Discussion Question

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Understanding Work Teams10

10-1 Analyze the continued popularity of teams in organizations.

10-2 Contrast groups and teams.

10-3 Contrast the five types of team arrangements.

10-4 Identify the characteristics of effective teams.

10-5 Explain how organizations can create team players.

10-6 Decide when to use individuals instead of teams.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

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Myth or Science?

Career OBjectives

An Ethical Choice

Point/ Counterpoint

Experiential Exercise

Ethical Dilemma

Case Incident 1

Case Incident 2

Critical Thinking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication ✓ ✓ ✓ Collaboration ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Knowledge

Application and Analysis

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Social Responsibility ✓ ✓ ✓

Employability Skills Matrix (ESM)

A SOLUTION TO GROWING PAINS

In 2015, Aytekin Tank was the CEO of Jotform, a global company that spe-cializes in online form-building tools. After a decade of building his start- up, the company was expanding rapidly and doing well, in part to Tank’s commitment to hiring talent. Despite a commitment to hiring top talent and fostering a supportive and innovative work culture, this growth came at a cost. Tank could see his company losing momentum, and the young entre- preneur could not put his finger on why. When Jotform began to grow, the CEO explored ways to recapture the advantages of having a smaller team. “I looked back to the time when we had around five people. I tried to figure out what had changed: why we moved so fast when we were five people, why we felt like a family when we were that small.”

The solution, Tank found, was to restructure his organization into cross- functional teams. This approach was pioneered in the twenty-first century by Jack Welch (shown here), CEO of General Electric (GE), who believed dividing employees by function led to slower and poorer decisions. Welch’s cross-functional or boundaryless organization created forums where employ- ees with different roles within the company could meet and coordinate deci- sion making. Welch found that GE became more efficient when employees from marketing, finance, engineering, and many other sectors had a chance to work together. It has been over twenty years since Welch popularized cross-functional teams, and many organizations have found that adopting a cross-functional structure gives them a competitive edge over more tradi- tional companies.

Tank found that, by dividing his company into cross-functional teams, he was able to re-create the close-knit, efficient structure of the smaller

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organization that Jotform used to be. In this new structure, team members came from several different parts of the organization, allowing for better com- munication across different functions. Teams typically had a web designer, a programmer, and a marketing analyst (or similar position), all working on solu- tions to organizational problems. Once these teams were formed, Tank also made sure that each team had their own meeting space and a budget for fun activities like weekly lunches. Besides building morale, the Jotform leader believed that cross-functional teams allowed team members to bond and ulti- mately begin to trust each other. His goal was to breed cooperation rather than competition. Tank also made sure to keep Jotform’s teams small, allow- ing employees to feel greater ownership over their successes and failures. By having team members from several different functions, employees could see how their work affected other parts of Jotform for better—or worse. The last ingredient in Tank’s cross-functional teams was autonomy—freedom to make decisions that have an impact on other parts of the organization, tackle problems the way they want, and work the way they want.

Tank’s decision has given his company the same edge it did when it was smaller. After restructuring the company, Jotform experienced increased pro- ductivity. By mixing different functions of the company into teams, employees could make decisions more quickly. Teams had more diverse skill sets, so they were able to tackle any problems the company faced with greater cre- ativity by using varied perspectives from different parts of the company.

Even though the move was successful, Tank admits that he was afraid of trying something new in the beginning. Still, he realizes that in order to con- tinue to grow the company, he had to take a risk. “Change can be difficult for people and for companies,” Tank has said when discussing the move to cross-functional teams. “However, if your current system is not effective and you don’t take the initiative to improve via change, staying the course can be disastrous.”

Sources: Based on J. Boss, “5 Reasons Why This CEO Leverages Cross Functional Teams for Better Business Performance,” Forbes, February 13, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/ sites/deniserestauri/2017/07/19/how-this-woman-made-the-jump-and-beat-impostor- syndrome/#377b26a46460, accessed April 9, 2017; R. Ashkenas, “Jack Welch’s Approach to Breaking Down Silos Still Works,” Harvard Business Review, September 9, 2015, www.hbr .com/2015/09/jack-welchs-approach-to-breaking-down-silos-still-works, accessed April 9, 2017; and A. Tank, “How to Scale Your Company with Small Teams,” Entrepreneur, Decem- ber 9, 2016, www.entrepreneur.com/article/285917, accessed April 9, 2017.

Are cross-functional teams the best, as Aytekin Tank’s story suggests? There are many different ways to build a successful team. In this chapter, we will consider different types of teams and how a team’s composition, context, and team processes lead to success or failure.

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Why Have Teams Become So Popular? Why are teams popular? In short, because we believe they are effective. “A team of people happily committed to the project and to one another will outperform a brilliant individual every time,” writes Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard.1 In some ways, he’s right. Teams can sometimes achieve feats an individual could never accomplish.2 Teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events than traditional departments or other forms of permanent groupings. They can quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, and disband. They are an effective means to democratize organizations and increase employee involvement. And research indicates that our involvement in teams positively shapes the way we think as individuals, introducing a collaborative mindset about even our personal deci- sion making.3

The fact that organizations have embraced teamwork doesn’t necessarily mean teams are always effective. Team members, as humans, can be swayed by fads and herd mentality that can lead them astray from the best decisions. What conditions affect their potential? How do members work together? Do we even like teams? Maybe not, according to the OB Poll. To answer these questions, let’s first distinguish between groups and teams.

Differences Between Groups and Teams Groups and teams are not the same thing. In Chapter 9, we defined a group as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who work together to achieve particular objectives. A work group is a group that interacts primarily to share information, make decisions, and help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility.

Work groups have no need or opportunity to engage in collective work with joint effort, so the group’s performance is merely the summation of each member’s individual contribution. There is no positive synergy that would create an overall level of performance greater than the sum of the inputs. A work group is a collec- tion of individuals doing their work, albeit with interaction and/or dependency.

A work team, on the other hand, generates positive synergy through coordi- nation. The individual efforts result in a level of performance greater than the sum of the individual inputs.

In both work groups and work teams, there are often behavioral expecta- tions of members, collective normalization efforts, active group dynamics, and some level of decision making (even if just informally about the scope of mem- bership). Both may generate ideas, pool resources, or coordinate logistics such as work schedules; for the work group, however, this effort is limited to informa- tion gathering for decision makers outside the group.

Whereas we can think of a work team as a subset of a work group, the team is constructed to be purposeful (symbiotic) in its member interaction. The dis- tinction between a work group and a work team should be kept even when the terms are mentioned interchangeably in different contexts. Exhibit 10-1 high- lights the differences between them.

10-1 Analyze the continued popularity of teams in organizations.

10-2 Contrast groups and teams. work group A group that interacts primarily to share information, make decisions, and help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility.

work team A group whose individual efforts result in performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs.

MyLab Management Chapter Warm Up If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the chapter warm up.

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The definitions help clarify why organizations structure work processes by teams. Management is looking for positive synergy that will create increased performance. The extensive use of teams creates the potential for an organi- zation to generate greater outputs with no increase in employee head count. Notice, however, that we said potential. There is nothing magical that ensures the achievement of positive synergy in the creation of teams. Merely calling a group a team doesn’t automatically improve its performance. As we show later, effective teams have certain common characteristics. If management hopes to gain increases in organizational performance through the use of teams, their teams must possess these characteristics.

Teams serve an important function

Prefer to work in teams 25%

95%

0% 25% 50%

The percent who report . . . 75% 100%

OB POLL Is Teamwork a Good Thing?

Source: Based on “University of Phoenix Survey Reveals Nearly Seven in Ten Workers Have Been Part of Dysfunctional Teams,” downloaded on June 9, 2013, from www.prnewswire.com.

Comparing Work Groups and Work TeamsExhibit 10-1

Share information

Neutral (sometimes negative)

Individual

Random and varied

Goal

Synergy

Accountability

Skills

Work Groups Work Teams

Collective performance

Positive

Individual and mutual

Complementary

MyLab Management Try It If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the Mini Sim.

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Types of Teams Teams can make products, provide services, negotiate deals, coordinate proj- ects, offer advice, and make decisions.4 In this section, we first describe four common types of teams in organizations: problem-solving teams, self-managed work teams, cross-functional teams, and virtual teams (see Exhibit 10-2). Then we will discuss multiteam systems, which utilize a “team of teams” and are becoming increasingly widespread as work increases in complexity.

Problem-Solving Teams Quality-control teams have been in use for many years. Originally seen most often in manufacturing plants, these were permanent teams that generally met at a regular time, sometimes weekly or daily, to address quality standards and any problems with the products made. Also, the medical field in particular has recently implemented quality teams to improve their services in patient care. Problem-solving teams like these rarely have the authority to implement their suggestions unilaterally, but if their recommendations are paired with imple- mentation processes, some significant improvements can be realized.

Self-Managed Work Teams As we discussed, problem-solving teams only make recommendations. Some organizations have gone further and created teams that also implement solu- tions and take responsibility for outcomes.

Self-managed work teams are groups of employees (typically 10 to 15 in number) who perform highly related or interdependent jobs; these teams take on some supervisory responsibilities.5 The responsibilities usually include plan- ning and scheduling work, assigning tasks to members, making operating deci- sions, taking action on problems, and working with suppliers and customers. Fully self-managed work teams even select their own members who evaluate each other’s performance. When these teams are established, former super- visory positions take on decreased importance and are sometimes eliminated.

Research results on the effectiveness of self-managed work teams have not been uniformly positive. Some research indicates that self-managed teams may be more or less effective based on the degree to which team-promoting behav- iors are rewarded. For example, one study of 45 self-managing teams found that when team members perceived that economic rewards such as pay depended on input from their teammates, performance improved for both individuals and the team as a whole.6

A second area of research focus has been the impact of conflict on self- managed work team effectiveness. Some research indicates that self-managed

10-3 Contrast the five types of team arrangements.

problem-solving teams Groups of 5 to 12 employees from the same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment.

self-managed work teams Groups of 10 to 15 employees who take on responsibilities of their former supervisors.

Four Types of TeamsExhibit 10-2

Self-managed

?

Cross-functional Virtual

Technology

Problem-solving

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communication links such as wide-area networks, corporate social media, vid- eoconferencing, and e-mail—whether members are nearby or continents apart. Nearly all teams do at least some of their work remotely.

Virtual teams should be managed differently than face-to-face teams in an office, partially because virtual team members may not interact along tradi- tional hierarchical patterns. Because of the complexity of interactions, research indicates that shared leadership of virtual teams may significantly enhance team performance, although the concept is still in development.14 For virtual teams to be effective, management should ensure that (1) trust is established among members (one inflammatory remark in an e-mail can severely under- mine team trust), (2) progress is monitored closely (so the team doesn’t lose sight of its goals and no team member “disappears”), and (3) the efforts and products of the team are publicized throughout the organization (so the team does not become invisible).15 Managers should also carefully select who will be a member of a virtual team because working on a virtual team may require dif- ferent competencies.16

It would be a mistake to think virtual teams are an easy substitute for face-to- face teams. While the geographical reach and immediacy of online communi- cation make virtual teams a natural development, managers must make certain this type of team is the optimal choice for the desired outcome and then main- tain an oversight role throughout the collaboration.

virtual teams Teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal.

teams are not effective when there is conflict. When disputes arise, members often stop cooperating and power struggles ensue, which lead to lower group performance and learning, though this may depend on the structure of roles within the team.7 However, other research indicates that when members feel confident that they can speak up without being embarrassed, rejected, or pun- ished by other team members—in other words, when they feel psychologically safe—conflict can be beneficial and boost team performance.8

Research has also explored the effect of self-managed work teams on mem- ber behavior. Here again the findings are mixed. Although individuals on teams report higher levels of job satisfaction than other individuals, studies indicate they sometimes have higher absenteeism and turnover rates. One large-scale study of labor productivity in British establishments found that, although using teams improved individual (and overall) labor productivity, no evidence supported the claim that self-managed teams performed better than traditional teams with less decision-making authority.9 On the whole, it appears that, for self-managing teams to be advantageous, a number of facilitating factors must be in place.

Cross-Functional Teams Starbucks created a team of individuals from production, global public rela- tions (PR), global communications, and U.S. marketing to develop the Via brand of instant coffee. The team’s suggestions resulted in a product that would be cost-effective to produce and distribute and that was marketed with a tightly integrated, multifaceted strategy.10 This example illustrates the use of cross-functional teams, made up of employees from about the same hierarchi- cal level but different work areas who come together to accomplish a task.

Cross-functional teams are an effective means of allowing people from diverse areas within or even between organizations to exchange information, develop new ideas, solve problems, and coordinate complex projects. Due to the high need for coordination, however, cross-functional teams are not simple to manage. First, it makes sense for power shifts to occur when different expertise is needed because the members are at roughly the same level in the organization, which creates leadership ambiguity. A climate of trust thus needs to be devel- oped before shifts can happen without undue conflict.11 Second, the early stages of development are often long because members need to learn to work with higher levels of diversity and complexity. Third, it takes time to build trust and teamwork, especially among people with different experiences and perspectives.

Organizations have used horizontal, boundary-spanning teams for decades, and we would be hard-pressed to find a large organization or product launch that did not use them. Major automobile manufacturers—Toyota, Honda, Nissan, BMW, GM, Ford, and Chrysler—currently use this form of team to coordinate complex projects, as do other industries. For example, Cisco relies on specific cross-functional teams to identify and capitalize on new trends in several areas of the software market. Its teams are the equivalent of social- networking groups that collaborate in real time to identify new business oppor- tunities in the field and then implement them from the bottom up.12

In sum, the strength of traditional cross-functional teams is the collabora- tive effort of individuals with diverse skills from a variety of disciplines. When the unique perspectives of these members are considered, these teams can be very effective.

Virtual Teams The teams described in the preceding section do their work face-to-face, whereas virtual teams use computer technology to unite physically dispersed members and achieve a common goal.13 They collaborate online—using

cross-functional teams Employees from about the same hierarchical level but from different work areas who come together to accomplish a task.

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communication links such as wide-area networks, corporate social media, vid- eoconferencing, and e-mail—whether members are nearby or continents apart. Nearly all teams do at least some of their work remotely.

Virtual teams should be managed differently than face-to-face teams in an office, partially because virtual team members may not interact along tradi- tional hierarchical patterns. Because of the complexity of interactions, research indicates that shared leadership of virtual teams may significantly enhance team performance, although the concept is still in development.14 For virtual teams to be effective, management should ensure that (1) trust is established among members (one inflammatory remark in an e-mail can severely under- mine team trust), (2) progress is monitored closely (so the team doesn’t lose sight of its goals and no team member “disappears”), and (3) the efforts and products of the team are publicized throughout the organization (so the team does not become invisible).15 Managers should also carefully select who will be a member of a virtual team because working on a virtual team may require dif- ferent competencies.16

It would be a mistake to think virtual teams are an easy substitute for face-to- face teams. While the geographical reach and immediacy of online communi- cation make virtual teams a natural development, managers must make certain this type of team is the optimal choice for the desired outcome and then main- tain an oversight role throughout the collaboration.

virtual teams Teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal.

Harley-Davidson Motor Company uses cross-functional teams at all levels of its organization in creating new products, such as its first electric motorcycle, shown here. From product conception to launch, cross-functional teams include Harley employees from product planning, engineering, design, marketing, manufacturing, and purchasing. Source: Lucas Jackson/Reuters/Alamy Stock Photo

Multiteam Systems The types of teams we’ve described so far are typically smaller, stand-alone teams, although their activities relate to the broader objectives of the organization.

MyLab Management Try It If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the Mini Sim.

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As tasks become more complex, teams often grow in size. Increases in team size are accompanied by higher coordination demands, creating a tipping point at which the addition of another member does more harm than good. To solve this problem, organizations use multiteam systems, collections of two or more interdependent teams that share a superordinate goal. In other words, multi- team systems are a “team of teams.”17

To picture a multiteam system, imagine the coordination of response needed after a major car accident. There is the emergency medical services team, which responds first and transports the injured to the hospital. An emer- gency room team then takes over, providing medical care, followed by a recov- ery team. Although the emergency services team, emergency room team, and recovery team are technically independent, their activities are interdependent, and the success of one depends on the success of the others. Why? Because they all share the higher goal of saving lives.

Some factors that make smaller, more traditional teams effective do not nec- essarily apply to multiteam systems and can even hinder their performance. One study showed that multiteam systems performed better when they had “boundary spanners” whose jobs were to coordinate with members of the other subteams. This reduced the need for some team member communica- tion, which was helpful because it reduced coordination demands.18 Leader- ship of multiteam systems is also much different than for stand-alone teams. While leadership of all teams affects team performance, a multiteam leader must both facilitate coordination between teams and lead each team. Research indicated teams that received more attention and engagement from the orga- nization’s leaders felt more empowered, which made them more effective as they sought to solve their own problems.19 Multiteam systems may have higher

multiteam system A collection of two or more interdependent teams that share a superordinate goal; a team of teams.

An Ethical Choice The Size of Your Meeting’s Carbon Footprint

Despite being in different countries or even on different continents, many teams in geographically dispersed locations communicate with- out regularly meeting face-to-face, and their members may never meet each other in person. Although the merits of face-to-face versus electronic commu- nication have been debated, there may be a strong ethical argument for virtual teams.

Keeping team members where they are, as opposed to having them travel every time they need to meet, may be in line with corporate social responsi- bility (CSR) initiatives. A very large pro- portion of airline, rail, and car transport is for business purposes and contrib- utes greatly to global carbon dioxide emissions. When teams are able to meet virtually rather than face-to-face,

they dramatically reduce their carbon footprint.

In a globally connected world, how might you minimize your organization’s environmental impact from business travel? Several tips might get you started thinking about ways that virtual teams can be harnessed for greater sustainability:

1. Encourage all team members to think about whether a face-to-face meeting is really necessary. Try to utilize alternative communication methods whenever possible.

2. Communicate as much as pos- sible through virtual means. This includes e-mail, telephone calls, and videoconferencing.

3. When traveling to team meetings, choose the most environmentally

responsible travel methods possible. Also, check the environmental pro- file of hotels before booking rooms.

4. If the environmental savings are not enough motivation to reduce travel, consider the financial savings. According to one survey, businesses spend about 8 to 12 percent of their entire budget on travel. Communicat- ing electronically can therefore result in two benefits: (1) it’s cheaper and (2) it’s good for the environment.

Sources: Based on P. Tilstone, “Cut Carbon … and Bills,” Director, May 2009, 54; L. C. Lat- imer, “6 Strategies for Sustainable Busi- ness Travel,” Greenbiz, February 11, 2011, www.greenbiz.com; and F. Gebhart, “Travel Takes a Big Bite out of Corporate Expenses,” Travel Market Report, May 30, 2013, downloaded June 9, 2013, from www .travelmarketreport.com.

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performance when planning is decentralized, but they may also have more problems with coordination.20

In general, a multiteam system is the best choice either when a team has become too large to be effective or when teams with distinct functions need to be highly coordinated.

Creating Effective Teams Teams are often created deliberately but sometimes evolve organically. Take the rise of team “hives” over the past 5 years for an organic example. Freelanc- ing is typically the solo work of people who are highly specialized in their fields and can provide expertise to organizations on a short-term basis. The difficulty is for the freelancers to market themselves effectively to organizations, and for organizations to find freelancers who fit their needs. To bridge this gap, free- lancers form teams with other freelancers from complementary specialties to present a cohesive working unit—a hive—to clients. This team-based approach has proven very successful.21

Many people have tried to identify factors related to team effectiveness. To help, some studies have organized what was once a large list of characteristics into a relatively focused model.22 Exhibit 10-3 summarizes what we currently know about what makes teams effective. As you’ll see, it builds on many of the group concepts introduced in Chapter 9.

In considering the team effectiveness model, keep in mind two points. First, teams differ in form and structure. The model attempts to generalize across all varieties of teams but avoids rigidly applying its predictions to all teams.23

10-4 Identify the characteris-tics of effective teams.

Team Effectiveness ModelExhibit 10-3

Team effectiveness

Process • Common purpose • Specific goals • Team efficacy • Team identity • Team cohesion • Mental models • Conflict levels • Social loafing

Composition • Abilities of members • Personality • Allocating roles • Diversity • Cultural differences • Size of teams • Member preferences

Context • Adequate resources • Leadership and structure • Climate of trust • Performance evaluation and reward systems

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Use it as a guide. Second, the model assumes that teamwork is preferable to individual work. Creating “effective” teams when individuals can do the job bet- ter is like perfectly solving the wrong problem. Third, let’s consider what team effectiveness means in this model. Typically, team effectiveness includes objec- tive measures of the team’s productivity, managers’ ratings of the team’s perfor- mance, and aggregate measures of member satisfaction.

We can organize the key components of effective teams into three general categories. First are the resources and other contextual influences that make teams effective. The second relates to the team’s composition. Finally, process vari- ables are events within the team that influence effectiveness. We will explore each of these components next.

Team Context: What Factors Determine Whether Teams Are Successful? The four contextual factors most significantly related to team performance are adequate resources, effective leadership, a climate of trust, and a performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions.

Adequate Resources Teams are part of a larger organization system; every work team relies on resources outside the group to sustain it. A scarcity of resources directly reduces the ability of a team to perform its job effectively and achieve its goals. As one study concluded after looking at 13 factors related to group performance, “perhaps one of the most important characteristics of an effec- tive work group is the support the group receives from the organization.”24 This support includes timely information, proper equipment, adequate staff- ing, encouragement, and administrative assistance. Racially diverse teams are less likely to be provided with the resources necessary for team performance.25

Leadership and Structure Teams can’t function if they can’t agree on who is to do what and ensure all members share the workload. Agreeing on the specifics of work and how they fit together to integrate individual skills requires lead- ership and structure, either from management or from team members them- selves. In self-managed teams, members absorb many of the duties typically assumed by managers. A manager’s job then becomes managing outside (rather than inside) the team. Leader personality, engagement, and leadership style all have an impact on team effectiveness.26

As we mentioned before, leadership is especially important in multiteam sys- tems. Here, leaders need to delegate responsibility to teams and play the role of facilitator, making sure the teams work together rather than against one another.27

Climate of Trust Trust is the foundation of leadership; it allows a team to accept and commit to the leader’s goals and decisions. Members of effective teams exhibit trust in their leaders.28 They also trust each other. Interpersonal trust among team members facilitates cooperation, reduces the need to monitor each other’s behavior, and bonds individuals through the belief that members won’t take advantage of them. Members are more likely to take risks and expose vul- nerabilities when they can trust others on their team. The overall level of trust in a team is important, but the way trust is dispersed among team members also matters. Trust levels that are asymmetric and imbalanced between team mem- bers can mitigate the performance advantages of a high overall level of trust—in such cases, coalitions form that often undermine the team as a whole.29

Trust is a perception that can be vulnerable to shifting conditions in a team environment. Also, trust is not unequivocally desirable. For instance, recent research in Singapore found that, in high-trust teams, individuals are less likely

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to claim and defend personal ownership of their ideas, but individuals who do still claim personal ownership are rated as lower contributors by team members.30 This “punishment” by the team may reflect resentments that create negative relationships, increased conflicts, and reduced performance.

Performance Evaluation and Reward System Individual performance evalua- tions and incentives may interfere with the development of high-performance teams. Thus, in addition to evaluating and rewarding employees for their indi- vidual contributions, management should utilize hybrid performance systems that incorporate an individual member component to recognize individual contributions and a group reward to recognize positive team outcomes.31 Group-based appraisals, profit sharing, small-group incentives, and other sys- tem modifications can reinforce team effort and commitment.

Team Composition Maria Contreras-Sweet, former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said, “When I’m building a team, I’m looking for people who are resourceful. I need people who are flexible, and I really need people who are discreet…. Discreetness also speaks to integrity.”32 These are good qualities, but they are not all that we should consider when staffing teams. The team composition cat- egory includes variables that relate to how teams should be staffed: the abilities and personalities of team members, allocation of roles, diversity, cultural dif- ferences, size of the team, and members’ preferences for teamwork. As you can expect, opinions vary widely about the type of members leaders want on their teams, and some evidence suggests that compositions may be more important at different stages of team development.

Abilities of Members It’s true we occasionally read about an athletic team of mediocre players who, because of excellent coaching, determination, and pre- cision teamwork, beat a far more talented group. But such cases make the news precisely because they are unusual. A team’s performance depends in part on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of individual members.33 Abilities set limits on what members can do and how effectively they will perform on a team.

Research reveals insights into team composition and performance. First, when solving a complex problem such as reengineering an assembly line, high- ability teams—composed of mostly intelligent members—do better than lower- ability teams. High-ability teams are also more adaptable to changing situations; they can apply existing knowledge more effectively to new problems.

Finally, the ability of the team’s leader matters. Smart team leaders help less intelligent team members when they struggle with a task. A less intelligent leader can, conversely, neutralize the effect of a high-ability team.34

Personality of Members We demonstrated in Chapter 5 that personality signifi- cantly influences individual behavior. Some dimensions identified in the Big Five personality model are particularly relevant to team effectiveness.35 Con- scientiousness is especially important to teams. Conscientious people are good at backing up other team members and sensing when their support is truly needed. Conscientious teams also have other advantages—one study found that behavioral tendencies such as organization, achievement orientation, and endurance were all related to higher levels of team performance.36

Team composition can be based on individual personalities to good effect. Suppose an organization needs to create 20 teams of 4 people each and has 40 highly conscientious people and 40 who score low on conscientiousness. Would

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the organization be better off (1) forming 10 teams of highly conscientious people and 10 teams of members low on conscientiousness, or (2) “seeding” each team with 2 people who scored high and 2 who scored low on conscien- tiousness? Perhaps surprisingly, evidence suggests option 1 is the best choice; performance across the teams will be higher if the organization forms 10 highly conscientious teams and 10 teams low in conscientiousness. The reason is that a team with varying conscientiousness levels will not work to the peak perfor- mance of its highly conscientious members. Instead, a group normalization dynamic (or simple resentment) will complicate interactions and force the highly conscientious members to lower their expectations, thus reducing the group’s performance.37

Myth or Science? Team Members Who Are “Hot” Should Make the Play

Before we tell you whether this statement is true or false, we need to take a step back and ask: “Can individuals go on ‘hot’ streaks?” In teams, and especially in sports, we often hear about play- ers who are on a streak and have the “hot hand.” Basketball player LeBron James scores five baskets in a row, golfer Rory McIlroy makes three bird- ies in a row for the European Ryder Cup team, and tennis player Serena Williams hits four aces in a row dur- ing a doubles match with her sister Venus. Most people (around 90 per- cent) believe LeBron, Rory, and Ser- ena score well because they are on

a hot streak, performing above their average.

Although people believe in the hot hand, the scores tell the story. About half the relevant studies have shown that the hot hand is possible, while the remaining half show it is not. But perception can influence reality, so per- haps the more important question is whether belief in the hot hand affects teams’ strategies. One study of volley- ball players showed that coaches and players allocate more balls to players who are believed to have the hot hand. Is this a good strategy? If the hot play- er’s performance is actually lower than her teammates’, then giving her more

balls to hit will hurt the team because the better players aren’t getting enough chances to hit, while she gets more chances to perform.

Considering the research to date, the opening statement appears to be false.

Sources: Based on M. Raab, B. Gula, and G. Gigerenzer, “The Hot Hand Exists in Volleyball and Is Used for Allocation Decisions,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 18, no. 1 (2012): 81–94; T Gilovich, R. Vallone, and A. Tversky, “The Hot Hand in Basketball: On the Misperception of Random Sequences,” Cog- nitive Psychology 17 (1985): 295–314; and M. Bar-Eli, S. Avugos, and M. Raab, “Twenty Years of ‘Hot Hand’ Research: The Hot Hand Phenomenon: Review and Critique,” Psychol- ogy, Sport, and Exercise 7 (2006): 525–53.

Members of a research team at the innovation lab of Swiss bank UBS are testing digital, virtual reality, and other new technologies to attract a young generation of investors and to help current clients visualize complex investment portfolios. Team members have the technical expertise and skills needed to function as a high-ability team. Source: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

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What about the other traits? Teams with a high level of openness to experi- ence tend to perform better, and research indicates that constructive task conflict enhances the effect. Open team members communicate better with one another and throw out more ideas, which makes teams composed of open people more creative and innovative.38 Task conflict also enhances performance for teams with high levels of emotional stability.39 It’s not so much that the conflict itself improves performance for these teams, but that teams characterized by openness and emo- tional stability are able to handle conflict and leverage it to improve performance. The minimum level of team member agreeableness matters, too: Teams do worse when they have one or more highly disagreeable members, and a wide span in individual levels of agreeableness can lower productivity. Research is not clear on the outcomes of extraversion, but a recent study indicated that a high mean level of extraversion in a team can increase the level of helping behaviors, particu- larly in a climate of cooperation.40 Thus the personality traits of individuals are as important to teams as the overall personality characteristics of the team.

Allocation of Roles Teams have different needs, and members should be selected to ensure that all the various roles are filled. A study of 778 major league baseball teams over a 21-year period highlights the importance of assign- ing roles appropriately.41 As you might expect, teams with more experienced and skilled members performed better. However, the experience and skill of those in core roles who handled more of the workflow of the team, and were central to all work processes (in this case, pitchers and catchers), were espe- cially vital. In other words, put your most able, experienced, and conscientious workers in the most central roles in a team.

We can identify nine potential team roles (see Exhibit 10-4). Successful work teams have selected people to play all these roles based on their skills and preferences.42 (On many teams, individuals will play multiple roles.) To increase the likelihood that team members will work well together, managers need to understand the individual strengths each person can bring to a team, select members with their strengths in mind, and allocate work assignments that fit with members’ preferred styles.

Diversity of Members In Chapter 9, we discussed the effect of diversity on groups. How does team diversity affect team performance? The degree to which members of a work unit (group, team, or department) share a common demo- graphic attribute, such as age, sex, race, educational level, or length of service in the organization, is the subject of organizational demography. Organiza- tional demography suggests that attributes such as age or the date of joining should help predict turnover. The logic goes like this: Turnover will be greater among those with dissimilar experiences because communication is more dif- ficult and conflict is more likely. Increased conflict makes membership less attractive, so employees are more likely to quit. Similarly, the losers of a conflict are more apt to leave voluntarily or be forced out.43 The conclusion is that diversity negatively affects team performance.

Many of us hold the optimistic view that diversity is a good thing—diverse teams should benefit from differing perspectives. Two meta-analytic reviews show, however, that demographic diversity is essentially unrelated to team

organizational demography The degree to which members of a work unit share a common demographic attribute, such as age, sex, race, educational level, or length of service in an organization, and the impact of this attribute on turnover.

MyLab Management Try It If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the Mini Sim.

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performance, while a third review suggests that race and gender diversity are actually negatively related to team performance.44 Other research findings are mixed. One qualifier is that gender and ethnic diversity have more nega- tive effects in occupations dominated by white or male employees, but in more demographically balanced occupations or when attitudes toward diversity are more positive, diversity is less of a problem. Diversity in function, education, and expertise are positively related to team performance, but these effects are small and depend on the situation. Diversity may also have a negative effect when trust between members is already low.

Proper leadership can improve the performance of diverse teams.45 For example, one study of 68 teams in China found that teams diverse in knowledge, skills, and ways of approaching problems were more creative but only when their leaders were transformational (see Chapter 12 for definition) and inspiring.46

Cultural Differences We have discussed research on team diversity regarding a number of differences. But what about cultural differences? Evidence indicates that cultural diversity interferes with team processes, at least in the short term,47 but let’s dig a little deeper: What about differences in cultural status? Though it’s debatable, people with higher cultural status are usually in the majority or ruling race group of their nations. Researchers in the United Kingdom found that cultural status differences affected team performance whereby individuals in teams with more high cultural-status members than low cultural-status mem- bers realized improved performance . . . for every member.48 This suggests not that diverse teams should be filled with individuals who have high cultural sta- tus in their countries but that we should be aware of how people identify with their cultural status even in diverse group settings.

Key Roles of TeamsExhibit 10-4

Team

Adviser

Creator

Promoter

Assessor

Organizer

Producer

Controller

Maintainer

Linker

Fights external battles

Ini tia

tes cr

ea tiv

e id

ea s

Cham pions

idea s

after they’

re ini tiated

Offers insightful analysis of options

Provides

structure

Exa min

es de

tail s

an d e

nfo rce

s ru les

Pr ov

id es

d ire

ct io

n an

d fo

llo w

-th ro

ug h

C oordinates and

integrates

Encourages the search

for more information

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In general, cultural diversity seems to be an asset for tasks that call for a variety of viewpoints. But culturally heterogeneous teams have more difficulty learning to work with each other and solving problems. The good news is that these difficulties seem to dissipate with time.

Size of Teams Most experts agree that keeping teams small is key to improving group effectiveness.49 Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos uses the “two-pizza” rule, say- ing, “If it takes more than two pizzas to feed the team, the team is too big.”50 Psychologist George Miller claimed that “the magical number [is] seven, plus or minus two,” for the ideal team size.51 Author and Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard writes, “Bigger teams almost never correlate with a greater chance of success” because the potential connections between people grow exponentially as team size increases, thus complicating communications.52

Career OBjectives Is it wrong that I’d rather have guys on my team?

Please don’t call me sexist; women are great colleagues and equally effective managers, but I’d rather have men on my team. It’s more relaxing for me, and for the other guys I think, because we naturally understand each other and can talk freely. The teams with all men that I’ve been in have all been very productive.

—Jorge Dear Jorge, With all the talk currently focused on gender diversity in organizations, your viewpoint is refreshingly honest. And your preferences are not uncommon. Researchers who studied 8 years of employee surveys from a large U.S. organization found that individuals were happier on teams mainly of their own gender, whereas those on diverse teams reported less happiness, trust, and coop- eration. Researcher Sara Fisher Ellison noted, “People are more comfortable around other people who are like them.”

In some ways, the preference for our own gender in teams is an ugly truth. After all, if there hadn’t been gender diversity initiatives and protec- tions, a majority of professional posi- tions may still be closed to women in masculine cultures like Japan, Austria, and Venezuela (see Hofstede’s cultural values in Chapter 5). The value sys- tem in many countries has fortunately changed, with increased recognition

of team diversity’s potential for higher morale, trust, and satisfaction. Notice that these are values as opposed to the reported reality from the paragraph above. Ellison concluded that there is a “mismatch between the kind of work- place people think they would like and the actual workplace that would make them happier.”

