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11 – 20 of over 4000Quinetta M. Roberson, Bradford Bell and Shanette C. Porter
This chapter explores the role of language in the relationship between diversity and team performance. Specifically, we consider how a linguistic approach to social categorization…
Abstract
This chapter explores the role of language in the relationship between diversity and team performance. Specifically, we consider how a linguistic approach to social categorization may be used to study the social psychological mechanisms that underlie diversity effects. Using the results of a study examining the effects of gender, ethnicity and tenure on language abstraction, we consider the potential implications for team processes and effectiveness. In addition, we propose a revised team input-process-output model that highlights the potential effects of language on team processes. We conclude by suggesting directions for future research linking diversity, linguistic categorization, and team effectiveness.
Yongyi Liang, Haibo Wang, Ming Yan and Jun Xie
This study aims to investigate the relationship between leader group prototypicality and intergroup conflict, as well as its mechanisms and contextual factors using the social…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between leader group prototypicality and intergroup conflict, as well as its mechanisms and contextual factors using the social identity theory.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model was empirically tested using multi-phase, multi-source and multilevel survey data in China. The final sample consisted of 75 group leaders and 231 group members. Multilevel structural equation modelling and a Monte Carlo simulation were used for hypothesis testing.
Findings
The results showed that leader group prototypicality would engender intergroup conflict via intergroup distinctiveness. Further, leaders’ benchmarking behaviour moderated this indirect effect. In particular, leader group prototypicality resulted in higher intergroup distinctiveness and intergroup conflict, only when the leaders’ benchmarking behaviour was higher rather than lower.
Originality/value
First, this study addresses the question of whether leader group prototypicality would lead to intergroup conflict to provide theoretical and empirical insights to supplement extant literature. Second, the study advances the understanding of mechanisms (intergroup distinctiveness) and the consequences (intergroup conflict) of leader group prototypicality in an intergroup context. Third, the study shows that leaders’ benchmarking behaviour moderates the effect of leader group prototypicality on intergroup conflict through intergroup distinctiveness. As such, the findings are of value to future management practice by offering precise, practical interventions to manage the intergroup conflict caused by leader group prototypicality.
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Aaminah Zaman Malik and Audhesh Paswan
While language is vital for a successful service exchange, it can also become a source of vulnerability if one party is a non-native speaker in an inter-culture service encounter…
Abstract
Purpose
While language is vital for a successful service exchange, it can also become a source of vulnerability if one party is a non-native speaker in an inter-culture service encounter (ICSE). Hence, the purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between language-related stigma that non-native customers perceive in an ICSE and the associated psychological and behavioral responses.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey-based research method and an experimental study was used to collect data from non-native speakers in the USA with English as their second language. Structural equation modeling procedure was used to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The findings suggest that the customers who perceive language-related stigmatization in an ICSE context experience intergroup anxiety and lack of social belonging. In turn, intergroup anxiety influences their interaction comfort with the service provider. In the end, these experiences shape their future buying behavior, i.e. they tend to avoid direct interactions with the servers and prefer smart services.
Research limitations/implications
Future research is needed to explore the focal phenomenon in other service contexts and cultures to enrich knowledge on language vulnerabilities.
Practical implications
The study highlights the importance of technology, not just from a convenience perspective, but also as an accommodation mechanism for linguistically vulnerable customers.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to empirically examine the language-related stigmatization and associated psychological and behavioral responses from the non-native customers’ perspective in a services exchange setting.
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Yossef Arie and Gustavo S. Mesch
This study investigated the association between structural conditions and social incentives and their effect on the ethnic composition of mobile social networks. Regarding…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the association between structural conditions and social incentives and their effect on the ethnic composition of mobile social networks. Regarding structural conditions, we examined the role of the ethnic group’s size, socioeconomic status, and heterogeneity of the city in which the business was located. Regarding social incentives, we investigated the social diversification hypothesis, which expects that residentially and socially segregated minority groups will take advantage of mobile communications to diversify their mobile communication ties with outgroup members.
