Diversity faultlines, shared objectives, and top management team performance

Faultline theory suggests that negative effects of team diversity are better understood by considering the influence of different dimensions of diversity in conjunction, rather than for each dimension separately. We develop and extend the social categorization analysis that lies at the heart of faultline theory to identify a factor that attenuates the negative influence of faultlines: the extent to which the team has shared objectives. The hypothesized moderating role of shared objectives received support in a study of faultlines formed by differences in gender, tenure, and functional background in 42 top management teams. The focus on top management teams has the additional benefit of providing the first test of the relationship between diversity faultlines and objective indicators of organizational performance. We discuss how these findings, and the innovative way in which we operationalized faultlines, extend faultline theory and research as well as offer guidelines to manage diversity faultlines.

[1]  D. Mackie,et al.  Intergroup relations. , 2019, Annual review of psychology.

[2]  R. Crisp.  The psychology of social and cultural diversity , 2010 .

[3]  Wendy P. van Ginkel,et al.  The categorization-elaboration model of work group diversity: Wielding the double-edged sword. , 2010 .

[4]  R. Tindale,et al.  Team Reflexivity, Development of Shared Task Representations, and the Use of Distributed Information in Group Decision Making , 2009 .

[5]  Aparna Joshi,et al.  The Role Of Context In Work Team Diversity Research: A Meta-Analytic Review , 2009 .

[6]  S. Voelpel,et al.  WHEN AND HOW DIVERSITY BENEFITS TEAMS: THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAM MEMBERS' NEED FOR COGNITION , 2009 .

[7]  D. Knippenberg,et al.  Knowledge about the distribution of information and group decision making : When and why does it work? , 2009 .

[8]  Stephen E. Humphrey,et al.  Facing differences with an open mind: Openness to experience, salience of intra-group differences, and performance of diverse work groups , 2008 .

[9]  D. Knippenberg,et al.  Ethnic Diversity and Distributed Information in Group Decision Making: The Importance of Information Elaboration , 2008 .

[10]  Albert A. Cannella,et al.  Top Management Team Functional Background Diversity and Firm Performance: Examining The Roles of Team Member Colocation and Environmental Uncertainty , 2008 .

[11]  Michael A. West,et al.  International handbook of organizational teamwork and cooperative working , 2008 .

[12]  Daan van Knippenberg,et al.  Intergroup Relations in Organizations , 2008 .

[13]  S. K. Horwitz,et al.  The Effects of Team Diversity on Team Outcomes: A Meta-Analytic Review of Team Demography , 2007 .

[14]  P. Koopman,et al.  The role of transformational leadership in enhancing team reflexivity , 2007 .

[15]  Jing Zhou,et al.  When is educational specialization heterogeneity related to creativity in research and development teams? Transformational leadership as a moderator. , 2007, The Journal of applied psychology.

[16]  M. Platow,et al.  Unity Through Diversity: Value-in-Diversity Beliefs, Work Group Diversity, and Group Identification , 2007 .

[17]  D. Harrison,et al.  What's the difference? Diversity constructs as separation, variety, or disparity in organizations. , 2007 .

[18]  Claudia J. Ferrante,et al.  Wall Street Reaction to Women in IPOs , 2007 .

[19]  H. Barkema,et al.  Does top management team diversity promote or hamper foreign expansion , 2007 .

[20]  W DreudeC.K.,et al.  Interacting dimensions of diversity: Cross-categorization and the functioning of diverse work groups , 2007 .

[21]  D. van Knippenberg,et al.  Work group diversity. , 2007, Annual review of psychology.

[22]  Eric Molleman,et al.  The Effects of Diversity Faultlines and Team Task Autonomy on Decision Quality and Social Integration , 2007 .

[23]  Katherine W. Phillips,et al.  Surface-Level Diversity and Decision-Making in Groups: When Does Deep-Level Similarity Help? , 2006 .

[24]  C. D. De Dreu,et al.  Bridging faultlines by valuing diversity: diversity beliefs, information elaboration, and performance in diverse work groups. , 2006, The Journal of applied psychology.

[25]  Jeffrey T. Polzer,et al.  Extending the Faultline Model to Geographically Dispersed Teams: How Colocated Subgroups can Impair Group Functioning , 2006 .

[26]  Donald C. Hambrick,et al.  Attention as the Mediator Between Top Management Team Characteristics and Strategic Change: The Case of Airline Deregulation , 2006, Organ. Sci..

[27]  D. Hambrick,et al.  FACTIONAL GROUPS: A NEW VANTAGE ON DEMOGRAPHIC FAULTLINES, CONFLICT, AND DISINTEGRATION IN WORK TEAMS , 2005 .

[28]  J. K. Murnighan,et al.  Interactions Within Groups and Subgroups: The Effects of Demographic Faultlines , 2005 .

[29]  Eric Molleman,et al.  Diversity in Demographic Characteristics, Abilities and Personality Traits: Do Faultlines Affect Team Functioning? , 2005 .

[30]  M. Hogg,et al.  Leadership, self, and identity: A review and research agenda , 2004 .