Don’t think this is your ticket to male-only teams, though. Happiness aside, this study found that diverse teams realized significantly greater rev- enues, productivity, and performance. Other research in Spain indicated that gender-diverse teams realize novel solu- tions and radical innovation at a greater rate. Still other research suggested that gender-diverse teams perform better than male-dominated ones in sales and profits. The contextual climate is key, however. One meta-analysis found that gender equality and collectivism were important conditions for task perfor- mance in diverse teams, a Danish study indicated that diverse top management teams realized higher financial perfor- mance only when the structure sup- ported cross-functional team work, and a study in South Korea indicated that cooperative group norms can lower the negative effects of gender diversity.

What all this means for you is that, while you may naturally prefer to work with men, it’s not good for business.

You would be better off putting your efforts into creating an egalitarian atmo- sphere and choosing your teammates based on what they can contribute to your team.

Sources: Based on C. Diaz-Garcia, A. Gonzalez- Moreno, and F. Jose Saez-Martinez, “Gen- der Diversity within R&D Teams: Its Impact on Radicalness of Innovation,” Innovation- Management Policy & Practice 15, no. 2 (2013): 149–60; S. Hoogedoorn, H. Oosterbeek, and M. van Praag, “The Impact of Gender Diver- sity on the Performance of Business Teams: Evidence from a Field Experiment,” Manage- ment Science 59, no. 7 (2013): 1514–28; N. Opstrup and A. R. Villadsen, “The Right Mix? Gender Diversity in Top Management Teams and Financial Performance,” Public Adminis- tration Review (2015): 291–301; M. Schneid, R. Isidor, C. Li, et al., “The Influence of Cultural Context on the Relationship between Gender Diversity and Team Performance: A Meta- Analysis,” International Journal of Human Resource Management 26, no. 6 (2015): 733–56; J. Y. Seong and D.-S. Hong, “Gender Diversity: How Can We Facilitate Its Positive Effects on Teams?” Social Behavior and Per- sonality 41, no. 3 (2013): 497–508; and R. E. Silverman, “Do Men and Women Like Working Together?,” The Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2014, D2.

The opinions provided here are of the manag- ers and authors only and do not necessar- ily reflect those of their organizations. The authors or managers are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. In no event will the authors or managers, or their related partnerships or corporations thereof, be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the opinions provided here.

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Generally speaking, the most effective teams have five to nine members. Experts suggest using the smallest number of people who can do the task. Unfortunately, managers often err by making teams too large. It may require only four or five members to develop an array of views and skills, and coordi- nation problems can increase as team members are added. When teams have excess members, cohesiveness and mutual accountability decline, social loafing increases, and people communicate less. Members of large teams have trouble coordinating with one another, especially under time pressure. When a natural working unit is larger and you want a team effort, consider breaking the group into subteams.53

Member Preferences Not every employee is a team player. Given the option, many employees will select themselves out of team participation. When people who prefer to work alone are required to team up, there is a direct threat to the team’s morale and to individual member satisfaction.54 This suggests that, when selecting team members, managers should consider individual preferences along with abilities, personalities, and skills. High-performing teams are likely to be composed of people who prefer working as part of a group.

Team Processes The final category related to team effectiveness includes process variables such as member commitment to a common purpose, establishment of specific team goals, team efficacy, team identity, team cohesion, mental models, a managed level of conflict, and minimized social loafing. These variables are especially important in larger teams and in teams that are highly interdependent.55

Why are processes important to team effectiveness? Teams should create outputs greater than the sum of their inputs. Exhibit 10-5 illustrates how group processes can have an impact on a group’s actual effectiveness.56 Teams are often used in research laboratories because they can draw on the diverse skills of various individuals to produce more meaningful research than researchers

A Japanese nurse (left) served on a seven-member medical team formed by the International Committee of the Red Cross and deployed to the Philip- pines after a typhoon hit Mindanoa Island. The small team of health care workers had the capacity to respond quickly and effectively in providing patients with emergency medical care. Source: KYDPL KYODO/AP Images

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working independently—that is, they produce positive synergy, and their pro- cess gains exceed their process losses.

Common Plan and Purpose Effective teams begin by analyzing the team’s mis- sion, developing goals to achieve that mission, and creating strategies for achieving the goals. Teams that consistently perform better have a clear sense of what needs to be done and how.57 This sounds obvious, but many teams ignore this fundamental process.

Members of successful teams put a tremendous amount of time and effort into discussing, shaping, and sharing a purpose that belongs to them collectively and individually. This common purpose, when accepted by the team, becomes what GPS is to a ship captain: It provides direction and guidance under any conditions. Like a ship following the wrong course, teams that don’t have good planning skills are doomed, executing the wrong plan.58 Teams should agree on whether their purpose is to learn about and master a task or simply to perform the task; evidence suggests that differing perspectives on learning versus perfor- mance lead to lower levels of team performance overall. Teams that emphasize learning are also more likely to agree on common goals, and identification with a team is also easier when members strongly identify with the team.59

Effective teams show reflexivity, meaning they reflect on and adjust their purpose when necessary. A team must have a good plan, but team members need to be willing and able to adapt when conditions call for it.60 Reflexivity is especially important for teams that have had poor performance in the past.61 Some evidence suggests that teams high in reflexivity are better able to adapt to conflicting plans and goals among team members.62

Specific Goals Successful teams translate their common purpose into specific, measurable, and realistic performance goals. Specific goals facilitate clear com- munication. They help teams maintain their focus on getting results.

Consistent with the research on individual goals, team goals should be chal- lenging. Difficult but achievable goals raise team performance on those criteria for which they’re set. For instance, goals for quantity tend to increase quantity, goals for accuracy increase accuracy, and so on.63

Team Efficacy Effective teams have confidence in themselves; they believe they can succeed. We call this team efficacy.64 Teams that have been successful raise their beliefs about future success, which in turn motivates them to work harder. In addition, teams that have a shared knowledge of individual capabilities can strengthen the link between team members’ self-efficacy and their individual creativity because members can solicit informed opinions from their team- mates more effectively.65

What can management do to increase team efficacy? Two options are help- ing the team achieve small successes that build confidence and providing train- ing to improve members’ technical and interpersonal skills. The greater the abilities of team members, the more likely the team will develop confidence and the ability to deliver on that confidence.

reflexivity A team characteristic of reflecting on and adjusting the master plan when necessary.

team efficacy A team’s collective belief that they can succeed at their tasks.

Effects of Group ProcessesExhibit 10-5

Potential group effectiveness

+ =–Process gains

Process losses

Actual group effectiveness

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Team Identity In Chapter 9, we discussed the important role of social identity in people’s lives. When people connect emotionally with the groups they’re in, they are more likely to invest in their relationship with those groups. It’s the same with teams. For example, research with soldiers in the Netherlands indicated that individuals who felt included and respected by team members became more willing to work hard for their teams, even though as soldiers they were already called upon to be dedicated to their units. Similarly, when team identity is strong, team members who are highly motivated by performance goals are more likely to direct their efforts toward team goals rather than individual goals. Therefore, by recognizing individuals’ specific skills and abilities, as well as creating a climate of respect and inclusion, leaders and members can foster positive team identity and improved team outcomes.66 Managers should pay special attention to fostering team identity in virtual teams. Team identity may be lower in virtual teams, which can lead to lower effort on the part of virtual team members.67

Organizational identity is important, too. Rarely do teams operate in a vacuum—more often teams interact with other teams, requiring interteam coordination. Individuals with a positive team identity but without a positive organizational identity can become fixed to their teams and unwilling to coor- dinate with other teams within the organization.68

Team Cohesion Have you ever been a member of a team that really gelled, one in which team members felt connected? The term team cohesion describes a situation in which members are emotionally attached to one another and moti- vated toward the team because of their attachment. Team cohesion is a useful tool to predict team outcomes. For example, a large study in China recently indicated that if team cohesion is high and tasks are complex, costly invest- ments in promotions, rewards, training, and so forth, yield greater profitable team creativity. Teams with low cohesion and simple tasks, on the other hand, are not likely to respond to incentives with greater creativity.69

Team cohesion is a strong predictor of team performance such that when cohesion is harmed, performance may be, too. Negative relationships are one driver of reduced cohesion. To mitigate this effect, teams can foster high levels of interdependence and high-quality interpersonal interactions. Team cohe- sion is higher in teams with female team leaders when teams are larger and more functionally diverse. Team cohesion is also higher in teams with shared leadership and when leaders are fair.70

Mental Models The members of an effective team share accurate mental models—organized mental representations of the key elements within a team’s environment that team members share.71 (Team mission and goals pertain to what a team needs to be effective; mental models pertain to how a team does its work.) If team members have the wrong mental models, which is particularly likely in teams under acute stress, their performance suffers.72 One review of 65 independent studies found that teams with shared mental models engaged in more frequent interactions with one another, were more motivated, had more positive attitudes toward their work, and had higher levels of objectively rated performance.73 If team members have different ideas about how to do things, however, the team will fight over methods rather than focus on what needs to be done.74

Individuals who normally function in action teams—teams with specialists engaged in intense, interdependent, and unpredictable tasks—are likely to share mental models. Even though they are often under acute stress, their per- formance levels can be high because the stress has been normalized through the expected context. These action teams have learned that the best way to share mental models is to voice them. An anesthetic team in a hospital is one

team identity A team member’s affinity for and sense of belongingness to his or her team.

team cohesion A situation when team members are emotionally attached to one another and motivated toward the team because of their attachment.

mental model Team members’ knowledge and beliefs about how the work gets done by the team.

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example of an action team with shared mental models. For example, research in Switzerland found that anesthetic teams communicated two distinct types of messages while in an operation: vocally monitoring each others’ performance (not to criticize but to keep a vocal record of events), and “talking to the room” (announcements to everyone such as “Patient’s blood pressure is dropping”). The study found that high- and low-performing teams communicated in these ways equally often; what mattered to performance was the sequencing of the communication to maintain a shared mental model. High-performing teams followed up monitoring dialogue with assistance and instructions, and talking- to-the-room dialogue with further team dialogue.75 The message seems simple: To maintain shared mental models, share conversation about what is happen- ing while the team is in operation!

Conflict Levels Conflict has a complex relationship with team performance, and it’s not necessarily bad. Relationship conflicts—those based on interpersonal incompatibility, tension, and animosity toward others—are almost always dys- functional. However, when teams are performing nonroutine activities, dis- agreements about task content—called task conflicts—stimulate discussion, promote critical assessment of problems and options, and can lead to better team decisions, though it may not lead to more innovative products. The posi- tive (and negative) effects of conflict on performance may be smaller or larger depending on many factors, such as the task type, setting, and how perfor- mance is measured.76 Task conflict is beneficial when members are open to experience and emotionally stable.77 Task conflict may also be beneficial when some team members perceive high task conflict while other team members per- ceive low task conflict.78 According to one study conducted in China, moder- ate levels of task conflict during the initial phases of team performance were positively related to team creativity, but both very low and very high levels of task conflict were negatively related to team performance.79 In other words, both too much and too little disagreement about how a team should initially perform a creative task can inhibit performance.

The way conflicts are resolved can make the difference between effective and ineffective teams. A study of ongoing comments made by 37 autono- mous work groups showed that effective teams resolved conflicts by explicitly

Product Hunt founder Ryan Hoover (on computer) and his entrepreneurial team are highly cohesive. The com- pany describes itself as a tight-knit team whose members share a love of new tech products, care about people, and are passionate about building communities that celebrate tech creations. Source: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

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discussing the issues, whereas ineffective teams had unresolved conflicts that were focused more on personalities and the way things were said.80

Which teams are more likely to have conflicts than others? It’s not a simple answer. While we may presume that diversity increases conflicts, the answer is likely to be much more subtle than that. For example, recent research in Spain found that when individual team members varied greatly in their perceptions of organizational support, task conflict increased, communication decreased, and ultimately team performance suffered.81 If the researchers had instead compared only the average level of organizational support given to the team rather than how members perceived the support, they would have missed the correct causal links. A study of Chinese teams found that teams high in social capital experienced higher task conflict and lower relationship conflict, but this was only true after the group had been established for several years.82 Thus we need to be careful not to overgeneralize.

Social Loafing As we noted earlier, individuals can engage in social loafing and coast on the group’s effort when their particular contributions (or lack thereof) can’t be identified. Effective teams undermine this tendency by mak- ing members individually and jointly accountable for the team’s purpose, goals, and approach.83 Therefore, members should be clear on what they are indi- vidually and jointly responsible for on the team.

Turning Individuals into Team Players We’ve made a case for the value and growing popularity of teams. But many people are not inherently team players, and many organizations have histori- cally nurtured individual accomplishments. Teams often fit well in countries that score high on collectivism, but what if an organization wants to introduce teams into a work population of individuals born and raised in an individualis- tic society?

Here are options for managers trying to turn individuals into team players.

Selecting: Hiring Team Players Some people already possess the interpersonal skills to be effective team play- ers. When hiring team members, be sure candidates can fulfill their team roles as well as technical requirements.84

Creating teams often means resisting the urge to hire the best talent no matter what. For example, the New York Knicks professional basketball team pays Carmelo Anthony well because he scores a lot of points for his team, but statistics show he takes more shots than other highly paid players in the league, which means fewer shots for his teammates.85

As a final consideration, personal traits appear to make some people bet- ter candidates for working in diverse teams. Teams made of members who like to work through difficult mental puzzles also seem more effective and able to capitalize on the multiple points of view that arise from diversity in age and education.86

10-5 Explain how organizations can create team players.

MyLab Management Personal Inventory Assessments Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the Personal Inventory Assessment related to this chapter.

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Training: Creating Team Players Training specialists conduct exercises that allow employees to experience the satisfaction that teamwork can provide. Workshops help employees improve their problem-solving, communication, negotiation, conflict management, and coaching skills. L’Oréal, for example, found that successful sales teams required much more than a staff of high-ability salespeople. “What we didn’t account for was that many members of our top team in sales had been promoted because they had excellent technical and executional skills,” said L’Oréal’s senior vice president David Waldock. As a result of introducing purposeful team training, Waldock says, “We are no longer a team just on paper, working independently. We have a real group dynamic now, and it’s a good one.”87 An effective team doesn’t develop overnight—it takes time, but good team training has positive tangible effects on performance regardless of employee and training character- istics, as evidenced by a recent review of 112 studies of medical team training programs.88

Rewarding: Providing Incentives to Be a Good Team Player A traditional organization’s reward system must be reworked to encourage cooperative efforts rather than competitive ones.89 Hallmark Cards Inc. added to its basic individual incentive system an annual bonus based on the achieve- ment of team goals. Whole Foods directs most of its performance-based rewards toward team performance. As a result, teams select new members carefully so they will contribute to team effectiveness (and thus team bonuses).90 It is usu- ally best to set a cooperative tone as soon as possible in the life of a team. As we already noted, teams that switch from competitive to cooperative do not imme- diately share information, and they still tend to make rushed, poor-quality deci- sions.91 Apparently, the low trust typical of the competitive group will not be readily replaced by high trust with a quick change in reward systems.

New engineering employees of India’s Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) work in teams to construct paper boats during a team-building exercise at the firm’s training center. Creating team players is essential to the success of TCS because employees must collabo- rate and work cohesively in providing information technology (IT) consulting services and business solutions for global clients. Source: Namas Bhojani/Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Promotions, pay raises, and other forms of recognition should be given to individuals who work effectively as team members by training new colleagues, sharing information, helping resolve team conflicts, and mastering needed new skills. This doesn’t mean individual contributions should be ignored; rather, they should be balanced with selfless contributions to the team.

Finally, don’t forget the intrinsic rewards, such as camaraderie, that employ- ees can receive from teamwork. It’s exciting to be part of a successful team. The opportunity for personal development of oneself and teammates can be a very satisfying and rewarding experience.

Beware! Teams Aren’t Always the Answer Teamwork takes more time and often more resources than individual work. Teams have increased communication demands, conflicts to manage, and meetings to run. So the benefits of using teams have to exceed the costs, and that’s not always possible.92

How do you know whether the work of your group would be better done in teams? You can apply three tests.93 First, can the work be done better by more than one person? Good indicators are the complexity of the work and the need for different perspectives. Simple tasks that don’t require diverse input are probably better left to individuals. Second, does the work create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is more than the aggregate of individual goals? Many service departments of new- vehicle dealers have introduced teams that link customer service people, mechanics, parts specialists, and sales representatives. Such teams can better manage collective responsibility for ensuring that customer needs are prop- erly met.

The final test is to determine whether the members of the group are inter- dependent. Using teams makes sense when there is interdependence among tasks—the success of the whole depends on the success of each one, and the success of each one depends on the success of the others. Soccer, for instance, is an obvious team sport. Success requires a great deal of coordination among interdependent players. Conversely, swim teams (except possibly for relays) are not really teams. They are groups of individuals performing individually and whose total performance is merely the aggregate summation of their individual performances.

Summary Few trends have influenced jobs as much as the massive movement of teams into the workplace. Working on teams requires employees to cooperate with others, share information, confront differences, and sublimate personal interests for the greater good of the team. Understanding the distinctions between problem- solving, self-managed, cross-functional, and virtual teams as well as multiteam systems helps determine the appropriate applications for team-based work. Concepts such as reflexivity, team efficacy, team identity, team cohesion, and mental models bring to light important issues relating to team context, compo- sition, and processes. For teams to function optimally, careful attention must be given to hiring, creating, and rewarding team players. Still, effective organiza- tions recognize that teams are not always the best method for getting the work done efficiently. Careful discernment and an understanding of organizational behavior are needed.

10-6 Decide when to use indi-viduals instead of teams.

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Implications for Managers ● Effective teams have adequate resources, effective leadership, a climate

of trust, and a performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions. These teams have individuals with technical exper- tise and the right traits and skills.

● Effective teams tend to be small. They have members who fill role demands and who prefer to be part of a group.

● Effective teams have members who believe in the team’s capabilities, are committed to a common plan and purpose, and have an accurate shared mental model of what is to be accomplished.

● Select individuals who have the interpersonal skills to be effective team players, provide training to develop teamwork skills, and reward individu- als for cooperative efforts.

● Do not assume that teams are always needed. When tasks will not benefit from interdependency, individuals may be the better choice.

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To Get the Most Out of Teams, Empower Them POINT

If you want high-performing teams with members who like each other and their jobs, here’s a simple solution: Remove the leash tied to them by management and let them make their own deci- sions. In other words, empower them. This trend started a long time ago, when organizations realized that creating layers of bureaucracy thwarts innovation, slows progress to a trickle, and merely provides hoops for people to jump through in order to get anything done.

You can empower teams in two ways. One way is structurally, by transferring decision making from managers to team members and giving teams the official power to develop their own strategies. The other way is psychologically, by enhancing team members’ beliefs that they have more authority, even though legitimate authority still rests with the organization’s leaders. Structural empowerment leads to heightened feelings of psychological empowerment, giving teams (and organizations) the best of both worlds.

Research suggests that empowered teams benefit in a number of ways. Members are more motivated. They exhibit higher levels of commit- ment to the team and the organization. And they perform much better. Empowerment sends a signal to the team that it is trusted and doesn’t have to be constantly micromanaged by upper leadership. And when teams get the freedom to make their own choices, they accept more responsibility for and take ownership of both the good and the bad.

Granted, responsibility also means that empowered teams must take the initiative to foster their ongoing learning and development, but teams entrusted with the authority to guide their own destiny do just that. So do yourself (and your company) a favor and make sure that teams, rather than needless layers of middle managers, are the ones making the decisions that count.

COUNTERPOINT

Empowerment can do some good in certain circumstances, but it’s certainly not a cure-all.Yes, organizations have become flatter over the past sev- eral decades, paving the way for decision-making authority to seep into lower levels of the organization. But consider that many teams are “empowered” simply because the management ranks have been so thinned that there is no one left to make the key calls. Empower- ment is then just an excuse to ask teams to take on more respon- sibility without an accompanying increase in tangible benefits like pay.

In addition, the organization’s leadership already has a good idea of what it would like its teams (and individual employees) to accom- plish. If managers leave teams to their own devices, how likely is it that those teams will always choose what the manager wanted? Even if the manager offers suggestions about how the team might proceed, empowered teams can easily ignore that advice. Instead, they need direction on what goals to pursue and how to pursue them. That’s what effective leadership is all about.

When decision-making authority is distributed among team mem- bers, each member’s role is less clear, and members lack a leader to whom they can go for advice. And finally, when teams are self- managed, they become like silos, disconnected from the rest of the organization and its mission. Simply handing people authority is no guarantee they will use it effectively. So leave the power to make deci- sions in the hands of those who were assigned leadership roles. After all, they became leaders for a reason, and they can best guide the team to stay focused and perform at top levels to maximize organiza- tional outcomes.

Sources: Based on S. I. Tannenbaum, J. Mathieu, E. Salas, and D. Cohen, “Teams Are Changing: Are Research and Practice Evolving Fast Enough?” Industrial and Organizational Psychology 5 (2012): 2–24; and R. Ashkenas, “How to Empower Your Team for Non-Negotiable Results,” Forbes, April 24, 2013, downloaded June 10, 2013, from www.forbes.com.

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CHAPTER REVIEW

MyLab Management Discussion Questions Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the problems marked with this icon .

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW

10-1 How do you explain the growing popularity of teams in organizations?

10-2 What is the difference between a group and a team?

10-3 What are the five types of team arrangements?

10-4 What conditions or context factors determine whether teams are effective?

10-5 How can organizations create team players? 10-6 When is work performed by individuals preferred over work performed by teams?

APPLICATION AND EMPLOYABILITY Teamwork is a pivotal part of the modern workplace. Unlike work groups, teams are meant to create a level of performance greater than the sum of individual efforts. In this chapter, you learned some of the reasons a team may be successful or unsuccessful in meeting this goal, based on the team’s context, composition, and various processes the team goes through. A strong understanding of how to build a strong team and be a strong team member can help you perform better in any team environment, from virtual to cross-functional teams and beyond. In this chapter, you improved your collaboration skills and social responsibility

by learning to understanding the value of working with members of both genders and how to communicate with team members in an eco-conscious way. You also applied your knowledge and utilized critical thinking skills by tak- ing a second look at the hot hand phenomena as well as assessing the merits and drawbacks of empowerment. In the following chapter, you will further develop these skills, along with communication skills, as you decide whether or not to hire a “star” employee, figure out how to structure teams after a merger, try to build trust on virtual teams, and learn about what makes a team smart.

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE Should You Use Self-Managed Teams? Break into teams of four or five. Assume you work for a large tech company that has recently acquired a local start-up firm with more expertise in a market your com- pany is trying to enter. To utilize employees from the start- up fully, you are forming new teams with members from the parent company and the newly acquired firm for your research and development (R&D) division. Many of the employees from the start-up were part of self-managed teams before the company was acquired. You must decide whether or not to adopt a traditional management style or allow the teams to be self-managed.

10-7. Answer these questions as a team. What issues could affect the productivity of a self-managed team? Are these issues likely to occur in a team

with members from different companies? How could these issues be related to members from a new company? How could these issues be resolved?

10-8. Answer these questions as a team. How would you change, if at all, the reward structure for perfor- mance if the team were self-managed? Why?

10-9. Each member of the team should explain what aspects of the team he or she would allow team members to self-manage if they were a supervisor in this company. Then, as a group, compare your responses. Does everyone agree on what duties and responsibilities should be self-managed, or are there differences? If you could, would you make a team fully self-managed? Why or why not?

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ETHICAL DILEMMA Is It Worth Hiring a Star Instead of a Team Player? Two hundred years ago, the term prima donna had only one meaning. The prima donna was the lead female singer of an opera, the most talented performer on the stage and the focus of the show. In modern times, the phrase rarely refers to an opera singer. Yet many of the traits of a lead opera singer still apply to modern day prima don- nas in the workplace. Prima donnas enjoy being heard. A prima donna employee may talk over others to make sure their ideas are heard during a meeting. Prima don- nas also enjoy being the center of attention and may be very difficult to work with on a team. Like the prima don- nas of two hundred years ago, these employees may be extremely talented. Many workplace prima donnas are “star” employees with very high individual performance. An egotistical employee may have a bigger ego from years of success, despite having trouble working with others.

It may be hard to imagine why a manager may hire or promote an employee who is not a team player. As teams become more popular, jobs that don’t require consider- able teamwork are becoming rarer. Yet there are still situ- ations where hiring a star versus a team player may seem less detrimental. There are roles that require more solo work than team work. Some teams may have joint goals but less interdependent tasks. This could help team mem- bers receive credit for their own contributions, despite the “star” employee’s attention-seeking ways. There are also many cases where hiring an employee who has great abilities but poor teamwork skills may be the best decision for the company. Hiring a more disagreeable applicant with a rare skill set in a hard-to-fill position may be easier than hiring an applicant who would have to be trained extensively. Adding a salesperson with a great sales record and extensive personal contacts to a sales depart- ment can help the organization grow and prosper. Even on professional sports teams, it may be tempting to hire a player with amazing stats but a terrible attitude toward working with others.

Hiring an employee who does not work well with others, even if it is only one employee, can also have its drawbacks. As we learned in the chapter, relationship conflict is almost always dysfunctional. The conflicts that these employees create could lead to a loss in productiv- ity. Employee morale and job satisfaction of other team members may also be effected if one of their teammates frequently undermines their contribution or makes sure to receive more attention from their supervisor. If employ- ees feel unhappy, they be may be more likely to leave or to engage in counterproductive work behaviors.

Questions 10-10. Think of some of the processes we learned about

in this chapter, such as team identity and team cohesion. How would a team member who has dif- ficulty working with others affect these processes?

10-11. Recall the effects of incivility on employees that were discussed in Chapter 9. Think about how incivility behaviors from a prima donna employee may affect the organization. Would you still hire an employee that has high individual performance but does not like working with others? Why or why not?

10-12. As mentioned earlier, the goal of most sports teams is to try to select the players with the high- est performance. The logic behind this decision is that teams with the most talented players win the most games. Recent evidence suggests that this is not true. A recent analysis of team performance of professional basketball and soccer players found that teams with more star players (based on infor- mation such as whether they’d been selected for an all-star tournament) actually had worse perfor- mance than teams with fewer elite players. Why do you think having too many star players hurt performance?

Sources: Based on D. Gillaspie, “You Can Turn a Prima Donna into a Performer without Draw- backs,” Entrepreneur, February 12, 2016, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270726, accessed April 9, 2016; and M. Weber, “Building a Team That Works: Are Prima Donnas Worth the Risk?” Forbes, September 16, 2013, https://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2013/09/16/dont-hire-a- prima-donna/#185a5cc76f77, accessed April 9, 2016.

CASE INCIDENT 1 Trusting Someone You Can’t See One of the greatest determinants of a successful team is trust. For a team to be successful, employees must trust that their team members are reliable and capable. They have to have faith that their teammates will work toward the goals of the team rather than their own goals. Trust can be built in teams by creating an environment where team members are not scared to admit that they have

made a mistake and feel comfortable providing their input rather than agreeing with the team leader or asser- tive team members. Building trust among teammates is important, but what if you never see your teammates?

Trust is especially important but also more difficult to build in virtual teams. In a recent review of 52 inde- pendent studies, researchers found that the link between

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trust and team performance is stronger for virtual teams than face-to-face teams! According to the same review, managers can counteract some of the negative effects of low trust in virtual teams by carefully documenting team interactions. This practice shows that team members are held accountable for the work they do in virtual teams and makes sure that team members are recognized for their contributions.

Compensating for a lack of trust may only be a Band- Aid for a larger problem because trust is one of the most important factors in determining team effectiveness. Another review of 112 separate studies found that trust was one of the strongest predictors of team performance, regardless of the team members’ past performance or trust in the team’s manager. The same researchers found that trust may be especially important in teams with

varied skill sets or interdependent roles. Trust is also just as important for short-term teams because team members do not have the same adjustment period to learn more about their teammates before having faith that they will contribute to team goals.

Questions 10-13. Recall a time when you felt like you could not trust

members on your team. Why did you feel that way? How did that affect the team’s performance?

10-14. Can you think of strategies that can help build trust among virtual team members?

10-15. Imagine you are a manager at a national corpo- ration. You have been asked to select employees for a virtual problem-solving team. What types of employees would you include and why?

Sources: Based on W. Vanderbloemen, “Is Your Staff a High-Trust Team?,” Entrepreneurs, March 21, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamvanderbloemen/2017/03/21/is-your-staff-a-high-trust- team/#2997197230cd, accessed April 9, 2016; D. B. Nast, “Trust and Virtual Teams,” The Huff- ington Post, March 28, 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trust-and-virtual-teams_ us_58da7e2be4b0e96354656eb5, accessed April 9, 2017; L. L. Gilson, M. T. Maynard, N. C. J. Young, M. Vartiainen, and M. Hakonen, “Virtual Teams Research: 10 Years, 10 Themes, and 10 Opportunities,” Journal of Management 41, no. 4 (2015): 1313–37; and B. A. De Jong, K. T. Dirks, and N. Gillespie, “Trust and Team Performance: A Meta-Analysis of Main Effects, Moderators, and Covariates,” Journal of Applied Psychology 101, no. 8 (2016): 1134–50.

CASE INCIDENT 2 Smart Teams and Dumb Teams In this chapter, we’ve identified how some of the charac- teristics we use to describe individuals can also describe teams. For example, individuals can be high in the trait of openness, as can a team. Along the same lines, have you noticed that some teams seem to be smart, while oth- ers seem, um, dumb? This characteristic has nothing to do with the average IQ of the team members but instead reflects the functionality of the whole team. Teams that are synergistic excel in logical analysis, brainstorming, coordination, planning, and moral reasoning. And teams that are dumb? Think of long unproductive meetings, social loafing, and interpersonal conflicts.

You might be remembering a few teams you’ve wit- nessed that are in the dumb category, but we hope you can think of a few that excelled. Smart teams tend to be smart in everything—for any task, they will find a workable solu- tion. But what makes them smart? Researchers in a Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study grouped 697 subjects into teams of 2 to 5 members to solve tasks, look- ing for the characteristics of smart teams (they weren’t all smart). Here are the findings:

1. Smart teams did not allow individual members to dominate. Instead, there were more equal contribu- tions from members than in other teams.

2. Smart teams had more members who were able to read minds. Just kidding! But the members were able

to read complicated emotions by looking into the eyes of others. There is a test for this ability called Reading the Mind in the Eyes.

3. Smart teams had more women. It’s not that smart teams had more gender equality; these teams simply had more women. This result might be partly due to the fact that more women scored higher in the Read- ing the Mind in the Eyes test.

The researchers recently replicated the study using 68 teams and again found that some teams were smarter than others. This study added a new angle to the research: How would teams working in person differ from teams working online? Surprisingly, there was little difference: All smart teams had more equal member communication (and plenty of it) and were good at emotion reading. When the online collaborators could not see each other, they prac- ticed theory of mind, remembering and reacting to the emotional cues they were able to detect through any mode of communication. Theory of mind is related to emotional intelligence (EI), which we discussed in Chapter 4.

When we have the opportunity to hand-pick team mem- bers, we can look for those who listen as much as they speak, express empathy, and remember what others tell them about themselves. For teams to which we are assigned, we can seek these attributes in others and help guide the team toward its best self. As for IQ? Here’s the good news: Recent

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research indicates that our membership in a team actually makes us smarter decision makers as individuals!

Questions 10-16. From your experiences in teams, do you agree with

the researchers’ findings on the characteristics of smart teams? Why or why not?

10-17. On the highly functioning teams in which you’ve been a member, what other characteristics might have contributed to success?

10-18. The authors who suggested that membership in a team makes us smarter found that teams were more rational and quicker at finding solutions to difficult probability problems and reasoning tasks than were individuals. After participation in the study, team members were much better at decision making on their own, even up to 5 weeks later. Do you think this spillover effect would hap- pen equally for people in smart teams and dumb teams? Why or why not?

Sources: Based on E. E. F. Bradford, I. Jentzsch, and J.-C. Gomez, “From Self to Cognition: Theory of Mind Mechanisms and Their Relation to Executive Functioning,” Cognition 138 (2015): 21–34; B. Maciejovsky, M. Sutter, D. V. Budescu, et al., “Teams Make You Smarter: How Exposure to Teams Improves Individual Decisions in Probability and Reasoning Tasks,” Management Science 59, no. 6 (2013): 1255–70; and A. Woolley, T. W. Malone, and C. Chabris, “Why Some Teams Are Smarter Than Others,” The New York Times, January 18, 2015, 5.

ENDNOTES 1 R. Karlgaard, “Think (Really!) Small,” Forbes, April 13, 2015, 32. 2 J. C. Gorman, “Team Coordination and Dynamics: Two Central Issues,” Current Direc- tions in Psychological Science 23, no. 5 (2014): 355–60. 3 Ibid. 4 J. Mathieu, M. T. Maynard, T. Rapp, and L. Gilson, “Team Effectiveness 1997–2007: A Review of Recent Advancements and a Glimpse into the Future,” Journal of Manage- ment 34, no. 3 (2008): 410–76. 5 See, for example, A. Erez, J. A. LePine, and H. Elms, “Effects of Rotated Leadership and Peer Evaluation on the Functioning and Effectiveness of Self-Managed Teams: A Quasi- Experiment,” Personnel Psychology (Winter 2002): 929–48. 6 G. L. Stewart, S. H. Courtright, and M. R. Barrick, “Peer-Based Control in Self-Managing Teams: Linking Rational and Normative Influence with Individual and Group Perfor- mance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 97, no. 2 (2012): 435–47. 7 C. W. Langfred, “The Downside of Self- Management: A Longitudinal Study of the

Effects of Conflict on Trust, Autonomy, and Task Interdependence in Self- Managing Teams,” Academy of Management Journal 50, no. 4 (2007): 885–900; and J. S. Bunderson and P. Boumgarden, “Structure and Learning in Self-Managed Teams: Why ‘Bureaucratic’ Teams Can Be Better Learners,” Organization Science 21 no. 3 (2010): 609–24. 8 B. H. Bradley, B. E. Postlethwaite, A. C. Klotz, M. R. Hamdani, and K. G. Brown, “Reaping the Benefits of Task Conflict in Teams: The Critical Role of Team Psychological Safety Climate,” Journal of Applied Psycholog 97, no. 1 (2012): 151–58. 9 J. Devaro, “The Effects of Self-Managed and Closely Managed Teams on Labor Productivity and Product Quality: An Empirical Analysis of a Cross-Section of Establishments,” Industrial Relations 47, no. 4 (2008): 659–98. 10 A. Shah, “Starbucks Strives for Instant Grati- fication with Via Launch,” PRWeek (December 2009): 15. 11 F. Aime, S. Humphrey, D. S. DeRue, and J. B. Paul, “The Riddle of Heterarchy: Power Transitions in Cross-Functional Teams,”

Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 2 (2014): 327–52. 12 B. Freyer and T. A. Stewart, “Cisco Sees the Future,” Harvard Business Review (November 2008): 73–79. 13 See, for example, L. L. Martins, L. L. Gilson, and M. T. Maynard, “Virtual Teams: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go from Here?,” Journal of Management (November 2004): 805–35; and B. Leonard, “Managing Virtual Teams,” HRMagazine, June 2011, 39–42. 14 J. E. Hoch and S. W. J. Kozlowski, “Leading Virtual Teams: Hierarchical Leadership, Struc- tural Supports, and Shared Team Leadership,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 3 (2014): 390–403. 15 A. Malhotra, A. Majchrzak, and B. Rosen, “Leading Virtual Teams,” Academy of Manage- ment Perspectives (February 2007): 60–70; J. M. Wilson, S. S. Straus, and B. McEvily, “All in Due Time: The Development of Trust in Computer-Mediated and Face-to-Face Teams,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 19 (2006): 16–33; and C. Breuer, J. Hüffmeier, and G. Hertel, “Does Trust Mat- ter More in Virtual Teams? A Meta-Analysis

MyLab Management Writing Assignments If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management for auto-graded writing assignments as well as the following assisted-graded writing assignments:

10-19. Refer again to Case Incident 1. Do you think having a self-managed team is always beneficial to managers? Why or why not?

