Effects of Multinational Team and Team Member Characteristics on Subgroup Formation, Group Identification, and Trust in Team

Multinational teams (MNTs) consist of members from different national backgrounds who work interdependently to achieve a shared objective (Earley & Gibson, 2002). These teams are frequently employed in global organizations because they provide several advantages, such as meeting the needs of customers from different cultures and getting diverse perspectives on how to lead projects and approach problems (Connaughton & Shuffler, 2007; Earley & Mosakowski, 2000). Much of the previous research on MNTs has focused on whether members’ national background diversity has an impact on MNT effectiveness (Connaughton & Shuffler, 2007; Stahl, Mäkelä, Zander, & Maznevski, 2010a; Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt, & Jonsen, 2010b). Recent research, however, suggests that defining the conditions under which diversity increases team effectiveness is a more fruitful approach than trying to reach rigid conclusions about the overall effectiveness of diverse teams (Roberge & van Dick, 2010; van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004a; van Knippenberg, Haslam, & Platow, 2007). In the present study, perceptions and behaviors of MNT members were examined using the Input-Mediator-Output-Input (IMOI) framework of team effectiveness (Ilgen, Hollenbeck, Johnson, & Jundt, 2005). Specifically, the salient team-level inputs in MNTs were defined as national diversity (Earley & Gibson, 2002){Roberge, 2010 #298} and reliance on virtual communication (Gibson & Gibbs, 2006), and the salient individual-level inputs were defined as team members’ collectivism orientation (Mockaitis, Rose, & Zettinig, 2012) and diversity beliefs (van Dick, van Knippenberg, Hägele, Guillaume, & Brodbeck, 2008). Critical mediators that were tested include identification with one’s in-group, out-group, and the team as a unit; and one’s trust in the team, since those mediators are components of team cohesion. Team commitment was examined as the output. Data were collected from 184 participants via an online survey. During the time the data were collected, the participants were working as MNT members at multinational organizations such as consulting firms. Results of the study did not support a majority of the hypothesized relationships. However, a final model was developed and tested based on exploratory analyses. According to this model, collectivism orientation and leader’s effectiveness directly predicted commitment to one’s team; there was also an indirect relationship that was mediated by identification with the team and trust in the team. The results show that selecting team members with high collectivism orientation and developing the skills of team leaders are crucial for increasing MNT members’ commitment to their teams

Surviving limbo: Critical career capital aspects for entrepreneur immigrants in an extreme context

Purpose: The present study explored the adjustment (i.e. survival vs stay) of a unique group of Turkish entrepreneur immigrants in the United Kingdom, whose initial experiences upon their move were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020. Design/methodology/approach: Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore this immigrant group's experience on the path to potential immigration success or failure as indicators of adjustment. The content of the interviews was analyzed via theoretical thematic analysis. Findings: Key career capital aspects hindering entrepreneurial effort under the unique conditions of Covid-19 were defined as not knowing how to start a business (in general, in the host country and under extreme conditions), why they should persist to stay, and whom to contact in the host country. Key facilitating career capital aspects were defined as knowing how to revise the business plans when needed and knowing why they left the home country, preferred the host country and should persist to stay there. Each unique aspect was mapped onto specific components of the context (home country, host country and profession) to add depth to the analyses. Originality/value: The study contributes to the literature primarily by integrating career capital framework with different elements of the context. It also represents the first effort to adopt the framework to identify the critical career capital aspects of entrepreneur immigrants

High-skilled female immigrants: career strategies and experiences

© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to uncover career-related issues that high-skilled female immigrants face and their strategies for rebuilding their careers upon migration for a diverse range of reasons including following a spouse, furthering education and self-initiated expatriation. Design/methodology/approach: Using grounded theory to explore this topic, the authors performed 14 in-depth interviews with female immigrants that fit pre-determined inclusion criteria for high-skilled (e.g. educated, gainfully and professionally employed). The study context of immigration is the USA, and the authors performed interviews with high-skilled immigrants from Turkey – an underrepresented nation in the US migrant population. Findings: Content analysis of in-depth interviews revealed five primary theoretical themes that captured the career experiences of these individuals: non-linear career entry, career orientation, strong commitment and will to succeed, socialization patterns at work and support network. Integrating these findings with theories on adult learning, the authors developed an experiential learning model of career reconstruction among high-skilled immigrants. Originality/value: This study contributes to the global mobility literature by developing an experiential learning theory of careers and taking a gendered perspective to the career experiences of high-skilled female immigrants. It answers the questions: what are the individual and situation factors associated with career success among high-skilled female immigrants? and what is the process that high-skilled immigrants go through to rebuild their careers

The impact of collectivism orientation and gender identity on work-life balance and life satisfaction relationship: A UK –Spain comparison