[31]  C. D. De Dreu,et al.  Work group diversity and group performance: an integrative model and research agenda. , 2004, The Journal of applied psychology.

[32]  Mason A. Carpenter,et al.  Upper Echelons Research Revisited: Antecedents, Elements, and Consequences of Top Management Team Composition , 2004 .

[33]  Val Singh,et al.  The Female FTSE Report 2004 , 2004 .

[34]  Deborah H. Gruenfeld,et al.  Diverse groups and information sharing: The effects of congruent ties. , 2004 .

[35]  H. Tajfel,et al.  The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior. , 2004 .

[36]  J. B. Shaw.  The Development and Analysis of a Measure of Group Faultlines , 2004 .

[37]  S. Jackson,et al.  Recent Research on Team and Organizational Diversity: SWOT Analysis and Implications , 2003 .

[38]  Cristina B. Gibson,et al.  A Healthy Divide: Subgroups as a Stimulus for Team Learning Behavior , 2003 .

[39]  Karen A. Jehn,et al.  Cracks in Diversity Research: The Effects of Diversity Faultlines on Conflict and Performance , 2003 .

[40]  S. Kozlowski,et al.  Work Groups and Teams in Organizations , 2003 .

[41]  Joseph T. Banas,et al.  Comparing Alternative Conceptualizations of Functional Diversity in Management Teams: Process and Performance Effects , 2002 .

[42]  Amy E. Randel.  Identity salience: a moderator of the relationship between group gender composition and work group conflict , 2002 .

[43]  Jeffrey T. Polzer,et al.  Capitalizing on Diversity: Interpersonal Congruence in Small Work Groups , 2001 .

[44]  C. Earley,et al.  Creating hybrid team cultures: An empirical test of transnational team functioning. , 2000 .

[45]  H. P. Sims,et al.  Top management team diversity, group process, and strategic consensus , 1999 .

[46]  N. Anderson,et al.  Measuring climate for work group innovation: development and validation of the team climate inventory , 1998 .

[47]  J. K. Murnighan,et al.  Demographic Diversity and Faultlines: The Compositional DYnamics of Organizational Groups , 1998 .

[48]  Theresa S. Cho,et al.  The Influence of Top Management Team Heterogeneity on Firms' Competitive Moves , 1996 .

[49]  N. Anderson,et al.  Innovation in top management teams , 1996 .

[50]  Frances J. Milliken,et al.  Searching for Common Threads: Understanding the Multiple Effects of Diversity in Organizational Groups , 1996 .

[51]  Michael A. West,et al.  Handbook of Work Group Psychology , 1996 .

[52]  William H. Bommer,et al.  ON THE INTERCHANGEABILITY OF OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE MEASURES OF EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: A META-ANALYSIS , 1995 .

[53]  H. P. Sims,et al.  Top Management Team Demography and Process: The Role of Social Integration and Communication , 1994 .

[54]  M. Arthur,et al.  The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory , 1993 .

[55]  M. Hogg,et al.  Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. , 1989 .

[56]  D. Hambrick,et al.  Upper Echelons: The Organization as a Reflection of Its Top Managers , 1984 .

[57]  Mary Anne Devanna.  Men and Women of the Corporation , 1978 .

[58]  J. Turner,et al.  Self-categorization theory , 2012 .

[59]  Karen A. Jehn,et al.  Do Workgroup Faultlines Help or Hurt? A Moderated Model of Faultlines, Team Identification, and Group Performance , 2009, Organ. Sci..

[60]  Diether Gebert,et al.  Managing diversity and enhancing team outcomes: the promise of transformational leadership. , 2009, The Journal of applied psychology.

[61]  Aleksander P. J. Ellis,et al.  Unlocking the effects of gender faultlines on team creativity: is activation the key? , 2008, The Journal of applied psychology.

[62]  D. Knippenberg,et al.  Group information elaboration and group decision making: The role of shared task representations , 2008 .

[63]  J. Sawyer,et al.  Decision performance and diversity structure: Comparing faultlines in convergent, crosscut, and racially homogeneous groups , 2006 .

[64]  Jeffrey T. Polzer,et al.  Finding Value in Diversity: Verification of Personal and Social Self-Views in Diverse Groups , 2004 .

[65]  S. Lemon,et al.  The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory : Differentiating Hostile and Benevolent Sexism , 2001 .

[66]  John Van Reenen,et al.  Technological Innovation and Performance in the United Kingdom , 2001 .

[67]  J. V. Reenen,et al.  Technological innovation and economic performance in the United Kingdom , 2001 .

[68]  D. L. van Knippenberg,et al.  Social identity and persuasion: Reconsidering the role of group membership. , 1999 .

[69]  Phyllis A. Anastasio,et al.  The Common Ingroup Identity Model: Recategorization and the Reduction of Intergroup Bias , 1993 .

[70]  John C. Turner,et al.  Rediscovering the Social Group , 1987 .

[71]  M. Sherif.  Group Conflict and Co-operation: Their Social Psychology , 1967 .