Group Faultlines and Leadership: Triggers and Theoretical Implications

Abstract

Group faultline theory has advanced understanding of between-subgroup and within-group processes and consequences; yet empirical research has generated inconsistent findings. In order to unlock the mystery of the inconsistent findings, various aspects of leadership such as leaders’ characteristics, behaviors, and interactions with team members merit closer scrutiny in research on faultlines. Thus, this symposium aims to describe recent research that explores the following underexplored areas of leadership in relation to faultlines: (a) how team leaders’ individual attributes (e.g., cultural beliefs) activate or deactivate faultlines, (b) how leader-member relations influence the relationship between faultlines and team processes and outcomes, and (c) how leader faultlines and employee faultlines have differential effects on organizational outcomes. Drawing on various theories and concepts (i.e., leaders’ cultural values, team ambidexterity, LMX, and innovation theory) that have yet to be incorporated into the faultline literature, the papers in the symposium identify and scrutinize how leader characteristics, leader-member relations, and leader and employee faultlines are related to subgroup phenomena and individual and group outcomes. In doing so, this symposium highlights opportunities for new theorizing and research. Cultural faultlines and team outcomes: The moderating effects of leaders cultural values Presenter: Lynn Shore; Colorado State U. Presenter: Qin Su; Chinese U. of Hong Kong Presenter: Dora C. Lau; Chinese U. of Hong Kong Presenter: Kemol Anderson; Colorado State U. Presenter: Yahua Cai; Shanghai U. of Finance and Economics Gender faultlines, leader gender, and team ambidexterity Presenter: Yuan Jiang; Shanghai Jiao Tong U. Presenter: Yizhou Zhang; Shanghai Jiao Tong U. Presenter: Guiyao Tang; Shandong U. Managing bad behavior: Incivility, leadership and turnover in faultline-based teams Presenter: Mirko Antino; Instituto U. de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) Presenter: Ramon Rico; U. of Western Australia Presenter: Sherry M Thatcher; U. of South Carolina Faultlines and the adoption of evidence-based practices in substance abuse treatment centers Presenter: Chester S Spell; Rutgers U., Camden Presenter: Yekaterina Bezrukova; SUNY Buffalo Presenter: Terry Blum; Georgia Institute of Technology Presenter: Paul Roman; U. of Georgia