Yunhyung Chung

The Internal and External Networks of Knowledge-Intensive Teams: The Role of Task Routineness

Using a sample of 56 science research teams, the authors examined (a) the relationships between qualities of team internal and external networks and team performance and (b) the moderating impact of task routineness on these relationships. The authors argued that the mixed empirical results of past studies investigating the relationship between internal networks and performance may be due partly to variations in task routineness and partly to the presence of curvilinear relationships between network qualities and team performance. Using an objective measure of team performance, the results revealed support for both explanations. The authors found an inverted-U relationship between internal trust relationship strength and team performance and a positive linear relationship between external work relationship strength and team performance. Furthermore, task routineness moderated these relationships, as predicted. Future scholarship and practice may be advanced by attending to the boundary conditions under which strong internal and external team networks are likely to be beneficial to the performance of knowledge-intensive teams.

Co-worker trust and knowledge creation: A multilevel analysis

Abstract Prior research on trust and knowledge creation has primarily focused on organisational or team-level knowledge creation and the dyadic nature of trust without considering social contexts. This study explores how the extent to which team members are trusted by teammates in their networks (co-worker trust) is associated with the creation of new knowledge in a knowledge-intensive team setting. In addition, the study investigates the moderational effects of task interdependence on the relationship between co-worker trust and knowledge creation. Using a sample of 194 research scientists working in 48 knowledge-intensive teams, our results reveal that team members who are highly trusted by co-workers are more likely to create new knowledge. The positive relationship between co-worker trust and knowledge creation was strongest under conditions of high task interdependence. The discussion addresses the importance of understanding the role of co-worker trust in enhancing knowledge creation and highlights the importance of task contexts. Practical implications for knowledge-intensive teams are discussed.

The Consequences of Educational Specialty and Nationality Faultlines for Project Teams

This study examines the effects of educational specialty and nationality faultline strength on the team processes of task-relevant information sharing and social interactions and subsequent team performance using data from 308 individuals working in 50 student project teams. We found that educational specialty faultline strength negatively predicted task-relevant information sharing, and that nationality faultline strength negatively predicted off-task social interactions. Furthermore, task-relevant information sharing enhanced team performance and heightened identity salience. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

An Integrated Set of Exercises for Increasing Student Awareness of Issues Facing Female Expatriates.

Opportunities for expatriate assignments are increasing and many students are interested in gaining international work experience. However, females are underrepresented in this expatriate applicant pool. This is because organizational members often perceive that female expatriates would be less successful than male counterparts and thereby females are less preferable for foreign assignments. To increase awareness of this discrepancy and teach effective human resource strategies for increasing the success of both male and female expatriates, a lecturette is offered with a set of integrated exercises, including a Jeopardy activity, for addressing facts and myths about female expatriates, cultural influences affecting global assignments, human resource practices and implications, and strategies for expatriate success.

Predicting Readiness for Diversity Training

Using data collected from 160 employed professionals in the US, we performed multivariate and univariate multiple regression analyses to examine the joint effect of perceived ethnic discrimination and ethnic dyadic dissimilarity on trainee readiness for diversity training (pre-training motivation to learn, self-efficacy, intention to use, and perceived utility). A significant interaction effect showed that individuals displayed stronger pre-training motivation to learn, intention to use, and perceived utility when they perceived discrimination based on ethnic background and when they were ethnically dissimilar to their supervisor. However, perceived ethnic discrimination was not associated with these three readiness variables when subordinate-supervisor ethnic backgrounds were the same. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.