Alon Lisak | Ben Gurion University of the Negev (original) (raw)
Papers by Alon Lisak
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-sgr-10.1177_1046496420985614 for Multicultural Virtual Team Perfo... more Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-sgr-10.1177_1046496420985614 for Multicultural Virtual Team Performance: The Impact of Media Choice and Language Diversity by Julia Eisenberg, Ella Glikson and Alon Lisak in Small Group Research
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2016
Today’s globalized environment exposes people to culture mixing—mixing of iconic symbols of diffe... more Today’s globalized environment exposes people to culture mixing—mixing of iconic symbols of different cultures in the same space at the same time. Findings on individuals’ exposure to culture mixing provide evidence for both exclusionary and inclusionary responses. In this article, we focus on the growing phenomenon of culture mixing of global and local symbols and artifacts. We generate a conceptual model to identify who is likely to respond in what way to the mixed cultural environment and why. To answer these questions, we build on the global acculturation model, which aims to explain individuals’ adaptation to the global environment by considering the relative strength of their local and global identities. We extend this model by considering not only the two entities’ relative strength but also their balance—the degree of symmetry between the identities’ strength. We propose that individuals with dominant (unbalanced) identity types (global or local) will exhibit negative and ex...
Corporate social-responsibility and environmental management, May 10, 2024
Military Psychology, Jan 1, 2004
This study returns to the question that occupied "trait approach" scholars in the early days of l... more This study returns to the question that occupied "trait approach" scholars in the early days of leadership research: identification of the major capacities required for leadership. The conceptual and methodological progress that has been made in psychology since the trait approach enables us to formulate models and deal with variables that did not exist in the early days of leadership research. We argue that three types of psychological capacities are essential for leadership: (a) self confidence, expressed and measured by three variables-internal locus of control, low level of trait anxiety, and self-efficacy; (b) proactive orientation, expressed by optimism; and (c) capacities required for prosocial relationships, expressed by secure attachment styles.
Military Psychology, Jan 1, 2007
... Chicago: Nelson-Hall. View all references; Ben-Amos & Bar-Tal, 20046. Ben-Amos, A. and Ba... more ... Chicago: Nelson-Hall. View all references; Ben-Amos & Bar-Tal, 20046. Ben-Amos, A. and Bar-Tal, D. 2004. Patriotism–We love you, our country , Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad & Dyonon (in Hebrew). View all references; Gal, 199918. Gal, R. 1999. ...
Frontiers in Psychology
This study uses a relational work design perspective to explore substitutes for leadership behavi... more This study uses a relational work design perspective to explore substitutes for leadership behaviors that promote team meaningfulness and performance. We propose that team task interdependence, a structural feature facilitating interaction among team members, can be a substitute for the contributions of empowering leadership. Data were collected from 47 R&D and technology implementation teams across three organizations in a cross-sectional field study. The results revealed that high task interdependence attenuated the contributions of empowering leadership concerning team meaningfulness and, indirectly, to team performance. These findings highlight that the importance of leaders as generators of team meaningfulness is contingent on team relational work design.
This study returns to the question that occupied “trait approach ” scholars in the early days of ... more This study returns to the question that occupied “trait approach ” scholars in the early days of leadership research: identification of the major capacities required for leader-ship. The conceptual and methodological progress that has been made in psychology since the trait approach enables us to formulate models and deal with variables that did not exist in the early days of leadership research. We argue that three types of psy-chological capacities are essential for leadership: (a) self confidence, expressed and measured by three variables—internal locus of control, low level of trait anxiety, and self-efficacy; (b) proactive orientation, expressed by optimism; and (c) capacities re-quired for prosocial relationships, expressed by secure attachment styles. A series of questionnaires was administered to 402 soldiers from Infantry and Ar-mored corps who were nearing the end of 3 months ’ basic training. A sociometric questionnaire examining the peers ’ and commanders ’ evaluations o...
Creativity and Innovation in Organizations, 2019
Introduction Reducing aggressive tendencies among care receivers in the emergency department has ... more Introduction Reducing aggressive tendencies among care receivers in the emergency department has great economic and psychological benefits for care receivers, staff, and health care organizations. In a study conducted in a large multicultural hospital emergency department, we examined how cultural factors relating to ethnicity interact to enhance care receivers’ satisfaction and reduce their aggressive tendencies. Specifically, we explored how care receivers’ cultural affiliation, individual cultural characteristics, and the cultural situational setting interact to increase care receivers’ satisfaction and reduce their aggressive tendencies. Method Data were collected using survey responses from 214 care receivers. We use structural equation models and the bootstrap method to analyze the data. Results Care receivers’ openness to diversity (an individual cultural characteristic) was positively related to their satisfaction that was associated with lower aggressive tendencies, only wh...