10-20. Refer again to Case Incident 2. Do you think you can read emotions from people’s eyes enough to react well to them in teams? Why or why not? (There are Reading the Mind from the Eyes tests online if you want to test your skill.)

10-21. MyLab Management only—additional assisted-graded writing assignment.

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of Trust and Team Effectiveness Considering Virtuality and Documentation as Moderators,” Journal of Applied Psychology 101 no. 8 (2016): 1151–77. 16 P. Balkundi and D. A. Harrison, “Ties, Leaders, and Time in Teams: Strong Infer- ence about Network Structure’s Effects on Team Viability and Performance,” Academy of Management Journal 49, no. 1 (2006): 49–68; G. Chen, B. L. Kirkman, R. Kanfer, D. Allen, and B. Rosen, “A Multilevel Study of Leader- ship, Empowerment, and Performance in Teams,” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 2 (2007): 331–46; L. A. DeChurch and M. A. Marks, “Leadership in Multiteam Systems,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 2 (2006): 311–29; A. Srivastava, K. M. Bartol, and E. A. Locke, “Empowering Leadership in Manage- ment Teams: Effects on Knowledge Sharing, Efficacy, and Performance,” Academy of Man- agement Journal 49, no. 6 (2006): 1239–51; and J. E. Mathieu, K. K. Gilson, and T. M. Ruddy, “Empowerment and Team Effectiveness: An Empirical Test of an Integrated Model,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 1 (2006): 97–108. 17 K. Lanaj, J. R. Hollenbeck, D. R. Ilgen, C. M. Barnes, and S. J. Harmon, “The Double- Edged Sword of Decentralized Planning in Multiteam Systems,” Academy of Management Journal 56, no. 3 (2013): 735–57. 18 R. B. Davison, J. R. Hollenbeck, C. M. Barnes, D. J. Sleesman, and D. R. Ilgen, “Coordinated Action in Multiteam Systems,” Journal of Applied Psychology 97, no. 4 (2012): 808–24. 19 M. M. Luciano, J. E. Mathieu, and T. M. Ruddy, “Leading Multiple Teams: Average and Relative External Leadership Influences on Team Empowerment and Effectiveness,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 2 (2014): 322–31. 20 S. Krumm, J. Kanthak, K. Hartmann, and G. Hertel. “What Does It Take to Be a Virtual Team Player? The Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics Required in Virtual Teams,” Human Performance 29, no. 2 (2016): 123–42. 21 R. Greenwald, “Freelancing Alone—but Together,” The Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2014, R5. 22 V. Gonzalez-Roma and A. Hernandez, “Climate Uniformity: Its Influence on Team Communication Quality, Task Conflict, and Team Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychol- ogy 99, no. 6 (2014): 1042–58; C. F. Peralta, P. N. Lopes, L. L. Gilson, P. R. Lourenco, and L. Pais, “Innovation Processes and Team Effec- tiveness: The Role of Goal Clarity and Com- mitment, and Team Affective Tone,” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 88, no. 1 (2015): 80–107; L. Thompson, Making the Team (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000), 18–33; and J. R. Hackman, Lead- ing Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performance (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2002).

23 See G. L. Stewart and M. R. Barrick, “Team Structure and Performance: Assessing the Mediating Role of Intrateam Process and the Moderating Role of Task Type,” Acad- emy of Management Journal (April 2000): 135–48. 24 D. E. Hyatt and T. M. Ruddy, “An Examina- tion of the Relationship between Work Group Characteristics and Performance: Once More Into the Breech,” Personnel Psychology 50, no. 3 (1997): 553–85; and A. W. Richter, G. Hirst, G., D. van Knippenberg, and M. Baer, “Cre- ative Self-Efficacy and Individual Creativity in Team Contexts: Cross-Level Interactions with Team Informational Resources,” Journal of Applied Psychology 97, no. 6 (2012): 1282–90. 25 J. Hu and Judge, “Leader-Team Comple- mentarity: Exploring the Interactive Effects of Leader Personality Traits and Team Power Distance Values on Team Processes and Perfor- mance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 102, no. 6 (2017): 935–55; N. Wirtz, T. Rigotti, K. Otto, and C. Loeb, “What about the Leader? Crossover of Emotional Exhaustion and Work Engagement from Followers to Leaders,” Journal of Occupa- tional Health Psychology 22, no. 1 (2016): 86–97; and Y. Dong, K. M. Bartol, Z. Zhang, and C. Li, “Enhancing Employee Creativity via Individual Skill Development and Team Knowledge Shar- ing: Influences of Dual-Focused Transforma- tional Leadership,” Journal of Organizational Behavior 38, no. 3 (2017): 439–58. 26 R. J. Lount, O. J. Sheldon, F. Rink, and K. W. Phillips, “Biased Perceptions of Racially Diverse Teams and Their Consequences for Resource Support,” Organization Science 26, no. 5 (2015): 1351–64. 27 P. Balkundi and D. A. Harrison, “Ties, Lead- ers, and Time in Teams: Strong Inference about Network Structure’s Effects on Team Via- bility and Performance,” Academy of Management Journal 49, no. 1 (2006): 49–68; G. Chen, B. L. Kirkman, R. Kanfer, D. Allen, and B. Rosen, “A Multilevel Study of Leadership, Empower- ment, and Performance in Teams,” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 2 (2007): 331–46; L. A. DeChurch and M. A. Marks, “Leadership in Multiteam Systems,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 2 (2006): 311–29; A. Srivastava, K. M. Bartol, and E. A. Locke, “Empowering Leader- ship in Management Teams: Effects on Knowl- edge Sharing, Efficacy, and Performance,” Academy of Management Journal 49, no. 6 (2006): 1239–51; and J. E. Mathieu, K. K. Gilson, and T. M. Ruddy, “Empowerment and Team Effec- tiveness: An Empirical Test of an Integrated Model,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 1 (2006): 97–108. 28 K. T. Dirks, “Trust in Leadership and Team Performance: Evidence from NCAA Basket- ball,” Journal of Applied Psychology (December 2000): 1004–12; M. Williams, “In Whom We Trust: Group Membership as an Affective Context for Trust Development,” Academy of Management Review (July 2001): 377–96; and J. Schaubroeck, S. S. K. Lam, and A. C. Peng, “Cognition-Based and Affect-Based Trust as

Mediators of Leader Behavior Influences on Team Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychol- ogy 96, no.4 (2011): 863–71. 29 B. A. De Jong and K. T. Dirks, “Beyond Shared Perceptions of Trust and Monitoring in Teams: Implications of Asymmetry and Dissensus,” Journal of Applied Psychology 97, no. 2 (2012): 391–406; and B. A. De Jong, K. T. Dirks, and N. Gillespie, “Trust and Team Performance: A Meta-Analysis of Main Effects, Moderators, and Covariates,” Journal of Applied Psychology 101, no. 8 (2016): 1134–50. 30 G. Brown, C. Crossley, and S. L. Robinson, “Psychological Ownership, Territorial Behavior, and Being Perceived as a Team Contributor: The Critical Role of Trust in the Work Environ- ment,” Personnel Psychology 67 (2014): 463–85. 31 See F. Aime, C. J. Meyer, and S. E. Hum- phrey, “Legitimacy of Team Rewards: Ana- lyzing Legitimacy as a Condition for the Effectiveness of Team Incentive Designs,” Jour- nal of Business Research 63, no. 1 (2010): 60–66; P. A. Bamberger and R. Levi, “Team-Based Reward Allocation Structures and the Helping Behaviors of Outcome-Interdependent Team Members,” Journal of Managerial Psychology 24, no. 4 (2009): 300–27; and M. J. Pearsall, M. S. Christian, and A. P. J. Ellis, “Motivating Inter- dependent Teams: Individual Rewards, Shared Rewards, or Something in Between?,” Journal of Applied Psychology 95, no. 1 (2010): 183–91. 32 A. Bryant, “Taking Your Skills with You,” The New York Times, May 31, 2015, 2; and J. E. Mathieu, S. I. Tannenbaum, J. S. Donsbach, and G. M. Alliger, “A Review and Integration of Team Composition Models: Moving Toward a Dynamic and Temporal Framework,” Journal of Management 40, no. 1 (2017): 130–60. 33 R. R. Hirschfeld, M. H. Jordan, H. S. Feild, W. F. Giles, and A. A. Armenakis, “Becoming Team Players: Team Members’ Mastery of Teamwork Knowledge as a Predictor of Team Task Proficiency and Observed Teamwork Effectiveness,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 2 (2006): 467–74; and K. R. Randall, C. J. Resick, and L. A. DeChurch, “Building Team Adaptive Capacity: The Roles of Sensegiving and Team Composition,” Journal of Applied Psychology 96, no. 3 (2011): 525–40. 34 H. Moon, J. R. Hollenbeck, and S. E. Hum- phrey, “Asymmetric Adaptability: Dynamic Team Structures as One-Way Streets,” Academy of Management Journal 47, no. 5 (October 2004): 681–95; A. P. J. Ellis, J. R. Hollenbeck, and D. R. Ilgen, “Team Learning: Collectively Connecting the Dots,” Journal of Applied Psy- chology 88, no. 5 (October 2003): 821–35; C. L. Jackson and J. A. LePine, “Peer Responses to a Team’s Weakest Link: A Test and Exten- sion of LePine and Van Dyne’s Model,” Journal of Applied Psychology 88, no. 3 (June 2003): 459–75; and J. A. LePine, “Team Adaptation and Postchange Performance: Effects of Team Composition in Terms of Members’ Cognitive Ability and Personality,” Journal of Applied Psy- chology 88, no. 1 (February 2003): 27–39.

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35 C. C. Cogliser, W. L. Gardner, M. B. Gavin, and J. C. Broberg, “Big Five Personality Fac- tors and Leader Emergence in Virtual Teams: Relationships with Team Trustworthiness, Member Performance Contributions, and Team Performance,” Group & Organization Management 37, no. 6 (2012): 752–84; and S. T. Bell, “Deep-Level Composition Variables as Predictors of Team Performance: A Meta- Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 3 (2007): 595–615. 36 T. A. O’Neill and N. J. Allen, “Personality and the Prediction of Team Performance,” European Journal of Personality 25, no. 1 (2011): 31–42. 37 S. E. Humphrey, J. R. Hollenbeck, C. J. Meyer, and D. R. Ilgen, “Personality Configu- rations in Self-Managed Teams: A Natural Experiment on the Effects of Maximizing and Minimizing Variance in Traits,” Journal of Applied Psychology 41, no. 7 (2011): 1701–32. 38 Ellis, Hollenbeck, and Ilgen, “Team Learn- ing”; C. O. L. H. Porter, J. R. Hollenbeck, and D. R. Ilgen, “Backing Up Behaviors in Teams: The Role of Personality and Legitimacy of Need,” Journal of Applied Psychology 88, no. 3 (June 2003): 391–403; and J. A. Colquitt, J. R. Hollenbeck, and D. R. Ilgen, “Computer- Assisted Communication and Team Decision- Making Performance: The Moderating Effect of Openness to Experience,” Journal of Applied Psychology 87, no. 2 (April 2002): 402–10. 39 B. H. Bradley, A. C. Klotz, B. E. Postlethwaite, and K. G. Brown, “Ready to Rumble: How Team Personality Composition and Task Con- flict Interact to Improve Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 98, no. 2 (2013): 385–92. 40 E. Gonzalez-Mule, D. S. DeGeest, B. W. McCormick, J. Y. Seong, and K. G. Brown, “Can We Get Some Cooperation around Here? The Mediating Role of Group Norms on the Relationship between Team Personality and Individual Helping Behaviors,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 5 (2014): 988–99. 41 S. E. Humphrey, F. P. Morgeson, and M. J. Mannor, “Developing a Theory of the Strategic Core of Teams: A Role Composi- tion Model of Team Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 94, no. 1 (2009): 48–61. 42 C. Margerison and D. McCann, Team Man- agement: Practical New Approaches (London: Mercury Books, 2000). 43 A. Joshi, “The Influence of Organizational Demography on the External Networking Behavior of Teams,” Academy of Management Review (July 2006): 583–95. 44 A. Joshi and H. Roh, “The Role of Context in Work Team Diversity Research: A Meta- Analytic Review,” Academy of Management Jour- nal 52, no. 3 (2009): 599–627; S. K. Horwitz and I. B. Horwitz, “The Effects of Team Diversity on Team Outcomes: A Meta-Analytic Review of Team Demography,” Journal of Management 33, no. 6 (2007): 987–1015; A. C. Homan, C. Buengeler, R. A. Eckhoff, W. P. van Ginkel, and S. C. Voelpel, “The Interplay of Diversity Training and Diversity Beliefs

on Team Creativity in Nationality Diverse Teams,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 5 (2015): 1456–67; S. T. Bell, A. J. Villado, M. A. Lukasik, L. Belau, and A. L. Briggs, “Getting Specific about Demographic Diversity Vari- able and Team Performance Relationships: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Management 37, no. 3 (2011): 709–43; and S. Y. Cheung, Y. Gong, M. Wang, L. Zhou, and J. Shi, “When and How Does Functional Diversity Influence Team Innovation? The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing and the Moderation Role of Affect-Based Trust in a Team,” Human Rela- tions 69, no. 7 (2016): 1507–31. 45 S. J. Shin and J. Zhou, “When Is Educational Specialization Heterogeneity Related to Cre- ativity in Research and Development Teams? Transformational Leadership as a Moderator,” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 6 (2007): 1709–21; and K. J. Klein, A. P. Knight, J. C. Ziegert, B. C. Lim, and J. L. Saltz, “When Team Members’ Values Differ: The Moderat- ing Role of Team Leadership,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 114, no. 1 (2011): 25–36. 46 S. J. Shin, T. Kim, J. Lee, and L. Bian, “Cognitive Team Diversity and Individual Team Member Creativity: A Cross-Level Inter- action,” Academy of Management Journal 55, no. 1 (2012): 197–212. 47 S. Mohammed and L. C. Angell, “Surface- and Deep-Level Diversity in Workgroups: Examining the Moderating Effects of Team Orientation and Team Process on Relation- ship Conflict,” Journal of Organizational Behavior (December 2004): 1015–39. 48 Y. F. Guillaume, D. van Knippenberg, and F. C. Brodebeck, “Nothing Succeeds Like Modera- tion: A Social Self-Regulation Perspective on Cul- tural Dissimilarity and Performance,” Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 5 (2014): 1284–308. 49 D. Coutu, “Why Teams Don’t Work,” Harvard Business Review (May 2009): 99–105. The evidence in this section is described in Thompson, Making the Team, pp. 65–67. See also L. A. Curral, R. H. Forrester, and J. F. Dawson, “It’s What You Do and the Way That You Do It: Team Task, Team Size, and Innova- tion-Related Group Processes,” European Jour- nal of Work & Organizational Psychology 10, no. 2 (June 2001): 187–204; and R. C. Liden, S. J. Wayne, and R. A. Jaworski, “Social Loafing: A Field Investigation,” Journal of Management 30, no. 2 (2004): 285–304. 50 R. Karlgaard, “Think (Really!) Small,” Forbes, April 13, 2015, 32. 51 Ibid. 52 Ibid. 53 “Is Your Team Too Big? Too Small? What’s the Right Number?,” Knowledge@Wharton, June 14, 2006, http://knowledge.wharton .upenn.edu/article/is-your-team-too-big-too- small-whats-the-right-number-2/; see also A. M. Carton and J. N. Cummings, “A Theory of Subgroups in Work Teams,” Academy of Man- agement Review 37, no. 3 (2012): 441–70.

54 Hyatt and Ruddy, “An Examination of the Relationship between Work Group Charac- teristics and Performance”; J. D. Shaw, M. K. Duffy, and E. M. Stark, “Interdependence and Preference for Group Work: Main and Congruence Effects on the Satisfaction and Performance of Group Members,” Journal of Management 26, no. 2 (2000): 259–79; and S. A. Kiffin-Peterson and J. L. Cordery, “Trust, Individualism, and Job Characteristics of Employee Preference for Teamwork,” Interna- tional Journal of Human Resource Management (February 2003): 93–116. 55 J. A. LePine, R. F. Piccolo, C. L. Jackson, J. E. Mathieu, and J. R. Saul, “A Meta-Analysis of Teamwork Processes: Tests of a Multidimen- sional Model and Relationships with Team Effectiveness Criteria,” Personnel Psychology 61 (2008): 273–307. 56 J. F. Dovidio, “Bridging Intragroup Pro- cesses and Intergroup Relations: Needing the Twain to Meet,” British Journal of Social Psychology 52, no. 1 (2013): 1–24; and J. Zhou, J. Dovidio, and E. Wang, “How Affectively- Based and Cognitively-Based Attitudes Drive Intergroup Behaviours: The Moderating Role of Affective-Cognitive Consistency,” Plos One 8, no. 11 (2013): article e82150. 57 LePine, Piccolo, Jackson, Mathieu, and Saul, “A Meta-Analysis of Teamwork Processes”; and J. E. Mathieu and T. L. Rapp, “Laying the Foundation for Successful Team Performance Trajectories: The Roles of Team Charters and Performance Strategies,” Journal of Applied Psy- chology 94, no. 1 (2009): 90–103. 58 J. E. Mathieu and W. Schulze, “The Influ- ence of Team Knowledge and Formal Plans on Episodic Team Process–Performance Relation- ships,” Academy of Management Journal 49, no. 3 (2006): 605–19. 59 A. N. Pieterse, D. van Knippenberg, and W. P. van Ginkel, “Diversity in Goal Orientation, Team Reflexivity, and Team Performance,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 114, no. 2 (2011): 153–64; and M. J. Pearsall and V. Venkataramani, “Overcoming Asymmetric Goals in Teams: The Interactive Roles of Team Learning Orientation and Team Identification,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 3 (2015): 735–48. 60 A. Gurtner, F. Tschan, N. K. Semmer, and C. Nagele, “Getting Groups to Develop Good Strategies: Effects of Reflexivity Interventions on Team Process, Team Performance, and Shared Mental Models,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 102 (2007): 127– 42; M. C. Schippers, D. N. Den Hartog, and P. L. Koopman, “Reflexivity in Teams: A Measure and Correlates,” Applied Psychology: An Interna- tional Review 56, no. 2 (2007): 189–211; and C. S. Burke, K. C. Stagl, E. Salas, L. Pierce, and D. Kendall, “Understanding Team Adaptation: A Conceptual Analysis and Model,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 6 (2006): 1189–207. 61 M. C. Schippers, A. C. Homan, and D. Van Knippenberg, “To Reflect or Not to Reflect:

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Prior Team Performance as a Boundary Con- dition of the Effects of Reflexivity on Learning and Final Team Performance,” Journal of Orga- nizational Behavior 34, no. 1 (2013): 6–23. 62 A. N. Pieterse, D. van Knippenberg, and W. P. van Ginkel, “Diversity in Goal Orienta- tion, Team Reflexivity, and Team Perfor- mance,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 114, no. 2 (2011): 153–64. 63 See R. P. DeShon, S. W. J. Kozlowski, A. M. Schmidt, K. R. Milner, and D. Wiechmann, “A Multiple-Goal, Multilevel Model of Feedback Effects on the Regulation of Individual and Team Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology (December 2004): 1035–56. 64 K. Tasa, S. Taggar, and G. H. Seijts, “The Development of Collective Efficacy in Teams: A Multilevel and Longitudinal Perspective,” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 1 (2007): 17–27; D. I. Jung and J. J. Sosik, “Group Potency and Collective Efficacy: Examining Their Predictive Validity, Level of Analysis, and Effects of Performance Feedback on Future Group Performance,” Group & Organi- zation Management (September 2003): 366–91; and R. R. Hirschfeld and J. B. Bernerth, “Men- tal Efficacy and Physical Efficacy at the Team Level: Inputs and Outcomes among Newly Formed Action Teams,” Journal of Applied Psychology 93, no. 6 (2008): 1429–37. 65 A. W. Richter, G. Hirst, D. van Knippen- berg, and M. Baer, “Creative Self-Efficacy and Individual Creativity in Team Contexts: Cross- Level Interactions with Team Informational Resources,” Journal of Applied Psychology 97, no. 6 (2012): 1282–90. 66 N. Ellemers, E. Sleebos, D. Stam, and D. de Gilder, “Feeling Included and Valued: How Perceived Respect Affects Positive Team Iden- tity and Willingness to Invest in the Team,” British Journal of Management 24 (2013): 21–37; and B. Dietz, D. van Knippenberg, G. Hirst, and S. D. Restubog, “Outperforming Whom? A Multilevel Study of Performance-Prove Goal Orientation, Performance, and the Moder- ating Role of Shared Team Identification,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 6 (2015): 1811–24. 67 D. L. Shapiro, S. A. Furst, G. M. Spreitzer, and M. A. Von Glinow, “Transnational Teams in the Electronic Age: Are Team Identity and High Performance at Risk?,” Journal of Organi- zational Behavior 23 (2002): 455–67. 68 T. A. De Vries, F. Walter, G. S. Van Der Vegt, and P. J. M. D. Essens, “Antecedents of Individuals’ Interteam Coordination: Broad Functional Experiences as a Mixed Bless- ing,” Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 5 (2014): 1334–59. 69 S. Chang, L. Jia, R. Takeuchi, and Y. Cai, “Do High-Commitment Work Systems Affect Creativity? A Multilevel Combinational Approach to Employee Creativity,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 4 (2014): 665–80. 70 C. Post, “When Is Female Leadership an Advantage? Coordination Requirements, Team

Cohesion, and Team Interaction Norms,” Jour- nal of Organizational Behavior 36, no. 8 (2015): 1153–75; J. E. Mathieu, M. R. Kukenberger, L. D’Innocenzo, and G. Reilly, “Modeling Recip- rocal Team Cohesion–Performance Relation- ships, as Impacted by Shared Leadership and Members’ Competence,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 3 (2015): 71–34; and A. C. Stoverink, E. E. Umphress, R. G. Gardner, and K. N. Milner, “Misery Loves Company: Team Dissonance and the Influence of Supervisor- Focused Interpersonal Justice Climate on Team Cohesiveness,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 6 (2014): 1059–73. 71 S. Mohammed, L. Ferzandi, and K. Hamil- ton, “Metaphor No More: A 15-Year Review of the Team Mental Model Construct,” Journal of Management 36, no. 4 (2010): 876–910. 72 A. P. J. Ellis, “System Breakdown: The Role of Mental Models and Transactive Memory on the Relationships between Acute Stress and Team Performance,” Academy of Management Journal 49, no. 3 (2006): 576–89. 73 L. A. DeChurch and J. R. Mesmer-Magnus, “The Cognitive Underpinnings of Effective Teamwork: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology 95, no. 1 (2010): 32–53. 74 S. W. J. Kozlowski and D. R. Ilgen, “Enhanc- ing the Effectiveness of Work Groups and Teams,” Psychological Science in the Public Interest (December 2006): 77–124; and B. D. Edwards, E. A. Day, W. Arthur Jr., and S. T. Bell, “Rela- tionships among Team Ability Composition, Team Mental Models, and Team Perfor- mance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 3 (2006): 727–36. 75 M. Kolbe, G. Grote, M. J. Waller, J. Wacker, B. Grande, and D. R. Spahn, “Monitoring and Talking to the Room: Autochthonous Coor- dination Patterns in Team Interaction and Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 6 (2014): 1254–67. 76 R. Sinha, N. S. Janardhanan, L. L. Greer, D. E. Conlon, and J. R. Edwards, “Skewed Task Conflicts in Teams: What Happens When a Few Members See More Conflict Than the Rest?” Journal of Applied Psychology 101, no. 7 (2016): 1045–55. 77 T.A. O’Neill, N. J. Allen, and S. E. Hastings, “Examining the ‘Pros’ and ‘Cons’ of Team Conflict: A Team-Level Meta-Analysis of Task, Relationship, and Process Conflict,” Human Performance 26, no. 3 (2013): 236–60. 78 Bradley, Klotz, Postlethwaite, and Brown, “Ready to Rumble.” 79 J. Farh, C. Lee, and C. I. C. Farh, “Task Con- flict and Team Creativity: A Question of How Much and When,” Journal of Applied Psychology 95, no. 6 (2010): 1173–80. 80 K. J. Behfar, R. S. Peterson, E. A. Mannix, and W. M. K. Trochim, “The Critical Role of Conflict Resolution in Teams: A Close Look at the Links between Conflict Type, Conflict Management Strategies, and Team Outcomes,” Journal of Applied Psychology 93, no. 1 (2008): 170–88.

81 V. Gonzalez-Roma and A. Hernandez, “Climate Uniformity: Its Influence on Team Communication Quality, Task Conflict, and Team Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychol- ogy 99, no. 6 (2014): 1042–58. 82 M. Chang, “On the Relationship between Intragroup Conflict and Social Capital in Teams: A Longitudinal Investigation in Taiwan,” Journal of Organizational Behavior 38, no. 1 (2017): 3–27. 83 K. H. Price, D. A. Harrison, and J. H. Gavin, “Withholding Inputs in Team Con- texts: Member Composition, Interaction Processes, Evaluation Structure, and Social Loafing,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 6 (2006): 1375–84. 84 G. Hertel, U. Konradt, and K. Voss, “Com- petencies for Virtual Teamwork: Development and Validation of a Web-Based Selection Tool for Members of Distributed Teams,” European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 15, no. 4 (2006): 477–504. 85 T. V. Riper, “The NBA’s Most Overpaid Players,” Forbes, April 5, 2013, http://www .forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2013/04/05/ the-nbas-most-overpaid-players/. 86 E. Kearney, D. Gebert, and S. C. Voelpel, “When and How Diversity Benefits Teams: The Importance of Team Members’ Need for Cognition,” Academy of Management Journal 52, no. 3 (2009): 581–98. 87 H. M. Guttman, “The New High-Performance Player,” The Hollywood Reporter, October 27, 2008, www.hollywoodreporter.com. 88 A. M. Hughes, M. E. Gregory, D. L. Joseph, S. C. Sonesh, S. L. Marlow, C. N. Lacerenza, L. E. Benishek, H. B. King, and E. Salas, “Saving Lives: A Meta-Analysis of Team Training in Healthcare,” Journal of Applied Psychology 101, no. 9 (2016): 1266–1304. 89 C. H. Chuang, S. Chen, and C. W. Chuang, “Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Social Capital: The Role of Industrial Characteristics,” Journal of Business Research (May 2013): 678–87; and L. Prusak and D. Cohen, “How to Invest in Social Capi- tal,” Harvard Business Review (June 2001): 86–93. 90 T. Erickson and L. Gratton, “What It Means to Work Here,” BusinessWeek, January 10, 2008, www.businessweek.com. 91 M. D. Johnson, J. R. Hollenbeck, S. E. Humphrey, D. R. Ilgen, D. Jundt, and C. J. Meyer, “Cutthroat Cooperation: Asymmetrical Adaptation to Changes in Team Reward Struc- tures,” Academy of Management Journal 49, no. 1 (2006): 103–19. 92 C. E. Naquin and R. O. Tynan, “The Team Halo Effect: Why Teams Are Not Blamed for Their Failures,” Journal of Applied Psychology (April 2003): 332–40. 93 E. R. Crawford and J. A. Lepine, “A Config- ural Theory of Team Processes: Accounting for the Structure of Taskwork and Teamwork,” Academy of Management Review (January 2013): 32–48.

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354

Communication11

11-1 Describe the functions and process of communication.

11-2 Contrast downward, upward, and lat- eral communication through small- group networks and the grapevine.

11-3 Contrast oral, written, and nonverbal communication.

11-4 Describe how channel richness underlies the choice of communication method.

11-5 Differentiate between automatic and controlled processing of persuasive messages.

11-6 Identify common barriers to effective communication.

11-7 Discuss how to overcome the potential problems of cross-cultural communication.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

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Myth or Science?

Career OBjectives

An Ethical Choice

Point/ Counterpoint

Experiential Exercise

Ethical Dilemma

Case Incident 1

Case Incident 2

Critical Thinking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Collaboration ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Knowledge

Application and Analysis

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Social Responsibility ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Employability Skills Matrix (ESM)

THE OAKHURST COMMA

Anyone who’s played Scrabble (or its modern equivalent, Words with Friends) knows that certain letters are worth more than others. But did you ever wonder what a comma was worth? Up to $10 million, according to a ruling by Judge David Barron of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

The year was 2017, and three former dairy truck drivers were still fight- ing their former employer in court after three years. From 2009 to 2013, the drivers worked twelve hours of overtime on average, but they were not paid overtime in accordance with state and federal law. In 2014, the drivers filed a class action lawsuit against their employer, Oakhurst Dairy of Maine, to collect the overtime pay they had been denied for four years. The plaintiffs had already lost their case in a lower court but had been granted an appeal. Whether the dairy farmers were entitled to overtime pay hinged on a comma.

Oakhurst Dairy had argued that they did not owe employees overtime because Maine listed a number of occupations that were exempt from quali- fying for overtime pay. Read the following list of occupations aloud: “The can- ning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipping or distribution of perishable foods.” When you read the sentence, did you add a pause after shipping? If so, when you read that sentence, you probably assumed that the occupations listed included employees who pack perishable foods for shipping as well as employees who worked in

MyLab Management Chapter Warm Up If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the chapter warm up.

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the distribution of perishable foods. On the other hand, some of you may have read that sentence and thought that the list included employees who packed perishable foods for shipping or distribution. Much to the chagrin of Oakhurst Dairy, the court was in the latter group. The law was meant to exclude employees who packed perishable foods for shipping or distribu- tion, not employees who actually distributed or shipped food on trucks.

What was the pause many of you added while reading the list? The Oxford comma, or serial comma, is one of the most hotly debated rules in English. Meant to separate the last two items in a list, many style guides omit them. If it seems silly that a single comma determined a ruling in a multimillion dollar case, you may be surprised that Oakhurst Dairy is not even the first company to lose at least a million dollars over a comma. In 2006, two Canadian companies ran into a similar dispute. Rogers Com- munication of Toronto had negotiated the use of telephone poles owned by Bell Aliant. Bell Aliant wanted to end their partnership, but Rogers insisted that their contract limited when they could end the agreement, based on the following sentence: “This agreement shall be effective from the date it is made, and shall continue in force for a period of five (5) year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.”

Can you guess how the judges interpreted the sentence above? Rogers believed that Bell Aliant would have to cancel the agreement within a year of automatic renewal. The judges argued that the comma after the word terms modified the wording of the contract, and Bell Aliant could cancel the agreement at any time after one year. Kenneth G. Engelhart, vice president for regulatory affairs at Rogers, did not agree with the court’s interpretation. “Why they feel that a comma should somehow overrule the plain meaning of the words is beyond me.”

These two cases demonstrate many issues with communication. First, they show us that communication is complicated, and the meaning of words is not always clear cut. Conventions for writing and other forms of commu- nication can vary wildly across audiences. For example, the disputed Oxford comma is not used by many news outlets, but it is required by the Chicago Manual of Style and the University of Oxford Style Guide. To be effective com- municators, we should be mindful of these differences and check for under- standing when possible. Second, the cases above highlight that an idea may be clearer depending on the communication mode. If Maine’s law were spoken rather than written, interpretation of the law may have been clearer.

Sources: Based on D. Victor, “Lack of Oxford Comma Could Cost Maine Millions in Overtime Dispute,” The New York Times, March 16, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/us/ oxford-comma-lawsuit.html?_r=0, accessed April 13, 2017; and I. Austen, “The Comma That Costs 1 Million Dollars (Canadian),” The New York Times, October 25, 2006, http://www.nytimes .com/2006/10/25/business/worldbusiness/25comma.html, accessed April 16, 2017.

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Communication CHAPTER 11 357

As Rogers Communications and Oakhurst Dairy found, unclear communi-cation can cost an organization millions. In this chapter, we will explore communication in the modern workplace. We will learn more about the communication process and how this process can go awry. We will also learn about types of communication and how these types are shaped by recent technologies.

Communication must include both the transfer and the understanding of meaning. Communicating is more than merely imparting meaning; that mean- ing must also be understood. It is only thus that we can convey information and ideas. In perfect communication, if it existed, a thought would be transmit- ted so the receiver understood the same mental picture the sender intended. Though it sounds elementary, perfect communication is never achieved in practice for reasons we shall see.

Functions of Communication Communication serves five major functions within a group or organization: management, feedback, emotional sharing, persuasion, and information exchange.1

Communication acts to manage member behavior in several ways. Organi- zations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that employees are required to follow. When employees follow their job descriptions or comply with company policies, communication performs a management function. Informal communication controls behavior too. When work groups tease or harass a member who produces too much (and makes the rest of the members look bad), they are informally communicating, and managing, the member’s behavior.

Communication creates feedback by clarifying to employees what they must do, how well they are doing it, and how they can improve their performance. We saw this operating in goal-setting theory in Chapter 7. Formation of goals, feedback on progress, and reward for desired behavior all require communica- tion and stimulate motivation.

The work group is a primary source of social interaction for many employ- ees. Communication within the group is a fundamental mechanism by which members show satisfaction and frustration. Therefore, communication pro- vides for the emotional sharing of feelings and fulfillment of social needs. For example, after a white police officer shot an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2015, software engineer Carl Jones wanted to process his feelings through talking with his coworkers at his corporation. As a sec- ond example, Starbucks had baristas write “Race Together” on coffee cups to start conversations about race relations. In both cases, the initial commu- nications were awkward—so awkward that Starbucks pulled the campaign— but Jones and others have forged solid relationships from their emotional sharing.2

Like emotional sharing, persuasion can be good or bad depending on if, say, a leader is trying to persuade a work group to believe in the organization’s com- mitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) or, conversely, to persuade the work group to break the law to meet an organizational goal. These may be extreme examples, but it’s important to remember that persuasion can benefit or harm an organization.