Difficulties in balancing work and non-work roles have a negative impact on an individual’s life satisfaction. This study investigates the relationship between work-life balance and life satisfaction across the United Kingdom and Spain. It also explores the moderating effects of individual orientations of collectivism and genderidentity. The used scales measured Work-life Balance (WLB), Life Satisfaction (LS), Collectivism vs. Individualism orientations,and Gender identity. Collectivism/Individualism was measured and analysed atindividual-level rather than at cultural-level. Data was collected from 52 British and 69 Spanish full-time employed women through an online survey. Correlational analyses andhierarchical multiple regression were conducted. Findings indicated that work-life balance had positive effects on life satisfaction across two different cultures. Those effects were stronger for British than Spanish women. Moderating effects were not found. Although, work-life balance, collectivism individual-orientation, and feminine identity predicted life satisfaction in the UK and only work-life balance predicted life satisfactionin Spain. This study extendsthe literature onwork-life balance and life satisfaction relationship and the influence of culture, whilstalso contributing to the under-researched area of the influence of gender identity on that relationship. The results might contribute to developingbetter strategies forpromoting work-life balance

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

People management in production organizations in Turkey

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Narrowing the scientist-practitioner gap via career triangulation

Our career journeys are unique and become integral parts of our life stories. This paper describes the development of a career path that can be currently defined as a persistent effort to balance three separate but highly aligned areas that feed into each other: research, teaching and coaching. The emergence and improvement of each of these career identities will be explained, focusing on the motives and concerns that guided the quest. The dynamic nature of this triangular career and the interaction among its components will be clarified, followed by a summary of key suggestions and insights based on this journey to address the scientist-practitioner gap. This career story is expected to inspire others who need to reconsider their career perceptions and expectations, and define their authentic career identities

Attitudes toward expatriates: Development of a measure

A measure assessing host country nationals’ (HCNs) perceptions of attitudes and behaviors of the expatriates (ATEX) was developed and validated in two studies. For the first study, interviews were conducted to generate items. A questionnaire involving these items was filled out by 198 HCNs and 26 items were eliminated. For the second study, 228 HCNs filled out a questionnaire that included ATEX and scales for constructs such as personality and attitudes toward diversity. Final version of ATEX was reduced to 24 items loading onto five factors. Examination of the relations between ATEX and several constructs provided support for construct and criterion-related validities of the measure

Effects of multinational team and team member characteristics on subgroup formation, group identification, and trust in team

Multinational teams (MNTs) consist of members from different national backgrounds who work interdependently to achieve a shared objective (Earley & Gibson, 2002). These teams are frequently employed in global organizations because they provide several advantages, such as meeting the needs of customers from different cultures and getting diverse perspectives on how to lead projects and approach problems (Connaughton & Shuffler, 2007; Earley & Mosakowski, 2000). Much of the previous research on MNTs has focused on whether members’ national background diversity has an impact on MNT effectiveness (Connaughton & Shuffler, 2007; Stahl, Mäkelä, Zander, & Maznevski, 2010a; Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt, & Jonsen, 2010b). Recent research, however, suggests that defining the conditions under which diversity increases team effectiveness is a more fruitful approach than trying to reach rigid conclusions about the overall effectiveness of diverse teams (Roberge & van Dick, 2010; van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004a; van Knippenberg, Haslam, & Platow, 2007).In the present study, perceptions and behaviors of MNT members were examined using the Input-Mediator-Output-Input (IMOI) framework of team effectiveness (Ilgen, Hollenbeck, Johnson, & Jundt, 2005). Specifically, the salient team-level inputs in MNTs were defined as national diversity (Earley & Gibson, 2002) and reliance on virtual communication (Gibson & Gibbs, 2006), and the salient individual-level inputs were defined as team members’ collectivism orientation (Mockaitis, Rose, & Zettinig, 2012) and diversity beliefs (van Dick, van Knippenberg, Hägele, Guillaume, & Brodbeck, 2008). CriticalMULTINATIONAL TEAMS xiimediators that were tested include identification with one’s in-group, out-group, and the team as a unit; and one’s trust in the team, since those mediators are components of team cohesion. Team commitment was examined as the output.Data were collected from 184 participants via an online survey. During the time the data were collected, the participants were working as MNT members at multinational organizations such as consulting firms. Results of the study did not support a majority of the hypothesized relationships. However, a final model was developed and tested based on exploratory analyses. According to this model, collectivism orientation and leader’s effectiveness directly predicted commitment to one’s team; there was also an indirect relationship that was mediated by identification with the team and trust in the team. The results show that selecting team members with high collectivism orientation and developing the skills of team leaders are crucial for increasing MNT members’ commitment to their teams

Subgroup formation and identification in multinational teams: do birds of a feather flock together?

##nofultext##Multinational teams (MNTs) consist of members from different national backgrounds who work interdependently to achieve a shared objective (Earley & Gibson, 2002). Much of the previous research on MNTs has focused on whether members’ national background diversity has an impact on MNT effectiveness (Connaughton & Shuffler, 2007; Stahl, Mäkelä, Zander, & Maznevski, 2010a; Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt, & Jonsen, 2010b). The purpose of the present study was to examine the perception of diversity by team members, with regard to their definition of subgroups and identification with the in-groups, out-groups, and the entire team