Tearing Down the Walls:The Moderating Role of Climate Strength in Diversity-Cohesion Relationship

Abstract

This paper explores the effect of ethnic diversity on network cohesion at the group level, taking into consideration a group contextual factor ¨C group climate strength. Drawing on social categorization theory, we posit that ethnic diversity is negatively related to network cohesion. Grounded on strong culture theory, we modeled and tested the moderating effect of climate strength on the negative impact of ethnic diversity. Based on a sample of 605 employees from 37 teams in a large manufacturing company in China, our results showed that (1) ethnic diversity negatively associated with network cohesion (as measured by network density, network centralization, and cliques); and (2) climate strength mitigated the negative impact of ethnic diversity on cohesion (as measured by network density and centralization). We then discuss theoretical and practical implications and suggest future research directions.