The final function of communication is information exchange to facilitate decision making. Communication provides the information that individuals and groups need to make decisions by transmitting the data needed to identify and evaluate choices.

communication The transfer and the understanding of meaning.

11-1 Describe the functions and process of communication.

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358 PART 3 The Group

Almost every communication interaction that takes place in a group or organization performs one or more of these functions, and none of the five is more important than the others. To perform effectively, groups need to main- tain some control over members, provide feedback to stimulate members to perform, allow emotional expression, monitor the persuasive efforts of indi- viduals, and encourage information exchange.

Before communication can take place it needs a purpose, a message to be conveyed between a sender and a receiver. The sender encodes the message (converts it to a symbolic form) and passes it through a medium (channel) to the receiver, who decodes it. The result is a transfer of meaning from one per- son to another.3

Exhibit 11-1 depicts this communication process. The key parts of this model are (1) the sender, (2) encoding, (3) the message, (4) the channel, (5) decoding, (6) the receiver, (7) noise, and (8) feedback.

The sender initiates a message by encoding a thought. The message is the actual physical product of the sender’s encoding. When we speak, the speech is the message. When we write, the writing is the message. When we gesture, the movements of our arms and the expressions on our faces are the message. The channel is the medium through which the message travels. The sender selects it, determining whether to use a formal or informal channel. Formal channels are established by the organization and transmit messages related to the profes- sional activities of members. They traditionally follow the authority chain within the organization. Other forms of messages, such as personal or social, follow informal channels, which are spontaneous and subject to individual choice.4 The receiver is the person(s) to whom the message is directed, who must first translate the symbols into understandable form. This step is the decoding of the message. Noise represents communication barriers that distort the clarity of the message, such as perceptual problems, information overload, semantic difficul- ties, or cultural differences. The final link in the communication process is a feedback loop. Feedback is the check on how successful we have been in transfer- ring our messages as originally intended. It determines whether understanding has been achieved.

Direction of Communication Communication can flow vertically or laterally, through formal small-group networks or the informal grapevine. We subdivide the vertical dimension into downward and upward directions.5

communication process The steps between a source and a receiver that result in the transfer and understanding of meaning.

formal channels Communication channels established by an organization to transmit messages related to the professional activities of members.

informal channels Communication channels that are created spontaneously and that emerge as responses to individual choices.

11-2 Contrast downward, upward, and lateral communication through small-group networks and the grapevine.

The Communication ProcessExhibit 11-1

Encoding message

Channel

Noise

Feedback

Message received

ReceiverSender

Message decoding

Message to be sent

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Communication CHAPTER 11 359

Downward Communication Communication that flows from one level of a group or organization to a lower level is downward communication. Group leaders and managers use it to assign goals, provide job instructions, explain policies and procedures, point out problems that need attention, and offer feedback.

In downward communication, managers must explain the reasons why a decision was made. Although this may seem like common sense, many manag- ers feel they are too busy to explain things or that explanations will raise too many questions. Evidence clearly indicates, though, that explanations increase employee commitment and the support of decisions.6 Managers might think that sending a message once is enough to get through to lower-level employees, but research suggests managerial communications must be repeated several times and through a variety of different media to be truly effective.7

Another problem in downward communication is its one-way nature; gen- erally, managers inform employees but rarely solicit their advice or opinions. Research revealed that nearly two-thirds of employees said their boss rarely or never asks their advice. The study noted, “Organizations are always striving for higher employee engagement, but evidence indicates they unnecessarily create fundamental mistakes. People need to be respected and listened to.” The way advice is solicited also matters. Employees will not provide input, even when conditions are favorable, if doing so seems against their best interests.8

In downward communication, the delivery mode and the context of the information exchange are of high importance. We will talk more about com- munication methods later, but consider the ultimate downward communica- tion: the performance review. Alan Buckelew, CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines, says, “A review is probably the one time when you want to be physically pres- ent.” Samsonite’s CEO agrees: “A conference call cannot substitute for face-to- face interactions.” Automated performance reviews have allowed managers to review their subordinates without discussions, which is efficient but misses criti- cal opportunities for growth, motivation, and relationship building.9 In gen- eral, employees subjected to less than direct, personalized communication are less likely to understand the intentions of the message correctly.

The best communicators explain the reasons behind their downward com- munications but also solicit communication from the employees they super- vise. That leads us to the next direction: upward communication.

Upward Communication Upward communication flows to a higher level in the group or organization. It’s used to provide feedback to higher-ups, inform them of progress toward goals, and relay current problems. Upward communication keeps managers aware of how employees feel about their jobs, coworkers, and the organization in gen- eral. Managers also rely on upward communication for ideas on how conditions can be improved. It is also important for subordinates to give honest, authen- tic feedback, because if managers are not given reasonable negative feedback about allocating resources, they are more likely to make self-interested deci- sions at the expense of their surbordinates.10

Given that most managers’ job responsibilities have expanded, upward communication is increasingly difficult because managers can be overwhelmed and easily distracted. To engage in effective upward communication, try to communicate in short summaries rather than long explanations, support your summaries with actionable items, and prepare an agenda to make sure you use your boss’s attention well.11 And watch what you say, especially if you are communicating something to your manager that will be unwelcome. If you’re turning down an assignment, for example, be sure to project a can-do

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attitude while asking advice about your workload dilemma or inexperience with the assignment.12 Your delivery can be as important as the content of your communication.

Lateral Communication When communication occurs between members of the same work group, mem- bers at the same level in separate work groups, or any other horizontally equiva- lent workers, we describe it as lateral communication.13

Lateral communication saves time and facilitates coordination. Some lateral relationships are formally sanctioned. More often, they are informally created to short-circuit the vertical hierarchy and expedite action. So, from manage- ment’s viewpoint, lateral communications can be good or bad. Because strictly adhering to the formal vertical structure for all communications can be inef- ficient, lateral communication occurring with management’s knowledge and support can be beneficial. But dysfunctional conflict can result when formal vertical channels are breached, when members go above or around their supe- riors, or when bosses find actions have been taken or decisions made without their knowledge.

Formal Small-Group Networks Formal organizational networks can be complicated, including hundreds of people and a half-dozen or more hierarchical levels. We’ve condensed these net- works into three common small groups of five people each (see Exhibit 11-2): chain, wheel, and all-channel.

The chain rigidly follows the formal chain of command; this network approx- imates the communication channels you might find in a rigid three-level orga- nization. The wheel relies on a central figure to act as the conduit for all group communication; it simulates the communication network you might find on a team with a strong leader. The all-channel network permits group members to actively communicate with each other; it’s most often characterized by self- managed teams, in which group members are free to contribute and no single person takes on a leadership role. Many organizations today like to consider

Burger King improved lateral com- munication among its executives by eliminating their closed-door offices and organizing their desks in an open- space setting. Shown here, from left, are executives Jonathan Fitzpatrick, Jose Tomas, and Daniel Schwartz com- municating in their new work area at company headquarters in Miami. Source: C.W. Griffin/Miami Herald/MCT/Newscom

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themselves all-channel, meaning that anyone can communicate with anyone (but sometimes they shouldn’t).

As Exhibit 11-3 demonstrates, the effectiveness of each network is deter- mined by the dependent variable that concerns you. The structure of the wheel facilitates the emergence of a leader, the all-channel network is best if you desire high member satisfaction, and the chain is best if accuracy is most important. Exhibit 11-3 leads us to the conclusion that no single network will be best for all occasions.

The Grapevine The informal communication network in a group or organization is called the grapevine.14 Although rumors and gossip transmitted through the grapevine may be informal, it’s still an important source of information for employees and job applicants. Grapevine or word-of-mouth information from peers about a company has important effects on whether job applicants join an organiza- tion,15 even over and above informal ratings on websites like Glassdoor.

The grapevine is an important part of any group or organization communi- cation network. It serves employees’ needs: Small talk creates a sense of close- ness and friendship among those who share information, although research suggests it often does so at the expense of those in the outgroup.16 It also gives managers a feel for the morale of their organization, identifies issues employ- ees consider important, and helps them tap into employee anxieties. Evidence indicates that managers can study the gossip driven largely by employee social networks to learn more about how positive and negative information is flow- ing through the organization.17 Managers can also identify influencers (highly networked people trusted by their coworkers18) by noting which individuals are small talkers (those who regularly communicate about insignificant, unrelated issues). Small talkers tend to be influencers. One study found that social talkers

grapevine An organization’s informal communication network.

Three Common Small-Group NetworksExhibit 11-2

Chain Wheel All channel

Small-Group Networks and Effective CriteriaExhibit 11-3

Networks

Wheel

Criteria

Chain All-Channel

Speed Accuracy Emergence of a leader Member satisfaction

Moderate High Moderate Moderate

Fast High High Low

Fast Moderate None High

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are so influential that they were significantly more likely to retain their jobs during layoffs.19 Other research has found that individuals who are connected through the office grapevine tend to be more creative. This effect is due in part to the number of unique ideas a person is exposed to through his or her infor- mal network.20 Thus, while the grapevine may not be sanctioned or controlled by the organization, it can be understood and leveraged a bit.

Can managers entirely eliminate the gossip and rumors common to the grapevine if they so choose? No. Should they want to? Maybe not; in addition to the opportunities for managers to learn from the grapevine, some forms of gossip provide prosocial motivation for employees to help each other achieve organizational goals. And while some consider gossiping to be deviant behav- ior, not all gossip is malicious.21 What managers should do is minimize the neg- ative consequences of rumors by limiting their range and impact. Exhibit 11-4 offers a few practical suggestions.

Dealing with Gossip and RumorsExhibit 11-4

1. Share the information you have, and the information you don’t—where there is good formal communication with much information, there is no need for rumors. When you don’t know information that others are seeking, discuss when you will know and follow up.

2. Explain, explain, explain. As a manager, discuss what decisions are made and why they were made, as well as the plan going forward.

3. Respond to rumors noncommittally, and then verify for yourself the truths you can. Make certain to gather all sides of the story.

4. Invite employees to discuss their concerns, ideas, suggestions, thoughts, and feelings about organizational matters. Help them frame their thoughts into more objective viewpoints.

Modes of Communication How do group members transfer meaning among themselves? They rely on oral, written, and nonverbal communication. This much is obvious, but as we will discuss, the choice between modes can greatly enhance or detract from the way the perceiver reacts to the message. Certain modes are highly preferred for specific types of communication. We will cover the latest thinking and practical application.

Oral Communication A primary means of conveying messages is oral communication. Speeches, for- mal one-on-one and group discussions, and the informal rumor mill or grape- vine are popular forms of oral communication.

The advantages of oral communication are speed, feedback, and exchange. We can convey a verbal message and receive a response in minimal time. As one professional put it, “Face-to-face communication on a consistent basis is still the best way to get information to and from employees.”22 If the receiver

11-3 Contrast oral, written, and nonverbal communication.

MyLab Management Watch It If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the video exercise.

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is unsure of the message, rapid feedback allows the sender to detect and cor- rect it quickly. The feedback we receive includes information and emotional content; however, we should acknowledge that we are usually bad listeners. Researchers indicate that we are prone to “listener burnout,” in which we tune the other person out and rush to offer advice. “Good listeners overcome their natural inclination to fix the other’s problems and to keep the conversation brief,” said Professor Graham Bodie. Active listening—in which we remove distractions, lean in, make eye contact, paraphrase, and encourage the talker to continue23—helps us learn more and build trust if we are genuine and not judgmental.24 The exchange given through oral communication has social, cul- tural, and emotional components. Cultural social exchange, in which we pur- posefully share social exchanges that transcend cultural boundaries, can build trust, cooperation, and agreement between individuals and teams.25

One major disadvantage of oral communication surfaces whenever a mes- sage has to pass through a number of people: the more people, the greater the potential distortion. If you’ve ever played the game Telephone, you know the problem. Each person interprets the message in his or her own way. The message’s content, when it reaches its destination, is often very different from the original, even when we think the message is simple and straightforward. Therefore, oral communication “chains” are generally more of a liability than an effective tool in organizations. Let’s discuss some popular oral communica- tion applications in more detail.

Meetings Meetings can be formal or informal, include two or more people, and take place in almost any venue. Although 11 million meetings take place in the United States daily, some people hate them. So we try to make them more effective: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos begins meetings with 30 minutes of attend- ees silently reading his report to themselves, Twitter and Apple have meetings only on Mondays, BuzzFeed has 2 no-meeting days per week, and some organi- zations limit the duration of meetings.26

Framing even our casual business interactions as meetings helps us stay focused on progress. Every meeting is an opportunity to “get stuff done,” as BetterWorks CEO Kris Duggan said, and to “sparkle.” He noted, “You may be an expert in your field, but if you don’t communicate well, or if you don’t get people excited, or you’re not passionate or enthusiastic, that’s going to be a hindrance.”27 Other stumbling blocks to effective meetings are overuse of jar- gon28 and qualifiers that undermine your words (for example, phrases like “to be perfectly honest” or “to tell the truth” imply that you aren’t truthful the other 99 percent of the time!).29

Good interpersonal communication is key to making meetings effective. Some experts recommend using humor as an ice breaker; public relations firm Peppercomm even offers stand-up comedy workshops to help businesses teach people how to use humor. Using humor in meetings even predicts team performance two years later.30 But what if you don’t have a voice in meetings? We don’t mean someone who is speaking or hearing disabled, as we discuss in Career OBjectives. Voice refers to the ability to contribute words of value to the meeting or other forum in the workplace.31 By definition, voice challenges the status quo, supports others’ viewpoints, adds constructively, or is defensive/ destructive.32 As you can see, voice refers to the input and reactions of a person within the meeting, and the lack of voice creates a barrier to input (when no one is speaking, few people want to be the first to break the silence). A person without voice may have nothing to say, but research indicates that women in particular don’t speak up in meetings even when they are in leadership posi- tions, suggesting that certain group dynamics inhibit equal participation.33 In addition, voice may also be affected by employees’ self-evaluation, personal

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initiative, sense of responsibility, and engagement, as well as workplace climate and the emotions and behavior of their supervisor.34 Without equitable partici- pation, the benefits of meetings are questionable.

Videoconferencing and Conference Calling Videoconferencing permits employees and clients to conduct real-time meetings with people at different locations. Live audio and video images let us see, hear, and talk with each other with- out being physically in the same location. Conference calling is generally limited to telephone exchanges where some people may gather around one speaker phone, and others call in through a secure line. There may be some shared files or videos everyone can see on their computers. Both modes are used selec- tively, according to the application.

Peter Quirk, an information technology director with EMC Corporation, uses videoconferencing to hold monthly meetings of employees at various loca- tions while saving travel expenses and time. He notes it’s important to stimulate questions and involve all participants in this forum deliberately to avoid having someone who is on the call but disengaged (a common problem). Other lead- ers wish they had that problem; instead, they have to mediate between callers who talk over one another, and address those who make too much noise. Erica Pearce, a sales executive, told one conference caller, “If you’re vacuuming, I appreciate that, and you’re welcome to come to my house afterward. But you need to be on mute.”35

You might assume people prefer videoconferencing to conference calling because video offers a more “live” experience, but 65 percent of all remote meetings are done via audio only. For reasons not clearly understood (besides some people’s reluctance to be on camera), the time people spend on audio- only calls may be growing almost 10 percent per year.36 To address the pit- falls of videoconferencing and conference calls, experts offer the following suggestions:

1. Set more explicit agendas and firmer rules than for face-to-face meetings. 2. Have callers begin by introducing themselves, their roles in the project, and

what they are looking for in the meeting. They should also state their names each time they speak.

U.S. President Donald Trump, center, is briefed on urgent matters by his National Security team. In-person meetings are one of the primary forms of communication used by U.S. presidents. Source: Planetpix/White House Photo/Alamy Stock Photo

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3. Leaders should talk 40 percent of the time and listen 60 percent of the time. 4. Distribute discussion questions before the meeting, and note the responses

of each participant during the meeting. 5. Assign a moderator for the meeting (not the leader) and a secretary (again,

not the leader). 6. Understand people’s preferences for videoconferencing versus conference

calling before the meeting and make sure everyone understands the tech- nology. “I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard people say, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with my webcam, so I’m just going to be here in voice’” when they might just prefer conference calling, said Laura Stack, author of Execution Is the Strategy.37

Telephone The telephone has been around so long that we can overlook its efficiency as a mode of communication. Communication by telephone is fast, effective, and less ambiguous than e-mail. However, telephone messages can be easily overlooked, and a lack of functions has made the phone difficult to use

Career OBjectives Isn’t this disability too much to accommodate?

I thought it was a good, responsible move when my manager hired a guy who is hearing-impaired … but now I’m not so sure. We do okay in com- municating with him, mostly thanks to e-mail and texting. None of us knows sign language but sometimes we spell out words with our hands. The problem is that the guy makes a LOT of inappropriate noises—farts, burps, coughs, moans, you name it. Isn’t this too much to put up with?

— Jackie

Dear Jackie: In short: No. Workplace accommoda- tion means more than simply toler- ating a disabled worker’s presence. Perhaps you might consider this from your deaf coworker’s point of view (by the way, deaf is the preferred term, according to the National Association of the Deaf):

• How are the communication condi- tions in which he has to work? Are you being sure to include him in discussions by, say, assigning one of you to write down the impor- tant points for him and ask his opinions in meetings? Search for “10 Annoying Habits of Hearing

People” online to get a glimpse of his perspective.

• Do you know what he thinks about your “hand spelling”? You may not know that American Sign Language (ASL) is not simply English. Your coworker probably doesn’t appreci- ate your “pigeon” sign language and may be offended by your attempts, but he would likely appreciate an effort for the group to learn some ASL and/or use a translator. There are apps and online translators where you can type in a phrase and see someone sign your words on the screen, for instance. Similarly, new technology from MotionSavvy translates signs into written speech.

• It seems you might be attributing emotions to your coworker when he makes noises, emotions he may not feel. Do you think he is uncar- ing about his listening coworkers? It’s much more likely that he simply doesn’t realize he is making noises or thinks they are quieter than they are. Consider what it’s like when you are in a loud room; you’re prob- ably less aware of your sounds than when you’re in a quiet room where everyone can react.

If you can get past the barrier of think- ing about how he should accommodate himself to your environment and instead show him how your group is willing to work to communicate with him, you may begin to develop an understand- ing of one another. Then, and only then, it would make sense to approach the noise problem respectfully and kindly, with a nonoffensive one-on-one. But before you do, search the Internet for tips on communicating with the deaf, and show him some respect.

Sources: Based on C. Swinbourne, “The 10 Annoying Habits of Hearing People,” The Huff- ington Post, September 17, 2013, http:// www.huffingtonpost.com/charlie-swinbourne/ the-10-annoying-habits-of_b_3618327.html; National Association of the Deaf website, www.nad.org, accessed June 30, 2015; and R. Walker, “An Office Distraction,” The New York Times, March 22, 2015, 8.

The opinions provided here are of the manag- ers and authors only and do not necessar- ily reflect those of their organizations. The authors or managers are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. In no event will the authors or managers, or their related partnerships or corporations thereof, be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the opinions provided here.

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without electronic follow-up. Recently, however, a number of software options have come to the rescue to make phoning more versatile. Switch uses the com- puter to dial phone numbers, and users can change telephones during calls and view document exchanges. Voice allows people to use a single phone num- ber that’s linked to multiple phones. Talko’s app provides a forum for voice memos, texts, and photos. And Twilio offers businesses cheaper calling and automatic text messages. Supporters say these methods increase business com- munication capabilities beyond e-mail. “How many times have you been on a giant e-mail thread that’s not making any progress?,” asked the founder of Switch. With these tools, he said, “You’ve distilled all the waste out of the phone conversation, and what’s left are these really important times when you need to talk to someone in real time, and get some emotion and back-and-forth.”38

Written Communication Written communication includes letters, e-mail, instant messaging, organiza- tional periodicals, and any other method that conveys written words or sym- bols. Written business communication today is usually conducted via letters, PowerPoint, e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, social media, apps, and blogs. We are all familiar with these methods, but let’s consider the unique cur- rent business communication applications of them.

Letters With all the technology available, why would anyone write and send a letter? Of all the forms of written communication, letter writing is the oldest— and the most enduring. Letter writing can be used to great effect in business, adding a personal touch to a communication or, alternately, creating a last- ing document to signal an official communication. Research indicates that when we write by hand, the content is much more memorable to us than when we type.39

PowerPoint PowerPoint and other slide formats like Prezi can be an excellent mode of communication because slide-generating software combines words with visual elements to engage the reader and help explain complex ideas. PowerPoint is often used in conjunction with oral presentations, but its appeal is so intuitive that it can serve as a primary mode of communication. It is not without its detractors, however, who argue that it is too impersonal, disengag- ing, and frequently hard to follow.

E-Mail The growth of e-mail since its inception nearly 50 years ago has been spectacular, and its use is so pervasive it’s hard to imagine life without it. There are more than 3.1 billion active e-mail accounts worldwide, and cor- porate employees average 105 e-mails each day.40 Exhibit 11-5 shows the time that managers and professionals spend daily on various tasks. Many managers report they spend too much time on e-mail. Do you?

The business benefits of e-mail messages are obvious: they can be written, edited, sent, and stored quickly and cheaply. E-mail is not without cost, how- ever. In fact, according to e-mail software company Messagemind, corporations lose $650 billion each year from time spent processing unnecessary e-mails.41 One study also indicated that people focus longer on tasks and are less stressed when they are cut off from checking e-mail, although other research suggests that e-mail is only stressful for employees when their workload is already heavy.42

Despite the costs, e-mail is likely here to stay, and is “often the first impres- sion that others get of you,” according to executive coach and etiquette expert Jaqueline Whitmore.43 Still, even seasoned e-mail aficionados struggle with striking the proper tone in their communications.

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Whitmore offers the following advice:

1. Don’t skip the subject line, but make it short and topic-related. 2. Give a greeting/salutation. “Dear” and “hello” are good starting points. In

later exchanges, “hi” may be appropriate. Use the person’s name. “Err on the side of being more formal” in your greeting and the body of the e-mail, Whitmore advises. Same for your closing; “Best regards” is more formal.

3. Keep sentences, paragraphs, and thoughts short. Use bullet points when possible.

4. However, don’t be curt. “No one can see your facial expressions or hear your tone of voice, so the only way they’re gauging your emotions is the tone that you use in that e-mail,” she said.

5. Don’t use text language. “Even if you’ve just graduated from college and you’re now out in the workforce,” Whitmore observed, “remember that a lot of your clients may be baby boomers. It’s important for you to stay professional.”

6. Check your spelling. Check it again. 7. When people write back, reply within 24 hours. “Even if you don’t have an

answer for someone, reply anyway,” she said.44

Instant Messaging Like e-mail, instant messaging (IM) is usually done via com- puter. There are distinct pros and cons to IM, but there are mostly negatives for business interactions. If you are present when the IM comes in, you can respond in real time to engage in online typed dialogue, but the conversation will not be saved for later reference. If you miss the incoming IM, you may be alerted when you next log on that a person tried to reach you, which may be long after a response was needed.

Text Messaging Text messaging may be a little bit better than IM but has many of the same pitfalls in business usage. The guidelines for the business use of texting are still evolving, but experts continually caution that business text lan- guage should be as formal as any other business communication. The level of informality and abbreviations we use in personal text messages is usually not advisable at work.45

Allocation of Time at Work for Managers and ProfessionalsExhibit 11-5

28%

19% 14%

39%

Reading and answering e-mail

Searching and gathering information

Communicating and collaborating internally

Role-specific tasks

Source: Based on M. Chui et al., “The Social Economy: Unlocking Value and Productivity through Social Technologies,” McKinsey & Company, July 2012, http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/the_social_economy.

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Social Media Websites Nowhere has online communication been more trans- formed than in the rise of social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, and business is taking advantage of the opportunities these social media present. Many organizations have developed their own in-house social-networking appli- cations, known as enterprise social software, and most have their own Facebook pages and Twitter feeds.46 Social networking has become a tool for prospective employees, hiring managers, employees, and human resources divisions (see OB Poll).

Facebook has more than 1.44 billion active users per month,47 and it’s important to remember in business that users can send messages to other users either by posting on their walls (public), sending messages, or setting up chats (private). They can also communicate with multiple other users (“friends”) by posting status updates, videos, and photos. Some of the modes of communi- cation may be appropriate for business application (such as an organization’s Facebook page), but many are not. Research has found that none of the world’s 50 most profitable companies’ CEOs are using Facebook.48 This represents a dramatic shift from 2010, when these CEOs were using Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter quite equally. Leslie Gaines-Ross, who represents the study, observed, “I think that CEOs are identifying which platform really works for them.”49 Privacy remains a high concern for many Facebook users, and some regions of the world do not have access to it.50

Unlike many social media venues, LinkedIn was created as an online busi- ness network and now has 187 million active users per month.51 User profiles on the site are like virtual résumés. Communication is sometimes limited to endorsements of others’ skills and establishment of business connections, though direct private communication is available and users can form and belong to groups. LinkedIn is used increasingly by top CEOs and is the top popular network for them (22 percent of the top 50 companies’ CEOs use LinkedIn).52

Twitter is a hybrid social-networking service for users to post microblog entries of 140 characters to their subscribers about any topic, including work. Twitter has 236 million active users monthly on average53 and is growing as

No, but soon 37% No

52%

Yes 11%

OB POLL Do You Use Social-Networking Sites to Research Job Candidates?

Note: CareerBuilder survey of over 2,000 hiring professionals. Source: Based on CareerBuilder at http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobPoster/Resources/page.aspx?pagever=2012SocialMedia&template=none.

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a business venue. While only 10 percent of the top companies’ CEOs are on Twitter,54 some have many followers, such as President Donald Trump, who has 29.7 million, and Richard Branson of Virgin Group, who has 5.99 million. As former Medtronic CEO Bill George noted, “Can you think of a more cost- effective way of getting to your customers and employees?”55 Having many fol- lowers can be an advantage to a firm or a manager, but a huge liability when posts (tweets) are badly written or negative.

Apps LinkedIn and Twitter are two of the most widely used social media plat- forms for businesses, but they are not the only ones. Apps—easily accessed mobile-friendly platforms—are increasingly the forum of choice for the public. Some websites have apps, while other apps exist without corresponding web- sites. One of the biggest apps is WhatsApp, at 450 million active monthly users. Apps are most popular in regions where mobile phone usage is primary.56 Asia has the world’s largest number of social media users, and apps play a large role in that part of the world through Line (Japan), WeChat (China), and Kakao (South Korea).57

Blogs A blog (short for “web log”) is a website about a single person or com- pany. Experts see blogging as a business necessity for organizations, so it should not be overlooked as a vital form of communication to employees and custom- ers, who can post feedback if they choose.58 However, outdated blogs look bad to employees, customers, and the public, so new ones must be added continu- ally to maintain relevancy.

Myth or Science? Today, Writing Skills Are More Important Than Speaking Skills

Never before have the writing skills of managers and employees been more on display. Whether we are tapping on a keyboard or a screen, this communication with oth- ers is often unedited. (Thank goodness for spell-check.) With all the written communication methods we currently employ, it would be easy to think upper management values writing skills over speaking skills. However, evidence sug- gests that this is not the case.

As we discussed in Chapter 1, soft skills matter most to employers, regard- less of industry. According to Nick Schultz of the American Enterprise Insti- tute, “Considerable evidence suggests that many employers would be happy just to find applicants who have the sort of ‘soft’ skills that used to be almost taken for granted.” Though soft skills refer to

all interpersonal skills evident through speaking and writing, they are most on display in one-on-one discussions, inter- views, meetings, and presentations. The ability to speak well, particularly in Eng- lish, has become a job prerequisite for many multinational corporations.

The good news is that speaking ability—knowledge of when to speak, how to speak, how to sound, what to say—can be improved through train- ing. According to leadership coach and author Kristi Hedges, most peo- ple can train on their own and do not need formal presentation classes. You can make significant improvements by researching speaking techniques, watching videos of practice sessions, and practicing new techniques in meetings. If learning to speak a for- eign language fluently is a problem,

full immersion courses and overseas assignments can be helpful if they are options, as are listening to and mimick- ing television and radio broadcasts in the language. Speaking well hinges on clarity and sincerity of expression.

While it is a mistake to believe writ- ing skills have become more important than speaking skills, we can all make significant improvements in our verbal communications relatively quickly.

Sources: Based on R. J. Aldrick and J. Kasuku, “Escaping from American Intelligence: Cul- ture, Ethnocentrism and the Anglosphere,” International Affairs, September 2012, 1009– 28; K. Hedges, “Confessions of a Former Public Speaking Trainer: Don’t Waste Your Money,” Forbes, April 19, 2012, www.forbes .com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/04/19/ public-speaking-trainer-confesses-dont-waste- your-money-on-this/; and N. Schultz, “Hard Unemployment Truths about ‘Soft’ Skills,” The Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2012, A15.

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Others Flickr, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Wikis, Jive, Socialtext, and Social Cast are just a few of the many public and industry-specific platforms, with new ones launching daily. Some are designed for only one type of posting: YouTube accepts only videos, for instance, and Flickr only videos and images. Other sites have a particular culture, such as Pinterest’s informal posts sharing recipes or decorating tips. The business applications have not been fully realized yet, but soon there will probably be at least one social media site tailored to every type of business communication.

Nonverbal Communication Every time we deliver a verbal message, we also impart an unspoken message.59 Sometimes the nonverbal component may stand alone as a powerful message of our business communication. No dis- cussion of communication would thus be complete without consideration of nonverbal communication—which includes body movements, the intonations or emphasis we give to words, facial expressions, and the physical distance between the sender and receiver.

We could argue that every body movement has meaning, and no movement is accidental (though some are unconscious). We act out our state of being with nonverbal body language. For example, we smile to project trustworthi- ness, uncross our arms to appear approachable, and stand to signal authority.60

Body language can convey status, level of engagement, and emotional state.61 Body language adds to, and often complicates, verbal communication. In fact, studies indicate that people read much more about another’s attitude and emotions from their nonverbal cues than their words! If nonverbal cues conflict with the speaker’s verbal message, the cues are sometimes more likely to be believed by the listener.62

If you read the minutes of a meeting, you wouldn’t grasp the impact of what was said the same way as if you had been there or could see the meet- ing on video. Why is this so? There is no record of nonverbal communication, and the emphasis given to words or phrases is missing. Both make the mean- ing clearer. Exhibit 11-6 illustrates how intonations can change the meaning of a message. Facial expressions also convey meaning. Facial expressions, along with intonations, can show arrogance, aggressiveness, fear, shyness, and other characteristics.

Physical distance also has meaning. What is considered proper spacing between people largely depends on cultural norms. For example, a business- like distance in some European countries feels intimate in many parts of North

Intonations: It’s the Way You Say It!Exhibit 11-6

Change your tone and you change your meaning:

Placement of the Emphasis What It Means

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I was going to take someone else.

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of the guy you were going with.

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I’m trying to find a reason why I shouldn’t take you.

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Do you have a problem with me?

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of going on your own.

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of lunch tomorrow.

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Not tomorrow night.

Source: Reproduced in A. Huczynski and D. Buchanan, Organizational Behavior, 4th ed. (Essex, UK: Pearson Education, 2001), 194.

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America. If someone stands closer to you than is considered appropriate, it may indicate aggressiveness or sexual interest; if the person stands farther away, it may signal disinterest or displeasure with what is being said.

Choice of Communication Now that we’ve discussed various modes of business communication, why do people choose one channel of communication over another? A model of media richness helps explain channel selection among managers.63

Channel Richness Channels differ in their capacity to convey information. Some are rich in that they can (1) handle multiple cues simultaneously, (2) facilitate rapid feed- back, and (3) be very personal. Others are lean in that they score low on these factors. As Exhibit 11-7 illustrates, face-to-face conversation scores highest in channel richness because it transmits the most information per communica- tion episode—multiple information cues (words, postures, facial expressions, gestures, intonations), immediate feedback (both verbal and nonverbal), and the personal touch of being present. Impersonal written media such as formal reports and bulletins rate lowest in richness.

In sum, rich channels give us the chance to observe. The unconscious aspects of communication help us understand the full meaning of a message. When these aspects are missing, we must look for other clues to deduce the sender’s emotions and attitudes.

11-4 Describe how channel richness underlies the choice of communication method.

channel richness The amount of information that can be transmitted during a communication episode.

Information Richness and Communication ChannelsExhibit 11-7

Formal reports, bulletins

Low channel richness

High channel richness

Prerecorded speeches

Online discussion groups, groupware

Live speeches Video conferences

Memos, letters E-mail Voice mail Telephone conversations

Face-to-face conversations

Source: Reproduced from R. L. Daft and R. A. Noe, Organizational Behavior (Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt, 2001), 311.

MyLab Management Personal Inventory Assessments Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the Personal Inventory Assessment related to this chapter.

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Choosing Communication Methods The choice of channel depends on whether the message is routine. Routine messages tend to be straightforward and have minimal ambiguity; channels low in richness can carry them efficiently. Nonroutine communications are likely to be complicated and have the potential for misunderstanding. Managers can communicate them effectively only by selecting rich channels.

Channel richness is a helpful framework for choosing your mode of commu- nication. It is not always easy to know when to choose oral rather than written communication, for instance. Experts say oral communication or “face-to-face” communication with coworkers, clients, and upper management is the key to success. However, if you seek out the CEO just to say hello, you may be remem- bered as an annoyance rather than a star, and signing up for every meeting on the calendar to increase your face-to-face interactions is counterproductive to getting the work of the organization done. Your communication choice is worth a moment’s thought: Is the message you need to communicate better suited to a discussion? A diagram? Let’s explore some decision points.

Whenever you need to gauge the receiver’s receptivity, oral communication is usually the better choice. The marketing plan for a new product, for instance, may need to be worked out with clients in person, so you can see their reac- tions to each idea you propose. Also consider the receiver’s preferred mode of communication; some individuals focus on content better in written form and others prefer discussion. For example, if your manager requests a meeting with you, you may not want to ask for an e-mail exchange instead. The pace of your work environment matters, too. A fast-paced workplace may thrive on pop-by meetings, while a deadline-heavy team project may progress faster with sched- uled Skype videoconferences.

