| Team Innovation and Perceptions of Equality: What Difference Does Diversity Make? |
| | Cady, Steven H. | Bowling Green State U. | scady@cba.bgsu.edu | 419-372-9388 |
| | Valentine, Joanie | Kaleidoscope Solutions, Inc | JoanieV1@aol.com | 513-351-0299 |
| | Addressing the theme for the 1999 Conference, we propose that a pluralistic approach to managing diversity in teams requires an appreciation for divergent viewpoints and processes. Most of the traditional theories of organizations are based on old bureaucratic homogeneous organizations, yet current trends reveal flatter, leaner, and more diverse organizations.
Therefore, we seek to contribute to the field by investigating the impact of four work team diversity dimensions (race, gender, age, and function) on innovation and perceptions of equality. The results of this field study revealed that diversity had no impact on the quality of innovation, while gender and race had a negative and positive impact on the quantity of innovation respectively. As for perceptions of equality, a negative relationship was found for race and gender diversity. It was also found that as quality of ideas increased, the quantity of ideas decreased.
This study makes five contributions to the field. First, the variables in this study have yet to be examined in unison, while most studies examine only one or two of the variables. Second, this study used objective measures of the dependent variables (masked evaluations by experts) along with rigorously developed measures of the independent variables. Third, the task being studied is part of the organization's existing programs; it is the employee's job. Fourth, few studies have had access to fifty teams for a field experiment. Finally, we provide results that challenge how researchers hypothesize the relationship between diversity and important outcomes. |
| | Keywords: diversity; teams; Innovaton |
| Looking into the Black Box: A Social Network Approach to Diversity, Communication, and Work Team Effectiveness |
| | Mayo, Margarita C. | U. of Western Ontario, Ivey School of Business | mmayo@ivey.uwo.ca | (519) 661-4125 |
| | The increasing diversity of the workforce and the popularity of teamwork have highlighted the need to better understand the potential advantages and challenges confronting demographically heterogeneous work groups. Drawing on three theoretical perspectives –cognitive resources, organizational demography, and social identity theory-, and using a social network approach, this paper extends and integrates these two lines of thought by focusing on the communication processes that mediate the relationship between team diversity and team effectiveness. In addition, this paper extends the concept of team diversity to the psychological level by including the concept of subjective diversity. Subjective diversity in a work team is defined as the collective salience of social identities in the mind of team members and is measured using artificial intelligence concepts and principles. The theoretical model was tested with a sample of 71 work teams from a large manufacturing company. Results show that team diversity affects intra-group communication networks, which in turn, affect team effectiveness. Also, subjective diversity accounts for unique variance in team communication and effectiveness beyond that of objective diversity. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.
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| | Keywords: Demography; Intra-group networks; Team effectiveness |
| Pluralistic Perspectives Within Teams: Relational Dissimilarity, Perceptions of Group Processes, and Affective Outcome for Group Members |
| | Price, Kenneth H. | U. of Texas, Arlington | Price@UTA.EDU | 817-272-3863 |
| | Harrison, David A. | U. of Texas, Arlington | Harrison@uta.edu | (817)-272-3854 |
| | Florey, Anna T. | U. of Texas, Arlington | aflorey@uta.edu | (817)272-3166 |
| | Gavin, Joanne H. | U. of Texas, Arlington | Jhgavin@aol.com | 817-459-2108 |
| | Rowe, Nancy | U. of Texas, Arlington | Rowe@uta.edu | 817-272-5021 |
| | In this study we bring together ideas from theories of group decision-making, relational demography, and
procedural justice. We developed hypotheses about how group members differ in their perceptions of core
group processes including decision making rules, fairness, and member attachment as a function of
demographic similarity, participation, and relational conflict. Hypotheses are tested by tracking the development of 146 student project teams over 14 weeks. We measured theoretical constructs at three times using a multi-wave design.
Demographic information was collected prior to group formation (Time 1) and was used to compute
measures of relational dissimilarity. Member perceptions of participation (voice and collaboration) and
relationship conflict were collected at Time 2, after teams had been working together. Time 3 measures of
perceived decision making processes (level of group member consensus needed), procedural fairness, and
member attachment were collected when teams had just completed their project.
Results indicated that Time 1 demographic dissimilarity, and Time 2 relational conflict were associated
with lower levels of perceived use of consensual processes at Time 3. Time 2 perceptions of voice and
collaboration were associated with higher perceived use of consensual processes. As expected, member
voice, collaboration, and relational conflict also predicted procedural fairness and member attachment to the
group at Time 3. Implications are discussed for mutually enriching both relational demography and
procedural justice paradigms by incorporating differential perceptions of group processes by majority and
minority members.
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| | Keywords: Decision; Attachment; Fairness |
| Context Matters: The Effects of Diversity on Group Interaction Patterns and Outcomes in Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Contexts |
| | Salgado, Susan R. | New York U. | ssalgado@stern.nyu.edu | (212)-998-0234 |
| | Martins, Luis L. | U. of Connecticut | martins@sba.uconn.edu | (860) 486-6417 |
| | Milliken, Frances J. | New York U. | fmillike@stern.nyu.edu | (212)-998-0227 |
| | Wiesenfeld, Batia M. | New York U. | bwiesenf@stern.nyu.edu | (212)-998-0765 |
| | This study sought to compare the effects of diversity on the interaction patterns and outcomes of work groups in two contexts: a homogenous and a heterogeneous context. We examined how the level of diversity in the broader organizational context affected how people reacted to working in groups that were diverse on observable dimensions (racioethnicity and gender) as well as on unobservable dimensions (collectivism and individualism). We found that different types of diversity had different impacts in our two contexts. We found that observable forms of diversity were more strongly associated with group interaction patterns and outcomes in the homogeneous context, whereas unobservable forms of diversity, particularly diversity on the value of collectivism, was key in explaining variance in group interaction patterns and outcomes in the heterogeneous context. |
| | Keywords: Group diversity; Group interactions; Contextual factors |
| Relational Demography Within Groups: An Empirical Test of a Theoretical Model |
| | Riordan, Christine Marie | U. of Georgia | criordan@arches.uga.edu | 706-542-3859 |
| | Weatherly, Elizabeth Wier | U. of Georgia | eweather@blaze.cba.uga.edu | 706-542-4665 |
| | This study proposes and tests a model of relational demography
within groups which includes three theoretical refinements
recently suggested by researchers: (a) the inclusion of the two
mediating variables of group identification and liking
which are typically cited in relational demography research,
but have not been tested; (b) the measurement and testing of both actual
and perceived demographic similarity; and (c) the inclusion of both
surface-level (e.g., demographic) and deep-level (e.g., outlook)
similarity dimensions. Using a sample of 125 individuals from
19 work groups, a model of relational demography was tested which
included the outcomes of job satisfaction, organizational commitment,
group performance, and group citizenship behaviors. Overall, results
indicated that the surface-level demographic characteristic of
perceived educational similarity was the most strongly related
to the deep-level characteristic of outlook similarity. Additionally,
outlook similarity acted as a mediator between demographic similarity
and liking. Finally, both liking and group identification acted as
mediators between some of the demographic similarity variables and the work-related
outcomes. |
| | Keywords: demography; diversity; groups |