Mohan et al: from heterogeneity to inequality: the impact of nationality diversity on leadership in multinational teams

Question 1

What is this article about?

Answer 1

• This study looks at how nationality affects leadership in multinational teams. The researchers analyzed two studies with teams of different nationalities.
• They found that people see leaders differently based on nationality, mainly because higher-status nationalities are seen as more competent. While nationality alone didn’t directly determine leadership, it did have an indirect effect through perceptions of warmth among culturally similar peers.
• The study suggests that nationality creates inequality in leadership opportunities, beyond just having a diverse team.

Question 2

What theories did they use?

Answer 2

1. Nationality-based identity differences: are rooted in individual cultural
   values and norms, shaping how people identify with their nationality
   as part of their self-identity.
2. Status differences: are based on an individual’s
   relative standing in a nationality-based status hierarchy,
   which reflects disparities in socioeconomic development among countries. People who belong to high-status social categories exert greater influence
   in teams because they evoke greater performance expectations
   from peers. Group members might perceive that it is in their own interest
   to award leadership to members who hold higher status because
   referential beliefs about status characteristics suggest that high-status
   people are more capable than others
3. Social identity theory: eople view those similar to
   themselves (i.e., people who look alike, think alike, and are easier to
   identify with
4. Mediation by warmth and competence perceptions: Warmth encompasses traits such as morality, trustworthiness, sincerity,
   and friendliness, which capture people’s beliefs about benevolent intentions
   that an actor holds toward them

Question 3

What method did they use?

Answer 3

• They conducted two studies. For both they collected data from multinational teams that comprised experienced professionals
  enrolled in a full-time MBA program at a European business school.
• In both studies, participants were assigned to fixed
  teams from the start of the program in a way that maximized team diversity
  in terms of gender, nationality, and professional background.
  Participants worked on a variety of team projects for multiple core
  courses over a period of three to four months, requiring them to
  collaborate intensively

Question 4

How do people who share nationality see each other?

Answer 4

As leaders, because they percieve each other as warm. But this was the same for shared status and identify category.

Question 5

What did they found regarding higher nationality based status?

Answer 5

We consistently found that peers perceived people with higher nationality-based status to be leaders, irrespective of their nationality-based identities, and that greater perceptions of competence
mediated the effect

Question 6

What were some implications that the study had?

Answer 6

When teams are culturally
and nationally diverse, managers should note how the composition of
their multinational teams affect interpersonal dynamics. Diversity is not
necessarily synonymous with equality or inclusion, unless organizations
make a strategic choice to do that.

-Biases in judgment when hiring?

Question 7

What are the limitations of the study?

Answer 7

They collected data from participants who were enrolled in a business
administration program, and thus generalizability of results are limited.