Much of what we communicate face-to-face is in the delivery, so also consider your speaking skills when choosing your communication method. Research indicates the sound of your voice is twice as important as what you are saying. A good speaking voice—clear, moderated—can be a help to your career, while loud, questioning, irritating, immature, falsetto, breathy, or monotone voice tones can hinder you. If your voice is problematic, your work teams can help you raise your awareness so you can make changes, or you may benefit from the help of a voice coach.64

Written communication is generally the most reliable mode for complex and lengthy communications, and it can be the most efficient method for short mes- sages when, for instance, a two-sentence text can take the place of a 10-minute phone call. But keep in mind that written communication can be limited in its emotional expression.

Choose written communication when you want the information to be tan- gible, verifiable, and “on the record.” People are usually forced to think more thoroughly about what they want to convey in a written message than in a spoken one, so your written communications can be well thought out, logical, and clear. But be aware that, as with oral communication, your delivery is just as important as the content. We discussed the level of formality, but note that managers report grammar mistakes and lack of business formality are unprofessional—and unac- ceptable. “People get passionate about grammar,” corporate writing instructor and author Jack Appleman noted, and one study found that 45 percent of employers were adding training programs to teach grammar and communica- tion skills.65 On the other hand, some experts argue that the use of social media jargon and abbreviations is good for business. Overall, for your professional suc- cess, know your audience when possible, and use good grammar.

Letters are used in business primarily for networking purposes and when sig- natures need to be authentic. A handwritten thank-you note is never a wrong

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choice for an applicant to send after an employment interview, for instance, and handwritten envelopes often are put right on the receiver’s desk unopened by administrative staff. Although electronic written communication provides authentication by indicating the sender and date/time sent, a handwritten sig- nature is still preferred and sometimes required for letters and contracts.

In general, you should respond to instant messages only when they are pro- fessional and initiate them only when you know they will be welcome. Remem- ber that your conversation will not be stored for later reference.

There are significant gains and challenges from text messaging in busi- ness settings. Texts are cheap to send and receive, and the willingness to be available for quick communications from clients and managers is conducive to good business. However, some users—and managers—view text messaging as intrusive and distracting. The rules of business etiquette are not yet estab- lished, resulting in offenses ranging from texts sent at unreasonable hours to serial texting in bursts of short messages that keep receivers’ phones buzzing annoyingly. Such a continual presence can also make it hard for employees to concentrate and stay focused. Consider these recent research findings from a survey of professionals:

• Eighty-four percent think it’s inappropriate to write texts or e-mails during formal meetings.

• Seventy-five percent think it’s inappropriate to read texts or e-mails during formal meetings.

• Sixty-six percent think it’s inappropriate to write texts or e-mails during any meetings.

• At least 22 percent think it’s inappropriate to use phones during any meetings.66

As you can see, it is best to strictly limit personal text messages during office hours and be cautious in using texting for business purposes. You should dis- cuss using texting for business with people before you text them for the first time, set up general availability ground rules, and take your cues about when to text from the other person. For longer messages, it is better to use e-mail; even

To enhance her personal office visits with patients, pediatric physician Dr. Natasha Burgert communicates with them through e-mail, texting, and her blog. Written communication enables her to share reliable and timely medi- cal information with patients’ families so they can provide better care for their children. Source: Orlin Wagner/AP Images

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though the receiver still might scroll through the message on a smartphone, the option of viewing—and saving—your message on a computer is preferable.

On the corporate level, the returns on using social media are mixed. Some of the most spectacular gains are in the sales arena, both business-to-public and business-to-business. For instance, one sales representative for virtual-meetings company PGi landed his fastest sale ever by instantly connecting with a poten- tial client after TweetDeck alerted him that a CEO was tweeting his frustration about web conferencing.67 Companies are also developing their own internal social-networking platforms to encourage employees to collaborate and to improve training, reporting a 300 percent annual increase in corporate net- work activity.

Some organizations have policies governing the use of social media, but many don’t. It is difficult for management to control the content that employ- ees post; even well-intentioned employees post comments that could be con- strued as harmful to their organization’s reputation or that reveal confidential or sensitive information. Software that mines social media sites can check on a job applicant, and the growing field of digital forensics helps investigate poten- tial problems with current employees; however, cybersleuthing can be time- consuming and expensive.68 And acting on violations of an organization’s social media policy is tricky. Thus, if you want to use social media for business pur- poses, make certain you are connected with all levels of management engaged in the effort. And if you would like to mention your business in your personal social media, communicate with your organization about what you would like to do, and what you think the potential return for the company may be. Use discretion about which personal social media platforms and apps are acceptable for business communication. And know your company’s social media policies about corporate confidentiality and your company’s view on your privacy.69

As an individual, you may choose to post a blog on your own blog page, or you may choose to comment on another person’s blog. Both options are more public than you may think, and your words are easily reachable by your name via search engines like Google. If others in the company happen to read a criti- cal or negative blog entry or post, there is nothing to keep them from sharing that information with management. You could be dismissed as a result.

It’s important to be alert to nonverbal aspects of communication and look for these cues as well as the literal meaning of a sender’s words. You should be particularly aware of contradictions between the messages. Someone who frequently glances at her wristwatch is giving the message that she would prefer to terminate the conversation no matter what she actually says, for instance. We misinform others when we express one message verbally, such as trust, but non- verbally communicate a contradictory message that reads, “I don’t have confi- dence in you.”

Information Security Security is a huge concern for nearly all organizations with private or propri- etary information about clients, customers, and employees. Organizations worry about the security of electronic information they seek to protect such as hospital patient data, physical information they still keep in file cabinets, and information they entrust their employees with knowing. Most companies actively monitor employee Internet use and e-mail records, and some even use video surveillance and record phone conversations. Necessary though they may be, such practices can seem invasive to employees. An organization can relieve employee concerns by engaging them in the creation of information-security policies and giving them some control over how their personal information is used.70

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Persuasive Communication We’ve discussed a number of methods for communication up to this point. Now we turn our attention to one of the functions of communication— persuasion—and the features that might make messages more or less persua- sive to an audience.

11-5 Differentiate between automatic and controlled processing of persuasive messages.

An Ethical Choice Using Employees in Organizational Social Media Strategy

Social media are good for business communication, but their use is an ethical minefield for employ- ers and employees. In a study of 24 industries in 115 countries, 63 percent of managers believed social media will be important to their businesses in 3 years. Research suggests that social media use may be an indicator of an organization’s profitability. Companies at the forefront include McDonald’s, IBM, Salesforce, SAP, and Yammer. Social media can turn customers into fans through increased and personal- ized communication, and quick and appropriate responses to customers’ communication can turn those fans— and employees—into spokespeople for the brand. The key is forming emo- tional bonds or capitalizing on current relationships to spread the good word about the company to potential clients.

Social media sites pose a host of business ethical concerns. Employ- ees with a huge online presence who use social media for both personal and company promotion (known as co- branded employees) become a liability if they leak corporate information, pres- ent a bad image, or leave the company.

There are also ethical concerns about employees’ privacy and right to free speech: Let’s say that an employee who monitors the company Twitter feed wins a customer over; she later tweets from her personal account, “Score for us: another happy customer.” That may present no concern, but she would hurt the company if she lost the customer and tweeted, “Epic fail: We blew it again.”

Other employer tasks with few tested ethical guidelines include ensur- ing employees make proper use of com- pany time, compensating them for time they spend promoting the company through their personal social media connections, clarifying who should own personal devices used for company promotion, setting limits on company expectations of employees’ promotion efforts, dealing with permissions/attri- butions, and clearing any legal hurdles.

Experts advise organizations to draft social media policies that reflect their company ethics rather than seek to “cover all the bases” of potential liabilities. While an organization could require job applicants to share their online passwords, for instance, this

may violate trust and personal pri- vacy rules. Policies that define ethi- cal expectations for employee online behavior, discuss monitoring, define consequences for nonconformance, and explain the logic of the guidelines will be the most effective. Even still, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finds many corporate policies aimed at the ethics of social media usage violate the National Labor Rela- tions Act. A good social media policy can affirm the ethical expectations of the corporation and improve its organi- zational culture.

Sources: Based on S. F. Gale, “Policies Must Score a Mutual Like,” Workforce Manage- ment (August 2012): 18; B. Giamanco and K. Gregoire, “Tweet Me, Friend Me, Make Me Buy,” Harvard Business Review (July–August 2012): 88–93; D. Kiron, D. Palmer, A. N Phillips, and N. Kruschwitz, “What Manag- ers Really Think about Social Business,” MIT Sloan Management Review (Summer 2012): 51–60; X. Luo, J. Zhang, and W. Duan, “Social Media and Firm Equity Value,” Infor- mation Systems Research (March 2013): 146–63; C. M. Sashi, “Customer Engage- ment, Buyer-Seller Relationships, and Social Media,” Management Decision 50 (2012): 253–72; and A. Smith, “NLRB Finds Social Media Policies Unlawful,” HR Magazine (August 2012): 18.

MyLab Management Try It If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the Mini Sim.

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Automatic and Controlled Processing To understand the process of persuasion, it is useful to consider two differ- ent ways we process information.71 Think about the last time you bought a can of soda. Did you carefully research brands, or did you reach for the can that had the most appealing advertising? If we’re honest, we’ll admit glitzy ads and catchy slogans have an influence on our choices as consumers. We often rely on automatic processing, a relatively superficial consideration of evidence and information making use of heuristics like those we discussed in Chapter 6. Automatic processing takes little time and low effort, so it makes sense to use it for processing persuasive messages related to topics you don’t care much about. The disadvantage is that it lets us be fooled easily by a variety of tricks, like a cute jingle or glamorous photo.

Now consider the last time you chose a place to live. You probably sourced experts who knew something about the area, gathered information about prices, and considered the costs and benefits of renting versus buying. You were engaging in more effortful controlled processing, a detailed consideration of evidence and information relying on facts, figures, and logic. Controlled pro- cessing requires effort and energy, but it’s harder to fool someone who has taken the time and effort to engage in it. So what makes someone engage in either shallow or deep processing? Let’s explore how we might determine what types of processing an audience will use.

Interest Level One of the best predictors of whether people will use an auto- matic or controlled process for reacting to a persuasive message is their level of interest in it.72 Interest levels reflect the impact a decision will have on your life. When people are very interested in the outcome of a decision, they’re more likely to process information carefully. That’s probably why people look for so much more information when deciding about something important (like where to live) than something relatively unimportant (like what color t-shirt to wear).

Prior Knowledge People who are well informed about a subject area are more likely to use controlled processing strategies. They have already thought through various arguments for or against a specific course of action and there- fore won’t readily change their position unless very good, thoughtful reasons are provided. On the other hand, people who are poorly informed about a topic can change their minds more readily, even in the face of fairly superficial arguments presented without a great deal of evidence. A better-informed audi- ence is likely to be much harder to persuade.

Personality Do you read at least five reviews of a movie before deciding whether to see it? Perhaps you even research films by the same stars and direc- tor. If so, you are probably high in need for cognition, a personality trait of individuals who are most likely to be persuaded by evidence and facts.73 Those who are lower in their need for cognition are more likely to use automatic pro- cessing strategies, relying on intuition and emotion to guide their evaluation of persuasive messages.

Message Characteristics Another factor that influences whether people use an automatic or controlled processing strategy is the characteristics of the message itself. Messages provided through relatively lean communication channels, with little opportunity for users to interact with the content of the message, encour- age automatic processing. Conversely, messages provided through richer com- munication channels encourage more deliberative processing.

automatic processing A relatively superficial consideration of evidence and information making use of heuristics.

controlled processing A detailed consider- ation of evidence and information relying on facts, figures, and logic.

need for cognition A personality trait of individuals depicting the ongoing desire to think and learn.

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Choosing the Message The most important implication is to match your persua- sive message to the type of processing your audience is likely to use. When audi- ence members are not interested in a persuasive message topic, when they are poorly informed, when they are low in need for cognition, and when information is transmitted through relatively lean channels, they’ll be more likely to use auto- matic processing. In these cases, use messages that are more emotionally laden and associate positive images with your preferred outcome. On the other hand, when audience members are interested in a topic, when they are high in need for cognition, or when the information is transmitted through rich channels, then it is a better idea to focus on rational arguments and evidence to make your case.

Barriers to Effective Communication Several barriers can slow or distort effective communication, barriers that we need to recognize and reduce. In this section, we highlight the most important.

Filtering Filtering refers to a sender’s purposely manipulating information so the receiver will see it more favorably. A manager who tells his boss what he feels the boss wants to hear is filtering information.

The more vertical levels in the organization’s hierarchy, the more opportu- nities there are for filtering. But some filtering will occur wherever there are status differences. Factors such as fear of conveying bad news and the desire to please the boss often lead employees to tell their superiors what they think they want to hear, thus distorting upward communications.

Selective Perception Selective perception is important because the receivers in the communica- tion process selectively see and hear based on their needs, motivations, experi- ence, backgrounds, and other personal characteristics. Receivers also project their interests and expectations into communications as they decode them. For example, an employment interviewer who expects a female job applicant to put

11-6 Identify common barriers to effective communication.

filtering A sender’s manipulation of information so that it will be seen more favorably by the receiver.

Managers of Germany’s construction firm Hochtief relied on controlled pro- cessing during a meeting when they presented rational arguments about a takeover bid by another firm. Fearing that a takeover would put their jobs at risk, Hochtief employees had a high level of interest in learning about man- agers’ plans to prevent it. Source: Bernd Thissen/dpa/picture-alliance/Newscom

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her family ahead of her career is likely to see that characteristic in all female applicants, regardless of whether any of the women actually feel that way. As we said in Chapter 6, we don’t see reality; we interpret what we see and call it reality.

Information Overload Individuals have a finite capacity for processing data. When the information we have to work with exceeds our processing capacity, the result is information overload. We’ve seen in this text that dealing with it has become a huge chal- lenge for individuals and for organizations. It’s a challenge you can manage— to some degree—by following the steps outlined earlier in this chapter.

What happens when individuals have more information than they can sort and use? They tend to select, ignore, pass over, or forget it. Or they may put off further processing until the overload situation ends. In any case, lost informa- tion and less effective communication results, making it all the more important to deal well with overload.

More generally, as an Intel study shows, it may make sense to connect to tech- nology less frequently, to, in the words of one article, “avoid letting the drum- beat of digital missives constantly shake up and reorder to-do lists.” One radical way is to limit the number of devices you access. For example, Coors Brewing executive Frits van Paasschen jettisoned his desktop computer in favor of mobile devices only, and Eli Lilly & Co. moved its sales teams from laptops plus other devices to just iPads. Both these moves have resulted in increased productivity.74

As information technology and immediate communication have become a more prevalent component of modern organizational life, more employees find they are never able to get offline. For example, some business travelers were disappointed when airlines began offering wireless Internet connections in flight because they could no longer use their travel time as a rare opportu- nity to relax without a constant barrage of organizational communications. The negative impacts of these communication devices can spill over into employees’ personal lives as well. Both workers and their spouses relate the use of elec- tronic communication technologies outside work to higher levels of work–life conflict, though some research suggests that the level of conflict may depend on the characteristics of the employee.75 Employees must balance the need for constant communication with their personal need for breaks from work, or they risk burnout from being on call 24 hours a day.

Emotions You may interpret the same message differently when you’re angry or dis- traught than when you’re happy. For example, individuals in positive moods are more confident about their opinions after reading a persuasive message, so well-designed arguments have a stronger impact on their opinions.76 Peo- ple in negative moods are more likely to scrutinize messages in greater detail, whereas those in positive moods tend to accept communications at face value.77 Extreme emotions such as jubilation or depression are most likely to hinder effective communication. In such instances, we are most prone to disregard our rational and objective thinking processes and substitute emotional judgments.

Language Even when we’re communicating in the same language, words mean different things to different people. Age and context are two of the biggest factors that influence such differences. For example, when business consultant Michael Schiller asked his 15-year-old daughter where she was going with friends, he said, “You need to recognize your ARAs [ARA stands for “accountability, responsibility, and authority”] and measure against them.” Schiller said that in response, his daughter “looked at him like he was from outer space.” Those new

information overload A condition in which information inflow exceeds an individual’s processing capacity.

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to corporate lingo may find acronyms such as ARA, words such as deliverables (verifiable outcomes of a project), and phrases such as get the low-hanging fruit (deal with the easiest parts first) bewildering, in the same way parents may be mystified by teen slang.78 The persuasiveness of language also depends on the person’s initial agreement with a message. For example, concrete language is more persuasive when the audience has dissimilar political views to the message, while abstract language is more persuasive when political views are similar.79

Our use of language is far from uniform. If we knew how each of us modifies the language, we could minimize communication difficulties, but we usually don’t know. Senders tend to assume—incorrectly—that the words and terms they use mean the same to the receivers as they do to them.

Silence It’s easy to ignore silence or lack of communication because it is defined by the absence of information. This is often a mistake, however—silence itself can be the message to communicate noninterest or the inability to deal with a topic. Employees are more likely to be silent if they are being mistreated by manag- ers, are experiencing frequent negative emotions and rumination, or feel like they have less power in the organization.80 Silence can also be a simple out- come of information overload or a delaying period for considering a response. For whatever reasons, research suggests using silence and withholding com- munication are common and problematic.81 One survey found that more than 85 percent of managers reported remaining silent about at least one issue of significant concern.82 The impact of silence can be organizationally detrimen- tal. Employee silence can mean managers lack information about ongoing operational problems; management silence can leave employees bewildered. Silence regarding discrimination, harassment, corruption, and misconduct means top management cannot take action to eliminate problematic behavior.

Communication Apprehension An estimated 20 percent of college students suffer from debilitating communi- cation apprehension, or social anxiety.83 These people experience undue ten- sion and anxiety in oral communication, written communication, or both.84

communication apprehension Undue tension and anxiety about oral communica- tion, written communication, or both.

Communication barriers exist between these call center employees in Manila, the Philippines, and their U.S. and Canadian customers even though they all communicate in English. Training in pronunciation, intonation, vocabu- lary, and grammar helps employees convey messages effectively to their customers. Source: Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images

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They may find it extremely difficult to talk with others face-to-face or become extremely anxious when they have to use the phone, relying on memos or e-mails when a phone call would be faster and more appropriate.

Oral-communication apprehensives avoid situations, such as teaching, for which oral communication is a dominant requirement.85 But almost all jobs require some oral communication. Of greater concern is evidence that some oral- communication apprehensives distort the communication demands of their jobs in order to minimize the need for communication. Be aware that some people severely limit their oral communication and rationalize their actions by telling themselves communicating isn’t necessary for them to do their jobs effectively.

Lying The final barrier to effective communication is outright misrepresentation of information, or lying. People differ in their definition of a lie. For example, is deliberately withholding information about a mistake a lie, or do you actively have to deny your role in the mistake to pass the threshold? While the definition of a lie befuddles ethicists and social scientists, there is no denying the preva- lence of lying. People may tell one to two lies per day, with some individuals telling considerably more.86 Compounded across a large organization, this is an enormous amount of deception happening every day. Evidence shows people are more comfortable lying over the phone than face-to-face, and they are more comfortable lying in e-mails than when they have to write with pen and paper.87

Can you detect liars? Research suggests most people are not very good at detecting deception in others.88 The problem is there are no nonverbal or ver- bal cues unique to lying—averting your gaze, pausing, and shifting your pos- ture can also be signals of nervousness, shyness, or doubt. Most people who lie take steps to guard against being detected, so they might look a person in the eye when lying because they know that direct eye contact is (incorrectly) assumed to be a sign of truthfulness. Finally, many lies are embedded in truths; liars usually give a somewhat true account with just enough details changed to avoid detection.

In sum, the frequency of lying and the difficulty in detecting liars makes this an especially strong barrier to effective communication.

Cultural Factors Effective communication is difficult under the best of conditions. Cross-cultural factors clearly create the potential for increased communication problems. A gesture that is well understood and acceptable in one culture can be mean- ingless or lewd in another. Unfortunately, only 18 percent of companies have documented strategies for communicating with employees across cultures, and only 31 percent require that corporate messages be customized for consump- tion in other cultures.

Cultural Barriers Several problems are related to language difficulties in cross-cultural communi- cations. First are barriers caused by semantics. Words mean different things to dif- ferent people, particularly people from different national cultures. Some words don’t translate between cultures. For instance, the Finnish word sisu means something akin to “guts” or “dogged persistence” but is essentially untranslat- able into English. Similarly, capitalists in Russia may have difficulty communi- cating with British or Canadian counterparts because English terms such as efficiency, free market, and regulation have no direct Russian equivalents.

11-7 Discuss how to overcome the potential problems of cross-cultural communication.

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Second are barriers caused by word connotations. Words imply different things in different languages. Negotiations between U.S. and Japanese executives can be difficult because the Japanese word hai translates as “yes,” but its connota- tion is “Yes, I’m listening” rather than “Yes, I agree.”

Third are barriers caused by tone differences. In some cultures, language is for- mal; in others, it’s informal. In some cultures, the tone changes depending on the context: People speak differently at home, in social situations, and at work. Using a personal, informal style when a more formal style is expected can be inappropriate.

Fourth are differences in tolerance for conflict and methods for resolving conflicts. People from individualist cultures tend to be more comfortable with direct conflict and will make the source of their disagreements overt. Collectivists are more likely to acknowledge conflict only implicitly and avoid emotionally charged disputes. They may attribute conflicts to the situation more than to the individuals and therefore may not require explicit apologies to repair relation- ships, whereas individualists prefer explicit statements accepting responsibility for conflicts and public apologies to restore relationships.

In addition, while all cultures identify certain behaviors as overly aggressive, there are certain types of behaviors that are more likely to be identified as neg- ative depending on the culture. In Israel, Pakistan, and Japan, there is a greater distinction between verbal and physical aggression. In the United States and Israel, behaviors that infringe on personal resources are considered aggressive, while Pakistan differentiates between different degrees of threats. Different standards for aggression reflect the ways that a certain country may interpret or respond to a conflict.89

Cultural Context Cultures tend to differ in the degree to which context influences the meaning individuals take from communication.90 In high-context cultures such as China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, people rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situ- ational cues in communicating with others, and a person’s official status, place in society, and reputation carry considerable weight. What is not said may be more significant than what is said. In contrast, people from Europe and North America reflect their low-context cultures. They rely essentially on spoken and written words to convey meaning; body language and formal titles are second- ary (see Exhibit 11-8).

high-context cultures Cultures that rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues in communication.

low-context cultures Cultures that rely heavily on words to convey meaning in communication.

High- versus Low-Context CulturesExhibit 11-8

Chinese Korean Japanese Vietnamese Arab Greek Spanish Italian English North American Scandinavian Swiss German

High context

Low context

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Contextual differences mean quite a lot in terms of communication. Com- munication in high-context cultures implies considerably more trust by both parties. What may appear to be casual and insignificant conversation in fact reflects the desire to build a relationship and create trust. Oral agreements imply strong commitments in high-context cultures. And who you are—your age, seniority, rank in the organization—is highly valued and heavily influ- ences your credibility. Managers can therefore “make suggestions” rather than give orders. But in low-context cultures, enforceable contracts tend to be in writing, precisely worded, and highly legalistic. Similarly, low-context cultures value directness. Managers are expected to be explicit and precise in conveying intended meaning.

A Cultural Guide There is much to be gained from business intercultural communications. It is safe to assume that every one of us has a different viewpoint that is cultur- ally shaped. Because we do have differences, we have an opportunity to reach the most creative solutions possible with the help of others if we communicate effectively.

According to Fred Casmir, a leading expert in intercultural communication research, we often do not communicate well with people outside our culture because we tend to generalize from only their cultural origin. This can be insen- sitive and potentially disastrous, especially when we make assumptions based on observable characteristics. Many of us have a richly varied ethnic background and would be offended if someone addressed us according to what culture our physical features might favor, for instance. Also, attempts to be culturally sensi- tive to another person are often based on stereotypes propagated by media. These stereotypes usually do not have a correct or current relevance.

Casmir noted that, because there are far too many cultures for anyone to understand completely, and individuals interpret their own cultures differ- ently, intercultural communication should be based on sensitivity and pursuit of common goals. He found the ideal condition is an ad hoc “third culture” that a group can form when its members seek to incorporate aspects of each member’s cultural communication preferences. The norms that this subcul- ture establishes through appreciating individual differences create a common ground for effective communication. Intercultural groups that communicate effectively can be highly productive and innovative.

When communicating with people from a different culture, what can you do to reduce misinterpretations? Casmir and other experts offer the following suggestions:

1. Know yourself. Recognizing your own cultural identity and biases is critical to understanding the unique viewpoints of other people.

2. Foster a climate of mutual respect, fairness, and democracy. Clearly estab- lish an environment of equality and mutual concern. This will be your “third culture” context for effective intercultural communication that tran- scends each person’s cultural norms.

3. State facts, not your interpretation. Interpreting or evaluating what some- one has said or done draws more on your own culture and background than on the observed situation. If you state only facts, you will have the opportunity to benefit from the other person’s interpretation. Delay judg- ment until you’ve had sufficient time to observe and interpret the situation from the differing perspectives of all concerned.

4. Consider the other person’s viewpoint. Before sending a message, put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. What are his or her values, experiences, and frames of reference? What do you know about his or her education,

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upbringing, and background that can give you added insight? Try to see the people in the group as they really are first, and take a collaborative problem-solving approach whenever potential conflicts arise.

5. Proactively maintain the identity of the group. Like any culture, the estab- lishment of a common-ground “third culture” for effective intercultural communication takes time and nurturing. Remind members of the group of your common goals, mutual respect, and need to adapt to individual communication preferences.91

Summary You’ve probably discovered the link between communication and employee satisfaction in this chapter: the less uncertainty, the greater the satisfaction. Distortions, ambiguities, and incongruities between verbal and nonverbal mes- sages all increase uncertainty and reduce satisfaction. Careful attention to the methods and modes for each communication ensures that the message is inter- preted properly by the receiver.

Implications for Managers ● Remember that your communication mode will partly determine your

communication effectiveness. ● Obtain feedback to make certain your messages—however they are com-

municated—are understood. ● Remember that written communication creates more misunderstand-

ings than oral communication; communicate with employees through in-person meetings when possible.

● Make sure you use communication strategies appropriate to your audi- ence and the type of message you’re sending.

● Keep in mind communication barriers such as gender and culture.

MyLab Management Try It If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the Mini Sim.

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We Should Use Employees’ Social Media Presence POINT

Everyone uses social media. Well, almost everyone: A Pew Research Center study found that the highest percentage of adults who use social-networking sites was in Israel, at 53 percent, followed by 50 percent in the United States, 43 percent in Russia and Great Britain, and 42 percent in Spain.

Business is social, and using employees’ social contacts to increase business has always been a facet of marketing. Organiza- tions that don’t follow their employees’ social media presence are missing an opportunity to expand their business and strengthen their workforce. For example, the Honda employee who once told 30 friends that Honda is best can now tell 300 Facebook friends and 500 Twitter followers about the latest model. Employees’ savvy about social media can have a substantial positive effect on the bottom line.

Monitoring employees’ social media presence can also strengthen the workforce by identifying the best talent. Managers can look for potential online celebrities—frequent bloggers and Twitter users with many followers—to approach for co-branding partnerships. Scrutiny can also help employers spot problems. For example, consider the employee who is fired one day and turns violent. A manager who had been monitoring the employee’s social media posts may be able to detect warning signs. A human resources department monitoring employees’ social media activity may be able to identify a substance abuse problem and provide help for the employee through the com- pany’s intervention policies.

A job candidate’s social media presence provides one more input to hiring and retention decisions that many organizations already take advantage of. In reality, there is no difference between the employee and the person—they are one and the same, on or off working hours.

Employers that monitor social media can also identify employees who use their platforms to send out bad press or who leak proprietary information. For this reason, managers may someday be required to monitor employees’ social media postings and to act on infringe- ments of company policies. Many do so already.

Managers should therefore develop enforceable social media policies and create a corporate infrastructure to research and monitor social media activity regularly. The potential increase in business and limit on liability is ample return for dedicating staff and work hours to building a successful social media program.

COUNTERPOINT

T here is little to be gained and much to be lost when organiza-tions follow candidates’ and employees’ presence on social media. Managers may be able to learn more about individu- als through their online activity, and organizations may be able to catch some good press from employee postings, but the risk of lia- bility for this intrusion on privacy is inescapable. Managers are ill- equipped to monitor, interpret, and act on employees’ social media postings, and few have any experience with relating the medium to business use.

Managers may also easily misinterpret the information they find. Few companies have training programs for the proper use of social media; only 40 percent have social media policies of any kind. Those that do are skating on thin ice because monitoring policies can con- flict with privacy regulations.

An employee’s online image doesn’t reveal much that is relevant to the job, certainly not enough to warrant the time and money that a business would spend on monitoring. Most users view social media as a private, recreational venue, and their membership on Facebook and other sites should be regarded with the same respect as would membership in a club. In this light, monitoring employees’ social media accounts is an unethical violation of their right to privacy.

Equal employment opportunity laws require companies to hire without respect to race, age, religion, national origin, or disability. But managers who check into candidates’ social media postings often find out more than the candidate wanted to share, and then there is no way to keep that information from affecting the hiring decision. Searching through social media can therefore expose a company to a costly discrimination claim.

Using employees’ personal social media presence as a market- ing tool through company-supportive postings is unethical from many standpoints. First, it is unethical to expect employees to expand the company’s client base through their personal contacts. Second, it is unreasonable to expect them to endorse the company after working hours. And the practice of asking employees for their social media passwords is an obvious intrusion into their personal lives.

In sum, people have a right to a professional and a private image. Unless the employee is offering to “friend” the company in a social media partnership, there is no question that employers should stay out of their personal business.

Sources: Based on S. F. Gale, “Policies Must Score a Mutual Like,” Workforce Management 91, no. 8 (2012): 18-9; R. Huggins and S. Ward, “Countries with the Highest Percentage of Adults Who Use Social Networking Sites,” USA Today, February 8, 2012, 1A; A. L. Kavanaugh et al., “Social Media Use by Government: From the Routine to the Critical,” Government Information Quarterly (October 2012): 480–91; and S. Johnson, “Those Facebook Posts Could Cost You a Job,” San Jose Mercury News, January 16, 2012, www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_19754451.

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CHAPTER REVIEW

MyLab Management Discussion Questions Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the problems marked with this icon .

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW

11-1 What are the functions and process of communication?

11-2 What are the communication differences between downward, upward, and lateral communication sent through small-group networks and the grapevine?

11-3 What are the methods of oral communication, written communication, and nonverbal communication?

11-4 How does channel richness underlie the choice of communication method?

11-5 What is the difference between automatic and controlled processing of persuasive messages?

11-6 What are some common barriers to effective communication?

11-7 How do you overcome the potential problems of cross-cultural communication?

APPLICATION AND EMPLOYABILITY The ability to communicate messages to others effectively is vital to succeeding in the workplace. Communication allows us to manage group members, provide and receive feedback, share our emotions, persuade others, and exchange information. A strong understanding of how to communicate effectively with others can help you be a better coworker by allowing you to set goals, coordinate with a team, and continuously improve through feedback. In this chapter, you learned better communication and

analysis skills by assessing whether organizations still value oral communication, understanding how to communicate with someone who is deaf, and studying the pros and cons of employees using social media. In the next part of the chapter, you will learn about the difficulties of emotional sharing through e-mail, examine the use of personal devices in workplaces, learn about gender differences in communication style, and learn some techniques for man- aging gossip.

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE Conveying Tone Through E-Mail Pair off with someone you have not worked with before. In this exercise, you will pretend that you work for a small air- conditioning company. Occasionally one of your cowork- ers, Daniel, asks you to visit clients when they have an issue. Because this is not an official part of your job, you do this as a favor to Daniel and feel comfortable turning down his requests if you are unable to help him. When you’re about to leave to go to lunch, you see the following e-mail.

Subject: Issue with Phillips Park Animal Kennel Air Conditioning

Good afternoon, You mentioned that you are picking up lunch at that burger place in Phillips Park. I just got a call from

the Phillips Park Animal Kennel. The air conditioner we just installed went out this morning. Do you think you could go over there before you pick up lunch to smooth things over? A service technician cannot make it out there until three o’clock today, so they’re pretty mad.

Thanks! Dan

You’re already behind on your work, but you also know Daniel needs your help. Take five minutes, and each write out a one-sentence reply to Daniel telling him whether or not you will go to the kennel before lunch. You must pick one of three tones to use in the e-mail: angry, sarcastic, apologetic, sympathetic, enthusiastic, or

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neutral. Trade your response and guess which tone each of you picked.

Questions 11-8. Did you guess correctly? Why or why not? 11-9. Have your partner read his or her email to you

in his or her own voice, then read the same

e-mail in your voice. Did the tone change depending on who read the e-mail aloud? Why or why not?

11-10. Rewrite your e-mails to be three sentences long. Is the tone clearer in these e-mails? Why or why not?

ETHICAL DILEMMA BYOD “What’s your cell phone number? Good, I’ll call you about the meeting.” If you’re like many people in the world who have used a smartphone for years, or one of the 1.3 billion people who bought one recently, chances are you’ve used it for work. In fact, your employer may have even invited— or asked—you to use your smartphone, tablet, or laptop in your job. Such is the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, which started out of friendly convenience but now carries major ethical issues. For instance:

• Did you know your employer can wipe your personal devices clean? Remotely? With no warning? It happens, and not just at the 21 percent of organizations that erase devices when employees are terminated. Any time an organi- zation has a privacy concern, it may wipe all devices clean to prevent a further breach of its cyberdefenses. Health care consultant Michael Irvin lost his personal e-mail accounts, apps, music, contacts, and photos sud- denly one day, leaving his multiuse iPhone “like it came straight from the factory.” Another individual lost pic- tures of a relative who had died.

• Is your device part of your employment contract, either explicitly or by understanding? If so, who pays for the device? Well, you did, and you continue to pay for the service. If the device breaks, who pays for the replacement device? Can you lose your job if you can’t afford the device and service?

• Can you use your device for all work-related communica- tions? The cloud has brought opportunities for people to send classified work information anywhere, anytime. Organizations are concerned about what social media, collaboration, and file-sharing applications are in use, which is fair, but some policies can limit how you use your own device.

• Once you use your personal device for work, where are the boundaries between work and home life? Research indicates that intensive smartphone users, for instance, need to disengage in their off-hours to prevent work–home

stress and burnout. Yet not everyone can do this, even if they are allowed to; research indicates that a signifi- cant proportion of smartphone users felt pressured to access their devices around the clock, whether or not that pressure was warranted.

The clear dilemma for employees is whether to acknowledge you own a smart device, and whether to offer its use for your employer’s convenience. Put that way, it seems obvious to say no: Why would you risk possibly los- ing everything to a corporate swipe? But the convenience of carrying one phone is real. Some people think it’s bet- ter to carry two phones—one for work, another for per- sonal use. Attorney Luke Cocalis tried it and concluded, “It frankly keeps me saner.”

