In-depth semi-structured interview: domain, rationale, and references
| Domain | Rationale | References |
|---|---|---|
| Definition of team and teamwork | A clear definition of what constitutes a team and the purpose of teamwork is essential for introducing interviewees to the argument. Misalignment in this definition leads to inconsistent expectations and poor team functioning | Bantel and Jackson (1989), Borrill et al. (2000), Leggat (2007), Rosen et al. (2018), Gebert et al. (2010), Peduzzi (2001) Grace et al. (2014) |
| Experience in diversified teams | Different experiences within the team can, on one hand, lead to viewing a diversified team as a valuable resource or a signal of the organization's reputation. On the other hand, it could lead to perceiving diversity as an element that undermines communication, trust, and alignment, thereby having a negative impact on the organization's outcomes. Moreover, the living experience of people members allows to analyze team diversity in the light of the triadic interaction among personal factors, behavioral patterns, and environmental influence elucidated by SCT | Salancik and Pfeffer (1978), van Knippenberg et al. (2004), Tajfel et al. (1979), Horwitz and Horwitz (2007), Bandura (2014, 2011, 2001, 1999) |
| Factors related to diversity | The study defines diversity as both observable or readily detectable attributes (such as age, gender, nationality) and less visible or underlying attributes (such as personality, cognitive styles, cultural background, educational background, functional background), which help to go deeper into the relationship between SCT triadic interactions and team diversity | Martins and Sohn (2022), Horwitz and Horwitz (2007), Jansen and Searle (2021) |
| Functionalities associated with diversity in teams | A diverse team can enhance creativity, innovation, and adaptability, helping the team address complex problems. The key is to identify the positive side of the drivers that allow to assign the right functions to the different employees, valuing the diverse attributes of the team members, and exploiting in an effective way the SCT triadic interactions | Bunderson and Sutcliffe (2002), Homberg and Bui (2013) |
| Dysfunctionalities associated with diversity in teams | A diverse team can lead to a lack of cohesion, conflicting values, and poor communication. The key is to identify the negative side of the drivers, which does not allow for the exploitation in a synergistic way of the SCT triadic interactions. Diversity may introduce challenges in such scenarios, such as conflict, inefficiency, or exclusion, ultimately resulting in negative outcomes | Leslie (2019), Von Bergen et al. (2002) |
| Key dynamics related to diversity and suggestions for the management of diversity | The rationale behind this area is to understand the key dynamics that foster or hinder the functionality of team diversity, and to identify possible actions that policymakers and human resources managers can take to make a diverse team functional (exploiting in a synergistic way the SCT triadic interactions and consequently the drivers identified) rather than dysfunctional |
| Domain | Rationale | References |
|---|---|---|
| Definition of team and teamwork | A clear definition of what constitutes a team and the purpose of teamwork is essential for introducing interviewees to the argument. Misalignment in this definition leads to inconsistent expectations and poor team functioning | |
| Experience in diversified teams | Different experiences within the team can, on one hand, lead to viewing a diversified team as a valuable resource or a signal of the organization's reputation. On the other hand, it could lead to perceiving diversity as an element that undermines communication, trust, and alignment, thereby having a negative impact on the organization's outcomes. Moreover, the living experience of people members allows to analyze team diversity in the light of the triadic interaction among personal factors, behavioral patterns, and environmental influence elucidated by SCT | |
| Factors related to diversity | The study defines diversity as both observable or readily detectable attributes (such as age, gender, nationality) and less visible or underlying attributes (such as personality, cognitive styles, cultural background, educational background, functional background), which help to go deeper into the relationship between SCT triadic interactions and team diversity | |
| Functionalities associated with diversity in teams | A diverse team can enhance creativity, innovation, and adaptability, helping the team address complex problems. The key is to identify the positive side of the drivers that allow to assign the right functions to the different employees, valuing the diverse attributes of the team members, and exploiting in an effective way the SCT triadic interactions | |
| Dysfunctionalities associated with diversity in teams | A diverse team can lead to a lack of cohesion, conflicting values, and poor communication. The key is to identify the negative side of the drivers, which does not allow for the exploitation in a synergistic way of the SCT triadic interactions. Diversity may introduce challenges in such scenarios, such as conflict, inefficiency, or exclusion, ultimately resulting in negative outcomes | |
| Key dynamics related to diversity and suggestions for the management of diversity | The rationale behind this area is to understand the key dynamics that foster or hinder the functionality of team diversity, and to identify possible actions that policymakers and human resources managers can take to make a diverse team functional (exploiting in a synergistic way the SCT triadic interactions and consequently the drivers identified) rather than dysfunctional |
Sharing content requires targeting cookies to be enabled. Please update your cookie preferences to use this feature.