The Impact of Cultural Diversity on Global Virtual Team Collaboration A Social Identity Perspective (original) (raw)

Abstract

Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) -teams with geographically and temporally dispersed members who heavily rely on computer-mediated communications (CMC) -face significant collaboration challenges associated with cultural diversity. From the social identity perspective, we investigated the impact of GVT members' cultural individualism/collectivism (I/C) and language identities on their participation in team collaboration. A field experiment involving 33 GVTs was conducted to test our hypotheses. The results indicated that when a team's identity faultlines are strong, its members' I/C and Language identities have significant impact on their levels and forms of participation; and that communication media have significant interaction effects on these relationships.

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

References (43)

  1. References
  2. Massey, A. P., Montoya-Weiss, M., Hung, C., and Ramesh, V. (2001). Cultural Perception of Task- Technology Fit. Communication of the ACM, 44, 12.
  3. Solomon, M, 1995, Global Team: The Ultimate Collaboration, Personnel Journal, Vol 74 Issue 9
  4. Kayworth, T., Leidner, D. (2000). The Global Virtual Manager: A Prescription for Success. European Management Journal, 18, 2, pp. 183-194.
  5. Brewer, M. B. (1996). Managing diversity: The role of social identities. In Diversity in work teams, S. Jackson andM. Ruderman (Eds.) pp. 47-68.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  6. Oetzel, J. G. (1998). Explaining Individual Communication Processes in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Groups Through Individualism- Collectivism and Self -Construal. Human Communication Research, 25, 2, pp. 202-224.
  7. Oetzel, J. G. and Ting-Toomey, S. (2003). Face Concerns in Interpersonal Conflict. A Cross-Cultural Empirical Test of the Face Negotiation Theory. Communication Research, 30, 6, pp. 599-624.
  8. Strauss, S. G. (1996). The Effects of Communication Media and Information Distribution on Participation and Performance in Computer-Mediated and Face-to-Face Groups. Small Group Research, 27, 1, pp. 115-142.
  9. Watson, W. E., Kumar, K. and Michaelsen, L. K. (1993). Cultural Diversity's Impact on Interaction Process and Performance: Comparing Homogeneous and Diverse Task Groups. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 3, pp. 590- 602.
  10. Tajfel, H. (1972). Social Categorization. In Introduction a la psychologie sociale, S. Moscovic (Ed.). Vol 1, pp. 272- 302. Paris: Larousse
  11. Turner, J. C. (1982). Towards a cognitive redefinition of the social group. In Social identity and intergroup relations, H. Tajfel (Ed.), pp. 15--40. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  12. Hogg, M.A; Abrams, D.; Otten, S. and Hinkle, S. (2004). The social identity perspective: Intergroup Relation,
  13. Ting-Toomey, S. 1988. Intercultural conflict styles: A face negotiation theory. In Theories in Intercultural Communication, Kim, Y., & Gudykunst, W.B. (Eds.), pp. 213-235. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
  14. Northcraft, G. B., Polzer, J. T., Neale, M. A., Kramer, R. M. (1996). Diversity, Social Identity and Performance: Emergent Social Dynamics in Cross-Functional Teams. In Diversity in work teams, S. Jackson andM. Ruderman (Eds.) pp. 69-95.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Proceedings of the 41st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences -2008
  15. Lea, M. and Spears, R. (1992). Paralanguage and social perception in computer-mediated communication. Journal of Organizational Computing, 2, pp. 321-341.
  16. Spears, R., and Lea, M. (1992). Social influence and the influence of the "social" in computer mediate communication. In Contexts of computer-mediated communication, M. Lea (Ed.), pp. 30-65. London: Harvester-Wheatheaf.
  17. Walther, J. B., & Parks, M. R. (2002). Cues filtered out, cues filtered in: Computer-mediated communication and relationships. In Handbook of interpersonal communication, M. L. Knapp & J. A. Daly, 3rd Eds, pp. 529-563. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  18. Postmes, T., Spears, R., Lee, A. T., and Novak, R. J. (2005). Individuality and Social Influence in Groups: Inductive and Deductive Routes to Group Identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 5, pp. 747-763.