Questions 11-11. Do you use your smartphone or other personal

devices for work? If so, do you think this adds to your stress level or helps you by providing convenience?

11-12. Cocalis likes the two-phone lifestyle and says that his boss has his personal phone number only for emer- gencies. But assistant talent manager Chloe Ifshin reports that it doesn’t work so well in practice. “I have friends who are clients and clients who are friends,” she says, so work contacts end up on her personal phone and friends call her work phone. How does this consideration affect your thinking about using your own device for both work and leisure?

11-13. Organizations are taking steps to protect themselves from what employees might be doing on their per- sonal devices through allowing only approved com- puter programs and stricter policies, but no federal regulations protect employees from these restric- tions. What ethical initiatives might organizations adopt to make this situation fair for everyone?

Sources: Based on S. E. Ante, “Perilous Mix: Cloud, Devices from Home,” The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2014, B4; D. Derks and A. B. Bakker, “Smartphone Use, Work-Home Interference, and Burnout: A Diary Study on the Role of Recovery,” Applied Psychology: An International Review 63, no. 3 (2014): 411–40; L. Duxbury, C. Higgins, R. Smart, and M. Stevenson, “Mobile Technology and Boundary Permeability,” British Journal of Management 25 (2014): 570–88; E. Holmes, “When One Phone Isn’t Enough,” The Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2014, D1, D2; C. Mims, “2014: The Year of Liv- ing Vulnerably,” The Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2014, B1, B2; L. Weber, “Leaving a Job? Better Watch Your Cellphone,” The Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2014; and E. Yost, “Can an Employer Remotely Wipe an Employee’s Cellphone?” HR Magazine (July 2014): 19.

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CASE INCIDENT 1 Do Men and Women Speak the Same Language? We have talked a lot about how culture affects commu- nication style. Did you know that within cultures, men and women may be socialized to have different commu- nication styles? Just as there are cultural communication barriers, there may also be gender-based communication barriers.

When Boston Consulting Group tried to discover why their female employees were less satisfied with their male employees, the answer seemed to be different communi- cation styles. Many women felt that, in order to fit into the predominantly male culture, they had to adopt a more masculine communication style. Carol Kinsey Goman, author of The Nonverbal Advantage: Body Language at Work and founder of Kinsey Consulting, has found many ways men’s and women’s communication style tends to vary. Goman believes that there are advantages and disadvan- tages to stereotypically male and female communication. Female communication styles typically involve reading body language and interpreted nonverbal cues, good lis- tening skills, and displaying empathy. On the other hand, female communication styles may be too roundabout and submissive. Males are encouraged to be authoritative by taking up space, being quick and concise, and empha- sizing power. Yet the stereotypical male communication style also has many weaknesses. Sometimes, by emphasiz- ing conciseness, masculine communication may seem too blunt, insensitive, and overly confident.

Is one communication style more effective? Not accord- ing to Goman. The key is to use the full spectrum of commu- nication and not adopt an extremely masculine or feminine

style. The male communication style is better in situations that require decisiveness, while the female style is more effective in collaborative environments. By tailoring com- munication styles to the situation, employees can be more effective. And by finding a happy medium between the two styles, an employee, male or female, can appear assertive as well as compassionate to their intended audience.

Following this advice, Boston Consulting Group launched a training program to teach upper management how to use both communication styles. While going through the training program, many senior partners realized that they had been encouraging their younger female staff members to adopt a more male communication style without recognizing the advantages of female communica- tion styles. One senior consultant recalled telling a female employee that she would seem more charismatic if she “took up more space.” He also realized that, by being domi- neering in interactions, he was making it harder for women to speak up during their interactions.

Questions 11-14. What are some other situations where having a

stereotypically male communication style may be advantageous? What about situations where having a stereotypically female communication style may be more advantageous?

11-15. How might male and female communication styles differ across cultures?

11-16. Do you feel like your communication style corre- sponds with your gender? Why or why not?

Sources: Based on C. K. Goman, “Is Your Communication Style Dictated By Your Gender?” Forbes, March 31, 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2016/03/31/is-your-communication- style-dictated-by-your-gender/2/#6832ffe555b9, accessed April 13, 2017; and A. Elejalde-Ruiz, “To Retain Women, Consulting Firms Target Gender Communication Differences,” The Chicago Tribune, September 6, 2016, http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-bcg-women-communication-0906-biz- 20160906-story.html, accessed April 13, 2017.

CASE INCIDENT 2 Trying to Cut the Grapevine Whether or not gossip benefits organizations has become a gray area. In some contexts, gossip may be beneficial. Some leaders, such as Aviva Leebow Wolmer, CEO of Pacesetter, believe that gossip can be harnessed by manag- ers to make a positive impact on the organization. While Wolmer generally believes gossip has a negative influence, she also thinks that gossip can be used as a way to bond with coworkers and to create a sense of excitement in the office. In addition, when employees gossip with clients, cli- ents may feel more valued by the company because they were given that which they perceive to be the inside scoop.

What about when gossip alienates an employee? According to anthropologists, humans gained the ability

to gossip through evolution. Gossip allowed our tribal ancestors to form bonds while also learning who to avoid. According to recent research, negative gossip may have been used to identify individuals who had broken norms (see Chapter 9) about sharing with the tribe. By ostracizing the individual who did not act in the best interest of the tribe, the group as a whole benefitted. Unfortunately, in the modern-day workplace, office gos- sip may serve to exclude others. And unlike our tribal ancestors, gossip is often not directed toward employees who have acted against a group. Instead, gossip about a specific individual is often a means of incivility (see Chapter 9).

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An employee can deal with being the target of mali- cious office gossip in several ways. Dr. Berit Brogaard of the University of Miami suggests not confronting the per- son spreading rumors through the grapevine. Instead, reaching out to a supervisor (if they are not also part of the rumor mill) or human resources may beneficial. Alter- natively, openly talking about gossip in a blasé manner may take away the gossiper’s motivation. Like many bul- lying behaviors, gossip is often meant to harm the target emotionally. When the gossiper realizes that he or she isn’t achieving this goal, he or she will sometimes stop.

Gossip can also harm individuals besides the target. Gossip that targets an individual may splinter an office as people take sides. This can lead to low job satisfaction, lower trust, and a decrease in work productivity as people fail to cooperate with each other. And once the office cul- ture takes a turn for the worse, talented employees may

choose to leave for a company with a more positive envi- ronment. Managers can try to avoid this situation by meet- ing with the team and discussing the problem, or creating official policies regarding workplace gossip.

Questions 11-17. What are some tactics employees can use to avoid

being the target of office gossip? 11-18. As discussed in the chapter, there are positive ben-

efits to gossip. How can managers create policies that target negative gossip while also preserving the benefits of positive gossip?

11-19. As stated above, gossip was originally a way to help group members identify an individual who did not act in the best interests of the group. Can gossip ever serve the same purpose in an office? Why or why not?

Sources: Based on M. Schwantes, “Head Off Harmful Office Gossip,” Chicago Tribune, January 30, 2017, http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/success/inc/tca-head-off-harmful-office-gossip-20170130- story.html, accessed April 14, 2017; A. L. Wolmer, “Five Ways to Transform Work Gossip into Posi- tive Communication,” Entrepreneur, April 7, 2017, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/290522, accessed April 14, 2017; L. Dodgson, “Four Ways to Deal with a Coworker Who’s Spreading Gossip about You,” Business Insider, March 22, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-deal-with- gossip-at-work-2017-3?r=UK&IR=T, accessed April 14, 2017; and B. Brogaard, “How to Deal with the Gossipmonger at Your Workplace,” Psychology Today (October 2016), https://www.psychologytoday .com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201610/how-deal-the-gossipmonger-your-workplace, accessed April 14, 2016.

ENDNOTES 1 M. S. Poole, Chapter 7: “Communication,” in S. Zedeck (ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 3 (Washington, DC: APA Book, 2010): 248–70; and R. Wijn and K. van den Bos, “On the Social-Commu- nicative Function of Justice: The Influence of Communication Goals and Personal Involve- ment on the Use of Justice Assertions,” Per- sonality and Social Psychology Bulletin 36, no. 2 (2010): 161–72. 2 R. Swarns, “After Uneasy First Tries, Cowork- ers Find a Way to Talk about Race,” The New York Times, March 23, 2015, A15.

3 D. C. Barnlund, “A Transactional Model of Communication,” in C. D. Mortenson (ed.), Communication Theory (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 2008): 47–57; see K. Byron, “Carrying Too Heavy a Load? The Communi- cation and Miscommunication of Emotion by E-Mail,” Academy of Management Review 33, no. 2 (2008): 309–27. 4 R. E. Kraut, R. S. Fish, R. W. Root, and B. L. Chalfonte, “Informal Communication in Organizations: Form, Function, and Technol- ogy,” in S. Oskamp and S. Spacapan (eds.), People’s Reactions to Technology (Beverly Hills,

CA: Sage, 1990): 145–99; and A. Tenhiaelae and F. Salvador, “Looking inside Glitch Miti- gation Capability: The Effect of Intraorgani- zational Communication Channels,” Decision Sciences 45, no. 3 (2014): 437–66. 5 S. Jhun, Z.-T. Bae, and S.-Y. Rhee, “Perfor- mance Change of Managers in Two Different Uses of Upward Feedback: A Longitudinal Study in Korea,” International Journal of Human Resource Management 23, no. 20 (2012): 4246–64; J. W. Smither and A. G. Walker, “Are the Characteristics of Narrative Com- ments Related to Improvement in Multirater

MyLab Management Writing Assignments If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management for auto-graded writing assignments as well as the following assisted-graded writing assignments:

11-20. Based on Case Incident 1 and your reading of this chapter, how do you think gender differences in commu- nication styles affect diversity in the workplace? What are some of the consequences of these differences?

11-21. Based on the Experiential Exercise and your reading of the chapter material, what are some of the ways that emotions can be shared through e-mail? When would it be advantageous to communicate through e-mail rather than in person?

11-22. MyLab Management only—additional assisted-graded writing assignment.

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Feedback Ratings over Time?,” Journal of Applied Psychology 89, no. 3 (June 2004): 575– 81; and J. H. Bernardin and R. W. Beatty, “Can Subordinate Appraisals Enhance Managerial Productivity?,” Sloan Management Review 28, no. 1 (1987): 63–73. 6 P. Dvorak, “How Understanding the ‘Why’ of Decisions Matters,” The Wall Street Journal, March 19, 2007, B3. 7 T. Neeley and P. Leonardi, “Effective Manag- ers Say the Same Thing Twice (or More),” Harvard Business Review (May 2011): 38–39. 8 H. A. Richardson and S. G. Taylor, “Under- standing Input Events: A Model of Employees’ Responses to Requests for Their Input,” Acad- emy of Management Review 37 (2012): 471–91. 9 J. S. Lublin, “Managers Need to Make Time for Face Time,” The Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2015, B6. 10 B. Oc, M. R. Bashshur, and C. Moore, “Speaking Truth to Power: The Effect of Can- did Feedback on How Individuals with Power Allocate Resources,” Journal of Applied Psychol- ogy 100, no. 2 (2015): 450–63. 11 E. Nichols, “Hyper-Speed Managers,” HR Magazine (April 2007): 107–10. 12 R. Walker, “Declining an Assignment, with Finesse,” The New York Times, August 24, 2014, 8. 13 D. Cray, G. R. Mallory, R. J. Butler, D. Hick- son, and D. Wilson, “Sporadic, Fluid, and Constricted Processes: Three Types of Strate- gic Decision-Making in Organizations,” Journal of Management Studies 25, no. 1 (1988): 13–39. 14 See, for example, N. B. Kurland and L. H. Pelled, “Passing the Word: Toward a Model of Gossip and Power in the Workplace,” Academy of Management Review (April 2000): 428–38; and G. Michelson, A. van Iterson, and K. Wad- dington, “Gossip in Organizations: Contexts, Consequences, and Controversies,” Group and Organization Management 35, no. 4 (2010): 371–90. 15 G. Van Hoye and F. Lievens, “Tapping the Grapevine: A Closer Look at Word-of-Mouth as a Recruitment Source,” Journal of Applied Psychology 94, no. 2 (2009): 341–52. 16 J. K. Bosson, A. B. Johnson, K. Niederhoffer, and W. B. Swann Jr., “Interpersonal Chemistry through Negativity: Bonding by Sharing Nega- tive Attitudes about Others,” Personal Relation- ships 13 (2006): 135–50. 17 T. J. Grosser, V. Lopez-Kidwell, and G. Labi- anca, “A Social Network Analysis of Positive and Negative Gossip in Organizational Life,” Group and Organization Management 35, no. 2 (2010): 177–212. 18 R. Feintzeig, “The Boss’s Next Demand: Make Lots of Friends,” The Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2014, B1, B6. 19 R. E. Silverman, “A Victory for Small Office Talkers,” The Wall Street Journal, October 28, 2014, D2. 20 G. Hirst, D. Van Knippenberg, J. Zhou, E. Quintane, and C. Zhu, “Heard It through the Grapevine: Indirect Networks and Employee

Creativity,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 2 (2015): 567–74. 21 M. Feinberg, R. Willer, J. Stellar, and D. Keltner, “The Virtues of Gossip: Reputational Information Sharing as Prosocial Behavior,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102 (2012): 1015–30; D. L. Brady, D. J. Brown, and L. H. Liang, “Moving Beyond Assumptions of Deviance: The Reconceptualization and Measurement of Workplace Gossip,” Journal of Applied Psychology 102, no. 1 (2017): 1–25. 22 L. Dulye, “Get out of Your Office,” HR Magazine (July 2006): 99–101; and T. Gordon, P.E.T: Parent Effectiveness Training (New York, NY: New American Library, 1975). 23 E. Bernstein, “How Well Are You Listen- ing?” The Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2015, D1. 24 S. Shellenbarger, “Work & Family Mailbox,” The Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2014, D2. 25 E. C. Ravlin, A.-K. Ward, and D. C. Thomas, “Exchanging Social Information across Cul- tural Boundaries,” Journal of Management 40, no. 5 (2014): 1437–65. 26 A. Kessler, “Let’s Call off the Meeting and Get Back to Work,” The Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2015, A13. 27 A. Bryant, “Getting Stuff Done: It’s a Goal, and a Rating System,” The New York Times, March 9, 2013, www.nytimes .com/2013/03/10/business/kris-duggan-of- badgeville-on-the-getting-stuff-done-index .html?pagewanted=all&_r=0. 28 J. Queenan, “Fire Away!—Military Meta- phors,” The Wall Street Journal, March 28–29, 2015, C11. 29 E. Bernstein, “What Verbal Tics May Be Saying about Us,” The Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2014, D3. 30 N. Lehmann-Willenbrock and J. A. Allen, “How Fun Are Your Meetings? Investigating the Relationship between Humor Patterns in Team Interactions and Team Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 6 (2014): 1278–87; M. Mihelich, “Bit by Bit: Stand-up Comedy as a Team-Building Exercise,” Work- force Management (February 2013): 16; and “Comedy Experience,” Peppercomm, http:// peppercomm.com/services/comedy-experience, accessed July 1, 2015. 31 A. Bryant, “Finding, and Owning, Their Voice,” The New York Times, November 16, 2014, 6. 32 T. D. Maynes and P. M. Podsakoff, “Speak- ing More Broadly: An Examination of the Nature, Antecedents, and Consequences of an Expanded Set of Employee Voice Behaviors,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 1 (2014): 87–112. 33 J. Lipman, “A Guide for Men,” The Wall Street Journal, December 13–14, 2014, C1, C2. 34 S. Aryee, F. O. Walumbwa, R. Mondejar, and C. L. Chu, “Core Self-Evaluations and Employee Voice Behavior: Test of a Dual- Motivational Pathway,” Journal of Management 43, no. 3 (2017): 946–66; W. Liu, Z. Song, X.

Li, and Z. Liao, “Why and When Leaders’ Affective States Influence Employee Upward Voice,” Academy of Management Journal 60, no. 1 (2017): 236–63; and M. Chamberlin, D. W. Newton, and J. A. Lepine, “A Meta-Analysis of Voice and Its Promotive and Prohibitive Forms: Identification of Key Associations, Distinctions, and Future Research Directions,” Personnel Psychology 70, no. 1 (2017): 11–71. 35 S. Shellenbarger, “Help! I’m on a Confer- ence Call,” The Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2014, D1, D2. 36 Ibid. 37 Ibid. 38 S. Ovide, “Office Phone Calls Make a Comeback,” The Wall Street Journal, March 13, 2015, B6. 39 P. A. Mueller and D. M. Oppenheimer, “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advan- tages of Longhand over Laptop Note Taking,” Psychological Science 25, no. 6 (2014): 1159–68. 40 N. Bilton, “Disruptions: Life’s Too Short for So Much E-Mail,” The New York Times, July 8, 2012, http://bits.blogs.nytimes .com/2012/07/08/life%E2%80%99s-too- short-for-so-much-e-mail/. 41 “Executive Summary,” Messagemind (2012), www.messagemind.com. 42 S. R. Barley, D. E. Meyerson, and S. Grodal, “E-Mail as a Source and Symbol of Stress,” Organization Science 22, no. 4 (2011): 887–906; and G. J. Mark, S. Voida, and A. V. Cardello, “‘A Pace Not Dictated by Electrons’: An Empirical Study of Work without E-Mail,” Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2012, 555–64. 43 C. L.-L. Tan, “Mind Your E-Mail Manners: No ‘XOXO’ or ‘LOL’ Allowed,” The Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2015. 44 Ibid. 45 E. Bernstein, “The Miscommunicators,” The Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2012, D1, D3. 46 B. Roberts, “Social Media Gets Strategic,” HR Magazine (October 2012): 30–38. 47 “Number of Monthly Active Facebook Users Worldwide as of 1st Quarter 2015 (in Millions),” Statista/Facebook, http://www .statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of- monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/, accessed July 1, 2015. 48 K. Wagner, “The World’s Top CEOs Are Tweeting More, Facebooking Less,” Re/Code, May 17, 2015, http://recode.net/2015/05/ 17/the-worlds-top-ceos-are-tweeting-more- facebooking-less/. 49 Ibid. 50 P. Mozur, J. Osawa, and N. Purnell, “Face- book and WhatsApp a Tough Sell in Asia,” The Wall Street Journal, February 21, 2014, B4. 51 C. Smith, “By the Numbers: 125+ Amaz- ing LinkedIn Statistics,” DMR, June 6, 2015, http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/ by-the-numbers-a-few-important-linkedin- stats/. 52 Wagner, “The World’s Top CEOs Are Tweet- ing More, Facebooking Less.”

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53 “Number of Monthly Active Twitter Users Worldwide from 1st Quarter 2010 to 1st Quarter 2015 (in Millions),” Statista/Twitter, http://www.statista.com/statistics/282087/ number-of-monthly-active-twitter-users/, accessed July 1, 2015. 54 Wagner, “The World’s Top CEOs Are Tweet- ing More, Facebooking Less.” 55 L. Kwoh and M. Korn, “140 Characters of Risk: CEOs on Twitter,” The Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2012, B1, B8. 56 Mozur, Osawa, and Purnell, “Facebook and WhatsApp a Tough Sell in Asia.” 57 Ibid. 58 O. Allen, “6 Stats You Should Know about Business Blogging in 2015,” HubSpot Blogs, March 11, 2015, http://blog.hubspot.com/ marketing/business-blogging-in-2015. 59 L. Talley and S. Temple, “How Leaders Influence Followers through the Use of Non- verbal Communication,” Leadership & Organi- zational Development Journal 36, no. 1 (2015): 69–80. 60 C. K. Goman, “5 Body Language Tips to Increase Your Curb Appeal,” Forbes, March 4, 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/ carolkinseygoman/2013/03/14/5-body- language-tips-to-increase-your-curb-appeal/. 61 A. Metallinou, A. Katsamanis, and S. Narayanan, “Tracking Continuous Emotional Trends of Participants During Affective Dyadic Interactions Using Body Language and Speech Information,” Image and Vision Comput- ing, February 2013, 137–52. 62 J. Smith, “10 Nonverbal Cues That Convey Confidence at Work,” Forbes, March 11, 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/ jacquelynsmith/2013/03/11/10-nonverbal- cues-that-convey-confidence-at-work/. 63 See L. K. Trevino, J. Webster, and E. W. Stein, “Making Connections: Complemen- tary Influences on Communication Media Choices, Attitudes, and Use,” Organization Science (March–April 2000): 163–82; N. Kock, “The Psychobiological Model: Towards a New Theory of Computer-Mediated Com- munication Based on Darwinian Evolution,” Organization Science 15, no. 3 (May–June 2004): 327–48; and R. L. Daft and R. H. Lengel, “Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Struc- tural Design,” Management Science 32, no. 5 (1986): 554–71. 64 S. Shellenbarger, “Is This How You Really Talk?,” The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2013, D1, D3. 65 S. Shellenbarger, “This Embarrasses You and I: Grammar Gaffes Invade the Office in an Age of Informal Email, Texting, and Twit- ter,” The Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2012, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052 702303410404577466662919275448, accessed April 12, 2017. 66 K. Kruse, “Why Successful People Never Bring Smartphones into Meetings,” Forbes, December 26, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/

sites/kevinkruse/2013/12/26/why-successful- people-never-bring-smartphones-into-meetings/. 67 B. Giamanco and K. Gregoire, “Tweet Me, Friend Me, Make Me Buy,” Harvard Business Review, July–August 2012, 88–93. 68 T. Lytle, “Cybersleuthing,” HR Magazine (January 2012): 55–57. 69 J. Segal, “Widening Web of Social Media,” HR Magazine (June 2012): 117–18. 70 “At Many Companies, Hunt for Leakers Expands Arsenal of Monitoring Tactics,” The Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2006, B1, B3; and B. J. Alge, G. A. Ballinger, S. Tangi- rala, and J. L. Oakley, “Information Privacy in Organizations: Empowering Creative and Extrarole Performance,” Journal of Applied Psy- chology 91, no. 1 (2006): 221–32. 71 R. E. Petty and P. Briñol, “Persuasion: From Single to Multiple to Metacognitive Pro- cesses,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 3, no. 2 (2008): 137–47; and F. A. White, M. A. Charles, and J. K. Nelson, “The Role of Per- suasive Arguments in Changing Affirmative Action Attitudes and Expressed Behavior in Higher Education,” Journal of Applied Psychol- ogy 93, no. 6 (2008): 1271–86. 72 K. L. Blankenship and D. T. Wegener, “Opening the Mind to Close It: Consider- ing a Message in Light of Important Values Increases Message Processing and Later Resistance to Change,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 94, no. 2 (2008): 196–213. 73 See, for example, Y. H. M. See, R. E. Petty, and L. R. Fabrigar, “Affective and Cognitive Meta-Bases of Attitudes: Unique Effects of Information Interest and Persuasion,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 94, no. 6 (2008): 938–55; M. S. Key, J. E. Edlund, B. J. Sagarin, and G. Y. Bizer, “Individual Dif- ferences in Susceptibility to Mindlessness,” Personality and Individual Differences 46, no. 3 (2009): 261–64; and M. Reinhard and M. Messner, “The Effects of Source Likeability and Need for Cognition on Advertising Effectiveness under Explicit Persuasion,” Journal of Consumer Behavior 8, no. 4 (2009): 179–91. 74 S. Norton, “A Post-PC CEO: No Desk, No Desktop,” The Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2014, B5. 75 D. Derks, D. van Duin, M. Tims, et al., “Smartphone Use and Work-Home Interfer- ence: The Moderating Role of Social Norms and Employee Work Engagement,” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 88, no. 1 (2015): 155–77; and D. Derks, A. B. Bakker, P. Pascale, and P. van Wingerden, “Work-Related Smartphone Use, Work–Family Conflict and Family Role Performance: The Role of Segmentation Preference,” Human Relations 96, no. 5 (2016): 1045–68. 76 P. Briñol, R. E. Petty, and J. Barden, “Hap- piness versus Sadness as a Determinant of Thought Confidence in Persuasion: A Self- Validation Analysis,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 93, no. 5 (2007): 711–27.

77 R. C. Sinclair, S. E. Moore, M. M. Mark, A. S. Soldat, and C. A. Lavis, “Incidental Moods, Source Likeability, and Persuasion: Liking Motivates Message Elaboration in Happy Peo- ple,” Cognition and Emotion 24, no. 6 (2010): 940–61; and V. Griskevicius, M. N. Shiota, and S. L. Neufeld, “Influence of Different Positive Emotions on Persuasion Processing: A Func- tional Evolutionary Approach,” Emotion 10, no. 2 (2010): 190–206. 78 J. Sandberg, “The Jargon Jumble: Kids Have ‘Skeds,’ Colleagues, ‘Needs,’” The Wall Street Journal, October 24, 2006, http://online.wsj .com/article/SB116165746415401680.html. 79 M. Menegatti and M. Rubini, “Convincing Similar and Dissimilar Others: The Power of Language Abstraction in Political Communi- cation,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 39, no. 5 (2013): 596–607. 80 E. W. Morrison and F. J. Milliken, “Orga- nizational Silence: A Barrier to Change and Development in a Pluralistic World,” Acad- emy of Management Review 25, no. 4 (2000): 706–25; and B. E. Ashforth and V. Anand, “The Normalization of Corruption in Organi- zations,” Research in Organizational Behavior 25 (2003): 1–52. 81 E. W. Morrison, K. E. See., and C. Pan, “An Approach–Inhibition Model of Employee Silence: The Joint Effects of Personal Sense of Power and Target Openness,” Personnel Psychology 68, no. 3 (2015): 547–80; H. P. Madrid, M. G. Patterson, and P. I. Leiva, “Negative Core Affect and Employee Silence: How Differences in Activation, Cognitive Rumination, and Problem-Solving Demands Matter,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 6 (2015): 1887–98; and C. Kiewitz, S. D. Restubog, M. K. Shoss, P. M. Garcia, and R. L. Tang, “Suffering in Silence: Investigating the Role of Fear in the Relationship between Abusive Supervision and Defensive Silence,” Journal of Applied Psychology 101, no. 5 (2016): 731–42. 82 F. J. Milliken, E. W. Morrison, and P. F. Hewlin, “An Exploratory Study of Employee Silence: Issues That Employees Don’t Commu- nicate Upward and Why,” Journal of Manage- ment Studies 40, no. 6 (2003): 1453–76. 83 J. C. Pearson and P. E. Nelson, An Introduc- tion to Human Communication: Understanding and Sharing (8th Ed., New York, NY: McGraw- Hill, 2000); L. A. Withers, and L. L. Vernon, “To Err Is Human: Embarrassment, Attach- ment, and Communication Apprehension,” Personality and Individual Differences 40, no. 1 (2006): 99–110. 84 See, for instance, S. K. Opt and D. A. Lof- fredo, “Rethinking Communication Appre- hension: A Myers-Briggs Perspective,” Journal of Psychology (September 2000): 556–70; and B. D. Blume, G. F. Dreher, and T. T. Baldwin, “Examining the Effects of Communication Apprehension within Assessment Centres,” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psy- chology 83, no. 3 (2010): 663–71.

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85 See, for example, T. L. Rodebaugh, “I Might Look OK, but I’m Still Doubtful, Anxious, and Avoidant: The Mixed Effects of Enhanced Video Feedback on Social Anxiety Symp- toms,” Behaviour Research & Therapy 42, no. 12 (December 2004): 1435–51. 86 K. B. Serota, T. R. Levine, and F. J. Boster, “The Prevalence of Lying in America: Three Studies of Self-Reported Lies,” Human Commu- nication Research 36, no. 1 (2010): 2–25. 87 B. M. DePaulo, D. A. Kashy, S. E. Kirken- dol, M. M. Wyer, and J. A. Epstein, “Lying in Everyday Life”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70, no. 5 (1996): 979–95; and C. E. Naguin, T. R. Kurtzberg, and L. Y. Belkin, “The Finer Points of Lying Online: E-Mail ver- sus Pen and Paper,” Journal of Applied Psychol- ogy 95, no. 2 (2010): 387–94.

88 A. Vrij, P. A. Granhag, and S. Porter, “Pitfalls and Opportunities in Nonverbal and Verbal Lie Detection,” Psychological Science in the Public Interest 11, no. 3 (2010): 89–121. 89 L. Severance, L. Bui-Wrzosinska, M. J. Gel- fand, S. Lyons, A. Nowak, W. Borkowski, N. Soomro, N. Soomro, A. Rafaeli, D. E. Treister, C. Lin, and S. Tamaguchi, “The Psychological Structure of Aggression across Cultures,” Jour- nal of Organizational Behavior 34, no. 6 (2013): 835–65. 90 See E. T. Hall, Beyond Culture (Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976); W. L. Adair, “Integrative Sequences and Negotiation Outcome in Same- and Mixed-Culture Negoti- ations,” International Journal of Conflict Manage- ment 14, no. 3–4 (2003): 1359–92; W. L. Adair and J. M. Brett, “The Negotiation Dance:

Time, Culture, and Behavioral Sequences in Negotiation,” Organization Science 16, no. 1 (2005): 33–51; E. Giebels and P. J. Taylor, “Interaction Patterns in Crisis Negotiations: Persuasive Arguments and Cultural Differ- ences,” Journal of Applied Psychology 94, no. 1 (2009): 5–19; and M. G. Kittler, D. Rygl, and A. Mackinnon, “Beyond Culture or Beyond Control? Reviewing the Use of Hall’s High-/ Low-Context Concept,” International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management 11, no. 1 (2011): 63–82. 91 M. C. Hopson, T. Hart, and G. C. Bell, “Meeting in the Middle: Fred L. Casmir’s Contributions to the Field of Intercultural Communication,” International Journal of Intercultural Relations (November 2012): 789–97.

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Leadership12

12-1 Summarize the conclusions of trait theories of leadership.

12-2 Identify the central tenets and main limitations of behavioral theories.

12-3 Contrast contingency theories of leadership.

12-4 Describe the contemporary theories of leadership and their relationship to foundational theories.

12-5 Discuss the roles of leaders in creating ethical organizations.

12-6 Describe how leaders can have a positive impact on their organiza- tions through building trust and mentoring.

12-7 Identify the challenges to our understanding of leadership.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

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Myth or Science?

Career OBjectives

An Ethical Choice

Point/ Counterpoint

Experiential Exercise

Ethical Dilemma

Case Incident 1

Case Incident 2

Critical Thinking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Collaboration ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Knowledge

Application and Analysis

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Social Responsibility ✓ ✓ ✓

Employability Skills Matrix (ESM)

MyLab Management Chapter Warm Up If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the chapter warm up.

FROM WACKY VISION TO TOTAL HOTEL INDUSTRY DISRUPTION

In 2008, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, design school graduates in Silicon Valley, had a wacky idea. Gebbia’s roommates suddenly moved out, and he needed people to fill the remaining rooms. The idea to host a home- sharing platform came to him and Chesky after Gebbia asked Chesky to take the remaining room. The result was Air Bed & Breakfast (Airbnb). From these humble (and sometimes rocky) beginnings, Airbnb bourgeoned to a $31 billion organization, nearly the same valuation as Marriott Interna- tional, without owning a single room. To date, the company has housed over 150 million guests in over 65,000 cities in over 191 countries. It also has more than 3 million listings worldwide (including over 1,400 castles).

Part of the reason for the major success of Airbnb is its executive leader- ship and top management team. Chesky, as CEO (shown here meeting with an Airbnb host in South Africa), has guided the organization through remark- ably turbulent times throughout its development, with no prior business experience. In 2017, Chesky has been listed as one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune. The caring leadership style of Chesky offers a counter- point to that exhibited by leadership in other sharing-economy brands, such as Uber, who have come under fire for an apparent aggressive and sexist culture and whose CEO, Travis Kalanick, was caught on video verbally berat- ing an Uber driver.

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Perhaps what drives the success of Chesky is the charisma, authentic- ity, and ethicality with which he meets leadership challenges. His mentor, Warren Buffett (CEO of Berkshire Hathaway), notes that Brian “feels it all the way through. I think he would be doing what he’s doing if he didn’t get paid a dime for it.” A trait that Chesky believes is important for handling leadership challenges is humility. Chesky realizes that it is easy for lead- ers to become defensive when they are challenged, but sometimes leaders must take a step back and approach their challenges with humility and acceptance.

Leaders need guidance and help, too. Chesky recognizes that, as lead- ers, “we need to have mentors. I think I’ve always been pretty shameless about seeking out people much smarter and much more experienced than me from the very beginning … and the more successful I got, the more lead- ers I started seeking out, whether it was investors, or Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook, or … Warren Buffett.” Perhaps the ethicality with which Chesky approaches Airbnb is reflected in the company’s new vision statement: “Belong Anywhere.” New leaders within the organization, such as Beth Axel- rod, the new vice president of employee experience, are modeling this mis- sion and enacting it “to create belonging everywhere” through recruitment, selection, employee engagement, and motivation at Airbnb.

Sources: Based on Airbnb, About Us, https://www.airbnb.com/about/about-us, accessed April 12, 2017; L. Gallagher, “Airbnb’s IPO Runway,” Fortune, March 17, 2017, http:// fortune.com/2017/03/17/airbnbs-ipo-runway/; L. Gallagher, “Q&A with Brian Chesky: Disruption, Leadership, and Airbnb’s Future,” Fortune, March 27, 2017, http://fortune .com/2017/03/27/chesky-airbnb-leadership-uber/; L. Gallagher, The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions … and Created Plenty of Con- troversy (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017); L. Gallagher, “Why Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky Is Among the World’s Greatest Leaders,” Fortune, March 24, 2017, http:// fortune.com/2017/03/24/airbnb-brian-chesky-worlds-greatest-leaders/; and V. Zarya, “Exclusive: Meet the Woman Joining Airbnb’s Executive Team,” Fortune, January 13, 2017, http://fortune.com/2017/01/13/airbnb-executive-beth-axelrod/.

Leaders like Brian Chesky possess a special something that sets them apart. However, theirs is not the only type of effective leadership. In this chapter, we’ll look at all types of leaders and what differentiates leaders from nonlead- ers. First, we’ll present trait theories of leadership. Then, we’ll discuss chal- lenges to the meaning and importance of leadership. But before we begin, let’s clarify what we mean by the term leadership.

We define leadership as the ability to influence a group toward the achieve- ment of a vision or set of goals. But not all leaders are managers, nor are all managers leaders. Just because an organization provides its managers with cer- tain formal rights does not mean that they will lead effectively. Leaders can emerge from within a group as well as by formal appointment. Nonsanctioned leadership—the ability to influence that arises outside the formal structure of the organization—is often as important, or more important, than formal influence.

leadership The ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals.