Methodology/approach
Two data sets were used. The first was the aggregation of the mobile communication patterns of business customers as measured by one of Israel’s mobile phone operators in April 2010. The database included 9,099 call data records. The second was a data set of the social characteristics of 103 Israeli cities from the Israeli Bureau of Statistics. Both data sets were merged according to the place of residence of each customer.
Findings
Israeli Arab businesses in homogeneous Jewish and mixed cities operate in an environment with more structural opportunities to create outgroup ethnic ties than Arab businesses in homogeneous Arab cities. Jewish businesses in ethnically mixed cities have more outgroup mobile ties than comparable businesses in homogenous Jewish cities.
Implications
We expand previous models and suggest a structural diversification approach in which ethnic mobile social networks vary across homogeneous and ethnically mixed cities. These variations result in different social incentives as the diversification approach assumed, as well as different structural conditions, as the structural approach indicates.
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Gauze Pitipon Kitirattarkarn, Weiting Tao and Wan-Hsiu Sunny Tsai
This study aims to systematically evaluate the psychological factors of independent versus interdependent self-construal, self-evaluation motives of enhancement versus…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to systematically evaluate the psychological factors of independent versus interdependent self-construal, self-evaluation motives of enhancement versus verification, and the mediating role of bridging and bonding social capital on consumers' positive and negative brand-related electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) sharing with in-group and out-group audiences.
Design/methodology/approach
The online survey was conducted with young adult consumers in the Netherlands (N = 322). Multiple regression analysis with PROCESS was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Consumers with independent self-construal are more likely to share negative eWOM, particularly via social messengers with in-group members. These consumers, however, tend to share positive eWOM on companies' social media accounts that reach out-group audiences including online strangers. Additionally, self-evaluation was the key motivation driving positive eWOM sharing with in-groups, while bridging social capital mediated the effects of self-construal on sharing negative eWOM.
Originality/value
The paper provides a more holistic understanding of the factors impacting the valence and intended audience for eWOM sharing. The findings advance eWOM research by differentiating positive and negative eWOM sharing in the context of intergroup communication.
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Irina A. Iles, Anita Atwell Seate and Leah Waks
Previous studies have documented that exposure to stereotypical information about certain social groups leads to unfavorable perceptions and feelings toward that group…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies have documented that exposure to stereotypical information about certain social groups leads to unfavorable perceptions and feelings toward that group. Integrating insights from the mental illness stigma and the social identity perspective literatures, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of eating disorder public service announcements (ED PSAs) that employ stigma formats through the lenses of the stereotype content model (SCM) and the Behaviors from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes (BIAS) Map.
Design/methodology/approach
The study followed an experimental control group design. Participants were exposed to either a stigmatizing or a non-stigmatizing PSA.
Findings
Exposure to the stigmatizing PSA resulted in lower perceptions of warmth and competence being attributed to people who have an ED which further predicted greater feelings of contempt toward these individuals. The stigmatizing PSA also directly predicted greater feelings of contempt.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that using stereotypes about EDs in PSAs aimed at preventing such diseases may elicit perceptions of low warmth and competence, further associated with increased feelings of contempt toward people who have an ED in healthy individuals.
Social implications
The stereotyping effects of PSAs may reduce the social and emotional support that people with EDs receive and may exacerbate their emotional distress.
Originality/value
From a theoretical point of view, these results extend the understanding of mental illness stereotypes from an intergroup, SCM and BIAS Map perspective as it applies to EDs. More importantly, this study draws attention to possible unintended consequences of PSAs, a matter that is rarely researched, but that can have severe implications.
