Jennifer A. Marrone

Team Boundary Spanning: A Multilevel Review of Past Research and Proposals for the Future

In response to increased complexity of work tasks, flatter organizational structures, and changing environmental conditions, organizational work teams must increasingly coordinate efforts across their boundaries and actively manage key relationships external to the team itself. Despite evidence of the importance of these processes—referred to as team boundary spanning—for both team and organizational success, significant gaps exist in our understanding of the nature of team boundary spanning, how and when these behaviors are carried out by teams, and the resulting impacts of team boundary spanning beyond that of enhanced team performance. Therefore, this article seeks to advance knowledge in this area by offering a taxonomy of team boundary spanning actions, reviewing the existing stream of team boundary spanning literature across multiple levels of analysis, and integrating this body of work with findings and perspectives from other boundary spanning research areas so as to stimulate fruitful avenues for future research.

A New Look at Humility: Exploring the Humility Concept and Its Role in Socialized Charismatic Leadership

This theoretical piece advances humility’s role in socialized charismatic leadership by considering humility’s impact on the behaviors and effectiveness of this type of leadership. First, the authors propose humility as an important but overlooked antecedent to effective socialized charismatic leadership. As described primarily in extant personality and social psychology literatures, humility prevents excessive self-focus and allows for an understanding of oneself, in addition to perspective of one’s relationship with others. Second, the effects of humility on the display and effectiveness of three key socialized charismatic leader behaviors are considered. Theoretical contributions and future research directions are discussed.

The relativity of HR systems: conceptualising the impact of desired employee contributions and HR philosophy

In this paper, we offer a framework for conceptualising and investigating the relativity of human resource (HR) systems across organisations and some of the reasons behind this relativity. We do so by extending the behavioural perspective in strategic HR management research and argue that two variables, HR philosophy and desired employee contributions, play an instrumental role in organisational choices regarding the types of HR policies used to manage employees within and across organisations. We propose that the dimensions of desired employee contributions determine which sets of HR policies are feasible while HR philosophy governs the specific choices of HR policies within firms. Future directions and implications are also discussed.

A Theoretical Approach to Female Team Leaders’ Boundary Work Choices

As organizations face progressively complex challenges, team leader boundary work that is relational and inclusive (i.e., work that relates to others across team boundaries and includes a wide variety of stakeholder perspectives and concerns) is more and more valued. These trends pose advantages and disadvantages for women team leaders. Although the desired leadership competencies align well with the communal qualities often attributed to and expected of women leaders, displaying boundary work behaviors that are relational and inclusive may paradoxically result in a questioning of women’s leadership competence by team members and parties external to the team. Moreover, concerns about gender stereotyping and discrimination may pressure women to adapt their boundary work behaviors to downplay or negate “femininity” as they lead. Reflective of these dilemmas, we propose that female team leaders experience conflicting internal motivations about the boundary work behaviors they display. Drawing from social role, impression management, and social identity perspectives, we examine the motives that drive women leaders to engage in or avoid boundary work that aligns with female gender roles, the contextual influences affecting the likelihood women leaders will act on these motives, and the implications of this boundary work for teams and female team leaders.

Examining employment relationship activities in family business research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the family business literature on human resource management (HRM) activities within family-owned businesses to advance theory and practice. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a review of research on the formation, adaptation, and termination of the employment relationship within family businesses. Findings Important areas for future research are revealed. For example, little research investigates how family members are recruited, socialized, or how exit decisions are made. In contrast, significant attention has been given to role transitions during succession. Research limitations/implications The paper focuses on managing employment relationships (e.g. recruitment, selection, etc.) within family businesses. The research revealed HRM activities within family businesses are often informal so aspects of the employment relationship may not be fully captured by extant research. Practical implications This review provides specific HRM suggestions for practitioners to consider. For example, this review highlights that training inside the family business can be as effective as training outside the family business. Originality/value This review is novel in applying an established HRM framework to family business research and focuses on HRM activities of family members as opposed to non-family employees. The paper offers considerations for families bringing next generation members into their businesses and preparing offspring to run them successfully.