Vidar Schei

Differences between tight and loose cultures: A 33-nation study

The differences across cultures in the enforcement of conformity may reflect their specific histories. With data from 33 nations, we illustrate the differences between cultures that are tight (have many strong norms and a low tolerance of deviant behavior) versus loose (have weak social norms and a high tolerance of deviant behavior). Tightness-looseness is part of a complex, loosely integrated multilevel system that comprises distal ecological and historical threats (e.g., high population density, resource scarcity, a history of territorial conflict, and disease and environmental threats), broad versus narrow socialization in societal institutions (e.g., autocracy, media regulations), the strength of everyday recurring situations, and micro-level psychological affordances (e.g., prevention self-guides, high regulatory strength, need for structure). This research advances knowledge that can foster cross-cultural understanding in a world of increasing global interdependence and has implications for modeling cultural change.

Understanding the integrative approach to conflict management

Purpose – Integration is an active search for information about facts and interests – motivated by a willingness to find mutually satisfactory agreements – and is usually necessary for creating high quality settlements in conflicts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the integrative approach to conflicts.Design/methodology/approach – Surveys, scenario studies, and experiments were used to explore factors relating to an integrative approach. First, how integration affected various outcome qualities (Study 1 and Study 2) was examined. Then Studies 3, 4 and 5, respectively, examined how integration was influenced by demographic (gender and education), individual (achievement motivation, creativity, and cognitive style), and relational (quality of the relationship) factors.Findings – Results demonstrated that an integrative approach is beneficial for various outcome‐dimensions (quality, satisfaction, fairness, and trust). Regarding predictors of an integrative approach, being male business students are n...

Small Group Negotiation: When Members Differ in Motivational Orientation

Members of small groups often disagree when making decisions. Therefore, they need to negotiate to reach a joint decision. Small group negotiations will often be difficult because group members approach the task with different motivational orientations, some members being individualistic (i.e., focusing only on their own interests) and others being more cooperative (i.e., focusing both on their own interests and those of the group as a whole). Examining 3-person groups in simulated negotiations, it was found that the differences in group members’ motivational orientations affected both (a) how resources were distributed within the groups (individualistic members exploited cooperative members and got the lion’s share of the resources, even when the cooperators were in a majority) and (b) how fairness was perceived across group compositions (members of groups with only cooperative members perceived the negotiations to be more fair than did members of groups that had one or more individualistic members).

“Cut Me Some Slack” The Psychological Contracts as a Foundation for Understanding Team Charters

This article examines the functioning of team charters in teamwork. We argue that the psychological contract literature serves as a theoretical foundation for understanding team charters. We examine what types of psychological contracts are established and developed during interactions between team members and whether these psychological contracts are related to team functioning. Through in-depth interviews and objective performance measures, we find some distinct patterns of psychological contracts that can be related to team functioning. Our results indicate that teams may benefit from early and explicit discussions about standards for work effort and work quality, and about the importance of being tolerant with each other. More particularly, we find that teams that are able to “cut each other some slack,” that is, the ability to live with short-term imbalances in give-and-take relationships, are more functional teams.

Creative People Create Values: Creativity and Positive Arousal in Negotiations

Most negotiations are ill-structured situations, and the ability to identify novel options is likely to be crucial for success. This study, therefore, examined how creativity impacts negotiation processes and outcomes, and how this effect is moderated by positive arousal. The negotiators’ creative personality and their state of positive arousal were measured before they participated in a simulated negotiation, with the results demonstrating that the level of creativity in negotiation dyads was positively related to the negotiators’ joint outcome. Negotiators in high creativity dyads searched for more information by asking questions about priorities and were less narrowly focused by providing fewer single-issue offers than negotiators in low creativity dyads. Positive arousal did not affect outcome directly, but moderated the effect of creativity on joint outcomes; the effect of creativity was strongest under high levels of positive arousal. The discussion section emphasizes that future research may find creativity to have even more of a positive effect when negotiations become more complex.

When counting cattle is not enough: multiple perspectives in agricultural and veterinary research

A traditional approach in agricultural and veterinary research is focussing on the biological perspective where large cattle-databases are used to analyse the dairy herd. This approach has yielded valuable insights. However, recent research indicates that this knowledge-base can be further increased by examining agricultural and veterinary challenges from other perspectives. In this paper we suggest three perspectives that may supplement the biological perspective in agricultural and veterinary research; the economic-, the managerial-, and the social perspective. We review recent studies applying or combining these perspectives and discuss how multiple perspectives may improve our understanding and ability to handle cattle-health challenges.

When Understanding Your Feelings Hurts Performance: Emotional Intelligence in Negotiating Groups

This study examines how emotional intelligence impacts process and outcome in negotiating groups. We measured the negotiators emotional intelligence before they participated in a negotiation simulation. Results indicated that emotional intelligence was negatively related to group performance. Interestingly, the group members self emotional appraisal was the emotional intelligence dimension that was most negatively associated with performance. Group performance was significantly affected by the level and type of interpersonal conflict in the group, but these process measures did not mediate the effect of emotional intelligence

Setting the Scene: Partners’ Leadership Behavior and Employees’ Perceptions of Work Performance in Professional Service Firms:

The effect of leadership behavior on work performance is highly context sensitive. We address this notion by investigating leadership behavior in one important but understudied organizational context—namely, professional service firms (PSFs). We examine how partners’ leadership behavior in a PSF relates to employee self-leadership, creative climate, and work performance (N = 442). The results show that partners’ consideration leadership behavior is positively related to employees’ perceived work performance. Moreover, partners’ consideration and intellectual stimulation leadership behavior are especially important drivers of self-leadership and creative climate in a PSF, which in turn are positively related to employees’ work performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Expecting the unexpected: Using team charters to handle disruptions and facilitate team performance.

Teams are increasingly relied on to manage and adapt to a changing world. Previous studies have found adaptive teams to be less susceptible to disruptive events. In this study, we test whether or not the development of a team charter 2 weeks prior to a given task increases a team’s ability to adapt to disruptions and overall performance. We find that teams that develop team charters are better able to handle disruptive events, which in turn increases their performance.

Can Lonely Riders Become Three Musketeers? Conflict and Cooperation in Joint Operations

Individuals that usually work independently may find it challenging to form projects where team members are highly interdependent. The purpose of this paper is to explore conflict and cooperation processes when these individuals engage in joint operations. We made extensive interviews and gathered data in twelve joint operations in the dairy farming industry. The data indicate various conflict patterns, and these patters can be systematically tied to the teams’ power structure and team planning and to team satisfaction and performance. In general, frequent interactions among members and/or regular well-managed meetings seem important to foster cooperation in the joint farming operations.