Niclas Erhardt

Recent Research on Team and Organizational Diversity: SWOT Analysis and Implications

Sixty-three studies published in the years 1997–2002 are reviewed to assess the effects of workplace diversity on teams and organizations. Four major questions are considered: Which personal attributes have diversity researchers studied in recent years? What has been learned about the consequences of diversity for teams and organizations? What has been learned about the role of context in shaping the effects of diversity? How has research addressed the multi-level complexities inherent in the phenomenon of diversity? For each question, we consider the strengths and weaknesses of recent diversity research, point out opportunities for new research, and identify threats to continued advancement. The review concludes by considering practical implications of the accumulated evidence.

Board of Director Diversity and Firm Financial Performance

This study examines the relationship between demographic diversity on boards of directors with firm financial performance. This relationship is examined using 1993 and 1998 financial performance data (return on asset and investment) and the percentage of women and minorities on boards of directors for 127 large US companies. Correlation and regression analyses indicate board diversity is positively associated with these financial indicators of firm performance. Implications for both strategic human resource management and future research are discussed.

The Dialectical Nature of Impression Management in Knowledge Work: Unpacking Tensions in Media Use Between Managers and Subordinates

The stage on which impressions are managed is no longer purely a physical one but is increasingly mediated by various communication technologies that offer different affordances. This study examines the interplay of media affordances, impression management, and dialectical tensions in relationships between managers and their subordinates. Based on 91 semi-structured interviews and observations from six project teams operating in the consumer health, insurance, and engineering industries located in Sweden and the United States, we identify and explore three sets of impression management tactics. Our analysis reveals that the actions of managers and subordinates were often in dialectical tension, playing out through multiple media in a tactic–countertactic dynamic that played an important role in shaping manager–subordinate relationships. We discuss how these tactics complement and extend theory on impression management, dialectical tensions, and media use in organizations.

From bureaucratic forms towards team-based knowledge work systems: implications for human resource management

Teamwork as knowledge integrating mechanisms is critical for firms pursuing a knowledge driven strategy (Grant, 1996b); yet, theoretical and empirical research regarding how to manage knowledge processes in team settings remains limited in the strategic human resource management (SHRM) field. This paper builds on the knowledge work and SHRM literatures. We outline key knowledge processes including knowledge sharing, knowledge creation and team learning. A team-based HRM system is demarcated that aims to foster knowledge work. Four key HR practices are discussed including knowledge staffing, knowledge-based performance management, fostering of shared leadership and trust building. The paper identifies key challenges for HRM and addresses areas for future research.

Ambidextrous work in smart city project alliances: unpacking the role of human resource management systems

Abstract Organizations that are competing in dynamic global markets are increasingly adopting ambidextrous strategies where exploration and exploitation capabilities are combined simultaneously. However, ambidextrous work raises new challenges for human resource management (HRM). Based on 21 interviews with managers in seven multinational firms in Europe, we investigate how ambidextrous work in smart city work is supported through HRM systems. Our findings suggest a complex mix of three different HRM systems (one at corporate and two at project levels) designed to support ambidextrous exploratory and exploitation work. Specifically, corporate HRM systems focused on incentives and development of dual capabilities for smart city managers (SCMs). At project levels, interconnected explorative and exploitative HRM systems offered tailored managerial tools to support social integration and knowledge management between internal and external employees. Theoretical contributions, future research paths, and practical implications are addressed.

Knowledge flow from the top: the importance of teamwork structure in team sports

Research questions: Downward managerial knowledge flow is essential for teamwork to function, yet the capabilities that coaches utilize to transmit knowledge to their players remain understudied. Drawing on contingency theory and the tacit–explicit knowledge distinction, the paper explores how and why managerial capabilities are used for knowledge flow in two different sport teams, organized with tall and flat teamwork structures. Research methods: Case studies are presented of two Division I (National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA) sport teams in a major university located in the northeastern USA, representing tall and flat teamwork structures (American football and ice hockey). Data include a total of 30 in-depth interviews of coaches and players, along with observations of team meetings, games and practices collected during 11 months. Results and findings: Findings reveal different knowledge flow patterns in the two cases. In a tall teamwork structure, capabilities focused on turning tacit managerial knowledge into explicit, subordinate knowledge. In a flat teamwork structure, capabilities emphasized transmitting tacit knowledge to players. Management implications: The findings apply to team sports, franchises, sport leagues and, more broadly, to organizations that are concerned with understanding how knowledge flow is contingent upon the nature of the work. Specifically, the findings suggest that different knowledge flow capabilities can serve two functions: either to standardize work and maximize efficiency or to foster creativity and empowered learning.

Organisational knowledge transfer through human resource management: international diffusion of managerial performance management

Little is known about the role and characteristics of managerial performance management systems in diverse international settings. An exploratory analysis of the purposes and practices of these systems on a cross national basis is in demand. Results indicate significant differences between managerial performance management in 11 US and European multinationals. The degree to which the system was used as an instrument of intra-organisational cross-border knowledge flows had a significant impact on the selection of managerial performance management system.

Small business activity and knowledge exchange in informal interfirm networks

This article explores knowledge search strategies of technology-based small firms (TBSFs) and the role that informal and proximate relationships play in the development of knowledge networks, through which knowledge exchange occurs. Drawing on interfirm relationship and social network theory, we contend that TBSFs participate in informal networks to exchange technology, market and managerial knowledge, to the extent that these knowledge configurations facilitate acquisition of external knowledge critical for their learning processes by TBSFs. Results indicate that a firm’s engagement in the exchange of various sources of knowledge is directly related to its economic activity and strategic knowledge priorities, which shape the structural dimensions of interfirm informal networks. While informal networks remain informal, certain TBSFs formalize their participation as they obtain and combine knowledge resources that are important for their activity. In examining how different interests and roles impact participation in informal interfirm networks, this study contributes to the literature on small firms and collaborative relationships.

Rebranding Employment Branding: Establishing a New Research Agenda to Explore the Attributes, Antecedents, and Consequences of Workers' Employment Brand Knowledge

Two primary approaches have been used to study employment brands and branding. First, there is a long history of the study of organizational attraction. Second, in the past 10–15 years, there has been growth in a hybrid stream of research combining branding concepts from the consumer psychology literature with I/O psychology frameworks of organizational attraction and applicant job search behavior. In this chapter, we take an entirely different approach and suggest that the theoretical models built around product/service brand knowledge can readily accommodate employment brands and branding without hybridizing the framework with I/O psychology. This merging of employment brand with product and service brands is accomplished simply by recognizing employment as an economic exchange between workers and employers and recognizing workers as cognitive and emotional beings that vary in their talents and have their own vectors of preferences for the employment offering. After developing a testable model of the components, antecedents, and consequences of employment brand knowledge, we review the existing employment brand and organizational attraction literature and identify multiple opportunities for additional research.

Exploring Affordances of Email for Team Learning Over Time

Scant research has examined the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for team learning across time. Drawing on theories of team learning, group development, and technological affordances, we provide a multi-method case analysis of emails and interviews that explores how and when team learning occurs. We analyze 468 emails and 20 interviews collected from a team in a large Swedish insurance company over the course of a 44-week project, from start to completion. The analysis reveals that the affordances of email (asynchronicity, editability, persistence, and replicability) and perceptions of time (time for face-to-face interaction [FtF] and time management) drive three nonlinear cycles of knowledge sharing, co-construction, and constructive conflict across the 44-week life span of the project. The findings challenge existing framings of team learning grounded in FtF contexts and highlight the increasing importance of team learning through ICTs.