Kevin W. Rockmann

Divided Loyalties Determinants of Identification in Interorganizational Teams

Identification with a home organization may be particularly problematic for the development of interorganizational team identification. This study explores multiple conditions under which home organization identification may either positively or negatively affect the ability of members to identify with an interorganizational distributed team. The authors examine two types of team member arrangements: members of different home organizations segregated by location and members of different home organizations integrated within locations. They also examine interorganizational teams using either lean or rich communication media. Results suggest that for individuals who identify strongly with their home organizations, integrating members of different organizations within locations helps overcome barriers to interorganizational team identification. For individuals who do not identify strongly with their home organizations, using a rich communication medium enhances interorganizational team identification. Implications for future research, organizational alliance formation, and team managers are discussed.

Expecting the worst? The dynamic role of competitive expectations in team member satisfaction and team performance

This study proposes that individual competitive expectations play a critical role in understanding team performance, as expectations shape individual reactions to team behaviors. Expectations, of course, do not always match behavior. When an individual thinks a team task is going to be easy and cooperative and instead meets with competitive rather than cooperative behaviors, that individual is likely to be frustrated and unwilling to work with others in the team. On the other hand, if an individual expects a difficult time in the team and meets with cooperative teammates, that individual could be suspicious and similarly unlikely to work collaboratively. Findings from a lab study using a team negotiation task support the argument that a match between competitive expectations and two emergent team behaviors—team strategy (what the team members say) and team communication tone (how the team members say it)—is critical in determining both team member satisfaction and team performance.

Intrinsic motivation and organizational identification among on-demand workers.

On-demand firms provide services for clients through a network of on-demand workers ready to complete specific tasks for a set contractual price. Given such on-demand work is defined by payment on short-term contracts with no obligation for continued employment, there is little reason to believe on-demand workers experience more than extrinsic motivation and a transactional relationship with the on-demand firm. However, using self-determination theory, we argue that to the degree that on-demand work fulfills innate psychological needs individual on-demand workers will develop intrinsic motivation, which further leads to organizational identification with the on-demand firm. Across 2 survey-based studies we find support for this path to organizational identification. This adds to the literature on motivation and identification by strengthening the link between individual needs and the individual–organizational relationship. Implications for theory and for the management of on-demand workers are discussed.

The Push and Pull of Autonomy The Tension Between Individual Autonomy and Organizational Control in Knowledge Work

Organizations characterized by knowledge work will experience pressures from a variety of sources to provide increasing levels of autonomy to employees. Furthermore, as the nature of work has changed, the manifestations of employee autonomy have become more complex and varied. Although a great deal of literature exists on the effects of various types and facets of autonomy, these literatures focus almost exclusively on individual-level effects. On the organizational side however, we suggest that the increasing trend toward various forms of employee autonomy presents a tension for organizations as they struggle to reconcile this relinquishing of control with organizational leaders’ inherent desire for more control. We explore how managers and supervisors of knowledge work manage the inherent conflict between employee demands for autonomy and organizational needs for control, especially as it relates to the management of complexity and fairness issues. Furthermore, we discuss how this tension has important implications for research and practice.

Engaging Groups and Organizational Decisions: A Social Dilemma Perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore the implications of viewing group decision-making through the lens of a social dilemma. Design/methodology/approach – The chapter reviews the literature on why group decision-making often fails to live up to its potential, and then applies the social dilemma perspective to develop new insights about how the limitations of group decision-making might be overcome. Findings – Applying the social dilemma perspective to group decision-making provides several prescriptions for group decision-making improvement by highlighting a critical distinction between participation and engagement. Limitations – An important limitation of applying the social dilemma perspective to group decision-making is that improving group engagement by redefining member duty carries the risk of energizing dissent that only questions the groups answer and not the groups question. Practical implications – The chapter refocuses the dialogue about group decision-making effectiveness away from “just” participation to include group member engagement. Social implications – A key social implication of this chapter is that all social behavior represents a social dilemma, and that viewing everyday social activities (such as group decision-making) as social dilemmas can help identify new ways to understand cooperation failures and thereby improve future cooperation in groups. Originality/value – The chapter extends and re-energizes research on group decision-making by providing a fresh lens – the social dilemma perspective – through which to understand and improve group decision-making failures.

Traveler’s Mind: A Narrative-Based Account of Working and Living Mindfully

Traveling to novel destinations can give rise to a state of attention referred to here as a “traveler’s mind”—a state in which two forms of a popular concept in management and organization studies, mindfulness, occur in tandem. In this essay, written as a personal narrative, I explore the nature of a traveler’s mind, discuss the conditions under which this state of attention is most likely to arise, and consider how this state connects to and informs our understanding of related concepts of note (e.g., mindfulness and sensemaking). I also propose that a traveler’s mind can be achieved not only through travel but also on a more mundane basis and highlight practices organizations and their members can adopt to foster this state of attention. Together, the observations provided here suggest that cultivating a traveler’s mind is as much a matter of mind-set as of geography.

Me, Myself, and I: Opportunities and Challenges in Multiple Identities Research

The purpose of this multiple identities panel symposium is threefold. First, by bringing established identity scholars together with different research backgrounds and theoretical perspectives – such as the level of multiple identities studied and the methodological approaches utilized – we hope to both illustrate the diversity and nuances of multiple identity research. Our second purpose is to serve as a practical guide for scholars interested in pursuing multiple identity research with a discussion of both empirical and conceptual challenges with conducting multiple identity research, including selecting the appropriate empirical approach (the pros and cons of qualitative vs. quantitative research), measurement and operationalization challenges, and the selection of what identity variables to account for. Our third and final aim is to take a look forward into the future, with a discussion of multiple identity research trends and the opportunities for future research.

The Ethical Implications of Virtual Interaction

Virtual forms of organizing are increasing in todays organizations, with virtual teams being one of the most popular ways to bring distributed individuals together to work on tasks and make decisions. However, theory suggests that the factors that drive unethical behaviors in teams – such as deindividuated communication and impeded identification – are the same factors that characterize interaction in virtual teams. This suggests that virtual interaction may make teams particularly vulnerable to unethical behaviors such as opportunism and deception. This chapter maps out a theoretical model to better understand when unethical behaviors are likely to occur in virtual teams, and what virtual team characteristics might help to mitigate the likelihood of such behaviors.