Academy of Management Proceedings
PLOS ONE
The performance of multicultural teams depends, to a great extent, on the effectiveness of their ... more The performance of multicultural teams depends, to a great extent, on the effectiveness of their leaders. Transformational leadership is thought to be effective across organizational contexts and national cultures; yet we know little about what shapes these leadership behaviors. This study argues that leaders’ social identity configurations influence their transformational leadership behaviors and leadership effectiveness in multicultural settings. Building upon the global acculturation model, we test the effects of four identity configurations, based on the relative strength and balance of identification with the global and local cultures. We suggest that multicultural team leaders with balanced identity configurations, either glocal (high global, high local) or marginal (low global, low local), demonstrate more transformational leadership and consequently are more effective than leaders with unbalanced (dominant global or dominant local) configurations. Data were collected from 29...
Small Group Research
Globally distributed multinational virtual teams (MNVTs) are increasingly prevalent. To better un... more Globally distributed multinational virtual teams (MNVTs) are increasingly prevalent. To better understand communication in MNVTs, we explored the effects of using verbal and written synchronous communication media under different levels of English Language Proficiency (ELP) diversity. The results of data collected from 45 MNVTs, composed of MBA students who worked on a joint project, revealed that while verbal communication leads to higher perceived proximity within low ELP diversity teams, written communication contributes to perceived proximity when ELP diversity is high. Perceived proximity in turn, positively influences MNVT performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for MNVTs.
Cross Cultural & Strategic Management
This study contributes to the empirical research on leadership of multicultural teams from the Po... more This study contributes to the empirical research on leadership of multicultural teams from the Positive Organizational Scholarship perspective (POS). Following the information/decision-making processes perspective on team cultural diversity, we examined the positive effect of leaders' global identity, on multicultural team innovation. We proposed that R&D, multicultural team leaders with high global identity foster team-shared innovation goals and motivate team members to adopt communication inclusion behavior, making sure that they all understand each other. Furthermore, we propose that the effect of fostering team shared innovation goals on communication inclusion will be stronger for teams with perceived high, rather than low, cultural diversity and that team communication inclusion will positively affect team innovation. Participants were 574 R&D multicultural team members, their leaders, and their leaders' managers in 82 co-located teams in a Chinese branch of a large, German global organization. Using SEM analysis, our findings supported our research model, demonstrating that multicultural team leaders with high global identity leveraged cultural diversity to promote innovative goals, which further enhanced team communication inclusion and its positive impact on team innovation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications to the POS perspective on cultural diversity.
This study contributes to the empirical research on leadership of multicultural teams from the Po... more This study contributes to the empirical research on leadership of multicultural teams from the Positive Organizational Scholarship perspective (POS). Following the information/decision-making processes perspective on team cultural diversity, we examined the positive effect of leaders' global identity, on multicultural team innovation. We proposed that R&D, multicultural team leaders with high global identity foster team-shared innovation goals and motivate team members to adopt communication inclusion behavior, making sure that they all understand each other. Furthermore, we propose that the effect of fostering team shared innovation goals on communication inclusion will be stronger for teams with perceived high, rather than low, cultural diversity and that team communication inclusion will positively affect team innovation. Participants were 574 R&D multicultural team members, their leaders, and their leaders' managers in 82 co-located teams in a Chinese branch of a large, German global organization. Using SEM analysis, our findings supported our research model, demonstrating that multicultural team leaders with high global identity leveraged cultural diversity to promote innovative goals, which further enhanced team communication inclusion and its positive impact on team innovation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications to the POS perspective on cultural diversity.
Leadership & …, Jan 1, 2009
Purpose -By comparing "leaders" with "non-leaders" the current research attempts to shed light on... more Purpose -By comparing "leaders" with "non-leaders" the current research attempts to shed light on the impact of early experiences on leaders' development. Design/methodology/approach -The study is presented in two parts, quantitative and qualitative. In the first (quantitative) part, a group of soldiers perceived as leaders was compared with a group of soldiers perceived as non-leaders, in order to examine the hypothesis that leaders have had more leadership experiences than non-leaders. Confirmation of this hypothesis led to the qualitative part, in which the sense in which the reported experiences had contributed to leadership development was explored. Findings -The leaders proved to have had more leadership experiences than non-leaders in their youth. Such experiences impact on self-perception as a leader, the development of self-efficacy in leadership, and the accumulation of psychological and behavioral knowledge related to the manifestation of leadership. Practical implications -Conceptually, the study adds knowledge regarding leadership development via natural experiences, particularly experiences that occur in early periods of life. Practically, the study adds knowledge that can improve selection processes of leaders, as well as knowledge that can be applied to leaders' development, particularly reflective methods. Originality/value -The contributions of this study are methodological, conceptual, and practical. The study offers methods and instruments to assess leadership and distinguish leaders from non-leaders..
