Im Zuge der Einführung neuer Arbeitsformen setzten Firmen zunehmend auf netzwerkartige Formen der Zusammenarbeit. Allerdings beinhalten diese weniger hierarchisch strukturierten Organisationsdesigns auch Herausforderungen, wie z.B. mögliche Rollenüberforderungen, erhöhten Abstimmungsbedarf und Schwierigkeiten bei der gemeinsamen Priorisierung. Unsere Studie bei einem international tätigen Automobilunternehmen zeigt, wie Teams in Multiprojektkontexten durch ein aktives Managen ihrer Teamgrenzen Leistungseinbussen verhindern können. Bei der Umsetzung dieses Team Boundary Managements kommt Führungskräften eine entscheidende Rolle zu.
This paper extends the knowledge of the concept of subjective age in organizations by exploring organizational-level antecedents and consequences of employees on average feeling younger than their chronological age. We draw from the theories of selection-optimization-compensation and socio- emotional selectivity to build a theoretical framework for subjective age in organizations. We hypothesize that companies in which employees on average perceive themselves to be younger than they actually are have a higher average individual goal accomplishment and in turn experience higher company performance. We further hypothesize that employees' average experience of high work-related meaning relates to a younger subjective age in organizations. In addition, we assess the role of environmental dynamism and age-inclusive human resource management as moderators in this theoretical model. Through empirically testing this model in a multisource dataset including 107 companies with 15.164 participating employees, we received support for the hypothesized relationships. Our results contribute to current debates in the scientific literature on age and have important practical implications in light of the demographic changes faced by many companies. This research indicates to both audiences that it is not employees' chronological age but their subjective age, a factor that can be influenced, that drives organizational performance outcomes.
In this study we investigate if and when age-gender faultlines relate to team innovative performance. Based on social identity, social categorization, and social dominance theory we first hypothesize that team innovative performance is impaired if subgroups of old male members and young female members are formed within a team. In a second step, we apply the theoretical framework of inclusion in diverse teams and propose that both, creating collective belongingness and emphasizing the individual uniqueness of team members are important context factors to reach innovative performance in age-gender faultline teams. Therefore, we hypothesize that collective-focused leadership and differentiated individual-focused leadership, which are tailored toward the two distinct dimensions of the inclusion framework, are useful leadership behaviors for buffering the negative impact of age-gender faultlines on team innovative performance. We test the hypotheses using a sample of 89 research and development (R&D) teams from an automotive company. We find support for the main effect of age-gender faultlines on team innovative performance as well as the context role of differentiated individual-focused leadership, whereas collective-focused leadership turns out to be non-significant as a moderator.
In this study we investigate if and when age-gender faultlines relate to team innovative performance. Based on social identity, social categorization, and social dominance theory we first hypothesize that team innovative performance is impaired if subgroups of old male members and young female members are formed within a team. In a second step, we apply the theoretical framework of inclusion in diverse teams and propose that both, creating collective belongingness and emphasizing the individual uniqueness of team members are important context factors to reach innovative performance in age-gender faultline teams. Therefore, we hypothesize that collective-focused leadership and differentiated individual- focused leadership, which are tailored toward the two distinct dimensions of the inclusion framework, are useful leadership behaviors for buffering the negative impact of age-gender faultlines on team innovative performance. We test the hypotheses using a sample of 89 research and development (R&D) teams from an automotive company. We find support for the main effect of age-gender faultlines on team innovative performance as well as the context role of differentiated individual-focused leadership, whereas collective-focused leadership turns out to be non-significant as a moderator. These results are discussed in light of their theoretical contributions to the diversity, faultline, and leadership literature, as well as their practical relevance for an increasingly diverse workforce.
Recent advances in leadership research suggest that collective-focused leadership climate and differentiated individual-focused leadership might simultaneously, yet oppositely, affect collective outcomes. The present study extends this literature by addressing open questions regarding theory, methods, statistics, and level of analysis. Therefore, a new and more parsimonious theoretical model is developed on the organizational-level of analysis. Drawing on the commitment literature, we argue for opposite relations of the two leadership constructs on the affective organizational commitment climate. We subsequently theorize that contingent-reward leadership climate moderates these opposing relationships, making our study the first in this field to investigate moderators. Last, we reason that organizational effectiveness is enhanced when affective commitment is “put into action” and raises the organizational citizenship behavior climate. Our three-path moderated-mediation hypotheses are tested, and supported, by structural equation modeling analyses in a multisource data set containing 16,911 respondents from 157 companies. Extensive alternative model testing shows that our theory and findings are robust.
