Diversity and team outcomes: the moderating effects of outcome interdependence and group longevity and the mediating effect of reflexivity

Abstract

Reflexivity—the extent to which teams reflect upon and modify their functioning—has been identified as a possible key factor in the effectiveness of work teams. We examined the extent to which team composition affected team process (i.e., reflexivity) and in turn team outcomes (i.e., satisfaction, commitment, and performance). The results of diversity research thus far have been inconclusive in terms of positive or negative effects of team composition on team process and outcomes. In the current research, group longevity and outcome interdependence were expected to moderate the relationship between diversity on the one hand and reflexivity and team outcomes on the other hand. Reflexivity was expected to mediate these interaction effects. The current field study was conducted among 54 work teams from 13 different organizations. As predicted, few main effects were found. Instead, analyses showed interaction effects of diversity and outcome interdependence on the measures of reflexivity, satisfaction, and performance. As predicted, interaction effects were also found for diversity and group longevity on the measures of reflexivity, satisfaction, and performance. Three‐way interactions were found for satisfaction and commitment. Also, reflexivity was shown to mediate these relationships, indicating that the moderating effects of outcome interdependence and group longevity on the relation between diversity and team outcomes are due to the effects on process. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Examining Task Oriented and Relations Oriented Team Diversity–An Analytic Review of the Banking Industry

“…The findings revealed that that the impact on team performance in short term teams was positive(mean score values :combined mean =3.23, age =3.1, gender=3.3, ethnic=3.3).This was in accordance with the study proposition 3a which was also supported by the interview results .In the long run, however divisions based on relations oriented diversity may become more debilitating for the team performance (Schippers et al, 2003).As predicted the long term impact of relation diversity factors was negative(mean score values :combined mean =2.63, age =2.7, gender=2.5, ethnic=2.7) .This along with the interview results supported the hypothesis 3b proposed in this study.…”

“…The same study also noted that in more tenured diverse teams, team members had more conflicts due to relational differences and the motivation to resolve differences through interaction and communication phased out over the time. On the other hand, in the short term, most of the team members in highly diverse teams communicated their differences to accomplish the team's task (Schippers et al, 2003;Watson et al, 1998). Based on this view, the present study test the following proposition …”

Does team stability mediate the relationship between leadership and team learning? An empirical study among Dutch project teams

“…Edmondson (1996Edmondson ( , 1999 showed that team leaders giving guidance, encouragement, and support to the team members by coaching and considerate leadership influence psychological safety in teams, which in turn promotes team learning behaviors. Schippers et al (2003) showed that inspirational, charismatic, and intellectual stimulation (all indicators of transformational leadership) (e.g., Bass, 1985) stimulate reflexivity in teams by creating a shared vision. Srivastava, Bartol, and Locke (2006) showed that empowering leadership, conceptualized in five personfocused leadership dimensions (i.e., leading by example, participative decision making, coaching, informing, and showing concern for the team), is positively related to knowledge sharing in management teams.…”

“…Research has shown that team learning is related to various leadership behaviors, such as, transformational leadership (Schippers et al, 2003), empowering team leadership (Srivastava, Bartol, & Locke, 2006; Burke, Stagl, Klein, Goodwin, Salas, & Halpin, 2006), and team leader coaching (Edmondson, 2003). Based on these results it can be argued that the project manager, as leader of a project team, has a prominent role in stimulating team learning behaviors, involving members in decision making, clarifying team goals, providing bridges to outside parties via the leader's 5 status in the organization (Sarin & McDermott, 2003), and challenging and facilitating the processes of dialogue and experimentation by de-emphasizing power differences and by facilitating a psychologically safe context (see, e.g., Burke et al, 2006; Edmondson, 1999 Edmondson, , 2003 Costanzo & Tzoumpa, 2008).…”

Taking Nothing for Granted in Management Education: A Systemic Perspective on the Role of Reflective Questioning

“…Moreover, attitudinal and behavioral changes have been used as indicators for the presence or absence of reflection (e.g., Kember & Leung, 2000;Leung & Kember, 2003;Peltier et al, 2005). In addition, individual and group level outcomes of reflection were separately tested in terms of educational performance, decision making or problem solving (e.g., Mol et al, 2005;Carter & West, 1998;Schippers et al, 2003;Frame, 2013). In general, most previous studies were based on selfreport measures, in which the meaning of reflection was (implicitly) assumed to be clear to respondents, though never explicated.…”