Journal of International Business Studies, 2016
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-sgr-10.1177_1046496420985614 for Multicultural Virtual Team Perfo... more Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-sgr-10.1177_1046496420985614 for Multicultural Virtual Team Performance: The Impact of Media Choice and Language Diversity by Julia Eisenberg, Ella Glikson and Alon Lisak in Small Group Research
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2016
Today’s globalized environment exposes people to culture mixing—mixing of iconic symbols of diffe... more Today’s globalized environment exposes people to culture mixing—mixing of iconic symbols of different cultures in the same space at the same time. Findings on individuals’ exposure to culture mixing provide evidence for both exclusionary and inclusionary responses. In this article, we focus on the growing phenomenon of culture mixing of global and local symbols and artifacts. We generate a conceptual model to identify who is likely to respond in what way to the mixed cultural environment and why. To answer these questions, we build on the global acculturation model, which aims to explain individuals’ adaptation to the global environment by considering the relative strength of their local and global identities. We extend this model by considering not only the two entities’ relative strength but also their balance—the degree of symmetry between the identities’ strength. We propose that individuals with dominant (unbalanced) identity types (global or local) will exhibit negative and ex...
Corporate social-responsibility and environmental management, May 10, 2024
Military Psychology, Jan 1, 2004
This study returns to the question that occupied "trait approach" scholars in the early days of l... more This study returns to the question that occupied "trait approach" scholars in the early days of leadership research: identification of the major capacities required for leadership. The conceptual and methodological progress that has been made in psychology since the trait approach enables us to formulate models and deal with variables that did not exist in the early days of leadership research. We argue that three types of psychological capacities are essential for leadership: (a) self confidence, expressed and measured by three variables-internal locus of control, low level of trait anxiety, and self-efficacy; (b) proactive orientation, expressed by optimism; and (c) capacities required for prosocial relationships, expressed by secure attachment styles.
Military Psychology, Jan 1, 2007
... Chicago: Nelson-Hall. View all references; Ben-Amos & Bar-Tal, 20046. Ben-Amos, A. and Ba... more ... Chicago: Nelson-Hall. View all references; Ben-Amos & Bar-Tal, 20046. Ben-Amos, A. and Bar-Tal, D. 2004. Patriotism–We love you, our country , Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad & Dyonon (in Hebrew). View all references; Gal, 199918. Gal, R. 1999. ...
Frontiers in Psychology
This study uses a relational work design perspective to explore substitutes for leadership behavi... more This study uses a relational work design perspective to explore substitutes for leadership behaviors that promote team meaningfulness and performance. We propose that team task interdependence, a structural feature facilitating interaction among team members, can be a substitute for the contributions of empowering leadership. Data were collected from 47 R&D and technology implementation teams across three organizations in a cross-sectional field study. The results revealed that high task interdependence attenuated the contributions of empowering leadership concerning team meaningfulness and, indirectly, to team performance. These findings highlight that the importance of leaders as generators of team meaningfulness is contingent on team relational work design.
This study returns to the question that occupied “trait approach ” scholars in the early days of ... more This study returns to the question that occupied “trait approach ” scholars in the early days of leadership research: identification of the major capacities required for leader-ship. The conceptual and methodological progress that has been made in psychology since the trait approach enables us to formulate models and deal with variables that did not exist in the early days of leadership research. We argue that three types of psy-chological capacities are essential for leadership: (a) self confidence, expressed and measured by three variables—internal locus of control, low level of trait anxiety, and self-efficacy; (b) proactive orientation, expressed by optimism; and (c) capacities re-quired for prosocial relationships, expressed by secure attachment styles. A series of questionnaires was administered to 402 soldiers from Infantry and Ar-mored corps who were nearing the end of 3 months ’ basic training. A sociometric questionnaire examining the peers ’ and commanders ’ evaluations o...
