Subgroup Formation in Diverse Virtual Teams: The Moderating Role of Identity Leadership

Abstract

Background: As today’s organizations are becoming increasingly globalized and adding the impetus to a more remote form of working due to the present COVID-19 pandemic, new ways of collaboration—like virtual teams—have gained importance. In the present study, we aim to investigate how virtual team outcomes are linked to perceived diversity and subgroup formation and attempt to gain some initial insight into the role of the social identity approach to leadership in virtual teams.Method: In the present cross-sectional study, a total of 102 virtual team members participated in an online survey measuring perceived diversity, identity leadership, subgroup formation, perceived performance, and team satisfaction, to examine the factors moderating the relationship between perceived diversity and subgroup formation as well as between perceived diversity and team performance and satisfaction.Results: Moderation analysis revealed that perceived diversity had a negative influence on performance ratings when subgroups were highly perceived to be present, but not if subgroup formation was rated as low. The relationship between perceived diversity and team satisfaction was not moderated by perceived subgroup formation. Furthermore, identity leadership was found to be positively related to team satisfaction and perceived performance, while subjective diversity was negatively associated with both team outcomes. Identity leadership moderated the relationship between perceived diversity and subgroup formation, in that high levels of identity leadership weakened the positive relationship.Conclusion: This study provides first evidence to the importance of the team leader’s role as a manager of a shared social identity in virtual teams where perceived differences can lead to subgroup splits, as identity leaders may hinder the emergence of subgroups in virtual teams.

The Role of Cohesion and Productivity Norms in Performance and Social Effectiveness of Work Groups and Informal Subgroups

“…In general, the important role of informal subgroups in PE and SE of work groups should be noted. Moreover, we are talking here about the role of certain characteristics (cohesion and productivity norms, specifically) and about the effectiveness of informal subgroups, not only about the degree of perception by members of subgroups, as it has been typically pointed out in the literature [51,77,78].…”

“…Relatively stable informal subgroups are formed in different work groups/ teams [19,50,51] and perform certain functions in relation to their members and to the group as a whole [20]. Informal subgroups are collective actors within another collective actor: the work group.…”

Progovernment militias, identity leadership, and ethnic defection: Evidence from Israel's recruitment of the South Lebanese Army

“…Beyond representing the group's identity, leaders are able to mobilize collective action if their group also perceives them as identity advancers , namely as acting on behalf of, or defending, the group's common interests when facing a risk (Haslam et al., 2020; op‘t Roodt, Krug, and Otto 2021, p. 3; Steffens et al., 2014, p. 1003). When introducing new practices or holding rituals that aim to mobilize group members toward collective action, they will need to demonstrate how these still resonate with the group's social identity and self‐categorization (Haslam et al., 2020; van Knippenberg, 2023).…”

Performance in Virtual Teams: Towards an Integrative Model

“…However, diverse teams are more likely to diverge in their preferences and interests [50,51]. In sum, diversity may negatively influence team performance when subgroup formation is rated as high, but not if subgroups are perceived to be absent or low [52].…”