Margaret A. Neale

Why Differences Make a Difference: A Field Study of Diversity, Conflict, and Performance in Workgroups

A multimethod field study of 92 workgroups explored the influence of three types of workgroup diversity (social category diversity, value diversity, and informational diversity) and two moderators (task type and task interdependence) on workgroup outcomes. Informational diversity positively influenced group performance, mediated by task conflict. Value and social category diversity, task complexity, and task interdependence all moderated this effect. Social category diversity positively influenced group member morale. Value diversity decreased satisfaction, intent to remain, and commitment to the group; relationship conflict mediated the effects of value diversity. We discuss the implications of these results for group leaders, managers, and organizations wishing to create and manage a diverse workforce successfully.

Virtualness and knowledge in teams: managing the love triangle of organizations, individuals, and information technology

Information technology can facilitate the dissemination of knowledge across the organization-even to the point of making virtual teams a viable alternative to face-to-face work. However, unless managed, the combination of information technology and virtual work may serve to change the distribution of different types of knowledge across individuals, teams, and the organization. Implications include the possibility that information technology plays the role of a jealous mistress when it comes to the development and ownership of valuable knowledge in organizations; that is, information technology may destabilize the relationship between organizations and their employees when it comes to the transfer of knowledge. The paper advances theory and informs practice by illustrating the dynamics of knowledge development and transfer in more and less virtual teams.

Being Different Yet Feeling Similar: The Influence of Demographic Composition and Organizational Culture on Work Processes and Outcomes

This research was supported by a Center for Creative Leadership grant to the first author. We thank Dan Brass, Ben Hermalin, Rod Kramer, and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlier drafts of the paper, and Linda Johanson for working her usual editorial magic. We also thank Zoe Barsness, Joe Baumann, Mary Cusack, Brenda Ellington, Tiffany Galvin, Anne Lytle, Ann Tenbrunsel, Melissa Thomas-Hunt, and Kim Wade-Benzoni for help in administering the study. Drawing from self-categorization theory, we tested hypotheses on the effects of an organizations demographic composition and cultural emphasis on work processes and outcomes. Using an organizational simulation, we found that the extent to which an organization emphasized individualistic or collectivistic values interacted with demographic composition to influence social interaction, conflict, productivity, and perceptions of creativity among 258 MBA students. Our findings suggest that the purported benefits of demographic diversity are more likely to emerge in organizations that, through their culture, make organizational membership salient and encourage people to categorize one another as having the organizations interests in common, rather than those that emphasize individualism and distinctiveness among members..

Expertise in forecasting performance of security analysts

Abstract In this study of sell-side analysts’ forecasts, we explore the effects of analyst aptitude, learning-by-doing, and the internal environment of the brokerage house on forecast accuracy. Our results indicate that analysts’ aptitude and brokerage house characteristics are associated with forecast accuracy, while learning-by-doing is only associated with forecast accuracy when we do not control for analysts’ company-specific aptitude in forecasting. It is unlikely that this result is caused by measurement errors because it is robust when we use a sub-sample where we can accurately measure experience.

Who's Really Sharing? Effects of Social and Expert Status on Knowledge Exchange Within Groups

This study investigated the effects of social status and perceived expertise on the emphasis of unique and shared knowledge within functionally heterogeneous groups. While perceived expertise did not increase the individuals emphasis of their own unique knowledge, perceived experts were more likely than nonexperts to emphasize shared knowledge and other members unique knowledge contributions. Additionally, socially isolated members participated more in discussions and emphasized more of their unique knowledge than did socially connected members. While unique knowledge contributions increased the positive perception of social isolates, similar unique knowledge contributions decreased the positive perception of socially connected members. Finally, socially connected group members gave greater attention to the unique knowledge contributions of the socially isolated member than to the contributions of their socially connected other, but more favorably evaluated members to whom they were more favorably connected than those to whom they were not. We discuss the implications of our findings for managing knowledge exchange within diverse groups.

8. Information processing in traditional, hybrid, and virtual teams: From nascent knowledge to transactive memory

Virtual teams are increasingly common in organizations, yet explicit theory and research on virtual team processes and outcomes is relatively rare. In this chapter, we first place virtual teams in context and provide a two dimensional framework for understanding the range of virtualness. We then build from foundations of diversity, psychological safety, social identity, conflict, and transactive memory to provide a coherent model of traditional, hybrid, and virtual team outcomes. Fourteen propositions are derived from these foundations - covering knowledge availability, sharing, refinement, and storage. Teams whose members are separated by geographical or temporal distance can have considerable positive outcomes for organizations, if they are effectively managed and supported.

The Role of Perspective-Taking Ability in Negotiating under Different Forms of Arbitration

This study investigates whether the ability of negotiators to adopt the perspective of their opponents is a key to success in negotiating under conventional and final-offer arbitration. The authors tested this question in an experiment in which 80 pairs of students engaged in two sets of negotiations. The results suggest that both the perspective-taking ability of the negotiators and the type of arbitration affect negotiations—as measured by concession rate, number of issues resolved, and outcome success (the dollar value of the contract obtained)—and such attitudes as perceived agreement with and control over the outcome. The authors also find that negotiating experience affects various process and outcome measures of the negotiation as well as perceived control over and agreement with the outcome.

Surface-Level Diversity and Decision-Making in Groups: When Does Deep-Level Similarity Help?

We examined how surface-level diversity (based on race) and deep-level similarities influenced three-person decision-making groups on a hidden-profile task. Surface-level homogeneous groups perceived their information to be less unique and spent less time on the task than surface-level diverse groups. When the groups were given the opportunity to learn about their deep-level similarities prior to the task, group members felt more similar to one another and reported greater perceived attraction, but this was more true for surface-level homogeneous than surface-level diverse groups. Surface-level homogeneous groups performed slightly better after discovering deep-level similarities, but discovering deep-level similarities was not helpful for surface-level diverse groups, who otherwise outperformed surface-level homogeneous groups. We discuss the implications of this research for managing diversity in the workplace.

Interest Alignment and Coalitions in Multiparty Negotiation

This study tested hypotheses developed from the distinct literatures on negotiations and coalitions and hypotheses integrating the two. In a complex, three-person negotiation simulation, subjects h...

Is the Pain Worth the Gain? The Advantages and Liabilities of Agreeing With Socially Distinct Newcomers

The impact of diversity on group functioning is multifaceted. Exploring the impact of having a newcomer join a group, the authors conducted a 2 (social similarity of newcomer to oldtimers; in-group or out-group) × 3 (opinion agreement: newcomer has no opinion ally, one opinion ally, or two opinion allies) interacting group experiment with four-person groups. Groups with out-group newcomers (i.e., diverse groups) reported less confidence in their performance and perceived their interactions as less effective, yet they performed better than groups with in-group newcomers (i.e., homogeneous groups). Moreover, performance gains were not due to newcomers bringing new ideas to the group discussion. Instead, the results demonstrate that the mere presence of socially distinct newcomers and the social concerns their presence stimulates among oldtimers motivates behavior that can convert affective pains into cognitive gains.