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Organizations need strong leadership and strong management for optimal effectiveness. We need leaders to challenge the status quo, create visions of the future, and inspire organizational members to achieve the visions. We need managers to formulate detailed plans, create efficient organizational struc- tures, and oversee day-to-day operations.

Trait Theories Throughout history, strong leaders have been described by their traits. There- fore, leadership research has long sought to identify the personality, social, physical, or intellectual attributes that differentiate leaders from nonleaders. Trait theories of leadership focus on personal qualities and characteristics.1

For personality, comprehensive reviews of the leadership literature orga- nized around the Big Five framework have found extraversion to be the most predictive trait of effective leadership.2 However, extraversion is perhaps more related to the way leaders emerge than it is related to their effectiveness. Socia- ble and dominant people are more likely to assert themselves in group situ- ations, which can help extraverts be identified as leaders. However, effective leaders do not tend to be domineering. One study found that leaders who scored very high in assertiveness, a facet of extraversion, were less effective than those who were moderately high.3 Extraverted leaders may be more effective when leading groups of passive employees rather than proactive employees.4 Although extraversion can predict effective leadership, the relationship may be due to unique facets of the trait and the situation.

Unlike agreeableness and emotional stability, which do not seem to predict leadership, conscientiousness and openness to experience may predict lead- ership, especially leader effectiveness. For example, multi-source data (i.e., from employees, coworkers, and supervisors) from a Fortune 500 organiza- tion suggest that conscientiousness facets, such as achievement striving and dutifulness, are related to leader emergence.5 Also, achievement striving and dependability were found to be related to effectiveness as a manager.6 In sum, leaders who like being around people, who can assert themselves (extra- verted), and who are disciplined and able to keep commitments they make (conscientious) have an apparent advantage when it comes to leadership.

What about the Dark Side personality traits of Machiavellianism, narcis- sism, and psychopathy (see Chapter 5)? Research indicates they’re not all bad for leadership. A study in Europe and the United States found that normative (midrange) scores on the Dark Side personality traits were optimal, while low (and high) scores were associated with ineffective leadership. The study sug- gested that high emotional stability may accentuate the ineffective behaviors.7 However, higher scores on Dark Side traits and emotional stability can contrib- ute to leadership emergence. Thankfully, both this study and other interna- tional research indicate that building self-awareness and self-regulation skills may be helpful for leaders to control the effects of their Dark Side traits.8

Another trait that may indicate effective leadership is emotional intelligence (EI), discussed in Chapter 4. A core component of EI is empathy. Empathetic

12-1 Summarize the conclu-sions of trait theories of leadership.

trait theories of leadership Theories that consider personal qualities and characteris- tics that differentiate leaders from nonleaders.

MyLab Management Watch It If your professor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the video exercise.

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leaders can sense others’ needs, listen to what followers say (and don’t say), and read the reactions of others. A leader who displays and manages emotions effectively will find it easier to influence the feelings of followers by express- ing genuine sympathy and enthusiasm for good performance, and by showing irritation when employees fail to perform.9 Although the association between leaders’ self-reported EI and transformational leadership (to be discussed later in this chapter) was moderate, it is much weaker when followers rate their lead- ers’ leadership behaviors.10 However, research has demonstrated that people high in EI are more likely to emerge as leaders, even after taking cognitive abil- ity and personality into account.11

Based on the latest findings, we offer two conclusions. First, we can say that traits can predict leadership. Second, traits do a better job predicting the emer- gence of leaders than distinguishing between effective and ineffective leaders.12 The fact that an individual exhibits the right traits and others consider that per- son a leader does not necessarily mean he or she will be an effective one.

Trait theories help us predict leadership, but they don’t fully explain leader- ship. What do successful leaders do that makes them effective? Are different types of leader behaviors equally effective? Behavioral theories, discussed next, help us define the parameters of leadership.

Behavioral Theories Trait research provides a basis for selecting the right people for leadership. Behavioral theories of leadership, in contrast, imply we can train people to be leaders.

The most comprehensive behavioral theories of leadership resulted from the Ohio State Studies,13 which sought to identify independent dimensions of leader behavior. Beginning with more than a thousand dimensions, the studies narrowed the list to two that substantially accounted for most of the leadership behavior described by employees: initiating structure and consideration.

Initiating structure is the extent to which a leader defines and structures his or her role and those of the subordinates to facilitate goal attainment.

12-2 Identify the central tenets and main limitations of behavioral theories.

behavioral theories of leadership Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from nonleaders.

initiating structure The extent to which a leader defines and structures his or her role and those of the subordinates to facilitate goal attainment.

As the CEO of Women’s Bean Project, Tamra Ryan leads a team of pro- fessionals in managing the social enterprise that helps women earn a living while teaching them work and life skills. Her traits of extraversion, conscientiousness, confidence, and emotional stability contribute to her success. Source: David Zalubowski/AP Images

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It includes behavior that attempts to organize work, work relationships, and goals. A leader high in initiating structure is someone who assigns follow- ers particular tasks, sets definite standards of performance, and emphasizes deadlines.

Consideration is the extent to which a leader has job relationships that are characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas, and regard for their feelings. A leader high in consideration helps employees with personal problems, is friendly and approachable, treats all employees as equals, and expresses appreciation and support (people-oriented). Most of us want to work for considerate leaders—when asked to indicate what most motivated them at work, 66 percent of U.S. employees surveyed mentioned appreciation.14

The results of behavioral theory studies have been fairly positive. For exam- ple, one review found the followers of leaders high in consideration (and, to a lesser degree, initiating structure) were more satisfied with their jobs, were more motivated, and had more respect for their leaders. Both consideration and initiating structure were found to be moderately related to leader and group performance along with ratings of leader effectiveness.15 However,

consideration The extent to which a leader has job relationships that are characterized by mutual trust, respect for subordinates’ ideas, and regard for their feelings.

Career OBjectives How can I get my boss to be a better leader?

My boss is the CEO, and she’s a gos- sipy, in-your-business oversharer. She’s always asking our top management team personal questions and sharing information with anyone. The other day, I caught her e-mailing my col- league about my salary and career prospects! What should I do about her poor leadership?

— Phil Dear Phil, Nobody likes an oversharer! Perhaps your boss isn’t aware of the impact of her behavior and thinks she is just being friendly. Assuming this is the case, you might be able to make her think first before sharing. If you’re comfortable addressing her, you may suggest a private meeting to discuss your concerns. You should bring a list of the types of information she solic- its and shares—with an example or two—and, if she’s open to discus- sion, problem-solve with her about her habit. She may see that her open-book approach is undermining her leader- ship effectiveness.

Another tactic might be starting with researching the best privacy practices, laws, and business guidelines. Be sure

to source your organization’s human resources handbook for any men- tions of privacy expectations. Then, in your meeting, you could present your research findings.

With both direct approaches, you run the risk of offending your boss, which may very well happen if she becomes embarrassed. And she may defend her behavior and not see the problem if her oversharing is actually strategic gossip, which could have ramifications for what she then thinks and says about you!

These approaches still might be worth trying, but from what you’ve said about her, it’s highly unlikely she will change her general behavior. Research indicates that her personal tendencies will prevail over time. It sounds like she is extraverted, for instance, and you’re not going to change that. She may be clever and manipulative, purposefully leveraging her information for personal gain without a concern for others (high- Machiavellian or narcissistic). In that case self-awareness can help, but her behavior won’t change unless she is willing to practice self-regulation.

Perhaps most important, it doesn’t seem that you like your boss. This may

be a real problem that you cannot sur- mount. How are you going to build a relationship of trust with her, trust that will be needed for you to continue to feel motivated and work hard? Unfortu- nately, if you cannot thrive in this envi- ronment, it may be best to move on.

Good luck for your best possible outcome!

Sources: Based on A. E. Colbert, M. R. Barrick, and B. H. Bradley, “Personality and Leadership Composition in Top Man- agement Teams: Implications for Organiza- tional Effectiveness,” Personnel Psychology 67 (2014): 351–87; R. B. Kaiser, J. M. LeBreton, and J. Hogan, “The Dark Side of Personality and Extreme Leader Behavior,” Applied Psychology: An International Review 64, no. 1 (2015): 55–92; and R. Walker, “A  Boss Who Shares Too Much,” The New York Times, December 28, 2014, 7.

The opinions provided here are of the man- agers and authors only and do not neces- sarily reflect those of their organizations. The authors or managers are not respon- sible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this  infor- mation. In no event will the authors or managers, or their related partnerships or corporations thereof, be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the opinions provided here.

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results of behavioral theory tests may vary across cultures. Research from the GLOBE program—a study of 18,000 leaders from 825 organizations in 62 countries that was discussed in Chapter 5—suggested there are international differences in the preference for initiating structure and consideration.16 The study found that leaders high in consideration succeeded best in countries where cultural values did not favor unilateral decision making, such as Brazil. In contrast, the French have a more bureaucratic view of leaders and are less likely to expect them to be humane and considerate. A leader high in initiating structure (relatively task-oriented) will do best there and can make decisions in a relatively autocratic manner. In other cultures, both dimensions may be important—Chinese culture emphasizes being polite, considerate, and unself- ish, but it has a high-performance orientation. Thus, consideration and initiat- ing structure may both be important for a manager to be effective in China.

Summary of Trait Theories and Behavioral Theories In general, research indicates there is validity for both the trait and behavioral theories. Parts of each theory can help explain facets of leadership emergence and effectiveness. However, identifying the exact relationships is not a simple task. The first difficulty is in correctly identifying whether a trait or a behavior predicts a certain outcome. The second is in exploring which combinations of traits and behaviors yield certain outcomes. The third challenge is to deter- mine the causality of traits to behaviors so that predictions toward desirable leadership outcomes can be made.

As important as traits and behaviors are in identifying effective or ineffec- tive leaders, they do not guarantee success. Some leaders may have the right traits or display the right behaviors and still fail. Context matters too, which has given rise to the contingency theories we discuss next.

Contingency Theories Some leaders seem to gain a lot of admirers when they take over struggling companies and lead them out of crises. However, predicting leadership success is more complex than finding a few “heroes” to help lift the organization out of the mire. Also, the leadership style that works in tough times doesn’t necessarily translate to long-term success. According to Fred Fiedler, it appears that under condition a, leadership style x would be appropriate, whereas style y would be more suitable for condition b, and style z for condition c. But what were condi- tions a, b, and c? We next consider the Fiedler model, one approach to isolating situational variables.

The Fiedler Model Fred Fiedler developed the first comprehensive contingency model for lead- ership.17 The Fiedler contingency model proposes that group performance depends on the proper match between the leader’s style and the degree to which the situation gives the leader control. According to this model, the indi- vidual’s leadership style is assumed to be stable or permanent. The least pre- ferred coworker (LPC) questionnaire identifies whether a person is task-oriented or relationship-oriented by asking respondents to think of all the coworkers they have ever had and describe the one they least enjoyed working with.18 If you describe this person in favorable terms (a high LPC score), you are relationship- oriented. If you see your least-preferred coworker in unfavorable terms (a low LPC score), you are primarily interested in productivity and are task-oriented.

12-3 Contrast contingency theories of leadership.

Fiedler contingency model The theory that effective groups depend on a proper match between a leader’s style of interacting with subordinates and the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leader.

least preferred coworker (LPC) questionnaire An instrument that purports to measure whether a person is task- or relationship-oriented.

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After finding a score, a fit must be found between the organizational situa- tion and the leader’s style for there to be leadership effectiveness. We can assess the situation in terms of three contingency or situational dimensions:

1. Leader–member relations is the degree of confidence, trust, and respect that members have in their leader.

2. Task structure is the degree to which the job assignments are regimented (that is, structured or unstructured).

3. Position power is the degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases.

According to the model, the higher the task structure, the more procedures are added, and the stronger the position power, the more control the leader has. A very favorable situation (in which the leader has a great deal of control) might include a payroll manager who has the respect and confidence of his or her employees (good leader–member relations); activities that are clear and specific—such as wage computation, check writing, and report filing (high task structure); and considerable freedom to reward and punish employees (strong position power). The favorable situations are on the left side of the model in Exhibit 12-1. An unfavorable situation, to the right in the exhibit, might be that of the disliked chairperson of a volunteer United Way fundraising team (low leader–member relations, low task structure, low position power). In this job, the leader has very little control. When faced with a category I, II, III, VII, or VIII situation, task-oriented leaders perform better. Relationship-oriented leaders (represented by the solid line), however, perform better in moderately favorable situations—categories IV, V, and VI.

Studies testing the overall validity of the Fiedler model were initially sup- portive, but the model hasn’t been studied much in recent years.19 While it provides some insights that we should consider, its strict practical application is problematic.

leader–member relations The degree of confidence, trust, and respect that subordinates have in their leader.

task structure The degree to which job assignments are regimented.

position power Influence derived from one’s formal structural position in the organization; includes the power to hire, fire, discipline, promote, and give salary increases.

Findings from the Fiedler ModelExhibit 12-1

Good

High

Strong

Good

High

Weak

Good

Low

Strong

Good

Task oriented

Relationship oriented

Good

Poor

Category

Leader–member relations

Task structure

Position power

Favorable Moderate Unfavorable

Pe rf

or m

an ce

Low

Weak

Poor

High

Strong

Poor

High

Weak

Poor

Low

Strong

Poor

Low

Weak

I II III IV V VI VII VIII

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400 PART 3 The Group

Situational Leadership Theory Situational leadership theory (SLT) focuses on the followers. It says that suc- cessful leadership depends on selecting the right leadership style contingent on the followers’ readiness, the extent to which followers are willing and able to accomplish a specific task. A leader should choose one of four behaviors depending on follower readiness.20

If followers are unable and unwilling to do a task, the leader needs to give clear and specific directions; if they are unable but willing, the leader needs to display a high task orientation to compensate for followers’ lack of ability, and high relationship orientation to get them to accept the leader’s desires. If fol- lowers are able but unwilling, the leader needs to use a supportive and participa- tive style; if they are both able and willing, the leader doesn’t need to do much.

SLT has intuitive appeal. It acknowledges the importance of followers and builds on the logic that leaders can compensate for followers’ limited ability and motivation. Yet research efforts to test and support the theory have gener- ally been disappointing.21 Why? Possible explanations include internal ambi- guities and inconsistencies in the model itself, as well as problems with research methodology. Despite its intuitive appeal and wide popularity, any endorse- ment must be cautious for now.

Path–Goal Theory Developed by Robert House, path–goal theory extracts elements from the research on initiating structure and consideration, and on the expectancy theory of motivation.22 Path–goal theory suggests that it’s the leader’s job to provide followers with information, support, or other resources necessary to achieve goals. (The term path–goal implies effective leaders clarify followers’ paths to their work goals and make the journey easier by reducing roadblocks.) The theory predicts the following:

• Directive leadership yields greater employee satisfaction when tasks are ambiguous or stressful than when they are highly structured and well laid out.

• Supportive leadership results in high employee performance and satisfaction when employees are performing structured tasks.

• Directive leadership is likely to be perceived as redundant among employees with high ability or considerable experience.

Like SLT, path–goal theory has intuitive appeal, especially from a goal attainment perspective. Also like SLT, the theory can be adopted only cau- tiously for application, but it is a useful framework in examining the vital role of leadership.23

Leader–Participation Model The final contingency theory we cover argues that the way the leader makes decisions is as important as what he or she decides. The leader–participation model relates leadership behavior to subordinate participation in decision making.24 Like path–goal theory, it says that leader behavior must adjust to reflect the task structure (such as routine, nonroutine, or in between), but it does not cover all leadership behaviors and is limited to recommending what types of decisions might be best made with subordinate participation. It lays the groundwork for the situations and leadership behaviors most likely to elicit acceptance from subordinates.

As one leadership scholar noted, “Leaders do not exist in a vacuum”; lead- ership is a symbiotic relationship between leaders and followers.25 But the theo- ries we’ve covered to this point assume that leaders use a homogeneous style

situational leadership theory (SLT) A contingency theory that focuses on followers’ readiness to accomplish a specific task.

path–goal theory A theory stating that it is the leader’s job to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide the necessary direction and/or support to ensure that their goals are compatible with the overall objectives of the group or organization.

leader–participation model A leadership theory that provides a set of rules to determine the form and amount of participative decision making in different situations.

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Leadership CHAPTER 12 401

with everyone in their work unit. Think about your experiences in groups. Did leaders often act very differently toward different people? Before we dig into differences between leaders, consider the OB Poll—and your own quest for leadership skills.

Contemporary Theories of Leadership Leaders are important—to organizations, and to employees. The understand- ing of leadership is a constantly evolving science. Contemporary theories have been built on the foundation we’ve just established to discover unique ways leaders emerge, influence, and guide their employees and organizations. Let’s explore some of the current leading concepts, and look for aspects of the theo- ries we’ve discussed already throughout.

Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) Theory Think of a leader you know. Does this leader have favorites who make up an ingroup? If you answered yes, you’re acknowledging leader–member exchange theory.26 Leader–member exchange (LMX) theory argues that, because of time pressures, leaders establish a special relationship with a small group of their followers. These individuals make up the ingroup—they are trusted, get a dis- proportionate amount of the leader’s attention, and are more likely to receive special privileges. Other followers fall into the outgroup.

LMX theory proposes that early in the history of the interaction between a leader and a given follower, the leader implicitly categorizes the follower as an “in” or an “out”; that relationship becomes relatively stable over time. Leaders induce LMX by rewarding employees with whom they want a closer linkage and punishing those with whom they do not.27 For the LMX relationship to remain intact, the leader and the follower must invest in the relationship.

Just how the leader chooses who falls into each category is unclear, but there is evidence that ingroup members have demographic, attitude, and per- sonality characteristics that are similar to those of their leader or a higher level

12-4 Describe the con-temporary theories of leadership and their rela- tionship to foundational theories.

leader–member exchange (LMX) theory A theory that supports leaders’ creation of ingroups and outgroups; subordinates with ingroup status have higher performance ratings, less turnover, and greater job satisfaction.

Reading leadership materials Attending

conferences

Obtaining employee feedback

Listening to mentor

Nothing

Other activities, such as obtaining further education

24%

24% 27%

6%

19%

OB POLL How Are You Developing Your Leadership Skills?

Note: Survey of 700 respondents. Source: Based on J. Brox, “The Results Are In: How Do You Ensure You’re Constantly Developing as a Leader?” May 14, 2013, http://www .refreshleadership.com/index.php/2013/05/results-ensure-youre-constantly-developing-leader/#more-4732.

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of competence than outgroup members28 (see Exhibit 12-2). Leaders and fol- lowers of the same gender tend to have closer (higher LMX) relationships than those of different genders.29 Even though the leader does the choosing, the follower’s characteristics drive the categorizing decision.

Research to test LMX theory has been generally supportive, with substantive evidence that leaders do differentiate among followers. These disparities are far from random. Followers with ingroup status receive higher performance ratings, engage in more helping or citizenship behaviors at work, engage in less deviant or counterproductive behaviors at work, and report greater satisfac- tion with their superior.30 LMX influences these work outcomes by improving employee trust, motivation, empowerment, and job satisfaction (although trust in the leader has the largest effect).31 One study conducted in an entrepre- neurial firm in southeast China found LMX is related to creative and innova- tive behavior.32

Recent research has also clarified how LMX changes over time, what happens when there is more than one leader supervising an employee, and whether the effects of LMX spreads outside the workplace. For one, it seems as if newer employees experience the development of LMX differently than employees who have been there longer—justice tends to matter more to the newer employees.33 When employees have two leaders, the degree of LMX with both matters—and if an employee has high LMX with one leader and low LMX with the other, it matters more if the “primary” leader LMX is low.34 Finally, recent research in India suggests that when employees who leave their organi- zations have good LMX with their old boss, they tend to have higher salaries, better responsibilities, and more goodwill toward their old company.35

When the treatment of the ingroup is starkly different from the treatment of the outgroup (e.g., when the leader plays favorites), research indicates that both the ingroup and the outgroup realize negative effects from LMX. For example, a study in Turkey demonstrated that when leaders differentiated strongly among their followers in terms of their relationships (some follow- ers had very positive leader–member exchange, others very poor), employees from both groups responded with more negative work attitudes and higher levels of withdrawal behavior.36 One study in China and the United States indicated that differential leadership treatment hurts team trust and percep- tions of procedural justice, especially when the team members work closely together.37 Other research indicated that, although ingroup team members showed increased performance, the team as a whole became uncoordinated in the LMX environment and overall performance suffered.38 Close-knit

Leader–Member Exchange TheoryExhibit 12-2

Personal compatibility, subordinate competence,

and/or extraverted personality Leader

TrustHelpfulness High interactions

Formal relations

Ingroup Outgroup

Subordinate A

Subordinate B

Subordinate C

Subordinate D

Subordinate E

Subordinate F

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Leadership CHAPTER 12 403

teams may be able to help outgroup members to retain their confidence and self-efficacy by offering a supportive environment39 at the cost of the relation- ship between employees and leaders.

Charismatic Leadership Do you think leaders are born and not made, or made and not born? True, an individual may be literally born into a leadership position (think family heirs with surnames like Ford and Hilton), be endowed with a leadership position due to past accomplishments (like CEOs who worked their way up the orga- nizational ranks), or be informally acknowledged as a leader (like a Twitter employee who knows everything because he was “there at the start”). But here, we are talking not about how leaders attain their roles; rather, we are focused on what makes great leaders extraordinary. Two contemporary leadership theories—charismatic leadership and transformational leadership—share a common theme in the great leader debate: They view leaders as individuals who inspire followers through words, ideas, and behaviors.

What Is Charismatic Leadership? Sociologist Max Weber defined charisma (from the Greek for “gift”) as “a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he or she is set apart from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These are not accessible to the ordinary person and are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the indi- vidual concerned is treated as a leader.”40

The first researcher to consider charismatic leadership in terms of Orga- nizational Behavior (OB) was Robert House. According to charismatic leadership theory, followers attribute heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors, and tend to give these leaders power.41 A number of studies have attempted to identify the characteristics of charismatic leaders: They have a vision, have a sense of mission, are willing to take personal risks, are sensitive to their followers’ needs, have confidence that

charismatic leadership theory A leadership theory stating that followers make attributions of heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors in others.

Nick Woodman, founder and CEO of digital camcorder company GoPro, is a charismatic leader: energetic, enthusi- astic, optimistic, confident, and extra- verted. Woodman’s charisma inspires his employees to work toward GoPro’s vision of enabling people to share their lives through photos and videos. Source: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg/Getty Images

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their vision could be achieved, and engage in unconventional behaviors (i.e., they “go against the flow”)42 (see Exhibit 12-3).

Are Charismatic Leaders Born or Made? Are charismatic leaders born with their qualities? Or can people learn to be charismatic leaders? Yes, and yes.

Individuals are born with personality traits that make them more charis- matic, on average. Personality is also related to charismatic leadership; char- ismatic leaders are likely to be emotionally stable and extraverted, although these traits are most likely to influence charismatic leader behaviors in stress- ful, fast-changing environments.43 Consider the legendary qualities of U.S. presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Ronald Reagan and U.K. prime minister Margaret Thatcher when they were in office: Whether you liked them or not, they are often compared because they all exhibited the qualities of charismatic leaders.

Research indicates that charismatic leadership is not only the province of world leaders—all of us can develop, within our own limitations, a more char- ismatic leadership style. One study of German managers suggests that train- ing managers to be inspirational in their communications with followers was successful at increasing related charismatic behaviors.44 To develop an aura of charisma, use your passion as a catalyst for generating enthusiasm. Speak in an animated voice, reinforce your message with eye contact and facial expressions, and gesture for emphasis. Bring out the potential in followers by tapping into their emotions, and create a bond that inspires them. Remember, enthusiasm is contagious!

How Charismatic Leaders Influence Followers How do charismatic leaders influ- ence followers? By articulating an appealing vision, a long-term strategy for attaining a goal by linking the present with a better future for the organiza- tion.45 Desirable visions fit the organization’s circumstances and reflect the uniqueness of the organization. Thus, followers are inspired not only by how passionately the leader communicates—there must be an underlying vision that appeals to followers as well.

A vision needs an accompanying vision statement, a formal articulation of an organization’s vision or mission.46 Charismatic leaders may use vision state- ments to imprint on followers an overarching goal and purpose. Through words and actions, the leader conveys a new set of values and sets an example for followers to imitate.

Research indicates that charismatic leadership works as followers “catch” the emotions that their leader is conveying, which leads them to identify affectively

vision A long-term strategy for attaining a goal or goals.

vision statement A formal articulation of an organization’s vision or mission.

Key Characteristics of a Charismatic LeaderExhibit 12-3

1. Vision and articulation. Has a vision—expressed as an idealized goal—that proposes a future better than the status quo; able to clarify the importance of the vision in terms that are understandable to others.

2. Personal risk. Willing to take on high personal risk, incur high costs, and engage in self- sacrifice to achieve the vision.

3. Sensitivity to follower needs. Perceptive of others’ abilities and responsive to their needs and feelings.

4. Unconventional behavior. Engages in behaviors that are perceived as novel and counter to norms.

Source: Based on J. A. Conger and R. N. Kanungo, Charismatic Leadership in Organizations (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998), 94.

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Leadership CHAPTER 12 405

with the organization.47 Another study examining archival data on U.S. presi- dential elections found that followers tend to attribute charismatic leadership qualities to the candidate when she or he has a history of charismatic leader behaviors; when the leadership history is unclear, followers compare the can- didate with a mental prototype, or model, of a charismatic leader.48 Notably, char- ismatic managers may seem to have an air of mystique and magnetism around them: These perceptions are aroused when they seem to be successful for mys- terious reasons and when the effects of their charisma spread across followers.49

Some personalities are especially susceptible to charismatic leadership.50 For instance, an individual who lacks self-esteem and questions his or her self- worth is more likely to absorb a leader’s direction rather than establish an indi- vidual way of leading or thinking. For these people, the situation may matter much less than the charismatic qualities of the leader.

Does Effective Charismatic Leadership Depend on the Situation? Charismatic leadership has positive effects across many contexts. However, there are char- acteristics of followers, and of the situation, that enhance or somewhat limit its effects.

One factor that enhances charismatic leadership is stress. People are espe- cially receptive to charismatic leadership when they sense a crisis or when they are under stress, perhaps because we think bold leadership is needed. Some of it, however, may be more primal. When people are psychologically aroused, even in laboratory studies, they are more likely to respond to charismatic lead- ers.51 This may explain why, when charismatic leaders surface, it’s likely to be in politics or religion, during wartime, or when a business is in its infancy or fac- ing a threatening crisis. For example, U.S. president Donald J. Trump offered a charismatic vision “to make America great again” by alleviating job insecurity and strengthening border security and public safety.52 Sleep deprivation can have a big impact on both leaders and followers: Sleep deprivation can reduce charismatic leadership by reducing deep acting (see Chapter 4).53

You may wonder whether a situational factor limiting charisma is the per- son’s level in the organization. Top executives create vision. You might assume that it is more difficult to utilize a person’s charismatic leadership qualities in lower-level management jobs or to align his or her vision with specific top- management goals. While charismatic leadership may be more important in the upper echelons of organizations, it can be effective from a distance, or from close range.

The Dark Side of Charismatic Leadership Unfortunately, charismatic leaders who are larger than life don’t necessarily act in the best interests of their organizations.54 Research has shown that individuals who are narcissistic are also higher in some behaviors associated with charismatic leadership.55 Many charismatic—but corrupt—leaders have allowed their personal goals to over- ride the goals of their organizations. Leaders at Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, and HealthSouth recklessly used organizational resources for their personal benefit and unethically violated laws to inflate stock prices, and then cashed in millions of dollars in personal stock options. Some charismatic leaders— Hitler, for example—are all too successful at convincing their followers to pursue a disastrous vision. If charisma is power, then that power can be used for good and for ill.

It’s not that charismatic leadership isn’t effective; overall, it is. But a charis- matic leader isn’t always the answer. Success depends, to some extent, on the situation and on the leader’s vision, and on the organizational checks and bal- ances in place to monitor the outcomes.

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Transactional and Transformational Leadership Charismatic leadership theory relies on leaders’ ability to inspire followers to believe in them. In contrast, Fiedler’s model, situational leadership theory, and path–goal theory describe transactional leaders, who guide their follow- ers toward established goals by clarifying role and task requirements. A stream of research has focused on differentiating transactional from transformational leaders,56 who inspire followers to transcend their self-interests for the good of the organization. Transformational leaders and their teams and organiza- tions perform well and can have an extraordinary effect on their followers, who respond with increased performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), creativity, job satisfaction, mental health, and motivation.57 Richard Branson of the Virgin Group is a good example of a transformational leader. He pays attention to the concerns and needs of individual followers, changes followers’ awareness of issues by helping them look at old problems in innova- tive ways, and excites and inspires followers to put forth extra effort to achieve group goals. Research suggests that transformational leaders are most effective when their followers can see the positive impact of their work through direct interaction with customers or other beneficiaries.58 Exhibit 12-4 briefly identi- fies and defines characteristics that differentiate transactional from transforma- tional leaders.

Transactional and transformational leadership complement each other; they aren’t opposing approaches to getting things done.59 The best leaders are transactional and transformational. Transformational leadership builds on trans- actional leadership and produces levels of follower effort and performance beyond what transactional leadership alone can do. One review suggests that transformational and transactional leadership may be more or less important depending on the outcome. Although both tend to be important, it appears that transformational leadership is more important for group performance

transactional leaders Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements.

transformational leaders Leaders who inspire, act as role models, and intellectually stimulate, develop, or mentor their followers, thus having a profound and extraordinary effect on them.

Characteristics of Transactional and Transformational Leaders

Exhibit 12-4

Transactional Leader

Contingent Reward: Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises rewards for good performance, recognizes accomplishments.

Management by Exception (active): Watches and searches for deviations from rules and standards, takes corrective action.

Management by Exception (passive): Intervenes only if standards are not met.

Laissez-Faire: Abdicates responsibilities, avoids making decisions.

Transformational Leader

Idealized Influence: Provides vision and sense of mission, instills pride, gains respect and trust.

Inspirational Motivation: Communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, expresses important purposes in simple ways.

Intellectual Stimulation: Promotes intelligence, rationality, and careful problem solving.

Individualized Consideration: Gives personal attention, treats each employee individually, coaches, advises.

Sources: Based on B. M. Bass, Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations (New York, NY: Free Press, 1990); and T. A. Judge and R. F. Piccolo, “Transformational and Transactional Leadership: A Meta-Analytic Test of Their Relative Validity,” Journal of Applied Psychology 89, no. 5 (2004): 755–68.

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and satisfaction with the leader, whereas transactional leadership (primarily contingent reward) is more important for leader effectiveness and follower job satisfaction.60

Full Range of Leadership Model Exhibit 12-5 shows the full range of leadership model. Laissez-faire, which literally means “let it be” (do nothing), is the most passive and therefore least effective of leader behaviors.61 Management by exception (active or passive), in which leaders primarily “put out fires” when there are crisis exceptions to normal operating procedures, means they are often too late to be effective. Contingent reward leadership, which gives prede- termined rewards for employee efforts, can be an effective style of leadership but will not get employees to go above and beyond the call of duty.

With the four remaining styles—all aspects of transformational leadership— leaders are best able to motivate followers to perform above expectations and transcend their self-interest for the sake of the organization. Individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and ideal- ized influence (known as the “four I’s”) all result in excellent organizational outcomes.

How Transformational Leadership Works Overall, most research suggests that the reason transformational leadership works is that it inspires and motivates followers. For example, research in Germany and Switzerland found that transformational leadership improves employee job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and commitment to the leader by fulfilling follower autonomy, competence,

full range of leadership model A model that depicts seven management styles on a continuum: laissez-faire, management by exception, contingent reward leadership, individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence.

Full Range of Leadership ModelExhibit 12-5

Idealized Influence

Inspirational Motivation

Intellectual Stimulation

Individualized Consideration

Contingent Reward

Management by Exception

Laissez-Faire

Passive Active

Ineffective

Tr an

sa cti

on al

Tr an

sfo rm

at io

na l

Effective

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and relatedness needs (see the discussion of self-determination theory in Chapter 7).62 One study found that transformational leadership leads to increased job performance and OCB by empowering employees (see Chapter 3), especially in more organic organizations (i.e., organizations that are adaptive and that have fluid roles, shared values, and reciprocal communication).63 Other research in China found that transformational leadership positively influenced workers’ helping behaviors through improving employee trust in their leaders along with prosocial motivation.64 Multiple studies in Israel and the United Kingdom suggest that transformational leadership can improve workplace safety by increasing intrinsic motivation and prevention focus (see Chapter 7).65

Companies with transformational leaders often show greater agreement among top managers about the organization’s goals, which yields superior organizational performance.66 The Israeli military has seen comparable results, showing that transformational leaders improve performance by build- ing consensus among group members.67 Research in high-tech organizations in northwestern China suggests that companies with a dual-focused transfor- mational leadership, which is directed toward leading each employee as well as the entire team, can help improve employee outcomes such as creativity by developing employees’ skills and facilitating knowledge sharing throughout the team.68 Individual-focused transformational leadership is behavior that empowers individual followers to develop ideas, enhance their abilities, and increase self-efficacy. Team-focused transformational leadership emphasizes group goals, shared values and beliefs, and unified efforts. However, research in China suggested that, in team situations, the members’ identification with the group could override the effects of transformational leadership.69

Evaluation of Transformational Leadership Transformational leadership has been supported at diverse job levels and occupations (school principals,

Myth or Science? Top Leaders Feel the Most Stress

L eaders of corporations fight pres-sures from their boards, custom-ers, managers, and employees. Wouldn’t it stand to reason they are the most stressed people in their orga- nizations? Apparently not. According to studies from Harvard University, the University of California–San Diego, and Stanford University, leadership brings a blissful relief from the stress felt by individuals who are not in managerial roles. Not only did leaders report less anxiety than nonleaders, their corti- sol (stress hormone) levels were also lower, indicating they were biologically less likely to register stress. Another study found that individuals in higher- status occupational groups registered

less perceived stress and lower blood pressure readings than those in lower status occupations.

If you’re thinking this is one more reason that it’s better at the top, you may be right, if only partially. It is true that leaders appear to show fewer signs of stress by being leaders, regardless of higher income or longer job tenure. How- ever, researchers found no “magic level” in an organization at which employees felt a reduction in stress levels.

One study indicated that stress reduction correlates with feelings of control. Leaders with more subor- dinates and greater power felt less stress than other individuals who knew they had less control over outcomes.

Top leaders who control the resources of their corporations and have plenty of employees to carry out their directives therefore can fight stressors before they affect them.