Creativity and Innovation in Organizations, 2019
Introduction Reducing aggressive tendencies among care receivers in the emergency department has ... more Introduction Reducing aggressive tendencies among care receivers in the emergency department has great economic and psychological benefits for care receivers, staff, and health care organizations. In a study conducted in a large multicultural hospital emergency department, we examined how cultural factors relating to ethnicity interact to enhance care receivers’ satisfaction and reduce their aggressive tendencies. Specifically, we explored how care receivers’ cultural affiliation, individual cultural characteristics, and the cultural situational setting interact to increase care receivers’ satisfaction and reduce their aggressive tendencies. Method Data were collected using survey responses from 214 care receivers. We use structural equation models and the bootstrap method to analyze the data. Results Care receivers’ openness to diversity (an individual cultural characteristic) was positively related to their satisfaction that was associated with lower aggressive tendencies, only wh...
Academy of Management Proceedings
PLOS ONE
The performance of multicultural teams depends, to a great extent, on the effectiveness of their ... more The performance of multicultural teams depends, to a great extent, on the effectiveness of their leaders. Transformational leadership is thought to be effective across organizational contexts and national cultures; yet we know little about what shapes these leadership behaviors. This study argues that leaders’ social identity configurations influence their transformational leadership behaviors and leadership effectiveness in multicultural settings. Building upon the global acculturation model, we test the effects of four identity configurations, based on the relative strength and balance of identification with the global and local cultures. We suggest that multicultural team leaders with balanced identity configurations, either glocal (high global, high local) or marginal (low global, low local), demonstrate more transformational leadership and consequently are more effective than leaders with unbalanced (dominant global or dominant local) configurations. Data were collected from 29...
Small Group Research
Globally distributed multinational virtual teams (MNVTs) are increasingly prevalent. To better un... more Globally distributed multinational virtual teams (MNVTs) are increasingly prevalent. To better understand communication in MNVTs, we explored the effects of using verbal and written synchronous communication media under different levels of English Language Proficiency (ELP) diversity. The results of data collected from 45 MNVTs, composed of MBA students who worked on a joint project, revealed that while verbal communication leads to higher perceived proximity within low ELP diversity teams, written communication contributes to perceived proximity when ELP diversity is high. Perceived proximity in turn, positively influences MNVT performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for MNVTs.
Cross Cultural & Strategic Management
This study contributes to the empirical research on leadership of multicultural teams from the Po... more This study contributes to the empirical research on leadership of multicultural teams from the Positive Organizational Scholarship perspective (POS). Following the information/decision-making processes perspective on team cultural diversity, we examined the positive effect of leaders' global identity, on multicultural team innovation. We proposed that R&D, multicultural team leaders with high global identity foster team-shared innovation goals and motivate team members to adopt communication inclusion behavior, making sure that they all understand each other. Furthermore, we propose that the effect of fostering team shared innovation goals on communication inclusion will be stronger for teams with perceived high, rather than low, cultural diversity and that team communication inclusion will positively affect team innovation. Participants were 574 R&D multicultural team members, their leaders, and their leaders' managers in 82 co-located teams in a Chinese branch of a large, German global organization. Using SEM analysis, our findings supported our research model, demonstrating that multicultural team leaders with high global identity leveraged cultural diversity to promote innovative goals, which further enhanced team communication inclusion and its positive impact on team innovation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications to the POS perspective on cultural diversity.
This study contributes to the empirical research on leadership of multicultural teams from the Po... more This study contributes to the empirical research on leadership of multicultural teams from the Positive Organizational Scholarship perspective (POS). Following the information/decision-making processes perspective on team cultural diversity, we examined the positive effect of leaders' global identity, on multicultural team innovation. We proposed that R&D, multicultural team leaders with high global identity foster team-shared innovation goals and motivate team members to adopt communication inclusion behavior, making sure that they all understand each other. Furthermore, we propose that the effect of fostering team shared innovation goals on communication inclusion will be stronger for teams with perceived high, rather than low, cultural diversity and that team communication inclusion will positively affect team innovation. Participants were 574 R&D multicultural team members, their leaders, and their leaders' managers in 82 co-located teams in a Chinese branch of a large, German global organization. Using SEM analysis, our findings supported our research model, demonstrating that multicultural team leaders with high global identity leveraged cultural diversity to promote innovative goals, which further enhanced team communication inclusion and its positive impact on team innovation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications to the POS perspective on cultural diversity.
