions and conceptualizations, but also in the methodological approaches towards operationalizing perceived diversity. We conclude by discussing potential areas for future research. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human capital diversity in the creation of social capital for team creativity

We highlight the social aspects of team creativity by proposing that team creativity is influenced by two types of team social capital: bridging and bonding social capital. Going beyond the structural perspective, we posit that team‐level human capital diversity is one of the potential antecedents of social capital for team creativity. We suggest that network structures are formed by teammates' interactions, which are largely the result of differences in their individual characteristics. The results of an empirical study using 36 teams of MBA students showed that the interaction of team‐bridging social capital with team‐bonding social capital was positively and significantly related to team creativity. Knowledge variety and knowledge disparity had a joint effect on team‐bridging social capital, and knowledge separation was negatively related to team‐bonding social capital. Moreover, team social capital mediated the effects of knowledge diversity on team creativity. Our study has several important implications for team creativity, social networks, and diversity research. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Language‐based diversity and faultlines in organizations

Language‐based diversity is a relatively understudied area within diversity research. Drawing upon the social identity‐based fault lines literature, the present paper describes the effects of language‐based diversity within organizations operating in India. Interview‐based findings indicate that organizationally mandated languages are occasionally disregarded by employees in both national and multinational organizations. Respondents noted how even benign and momentary language switching can lead to the formation of language‐based groups and cause negative consequences such as feelings of being devalued. Respondents also noted strategies that let them attenuate negative effects of multilingualism while simultaneously leveraging its benefits. Overall, the present study indicates that momentary exclusion based on incomprehensible language, when experienced on a daily basis, may have a far‐reaching influence on individual and team functioning. Findings thus point to language use as a trigger that can activate social identity‐based fault lines. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.