Week 6 - Leadership and diversity

Question 1

Can you integrate the following concepts into the prediction about diversity you say in Homan?

Performance
Categorization
Information elaboration
Salience

Answer 1

Integrating these perspectives, van Knippenberg et al. (2004) proposed that the performance of diverse teams is determined by the interplay between categorization processes and information elaboration. Whether diverse groups indeed experience subgroup categorization is determined by the salience of social categories within the groups.

Question 2

Diversity can have positive and negative effects (Homan). What is a positive effect and from which perspective is this?

Answer 2

Information/decision making perspective: Information elaboration.

Diversity can enhance the elaboration of task-relevant information and perspectives within a group. So a potential positive effect of diversity is the thorough and elaborate processing of diverse information. The existence of diverse perspectives within a work group can lead to enhanced team functioning through information elaboration.

Question 3

Diversity can have positive and negative effects (Homan). What are the 2 negative effects and from which perspectives are these?

Answer 3

• Social categorization perspective: Within diverse teams, subgroup categorization creates “we-they” distinctions that may lead to intergroup bias, such as in-group favoritism or prejudice.
• Similarity/attraction perspectives: People favor working with and are attracted to similar rather than dissimilar people. This can lead to interpersonal tensions and conflict, stronger turnover intentions, and lower group performance

Question 4

What is comparative fit?

Answer 4

The salience of subgroups is influenced by the “comparative fit” of the subgroup categorization. Comparative fit reflects the extent to which a categorization results in clear between-group differences and within-group similarities. The higher comparative fit, the more likely subgroup categorization will occur

Question 5

Which 3 levels of group salience does Homan distinguish?

Answer 5

1. Faultlines (e.g. 2 old women, 2 young men)
2. Cross-categorization (e.g. old man, old woman, young man, young woman)
3. Superordinate identity (Group = emphasized as a whole)

Question 6

What does Openness to Experience have to do with diversity?

Answer 6

Diverse teams with higher levels of openness to experience perform better than those with low OtE

Question 7

What is the role of OtE on the different saliences of groups.

Answer 7

Faultline+ high OtE=better performance
Cross-categorization+high OtE=better performance
Superordinate identity+high OtE=no difference

Question 8

Name the different diversity saliences and orden them from best to worst performance.

Answer 8

Best

Superordinate
Cross categorized
Faultline

Worst

Question 9

What is the effect of OtE on information elaboration?

Answer 9

Higher OtE hightens information elaboration in diverse groups. More information elaboration leads to higher performance.

Question 10

What is a functionally heterogeneous team?

Answer 10

the diversity of organizational roles embodied in the team

A team in which people from different disciplines and/or functions are assembled.

Question 11

Which two leadership styles are examined in the study that looks at functional heterogeneity, and what do they entail?

Answer 11

• Participative leadership: Joint decision making, or at least shared influence in decision making, by a superior and his or her employees.
• Directive leadership: Providing the team members with a framework for decision making and action in alignment with the superior’s vision.

Question 12

What is team reflection?

Answer 12

The extent to which team members collectively reflect upon the team’s objectives, strategies and processes.

In the context of functionally heterogeneous teams, team reflection refers to the benefits of cognitive and learning processes in teams.

Question 13

What are the results of the study by Somech on functional heterogeneity with regards to the two leadership styles?

Answer 13

Directive: Useful in conditions of low functional heterogeneity (increased team reflection)

Participative: Useful in conditions of high functional heterogeneity.

Question 14

In a team with High Functional Heterogeneity, what do the 2 types of leadership do?

Answer 14

Participative leader: High reflection and innovation. But: stuck in thinking phase, so low performance.

Directive leader: higher performance, but no effect on reflection or innovation.

Question 15

What is power disperson (Greer&Van Kleef)

Answer 15

The degree to which power is people are equally powerful.

Question 16

What is the effect of power dispersion on high versus low level teams on conflict resolution, and what is the role of power struggles?

Answer 16

High level teams: Low power dispersion is better for conflict resolution, because it leads to less power struggles.

Low level teams: High power dispersion is better for conflict resolution, because it leads to less power struggles.

Question 17

How/why can power dispersion facilitate conflict resolution?

Answer 17

By…
o serving as a heuristic guiding device for the distribution of resources
o communicating norms about entitlement which may determine resource allocation
o creating order and facilitating coordination

Question 18

How/why can power dispersion impair conflict resolution?

Answer 18

Because…
o It may create feelings of inequality and injustice
o It may heighten intergroup competition

Question 19

What are intragroup power struggles (Greer&Van Kleef)?

Answer 19

The degree to which members compete over the relative levels of valuable resources held by members within the group.

Question 20

Why is high-power dispersion better for low-power groups? (2 reasons)

Answer 20

• It can help clarify the roles of the individuals in the group. It may enable low-power members to better know their “place” and to act in accordance with their roles.
• It may communicate norms regarding the appropriateness of resource distribution. When clear norms are present regarding resource allocation, power struggles may be less likely in low-power groups, as there is less room to lobby for additional resources and effective conflict resolution is more likely.

Question 21

Why is low-power dispersion better for high-power groups? (2 reasons)

Answer 21

• Members of high-power groups are more competitive as they are close to the top of the organizational hierarchy. To be on the low-end of a high-power group induces competition (and thus conflict).
• High-power group members have a stronger motivation to achieve and maintain power positions than members of lower power groups and they are especially likely to act on this motivation. High power dispersion may make them feel as though their position of power is threatened. This can lead to power struggles, and as a result less effective conflict resolution.