The importance of transformational leadership behaviors in team mental model similarity, team efficacy, and intra-team conflict

Using data from 36 combat teams, we examined how transformational leadership is connected with team mental model (TMM) similarity. In addition, we investigated the mediating role of TMM similarity and team efficacy in the link between transformational leadership and intra-team conflict. Data analysis revealed that well-defined transformational leadership behaviors were positively associated with TMM similarity, whereas TMM similarity was positively connected with team efficacy. Results also indicated that higher levels of team efficacy were associated with lower levels of intra-team conflict (task, relationship, and process). In addition, both TMM similarity and team efficacy mediated the link between transformational leadership and intra-team conflict. Implications of findings are discussed

Managing physical and virtual work environments during the COVID-19 pandemic: improving employee well-being and achieving mutual gains

Contemporary organisations continue to use flexible workspace configurations and increasingly are adopting more automated and intelligent digital systems to organise work. Workspace configurations have various forms and arrangements composed of the physical workspace (such as open-plan office spaces) and virtual workspace (e.g., teleworking). The aim of this Special Issue (SI) is to stimulate inquiry into the role of management, organisation and HRM in promoting mutual gains for employers and employees working in these environments. The essence of mutual gains is that HRM practices lead to greater employee well-being and increased employee performance, the latter being especially important to employers for achieving organisational goals. In ‘managing physical and virtual work environments during the Covid-19 pandemic’, we consider how work is organised in challenging physical and virtual workspace configurations as well as how people engage in activities that are paced and informed by automated and digital technologies. Our aim is to encourage exciting research on the role and implementation of management, organisation and HRM in physical and virtual workspace configurations, stimulate new scholarly discussions on the topic, and increase understanding of the application of new technology systems and tools. A specific objective of this SI is therefore to increase academic knowledge on the opportunities and challenges faced by employees working in different physical and virtual workspace conditions, and consider the consequences for employee well-being (Guest, 2017; Van De Voorde, Paauwe, & Van Veldhoven, 2012)

Management research contributions to the COVID-19: A bibliometric review and analysis of the contributions from the Journal of Management & Organization

The COVID-19 health crisis triggered changes in the workplace. This paper explores the insights from scholarly work published in the Journal of Management and Organization (JMO) and systematizes this body of knowledge to build a scientific overview that looks at how the COVID-19 health crisis and its repercussions may be managed by organizations. We conducted a bibliometric investigation of JMO’s most influential papers published from 1995 to June 2020 that offers insights to the management of the COVID-19 crisis. Our bibliometric investigation reveals six clusters: (1) conservation of resources theory, entrepreneurs, gender and work–family conflict; (2) corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and stakeholder salience; (3) family firms, innovation and research methods; (4) creativity, leadership and organizational change; (5) job satisfaction and psychological empowerment; and (6) team performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings

Collaboration, physical proximity and serendipitous encounters: avoiding collaboration in a collaborative building

Despite the adoption of collaborative buildings and office spaces to improve collaboration, the expected benefits of spatial interventions often fail to materialize. In a study of an ostensibly ‘collaborative building’, we identified strategies that employees use to avoid collaborating (i.e. ‘focusing on existing collaborations’, ‘reinforcing group boundaries’, ‘enacting legacy policies’ and ‘minimizing social interactions’). These strategies combined to minimize serendipitous encounters, which led to the avoidance of new collaborations. Our findings address a theoretical tension in the literature as to whether proximity facilitates or inhibits collaboration. We also show that, while it is often difficult to facilitate serendipitous encounters in an ostensibly collaborative building, serendipity nonetheless plays a central role in the development of new collaborative partnerships

The moderating role of cultural intelligence in the relationship between cultural orientations and conflict management styles

Today's international corporate environments demand that employees are culturally intelligent for effective engagement in cross-cultural interactions. This study examines the moderating effect of cultural intelligence (CQ) in the relationship between individual cultural orientations and the choice of a conflict management style. A sample of 403 employees completed self-report measures of all study variables. Findings confirmed the impact of cultural orientations on conflict management styles, namely avoiding, forcing and problem-solving. Moreover, findings confirm the existence of a moderated effect of some facets of cultural intelligence on the relationship between individual's cultural orientations and conflict management styles. The study offers novel empirical evidence for the important role that cultural intelligence has in managing conflict for increased productivity and performance in diverse international environments

An exploratory study of the effect of cultural intelligence in conflict management and negotiation

This paper aims is an exploratory study that develops and preliminary tests a conceptual model for the explanation of the role and impact of cultural intelligence (CQ) on conflict management and negotiation styles in culturally diverse environments. Data were collected online from 164 employees mainly with a diverse cultural background. The present research makes two major contributions. First, we review different streams of literature to integrate the links between cultural diversity, conflict management, negotiation and CQ. Secondly, we build and test with exploratory data our theoretical model. Results show CQ affecting the different conflict management and negotiation strategies (or behaviours) as well as moderating the link between cultural orientations and the different conflict management and negotiation styles. Although of exploratory nature, our study is unique in exploring the interplaying dynamics among our variables, as most of current literature in conflict management and negotiation focuses on comparisons of different cultures, rather than investigating the cultural orientations and intelligence of individuals

An experiential learning approach to teaching entrepreneurship in business education

This paper makes a case for the use of experiential learning where a team-based project (business venture) functions to create opportunities for learning entrepreneurship capabilities. Specifically, the team-based-experiential instructional strategy provides the platform for student to apply business concepts, practice communication and social skills in a low threat environment. We employed a multi-method qualitative approach (observations and reflective journals) to document students' interactions over a period of 13 weeks. Results indicate that the experiential learning processes enabled student project teams to develop an understanding and appreciation of the entrepreneurial skills needed to run a successful business. The value of this paper lies in the knowledge that experiential learning allows would-be entrepreneurs to predict and explain the behavior of the world around them and to construct expectations for what is likely to occur next