Factors of Social Influence in Virtual Multicultural Teams

Factors of Social Influence in Virtual Multicultural Teams Iris Fischlmayr, Assistant professor Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria iris.fischlmayr@jku.at Satu Lähteenmäki, Professor Turku School of Economics, Turku, Finland satu.lahteenmaki@tse.fi Eeli Saarinen, Researcher Turku School of Economics, Turku, Finland eeli.saarinen@tse.fi Timo Lainema, Professor (acting) Turku School of Economics, Turku, Finland Timo.lainema@tse.fi IAREP/SABE 2008 – Conference 2008, Sept. 3rd – 6th, Rome

WHY THIS TOPIC? • Virtual Teams are a common and increasing form of collaboration in our modern world • A lot of research has been done on social influence in traditional teams – but are the findings also applicable to virtual ones? • There is already some research on social influences on virtual teams but still little on group processes • Research on VTs is focused to trust, conflict management and inter-personal processes – only little on social integration and group relations

VIRTUAL TEAM (adapted from Lipnack & Snell, 2000) • = a group of knowledge workers who are • geographically and/or organizationally, • but many times also temporally dispersed and brought together • across time and space by the help of ICT • to work together on important tasks • while physically remaining apart. • All the networking (i.e. communicating, gathering and sharing information, collaborating and making decisions) primarily takes place without face-to-face contact of the team members

Results related to Group Processes in Virtual Teams (VTs) are conflicting • Commitment and feeling of belongingness in VTs lower than in traditional teams (~ sign of lower group cohesion) But: • VTs reach high quality decisions • due to being more creative • and having more ideas and solutions • VTs are more satisfied with their outcome

Suggested explanations refer to the different nature of VTs • Higher and more open-minded participation in the communication process • Less process losses in the communication process due to computer-mediated communication • No symbols of power => more equal possibilities to contribute • Task-focus rather than internal relations • Tendency to take higher risks due to lower commitment • Lack of social loafing due to lack of social pressure • Experts with willingness for e-collaboration and independence

Social Influence … process of changing the thinking and behavior of other individuals Examples: - Do members of one team tend to have similar attitudes and behavior? - How do single persons succeed in convincing a whole group? - Why are individuals who do not behave according to group norms rejected by their team mates?

Main Factors of Social Influence • Normalization: change of individual behavior that leads to change of others´ behavior => creates norms • Majority Influence / Conformity: team members behave according to norms and rules in order not to break ranks. Conformity is integration in a group, different opinion means being an outsider • Minority Influence: single persons influence a group by constantly emphasizing a different opinion than the others • Groupthink: conformity and group cohesion end up in consentaneity (“Groupthink”)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS • Can better performance of VTs be explained by social influence? • Are the processes of social influence identified in traditional teams applicable to virtual teams? • What role do normalization, majority/minority influence, conformity and groupthink play on differences noticed in virtual team performance?

Data Gathering • Experimental design • Virtual and face-to-face teams • Business students in Linz and Turku • Business simulation game (RealGame™) • Multicultural composition • Negotiation and decision making • CEOs – subcontractors – producers • Communication via Skype, e-mail, face-to-face if possible • RealGame™- Training session - RealGame™ • Data • Observation during the game • Diary kept during the game • Reflective essays written after the game

Reflective Essays and Analysis • Reflective Essays • Reflexion about experiences, learnings, critical incidents • Issues covered, among others, group processes, decision making, power distribution, group cohesion • 3-5 pages • Approx. 60 teams and more than 400 essays • Grounded theorymethod • Line-by-line coding of reflective essays • Meanings, explanations, situational and contextual factors • Focus on critical incidents • => Finding out more about social factors influencing team work “directly in the field”

First Results (1) Subgroups of VT‘s (i.e. on-site teams sitting at one location, possibilty of making face-to-face contact) • Striving for establishment of norms (structuring of tasks) – but norms were not valid in main team • Tried to conform in decision making and power- related questions • Majority influence and striving for conformity (e.g. single opinions have been adapted during the process, no nomination of a leader) • Influenced by virtual working environment as by adopting working norms from teams working on a virtual basis

First Results (2) • Virtual Teams • Avoiding conflict as main aim => normalization as a consequence • More tolerance for different opinions and working habits • Strive for conformity (external adaptation – internalization?) • Refrained themselves from steep opinions in order to enhance team cohesion • Divided groupthink (no „we“ and „us“ for talking about team but „we“ and „they“, divided by geographical location) • Lower group cohesion than subgroups due to limited and irregular (resp. asynchronous) contact

Discussion (1) • High group cohesion among subteams, low (but still existing) cohesion in virtual team • No social loafing • Groupthink above all observable in subgroups, not in virtual teams • Majority or minority influence did not occur • Normalization and strive for conformity could be stated

Conclusion • High tolerance for diversity / status differences in VTs (national culture, organizational culture, language) BUT still striving for conformity (at least at the surface) • Do status differences vanish in VTs? • Social influence is occuring in a weakened form only • Do VTs have less process losses and thus, better performance?

Factors of Social Influence in Virtual Multicultural Teams