Factional faultlines, perceived subgroups, and cascading faultlines in alliance teams

Research output: Contribution to conferenceAbstractpeer-review

Abstract

The benefits of working in alliance teams (teams consisting of representatives of different organizations) are high, however too often these groups are not successful due to their factional faultlines - alignments of multiple diversity attributes between representatives of different organizations. In an experimental study of alliance teams, the authors examined the effect of perceived subgroups and whether the team faultlines in the organizational team (team from which team members are sent as representatives) affects the extent to which factional faultlines in the alliance team (team to which representatives are sent) affect alliance team outcomes. We introduce the notion of cascading faultlines to explain how the faultlines of the respective organizational teams may disrupt group processes and outcomes in the alliance team. In an experimental 2x2 design, factional faultlines in the alliance team and the faultlines in organizational teams were manipulated. As expected, factional faultlines in alliance teams directly affected subgroup perceptions and team outcomes in alliance teams. Alliance teams performed better when subgroups were not perceived, especially when they were facing strong factional faultlines as opposed to weak factional faultlines.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014
EventAnnual Meeting of the Academy of Management 2014 - Philadelphia, United States of America
Duration: 1 Aug 20145 Aug 2014
Conference number: 74th
http://aom.org/annualmeeting/2014/theme/

Conference

ConferenceAnnual Meeting of the Academy of Management 2014
Abbreviated titleAoM 2014
Country/TerritoryUnited States of America
CityPhiladelphia
Period1/08/145/08/14
OtherWith more than 18,000 members from over 110 nations, the Academy’s vision is to inspire and enable a better world through our scholarship and teaching about management and organizations. Supporting this vision is our mission, which is to build a vibrant and supportive community of scholars by markedly expanding opportunities to connect and explore ideas.
Internet address

Cite this