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This paper describes a communication and cultural code approach to ethnonational conflicts. More specifically, it describes theory and research emerging from transformative…
Abstract
This paper describes a communication and cultural code approach to ethnonational conflicts. More specifically, it describes theory and research emerging from transformative communication events aimed at building constructive relationships betwetact necessitated by conflict. These are dialogue groups organized according to principles established by Allport's (1954) contact hypothesis including sustained contact, cooperative interdependence, and norms of equality. Secondly, we state the assumptions of an interactional approach to conflict, which assumes that conflict is, by definition, interactive making communication impossible to avoid. These assumptions also include an emphasis on the relational aspects of communication, and the fact that interaction sequences become patterned over time and become constitutive of the defining characteristics of the conflict. Moreover, the participants are influenced by communication codes, which are culturally based orientations to producing and interpreting interactions. These codes are grounded in the work of Katriel (1986), Carbaugh (1990), Ellis (1994, 1999) and Philipsen (1997) and have implications for the meaning potential of individuals in conflict situations. Finally, we explicate these issues by describing research that is representative of this communication approach to conflict. This research conceptualizes reconciliation‐aimed contacts and demonstrates how communication codes are modified by situational constraints.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the storied lives of teacher leaders involved in the implementation of a dual language education program for elementary English learners…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the storied lives of teacher leaders involved in the implementation of a dual language education program for elementary English learners with an emphasis on the role of reflexive methodology in bringing emergent themes to light.
Design/methodology/approach
The theory of qualitative bricolage informed the design of the study. Narrative inquiry with a heuristic lens allowed the researcher to explore the storied lives of teachers during an innovative change initiative.
Findings
Intergroup communication breakdowns between two diverse groups of teachers, European American and Latino, emerged as a relevant theme. The adaptive methodological approach was critical to the emergence of this theme, indicating that teacher leadership can and should be studied by teachers who know and empathize with the participants and their experiences.
Research limitations/implications
Teachers’ stories demonstrate that cross-cultural communication was challenging and ultimately, detrimental to the program’s development. These themes point to the need for further research regarding how diverse groups of school leaders interact on decision-making teams and how adaptive research techniques can assist in examining intergroup behavior.
Originality/value
Findings are presented via a polyphonic account that includes multiple teachers’ voices, concluding with found poetry that illustrates the challenge of communicating across the cultural divide.
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Jarrah Almansour and Demola Obembe
The purpose of this paper is to investigate consensus formation among the top and middle managers during the strategy process. Specifically, the paper seeks to gain insight into…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate consensus formation among the top and middle managers during the strategy process. Specifically, the paper seeks to gain insight into the role of strategic consensus during the transition between strategy formulation and implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a social practice perspective and a single case study approach, we undertook semi-structured interviews of twenty-seven managers working in a Kuwaiti Ministry. Data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings
We found that social interaction among individuals with similar characteristics and shared understanding fosters consensus. Factors such as alignment of strategic priorities, managerial flux and centralized control contribute to the extent to which strategic consensus is achievable. Additionally, managerial turnover and lack of empowerment hamper the development of shared understanding. Finally, that consensus on strategy content is insufficient for effective intergroup communications.
Originality/value
The research contributes to the strategic consensus literature from a social practice perspective as it provides new insights into the dynamics between top managers and middle managers. Significantly, it highlights the importance and need for common understanding, as well as communications prioritization among managers for consensus development and successful implementation of organization strategy.
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To make a literary review related to effective management of cultural diversity in organisations and to systematically bring up different views put forward regarding this issue.
Abstract
Purpose
To make a literary review related to effective management of cultural diversity in organisations and to systematically bring up different views put forward regarding this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the literature which covers the “diversity management” and “cultural diversity management” is reviewed in detail and then tried to explore the contributors’ different views about the effective cultural diversity management approach. In the paper these different perspectives about this matter are classified.
Findings
The answer to the question of how cultural diversity should be managed effectively cannot be given easily. There are various typologies about the organisational and managerial literature. In order to be able to effectively manage cultural diversity in organisations, it is beneficial to develop a “cultural diversity management model” peculiar to the organisation by considering the positive and negative sides of different perspectives located in this study.
Research limitations/implications
Because the main aim is to make only a detailed literary review and bring up different views through a classification, there are no theoretical interpretations nor personal critiques about the writers’ different perspectives in the paper.
Practical implications
The researchers of this topic would be able to make empiric and theoretical evaluations in the frame of perspectives explored in the paper.
Originality/value
This paper will provide a contribution to cultural diversity in organisations related to its management as an anthology and will be a systematic knowledge base for researchers.
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