Sources: Based on M. Korn, “Top-Level Lead- ers Have Less Stress Than Others,” The Wall Street Journal, October 3, 2012, B6; G. D. Sherman, J. J. Lee, A. J. C. Cuddy, J. Renshon, C. Oveis, J. J. Gross, and J. S. Lerner, “Leadership Is Associated with Lower Levels of Stress,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109, no. 44 (2012): 17903–7; and E. Wiernik, B. Pannier, S. Czernichow, H. Nabi, O. Hanon, T. Simon, … and C. Lemogne, “Occupational Status Moderates the Asso- ciation between Current Perceived Stress and High Blood Pressure: Evidence from the IPC Cohort Study,” Hypertension 61 (2013): 571–77.

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teachers, marine commanders, ministers, presidents of MBA associations, mili- tary cadets, union shop stewards, sales representatives). In general, organiza- tions perform better when they have transformational leaders.

The effect of transformational leadership on performance can vary by the situation. In general, transformational leadership has a greater impact on the bottom line in smaller, privately held firms than in more complex organiza- tions.70 A great deal of research suggests that the stress and demands surround- ing the context affects whether or not transformational leadership improves health outcomes and work engagement (see Chapter 3). In particular, a study of Dutch elementary school teachers found that their principals’ transforma- tional behaviors were most effective at improving the teachers’ engagement when the situations were cognitively demanding and when they had a high workload.71 Transformational leaders helped reduce emotional exhaustion and improve perceptions of work-life balance in German information technology (IT) professionals when the time pressures were high.72

Transformational leadership may also be more effective when leaders can interact directly with the workforce to make decisions (when they have high task autonomy) than when they report to an external board of directors or deal with a complex bureaucratic structure. One study showed transformational leaders were more effective in improving group potency in teams higher in power distance and collectivism.73

The transformational leadership of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has helped the company grow from a small DVD rental service to an Internet streaming service with 93 million customers in more than 190 countries. Hastings encourages employees to take risks, empowers them to make decisions, and gives them the freedom and responsibility to create innovative ideas and products. Source: Bernd Van Jutrczenka/DPA Picture Alliance/ Alamy Stock Photo

The characteristics of the leader and the followers may also play roles in the effectiveness of transformational leadership. For example, transformational lead- ership can inspire employees to learn and thrive on the job, especially if they are high on openness to experience.74 Another study suggests that IQ is important

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for transformational leadership perceptions—leaders who are “too intelligent” may be less transformational because their solutions may be too “sophisticated” to understand, they may use complex forms of communication that undermine their influence, and they may be seen as too “cerebral.”75 This doesn’t mean that intelligence is not important for transformational leadership; it means that there is a “sweet spot” for intelligence in terms of leadership behaviors.

Another study on Dutch employees from a variety of occupations found that both the situation and individual can be important. For employees in positions with high job autonomy, transformational leadership was related to employee proactive behavior—but only when they were high in self-efficacy.76

Transformational versus Transactional Leadership When comparing transforma- tional leadership with transactional leadership, research indicates transforma- tional leadership is more strongly correlated than transactional leadership with a variety of workplace outcomes.77 However, transformational leadership the- ory is not perfect. The full range of the leadership model shows a clear division between transactional and transformational leadership that may not fully exist in effective leadership, especially given that research suggests that transforma- tional leadership is highly related to contingent reward leadership, to the point of being redundant.78 Contrary to the full range of the leadership model, the four I’s of transformational leadership are not always superior in effectiveness to transactional leadership; contingent reward leadership, in which leaders dole out rewards as certain goals are reached by employees, sometimes works as well as transformational leadership.79 More research is needed, but the gen- eral supportable conclusion is that transformational leadership is desirable and effective, given the right application.

Transformational versus Charismatic Leadership In considering transforma- tional and charismatic leadership, you surely noticed some commonalities. There are differences, too. Charismatic leadership places somewhat more emphasis on the way leaders communicate (are they passionate and dynamic?), while transformational leadership focuses more on what they are communicat- ing (is it a compelling vision?). Still, the theories are more alike than different. At their heart, both focus on the leader’s ability to inspire followers, and some- times they do so in the same way. Because of this, some researchers believe the concepts are somewhat interchangeable.80

Responsible Leadership Although the theories we’ve discussed so far have increased our understand- ing of effective leadership, they do not deal explicitly with the roles of ethics and trust, which are perhaps essential to complete the picture. These and the theories we discussed earlier are not mutually exclusive ideas (a transforma- tional leader may also be a responsible one), but here, we consider contem- porary concepts that explicitly address the role of leaders in creating ethical organizations.

12-5 Discuss the roles of leaders in creating ethical organizations.

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Authentic Leadership SAP’s CEO Bill McDermott’s motto is “Stay Hungry, Stay Humble,” and he appears to practice what he preaches. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, has resolved to halt the proliferation of fake news by adding fact check- ing and flagging to Facebook posts because it was the right thing to do. McDermott and Zuckerberg appear to be good exemplars of authentic leadership.81

Authentic leadership focuses on the moral aspects of being a leader. Authentic leaders know who they are and what they believe in, and they act on those val- ues and beliefs openly and candidly.82 Their followers consider them ethical people and trust them as a result. Authentic leaders share information, encour- age open communication, and stick to their ideals. Authentic leaders are also humble—research indicates that leaders who model humility help followers to understand the growth process for their own development.83

Authentic leadership, especially when shared among top management team members, creates a positive energizing effect that heightens teamwork, team productivity, and firm performance.84 When leaders practice what they preach, or act on their values openly and candidly, followers tend to develop a strong affective commitment and trust in their leader and, to a lesser degree, to improve their performance and OCBs.85 Not only is authenticity important for leaders, it is important for followers, too. In a study of Belgian service compa- nies, the joint authenticity of both leaders and followers led to the satisfaction of basic needs (see the discussion of self-determination theory in Chapter 7), which in turn led to improvements in performance.86 Much like the group- and individual-focused transformational leadership findings from the previous sec- tion, both group and individual perceptions of authenticity have an impact on follower outcomes.87

Ethical Leadership Leadership is not value-free. In assessing its effectiveness, we need to address the means that a leader uses to achieve goals as well as the content of those goals. The role of the leader in creating the ethical expectations for all members

authentic leaders Leaders who know who they are, know what they believe in and value, and act on those values and beliefs openly and candidly.

Brad Smith is an authentic leader. As the CEO of Intuit (one of the globe’s biggest and most lucrative financial software companies), he is one of the most influential business leaders today, according to Forbes contributor and CEO of Fishbowl David K. Williams, and is known for his ethical entrepre- neurial practices. Smith has forged a culture where risk taking and learning from failures are not only tolerated but encouraged. Source: Christopher Victorio/The Photo Access/Alamy Stock Photo

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is crucial.88 Ethical top leadership influences not only direct followers but spreads all the way down the command structure as well because top leaders set expecta- tions and expect lower-level leaders to behave along ethical guidelines.89

Leaders rated as highly ethical tend to be evaluated very positively by their subordinates, who are also more satisfied and committed to their jobs, and experience less strain and turnover intentions.90 Followers of such leaders are also more motivated, perform better, and engage in more OCBs and less coun- terproductive work behaviors (CWBs).91 Ethical leaders can change norms: One reason why employees engage in more OCBs and less CWBs is because their perceptions on whether each is equitable (see the discussion of equity theory in Chapter 7) become altered so that OCBs are perceived as more equitable.92 Ethical leaders also increase group awareness of moral issues, increase the extent to which the group is willing to speak up about ethical issues, and raise their empathic concern for others.93 Research also found that ethical leadership reduced interpersonal conflicts.94 Ethical leadership can matter for customer service outcomes, too—one study of bank tellers in Hong Kong found that when bank tellers display ethical leadership behaviors, and their coworkers see and recognize this, their coworkers adhere more to the cus- tomer service guidelines because their beliefs in what are appropriate and inap- propriate change.95

Ethical and charismatic leadership intersect at a number of junctures. To integrate ethical and charismatic leadership, scholars have advanced the idea of socialized charismatic leadership—conveying other-centered (not self-cen- tered) values through leaders who model ethical conduct.96 These leaders are able to bring employee values in line with their own values through their words and actions.97

Although every member of an organization is responsible for ethical behav- ior, many initiatives aimed at increasing organizational ethical behavior are focused on the leaders. Because top executives set the moral tone for an orga- nization, they need to set high ethical standards, demonstrate them through their own behavior, and encourage and reward integrity in others while avoid- ing abuses of power.98 Leadership training programs that incorporate cultural values should be especially mandated for leaders who take foreign assignments or manage multicultural work teams.99 Despite the continued focus on the leader in ethical leadership, followers matter, too: One study on ethical lead- ers in Germany found that the effect of ethical leadership on follower OCBs was stronger for followers that were more mindful (see Chapter 4), suggesting that ethical leaders may be more effective if employees develop mindfulness through training or meditation techniques.100

For ethical leadership to be effective, it is not enough for the leader sim- ply to possess high moral character. After all, there is no universal standard for ethical behavior, and ethical norms vary by culture, by industry, and even sometimes within an organization. Leaders must be willing to express their ethical beliefs and persuade others to follow their standards. To convey their beliefs, leaders should learn to express their moral convictions in statements that reflect values shared with their organization’s members. Leaders can build on this foundation of trust to show their character, enhance a sense of unity, and create buy-in from followers. The leader’s message should announce ambi- tious goals and express confidence that they can be reached.

Ethical leaders’ statements are often positive messages, such as Winston Churchill’s opening for his World War II victory speech: “This is your hour. This is not a victory of a party or of any class. It’s a victory of the great Brit- ish nation as a whole.” An example of an ethical leader’s negative message is this speech by Gandhi: “Even if all the United Nations opposes me, even if the whole of India forsakes me, I will say, ‘You are wrong. India will wrench with

socialized charismatic leadership A lead- ership concept stating that leaders convey values that are other-centered versus self- centered and who role-model ethical conduct.

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nonviolence her liberty from unwilling hands.’” Positive and negative ethical leader statements can be equally effective when they deliver clear, moral, inclu- sive, goal-setting statements with persuasiveness. In fact, they can set trends in motion to make the seemingly far-fetched become real.101

Although ethical leadership has many positive outcomes, it can turn sour. For example, in a recent study, ethical leadership was found to lead to abusive supervision (discussed in the next section) on the following day. Sometimes behaving ethically can deplete our resources—we can even feel like, because we “behaved well” on the previous day, it gives us a license to behave poorly the next day.102

Abusive Supervision It can happen to anyone—we’re all capable of being abusive as managers.103 Some research suggests that when it does occur, it can be costly. Current esti- mates suggest that it costs organizations in the United States about $23.8 bil- lion per year.104 The United States also has relatively low reported levels of abusive supervision in recent research—the highest ratings of abusive supervi- sion are actually in the eastern hemisphere, including China, the Philippines, and Taiwan, with lower ratings in the United States, Canada, and India.105 Although not a form of leadership in all cases, abusive supervision refers to the perception that a supervisor is hostile in his or her verbal and nonverbal behavior.106

A recent review suggests that several factors are related to abusive super- vision.107 For one, nearly all forms of justice are negatively related to abusive supervision, suggesting that a sense of injustice is at the core of abusive super- vision (especially for interpersonal justice). Although some personality traits such as agreeableness and conscientiousness appear to be negatively (but weakly) associated with perceptions of abusive supervision, negative affect is strongly linked with it. A family history of aggression has been shown to be

abusive supervision Supervision that is hostile both verbally and nonverbally.

An Ethical Choice Holding Leaders Ethically Accountable

Most people think that leaders should be held accountable for their actions. Leaders must bal- ance many and conflicting stakeholder demands. The first demand is for strong financial performance; leaders are prob- ably terminated more often for missing this goal than for all other factors com- bined. Leaders balance the extreme pressure for financial performance with the desire that most leaders should act ethically, even when there is no formal accountability. Given those competing aims, ethical leadership may be under- rewarded and depend solely on the leader’s innate decency.

Ethical leadership is a relatively new area of research attention.

Demonstrating fairness and social responsibility even run counter to many old-school models of leadership. Con- sider, for example, legendary manage- ment guru Peter Drucker’s advice from 1967: “It is the duty of the executive to remove ruthlessly anyone—and espe- cially any manager—who consistently fails to perform with high distinction. To let such a man stay on corrupts the others.” Modern ethical leadership guidelines say this cut-throat mindset fails to consider the moral implications of treating people as objects at an organization’s disposal.

While few organizations still require “performance at all costs,” financiers, shareholders, and boards have the

reward power to teach leaders which outcomes to value. Ethical leadership resounds positively throughout all orga- nizational levels, resulting in respon- sible and potentially highly profitable outcomes, but the ultimate ethical movement comes when shareholders— and leaders—show signs of balancing these accountabilities themselves.

Sources: Based on T. E. Ricks, “What Ever Happened to Accountability?,” Harvard Busi- ness Review, October 2012, 93–100; J. M. Schaubroeck et al., “Embedding Ethical Leadership within and across Organizational Levels,” Academy of Management Journal 55 (2012): 1053–78; and J. Stouten, M. van Dijke, and D. De Cremer, “Ethical Lead- ership,” Journal of Personnel Psychology 11 (2012): 1–6.

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related to engaging in abusive supervision across a variety of contexts in the Philippines.108

This same review also suggests that abusive supervision comes with dire con- sequences.109 First and foremost, abusive supervision negatively affects health: It leads to increased depression, emotional exhaustion, and job tension per- ceptions. Second, it also leads to decreases in organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and perceived organizational support, along with increased work-family conflict. It can adversely affect employee performance and other employee behaviors. Victims of abusive supervision are more prone to engage in CWBs and other deviant behaviors (especially retaliatory ones directed toward their supervisors) and are less prone to engage in OCBs.

Abusive supervision often occurs in cycles. When employees are the victims of abusive supervision, they tend to lash out at the organization and the super- visor by engaging in CWB and deviant behaviors, and the supervisor then con- tinues to be abusive to the employees in retaliation.110 You may be wondering why the employee would lash out at the organization as well when it was the supervisor who was the one being abusive. Additional research suggests that employees often blame the organization when they are abused and see the supervisor as a representative of the organization as a whole.111 When it comes to the experience of being a victim of abusive supervision, your personality and coping strategies matter. Conscientious employees tend to be able to cope with the abuse better, as are employees who cope by avoiding the issue.112

Servant Leadership Scholars have recently considered ethical leadership from a new angle by examining servant leadership.113 Servant leaders go beyond their self-interest and focus on opportunities to help followers grow and develop. Characteristic behaviors include listening, empathizing, persuading, accepting stewardship, and actively developing followers’ potential. Because servant leadership focuses on serving the needs of others, research has focused on its outcomes for the well-being of followers. Perhaps not surprisingly, a study of 126 CEOs found that servant leadership is negatively correlated with the trait of narcissism.114

What are the effects of servant leadership? One study of 71 general manag- ers of restaurants in the United States and over 1,000 of their employees found that servant leaders tend to create a culture of service (see Chapter 16), which in turn improves the restaurant performance and enhances employee atti- tudes and performance by increasing employees’ identification with the restau- rant.115 Another study of Chinese hairstylists found similar results, with servant leadership predicting customer satisfaction and stylists’ service performance.116 Second, there is a relationship between servant leadership and follower OCB that appears to be stronger when followers are encouraged to focus on being dutiful and responsible.117 Third, servant leadership increases team potency (a belief that your team has above-average skills and abilities), which in turn leads to higher levels of team performance.118 Fourth, a study with a nationally representative sample found higher levels of servant leadership were associated with a focus on growth and advancement, which in turn was associated with higher levels of creative performance.119

Servant leadership may be more prevalent and effective in certain cul- tures.120 When asked to draw images of leaders, for example, U.S. subjects tended to draw them in front of the group, giving orders to followers. Singa- poreans tended to draw leaders at the back of the group, acting more to gather a group’s opinions together and then unify them from the rear. This suggests that the East Asian prototype is more like a servant leader, which might mean servant leadership is more effective in these cultures.

servant leadership A leadership style marked by going beyond the leader’s own self-interest and instead focusing on opportunities to help followers grow and develop.

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Positive Leadership In each of the theories we’ve discussed, you can see opportunities for the prac- tice of good, bad, or mediocre leadership. Now let’s think about the intentional development of positive leadership environments.

Trust Trust is a psychological state that exists when you agree to make yourself vul- nerable to another person because you have positive expectations about how things are going to turn out.121 Although you aren’t completely in control of the situation, you are willing to take a chance that the other person will come through for you. Trust is a primary attribute associated with leadership; break- ing it can have serious adverse effects on a group’s performance.122

Followers who trust a leader are confident that their rights and interests will not be abused.123 Transformational leaders, for example, create support for their ideas in part by arguing that their direction will be in everyone’s best interests. People are unlikely to look up to or follow someone they perceive as dishonest or likely to take advantage of them. Thus, as you might expect, trans- formational leaders generate higher levels of trust from their followers, which in turn are related to higher levels of team confidence and ultimately higher levels of team performance.124

In a simple contractual exchange of goods and services, your employer is legally bound to pay you for fulfilling your job description. But today’s rapid reorganizations, diffusion of responsibility, and collaborative team-based work mean employment relationships are not stable long-term contracts with explicit terms. Rather, they are based more than ever before on trusting relationships. You must trust that if you show your supervisor a creative project you’ve been working on, he or she won’t steal the credit behind your back. You must trust that the extra work you’ve been doing will be recognized in your performance appraisal. In contemporary organizations, where work is less closely docu- mented and specified, voluntary employee contributions based on trust is abso- lutely necessary. Only a trusted leader will be able to encourage employees to reach beyond themselves to a transformational goal.

The Outcomes of Trust Trust between supervisors and employees has many spe- cific advantages. Here are just a few from research:

• Trust encourages taking risks. Whenever leaders and employees decide to deviate from the usual way of doing things, or when employees decide to take their supervisor’s word on a new direction, they are taking a risk. In both cases, a trusting relationship can facilitate that leap.125

• Trust facilitates information sharing. One big reason employees fail to express concerns at work is that they don’t feel psychologically safe reveal- ing their views. When managers demonstrate that they will give employ- ees’ ideas a fair hearing and actively make changes, employees are more willing to speak out.126

• Trusting groups are more effective. When a leader sets a trusting tone in a group, members are more willing to help each other and exert extra effort, which increases trust. Members of mistrusting groups tend to be suspicious of each other, constantly guard against exploitation, and restrict communication with others in the group. These actions tend to undermine and eventually destroy the group.127

• Trust enhances productivity. The bottom-line interest of companies appears to be positively influenced by trust. Employees who trust their supervisors

12-6 Describe how leaders can have a positive impact on their organizations through building trust and mentoring.

trust A positive expectation that another will not act opportunistically.

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tend to receive higher performance ratings, indicating higher productiv- ity. People respond to mistrust by concealing information and secretly pursuing their own interests.128

Trust Development What key characteristics lead us to believe a leader is trust- worthy? Evidence has identified three: integrity, benevolence, and ability (see Exhibit 12-6).129

Integrity refers to honesty and truthfulness. When 570 white-collar employ- ees were given a list of 28 attributes related to leadership, they rated honesty the most important by far.130 Integrity also means maintaining consistency between what you do and say.

Benevolence means the trusted person has your interests at heart, even if your interests aren’t necessarily in line with her or his interests. Caring and support- ive behavior is part of the emotional bond between leaders and followers.

Ability encompasses an individual’s technical and interpersonal knowledge and skills. You’re unlikely to depend on someone whose abilities you don’t believe in even if the person is highly principled and has the best intentions.

Trust Propensity Effective leadership is built on the trust of leaders and fol- lowers. Trust propensity refers to how likely a particular employee is to trust a leader. Some people are simply more likely to believe others can be trusted.131 Those who carefully document every promise or conversation with their super- visors aren’t very high in trust propensity, and they probably aren’t going to take a leader’s word for anything. Those who think most people are basically honest and forthright will be much more likely to seek evidence that their lead- ers have behaved in a trustworthy manner. Trust propensity is closely linked to the personality trait of agreeableness, and people with lower self-esteem are less likely to trust others.132

Trust and Culture Does trust look the same in every culture? Using the basic definition of trust, certainly it does. However, in the work context, trust in an employment relationship may be built on very different perceptions from cul- ture to culture. For example, a recent study in Taiwan indicated that employees responded to paternalistic leadership when it is benevolent and ethical with increased trust performance.133 This positive response to paternalism may be unique to the collectivistic context where the Confucian values of hierarchy and relationship predominate. In individualistic societies, we might expect

trust propensity How likely an employee is to trust a leader.

The Nature of TrustExhibit 12-6

Risk Taking

Information Sharing

Group Effectiveness

Productivity

Trust

Integrity

Leader Trustworthiness

Benevolence

Ability

Propensity to Trust

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that paternalistic leadership will rankle many employees who prefer not to see themselves as part of a hierarchical family work group. Employees in individual- ist cultures may build trust along dimensions of leadership support and consis- tency instead, for instance.

The Role of Time Time is the final component for building trust. We come to trust people by observing their behavior over a period of time.134 To help, leaders need to demonstrate integrity, benevolence, and ability in situations where trust is important—say, where they could behave opportunistically or let employees down. Second, trust can be won in the ability domain by demon- strating competence and apologizing, not denying, when leaders’ competence fails them.135 Third, research with 100 companies around the world suggests that leaders can build trust by shifting their communication style from top- down commands to ongoing organizational dialogue.136 Last, when leaders regularly create interpersonal conversations with their employees that are inti- mate, interactive, and inclusive and that intentionally follow an agenda, follow- ers demonstrate trust with high levels of engagement.137

Regaining Trust Managers who break the psychological contract with workers, demonstrating they aren’t trustworthy leaders, will find employees are less satis- fied and less committed, have a higher intent toward turnover, engage in less OCB, and have lower levels of task performance.138

Once it has been violated, trust can be regained, but only in certain situa- tions and depending on the type of violation.139 If the cause is lack of ability, it’s usually best to apologize and recognize you should have done better. When lack of integrity is the problem, apologies don’t do much good. Regardless of the violation, saying nothing or refusing to confirm or deny guilt is never an effective strategy for regaining trust. Trust can be restored when we observe a consistent pattern of trustworthy behavior by the transgressor. However, if the transgressor used deception, trust never fully returns, not even after apologies, promises, or a consistent pattern of trustworthy actions.140

Mentoring Leaders often take responsibility for developing future leaders. A mentor is a senior employee who sponsors and supports a less-experienced employee, a protégé.141 Successful mentors are good teachers. They present ideas clearly, listen well, and empathize with protégés’ problems. Mentoring relationships serve career and psychosocial functions (see Exhibit 12-7).142

In formal mentoring relationships, protégé candidates are identified according to assessments of leadership potential and then matched with lead- ers in corresponding organizational functions. Informal mentoring relation- ships develop when leaders identify a less experienced, lower-level employee who appears to have potential for future development.143 The protégé is often tested with a particularly challenging assignment. If performance is acceptable, the mentor develops the relationship. In both formal and informal mentoring, the goal is to show the protégé how the organization really works outside its for- mal structures and procedures.

mentor A senior employee who sponsors and supports a less-experienced employee, called a protégé.

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Are all employees in an organization likely to participate in a mentoring relationship? Unfortunately, no.144 However, research continues to indicate that employers should establish mentoring programs because they benefit both mentors and protégés.145

Although started with the best intentions, formal relationships are not as effective as informal ones,146 perhaps due to poor planning, design, and com- munication. Mentors must see the relationship as beneficial to themselves and the protégé, and the protégé must have input into the relationship.147 Formal mentoring programs are also most likely to succeed if they appropriately match the work style, needs, and skills of protégé and mentor.148

Mentors may be effective not because of the functions they provide but because of the resources they can obtain; a mentor connected to a powerful network can build relationships that will help the protégé advance. Network ties, whether built through a mentor or not, are a significant predictor of career success.149 If a mentor is not well connected or not a very strong performer, the best mentoring advice in the world will not be very beneficial.

You might assume that mentoring is valuable for objective outcomes like compensation and job performance, but research suggests the gains are pri- marily psychological. Thus, while mentoring can have an impact on career success, it is not as much of a contributing factor as ability and personality. It may feel nice to have a mentor, but it doesn’t appear that having a good men- tor, or any mentor, is critical to your career. The mentor is a boost to your confidence.

Challenges to Our Understanding of Leadership “In the 1500s, people ascribed all events they didn’t understand to God. Why did the crops fail? God. Why did someone die? God. Now our all-purpose expla- nation is leadership.”150 This may be an astute observation from management consulting, but, of course, much of an organization’s success or failure is due to factors outside the influence of leadership. Sometimes it’s a matter of being in the right or wrong place at a given time. In this section, we present challenges to the accepted beliefs about the value of leadership.

12-7 Identify the challenges to our understanding of leadership.

Career and Psychological Functions of the Mentoring Relationship

Exhibit 12-7

Career Functions Psychosocial Functions

• Lobbying to get the protégé challenging and visible assignments

• Counseling the protégé to bolster his or her self-confidence

• Coaching the protégé to help develop his or her skills and achieve work objectives

• Sharing personal experiences with the protégé

Providing exposure to influential individuals within the organization

Providing friendship and acceptance

Protecting the protégé from possible risks to his or her reputation

Acting as a role model

Sponsoring the protégé by nominating him or her for potential advances or promotions Acting as a sounding board for ideas the protégé might be hesitant to share with a direct supervisor

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Leadership CHAPTER 12 419

Leadership as an Attribution As you may remember from Chapter 6, attribution theory examines how peo- ple try to make sense of cause-and-effect relationships. The attribution theory of leadership says that leadership is merely an attribution people make about other individuals.151 We attribute the following to leaders: intelligence, out- going personality, strong verbal skills, aggressiveness, understanding, and industriousness.152 At the organizational level, we tend, rightly or wrongly, to see leaders as responsible for both extremely negative and extremely positive performance.153

Perceptions of leaders by their followers strongly affect leaders’ ability to be effective. First, one study of 128 major U.S. corporations found that, whereas perceptions of CEO charisma did not lead to objectively better company per- formance, company performance did lead to perceptions of charisma.154 Sec- ond, employee perceptions of leaders’ behaviors are significant predictors of whether they blame the leader for failure, regardless of how the leader assesses him- or herself.155 Third, a study of more than 3,000 employees from western Europe, the United States, and the Middle East found people who tended to “romanticize” leadership in general were more likely to believe their own lead- ers were transformational.156

We also make demographic assumptions about leaders. Respondents in a study assumed a leader described with no identifying racial information was white at a rate beyond the base rate of white employees in that company.157 When identical leadership situations are described but the leaders’ race is manipulated, white leaders are rated as more effective than leaders of other racial groups.158 One large-scale summary found that many individuals hold ste- reotypes of men as having more leader characteristics than women, although, as you might expect, this tendency to equate leadership with masculinity has decreased over time.159 Other data suggest women’s perceived success as trans- formational leaders may be based on situations. Teams prefer male leaders when aggressively competing against other teams, but they prefer female lead- ers when the competition is within teams and calls for improving positive rela- tionships within the group.160

Attribution theory suggests that what is important is projecting the appear- ance of being a leader rather than focusing on actual accomplishments. Leader- wannabes who can shape the perception that they’re smart, personable, verbally adept, aggressive, hardworking, and consistent in their style can increase the probability that their bosses, colleagues, and employees will view them as effec- tive leaders.

Substitutes for and Neutralizers of Leadership One theory of leadership suggests that, in many situations, leaders’ actions are irrelevant.161 Experience and training are among the substitutes that can replace the need for a leader’s support or ability to create structure. Organiza- tions such as videogame producer Valve Corporation, Gore-Tex maker W. L. Gore, and collaboration-software firm GitHub have experimented with elimi- nating leaders and management. Governance in the “bossless” work environ- ment is achieved through accountability to coworkers, who determine team composition and sometimes even pay.162 Organizational characteristics such as explicit formalized goals, rigid rules and procedures, and cohesive work groups can replace formal leadership, while indifference to organizational rewards can neutralize its effects. Neutralizers make it impossible for leader behavior to make any difference to follower outcomes (see Exhibit 12-8).

Sometimes the difference between substitutes and neutralizers is fuzzy. If I’m working on a task that’s intrinsically enjoyable, theory predicts leadership

attribution theory of leadership A leader- ship theory stating that leadership is merely an attribution that people make about other individuals.

substitutes Attributes, such as experience and training, that can replace the need for a leader’s support or ability to create structure.

neutralizers Attributes that make it impossible for leader behavior to make any difference to follower outcomes.

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420 PART 3 The Group

will be less important because the task provides motivation. But does that mean intrinsically enjoyable tasks neutralize leadership effects, substitute for them, or both? Another problem is that, while substitutes for leadership (such as employee characteristics, the nature of the task, etc.) matter to per- formance, that doesn’t necessarily mean leadership doesn’t matter.163 It’s sim- plistic to think employees are guided to goal accomplishments solely by the actions of their leaders. We’ve introduced several variables—such as attitudes, personality, ability, and group norms—that affect employee performance and satisfaction. Leadership is simply another independent variable in our overall OB model.

Selecting Leaders The process organizations go through to fill management positions is an exer- cise in the identification of effective leaders. You might begin by reviewing the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to do the job effectively. Personal- ity tests can identify traits associated with leadership—extraversion, conscien- tiousness, and openness to experience. High self-monitors (see Chapter 5) are better at reading situations and adjusting their behavior accordingly. Can- didates with high emotional intelligence should have an advantage, especially in situations requiring transformational leadership.164 Broad experience is a poor predictor of leader effectiveness, but situation-specific experience is relevant.

Because nothing lasts forever, the most important event an organization needs to plan for is a change in leadership. JCPenney hired a CEO with no department store experience who promptly changed its overall strategy, a maneuver so disastrous that JCPenney’s stock fell 69 percent in the roughly one year he lasted (after which JCPenney rehired the old CEO it had forced out, and he stayed until the company returned to a better standing). After that debacle, JCPenney seemed to learn its lesson by hiring Marvin Elli- son, an executive from Home Depot who also had 15 years of experience at Target. The company’s press release repeatedly described Ellison as “a highly-accomplished retail executive [with] an extensive knowledge of store operations.”165

Substitutes for and Neutralizers of LeadershipExhibit 12-8

Relationship- Oriented Leadership

Task - Oriented LeadershipDefining Characteristics

Individual Experience/training Professionalism Indifference to rewards

No effect on Substitutes for Neutralizes

Substitutes for Substitutes for Neutralizes

Job Highly structured task Provides its own feedback Intrinsically satisfying

No effect on No effect on Substitutes for

Substitutes for Substitutes for No effect on

Organization Explicit formalized goals Rigid rules and procedures Cohesive work groups

No effect on No effect on Substitutes for

Substitutes for Substitutes for Substitutes for

Source: Based on K. B. Lowe and W. L. Gardner, “Ten Years of the Leadership Quarterly: Contributions and Challenges for the Future,” Leadership Quarterly 11, no. 4 (2000): 459–514.

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Leadership CHAPTER 12 421

In general, organizations seem to spend no time on leadership succession and are surprised when their picks turn out poorly. HP is on its fourth CEO in under 10 years, including one who lasted a matter of months, causing observers to wonder whether its boards of directors had done their homework in leader- ship succession. Their choice of Meg Whitman, the current CEO, was based on her role as CEO of eBay, during which she was praised as a top-performing leader. She was also heavily invested in politics, having run for governor of California. Not long ago she was named the “Most Underachieving CEO” for her leadership of HP, although shares of HP have increased drastically over her tenure as she sought to undo the work of her predecessors.166

Training Leaders Organizations spend billions of dollars on leadership training and develop- ment.167 These efforts take many forms, from $50,000 executive leadership pro- grams offered by universities such as Harvard to sailing trips with the Outward Bound program. Goldman Sachs is well known for developing leaders; at one point, BusinessWeek called it the “Leadership Factory.”168 Business schools are placing renewed emphasis on leadership development too.

How can managers get the most from their leadership-training budgets? First, leadership training is likely to be more successful with high self-monitors. Such individuals have the flexibility to change their behavior. Second, organizations can teach implementation skills. Third, skills such as trust building and mentoring can be taught. Leaders can be taught situational- analysis skills. They can learn how to evaluate situations, modify them to match their style more closely, and assess which leader behaviors might be most effective in given situations. BHP Billiton, Best Buy, Nokia, and Adobe have hired coaches to help top executives improve their interpersonal skills and act less autocratically.169 The effectiveness of leadership training seems to hinge much more on outside characteristics than other types of training that are more closed or technical, such as computer software skills training.170 Fourth, behavioral training through modeling exercises can increase an individual’s ability to exhibit charismatic leadership qualities. Research also indicates that leaders should engage in regularly reviewing their leadership

Situation-specific experience played a key role in selecting Satya Nadella (center) as Microsoft’s new CEO. To strengthen its position in the grow- ing cloud domain, Microsoft chose Nadella, who formerly led Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Group and was instrumental in transforming Micro- soft’s technology culture from client services to cloud infrastructure and services. Source: PRNewsFoto/Microsoft Corp/AP Images

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after key organizational events as part of their development. These after-event reviews are especially effective for leaders who are high in conscientiousness and openness to experience, and who are emotionally stable (low in neuroti- cism).171 Finally, leaders can be trained in transformational leadership skills that have bottom-line results.

Summary Leadership plays a central part in understanding group behavior because it’s the leader who usually directs us toward our goals. Knowing what makes a good leader should thus be valuable toward improving group performance. The Big Five personality framework shows strong and consistent relationships between personality and leadership. The major contribution of the behavioral approach was narrowing leadership into task-oriented (initiating structure) and people-oriented (consideration) styles. By considering the situation in which the leader operates, contingency theories promised to improve on the behavioral approach. Contemporary theories have made major contributions to our understanding of leadership effectiveness, and studies of ethics and posi- tive leadership offer exciting promise.

Implications for Managers ● For maximum leadership effectiveness, ensure that your preferences on

the initiating structure and consideration dimensions are a match for your work dynamics and culture.

● Hire candidates who exhibit transformational leadership qualities and who have demonstrated success in working through others to meet a long-term vision. Personality tests can reveal candidates higher in extra- version, conscientiousness, and openness, which may indicate leadership readiness.

● Hire candidates whom you believe are ethical and trustworthy for man- agement roles and train current managers in your organization’s ethi- cal standards to increase leadership effectiveness and reduce abusive supervision.

● Seek to develop trusting relationships with followers because, as orga- nizations have become less stable and predictable, strong bonds of trust are replacing bureaucratic rules in defining expectations and relationships.

● Consider investing in leadership training such as formal courses, work- shops, and mentoring.

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