  19. Odenwald, S. (1993). A guide for global training. Training and Development, 47, 7, pp. 22-31.
  20. Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
  21. Hofstede, G. (1993). Cultural constraints in management theories. Academy of Management Executive, 7, 1, pp. 81-94.
  22. Doosje, B., Ellemers, N., and Spears, R. (1995). Perceived intragroup variability as a function of group status and identification. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 31, pp. 410-436.
  23. Barreto, M. and Ellemers, N. (2002). The impact of anonymity and group identification on progroup behavior in computer mediated groups. Small Group Research, 33, 5, pp. 590-610.
  24. Enayati, J. (2001). Effective Communication and Decision-making, particularly processes in groups of high diversity. UNED Forum -Relevant Scientific Research. http://www.earthsummit2002.org/msp/science.htm (accessed September 9, 2006).
  25. Lau, D. C. and Murnighan, J. K. (1998). Demographic Diversity and Faultlines: The Compositional Dynamics Of Organizational Groups. Academy of Management Review, 23, 2, pp. 325-040.
  26. Parker, K.H.C. (1988). Speaking turns in small group interaction: A context-sensitive event sequence model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, pp. 965- 971.
  27. Stasser, G., and Taylor, L.A. (1991). Speaking turns in face-to-face discussion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, pp. 675-684.
  28. Stephan, F., and Mishler, E. G. (1952). The distribution of participation in small groups: An exponential approximation. American Sociological Review, 17, pp. 598-608.
  29. Dennis A. R. and Valacich, J. S. (1999). Rethinking Media Richness: Towards a Theory of Media Synchronicity. Proceedings of the 32nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences -1999, Vol. 1, pp. 1017-1027.
  30. Burke, P. J. (1974). Participation and leadership in small groups. American Sociological Review, 39, pp. 832-843.
  31. Bonito, J. A., and Hollingshead, A. B. (1997). Participation in small groups. In Communication yearbook 20, B. R. Burleson (Ed.), pp. 227-261. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  32. Bonito, J. A. (2000). The effect of contributing substantively on perceptions of participation. Small Group Research, 31, pp. 528-553.
  33. Bonito, J. A. (2001). An information-processing approach to participation in small groups. Communication Research, 28, pp. 275-303.
  34. Hinsz, V. B., Tindale, R. S., and Vollrath, D. A. (1997). The Immerging Conceptualization of Groups as Information Processors. Psychological Bulletin, 121, pp. 43-64.
  35. McGrath, J. E. (1991). Time, Interaction and Performance (TIP): A Theory of Groups, Small Group Research, 24, 3, pp. 285-306.
  36. Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32, 5, pp. 554-571.
  37. Gudykunst, W. B., Matsumoto, Y., Ting-Toomey, S., Nishida, T., Kim, K. S., and Heyman, S. (1996). The influence of cultural individualism-collectivism, self construals, and individual values on communication styles across cultures. Human Communication Research, 22, pp. 510-543.
  38. Kim, M. S. and Wilson, S. R. (1994). A cross-cultural comparison of implicit theories of requesting. Communication Monographs, 61, pp. 210-235.
  39. Wagner, J. A. (1995). Studies of individualism- collectivism: Effects on cooperation. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 1, pp. 152-173.
  40. Kirchmeyer, C. and Cohen, A. (1992). Multicutural groups: Their performance and reactions with constructive conflicts. Group and Organization Management, 17, 2, pp. 153-169.
  41. McGrath, J. E. and Hollingshead, A. B. (1994). Groups Interacting with Technology. Newsbury Park, CA: Sage.
  42. McGrath, J. E. (1990). Time Matters in Groups. In: Intellectual Teamwork: Social and Technical Bases of Collaborative Work¸ J. Galegher, R.E. Kraut and C. Egido Eds., pp. 23-61. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
  43. Triandis, H. C. (2001). Individualism-Collectivism and Personality. Journal of Personality, 69, 6, pp. 907-924.