Leadership & …, Jan 1, 2009
Purpose -By comparing "leaders" with "non-leaders" the current research attempts to shed light on... more Purpose -By comparing "leaders" with "non-leaders" the current research attempts to shed light on the impact of early experiences on leaders' development. Design/methodology/approach -The study is presented in two parts, quantitative and qualitative. In the first (quantitative) part, a group of soldiers perceived as leaders was compared with a group of soldiers perceived as non-leaders, in order to examine the hypothesis that leaders have had more leadership experiences than non-leaders. Confirmation of this hypothesis led to the qualitative part, in which the sense in which the reported experiences had contributed to leadership development was explored. Findings -The leaders proved to have had more leadership experiences than non-leaders in their youth. Such experiences impact on self-perception as a leader, the development of self-efficacy in leadership, and the accumulation of psychological and behavioral knowledge related to the manifestation of leadership. Practical implications -Conceptually, the study adds knowledge regarding leadership development via natural experiences, particularly experiences that occur in early periods of life. Practically, the study adds knowledge that can improve selection processes of leaders, as well as knowledge that can be applied to leaders' development, particularly reflective methods. Originality/value -The contributions of this study are methodological, conceptual, and practical. The study offers methods and instruments to assess leadership and distinguish leaders from non-leaders..
Journal of International Business Studies, 2016
Taking a constructivist, collaborative experiential learning approach to education and training o... more Taking a constructivist, collaborative experiential learning approach to education and training of global managers, we designed an on-line, 4-week virtual multicultural team project and tested its effect on the development of management students’ cultural intelligence, global identity, and local identity. The total sample of 1221 graduate management students, assigned to 312 virtual multicultural teams, consisted of four cohorts, each participating in one 4-week project; one project was conducted every year between 2008 and 2011. All projects were designed in the same way, according to principles of collaborative experiential learning, and offered a psychologically safe learning environment that enabled trust building. Data on cultural intelligence, global identity, and local identity were collected by way of web-based questionnaires at the beginning and at the end of the project, as well as 6 months later. Team trust was assessed in the middle of the project. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that cultural intelligence and global identity, but not local identity, significantly increased over time and that this effect lasted for 6 months after the project had ended. Trust as a team level factor moderated the project’s effect on team members’ cultural intelligence and global identity, with significant effects under moderate to high rather than low levels of trust.
Purpose – Using social categorization perspective, this study explores the effect of global ident... more Purpose – Using social categorization perspective, this study explores the effect of global identity, perceived proximity and team interdependence on relational conflict in multicultural distributed teams.
Design/methodology/approach – Participants were 317 MBA students in 83 multicultural distributed project teams. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap methods were used to test the study model.
Findings – The results demonstrate that the indirect effect of global identity on relational conflict, through the pathway of perceived proximity, is moderated by team interdependence. More specifically, global identity leads to higher perceived proximity and lower relational conflict levels under low, rather than high, interdependence levels.
Research limitations/implications – The particular study context (multicultural distributed MBA student project teams) may limit the extent of the generalization of the findings.
Practical implications – The findings presented here can help practitioners in global organizations to defuse relational conflicts in multicultural distributed teams by embracing a global cultural approach and relying on shared global identity in team building, personnel selection and development. Additionally, managers should be conscientious when they use the practice of facilitating interdependence between team members and assess the need for other interventions.
Originality/value – This study advances multicultural distributed team research by highlighting the role of global identity in reducing relational conflict, identifying the mediation mechanism of perceived proximity, and the boundary conditions of team interdependence levels under which this attenuation effect prevails.
Keywords Multicultural distributed teams, Global identity, Social categorization, Cross cultural conflict, Social identity, Team interdependence
Today’s globalized environment exposes people to culture mixing—mixing of iconic symbols of diffe... more Today’s globalized environment exposes people to culture mixing—mixing of iconic symbols of different cultures in the same space at the same time. Findings on individuals’ exposure to culture mixing provide evidence for both exclusionary and inclusionary responses. In this article, we focus on the growing phenomenon of culture mixing of global and local symbols and artifacts. We generate a conceptual model to identify who is likely to respond in what way to the mixed cultural environment and why. To answer these questions, we build on the global acculturation model, which aims to explain individuals’ adaptation to the global environment by considering the relative strength of their local and global identities. We extend this model by considering not only the two entities’ relative strength but also their balance—the degree of symmetry between the identities’ strength. We propose that individuals with dominant (unbalanced) identity types (global or local) will exhibit negative and exclusionary responses to culture mixing, whereas individuals with balanced identity types (glocal or marginal) will exhibit positive and inclusionary responses to culture mixing. We also incorporate the concept of bicultural identity integration (BII) to suggest that individuals with high identification with both cultures (glocals) and with high BII will exhibit more inclusive responses than glocals with low BII. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.