A leadership model supporting maturation of high-performance translational teams

Despite understanding its impact on organizational effectiveness, practical guidance on how to train translational team (TT) leaders is lacking. Previously, we developed an evolutionary learning model of TT maturation consisting of three goal-directed phases: (1). team assembly (Formation); (2). conducting research (Knowledge Generation); and (3). dissemination and implementation (Translation). At each phase, the team acquires group-level knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) that enhance its performance. Noting that the majority of team-emergent KSAs are promoted by leadership behaviors, we examine the SciTS literature to identify the relevant behaviors for each phase. We propose that effective team leadership evolves from a hierarchical, transformational model early in team Formation to a shared, functional leadership model during Translation. We synthesized an integrated model of TT leadership, mapping a generic "functional leadership" taxonomy to relevant leadership behaviors linked to TT performance, creating an evidence-informed Leadership and Skills Enhancement for Research (LASER) training program. Empirical studies indicate that leadership behaviors are stable across time; to enhance leadership skills, ongoing reflection, evaluation, and practice are needed. We provide a comprehensive multi-level evaluation framework for tracking the growth of TT leadership skills. This work provides a framework for assessing and training relevant leadership behaviors for high-performance TTs.

Human Resource Development Review’s 20th Anniversary of Publication: Main Topics and Influence

To celebrate Human Resource Development Review’s (HRDR’s) 20th anniversary of publication, I was asked by the HRDR Editor-in-Chief to conduct a topic analysis of HRDR articles over the past two decades. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to identify major topics from all HRDR articles published from 2002–2021 by reviewing keywords and citation frequency. After identifying 394 articles (excluding editorials), the main topics and the most influential articles were identified. Literature review articles followed by employee engagement were the most frequently cited over the past 20 years. In the future, there is a need to conduct more in-depth analysis to better understand the relevant topics and influence of HRDR articles using accurate categories and advanced techniques.

Industry Collaborations of Research Teams: Are They Penalized or Rewarded in the Grant Evaluation Process?

This paper explores the relationship between the industry collaborations of grant applicant teams and the outcomes of a multistage grant evaluation process. We studied this relationship by focusing on two possible channels of impact of industry engagement-team diversity (or the diversity effect) and prior collaboration experience (or the experience effect)-and examined their influence on the evaluators' decision by using the proxies of direct industry engagement (i.e., the involvement of a company-affiliated researcher in the grant applicant team) and indirect industry engagement (i.e., joint publications with a company-affiliated researcher prior to the grant application), respectively. We analyzed data extracted from the application and reviewed materials of a multidisciplinary, pan-European research funding scheme-European Collaborative Research (EUROCORES)-for the period 2002-2010 and conducted an empirical investigation of its three consecutive grant evaluation stages at the team level. We found that teams presenting an indirect engagement were more likely to pass the first stage of selection, whereas no significant relationships were found at any of the three evaluation stages for teams presenting a direct engagement. Our findings point to the heterogeneity of the decision-making process within a multistage grant evaluation scheme and suggest that the policy objective of fostering university-industry collaboration does not significantly impact the funding process.

Revisiting the Effects of Gender Diversity in Small Groups on Divergent Thinking: A Large-Scale Study Using Synchronous Electronic Brainstorming

Numerous studies have examined the effects of gender diversity in groups on creative performance, and no clear effect has been identified. Findings depend on situational cues making gender diversity more or less salient in groups. A large-scale study on two cohorts (N = 2,261) was conducted among business students to examine the impact of the gender diversity in small groups on divergent thinking in an idea-generation task performed by synchronous electronic brainstorming. Participants were automatically randomized in three- or four-member groups to generate ideas during 10 min on a gendered or neutral task. Then, five categories of groups where the proportion of men/women in groups varied from three/four men to three/four women were compared to examine creative performance on three divergent thinking measures (fluency, flexibility, and originality). A Multivariate Generalized Linear Mixed Model (mGLMM) showed greater fluency in all-women groups than in other groups (except mixed-gender groups composed of two men and two women), and more specifically "solo" groups composed of a single woman/man among a majority of men/women. For flexibility and originality, the superiority of all-women groups was found only in comparison to "solo" groups composed of a single woman. As gender differences are more salient in "solo" groups than in other groups faultlines may appear in groups, leading to a deleterious impact on creative performance.

Open Access Publishing Probabilities Based on Gender and Authorship Structures in Vietnam

Open access (OA) publishing is beneficial for researchers to improve recognition, representation, and visibility in academia. However, few studies have been conducted for studying the association between gender and OA publishing likelihood. Therefore, the current study explores the impacts of gender-based authorship structures on OA publishing in Vietnamese social sciences and humanities. Bayesian analysis was performed on a dataset of 3122 publications in social sciences and humanities. We found that publications with mixed-gender authorship were most likely to be published under Gold Access terms (26.31–31.65%). In contrast, the likelihood of publications with the solely male or female author(s) was lower. It is also notable that if female researcher(s) held the first-author position in an article of mixed-gender authorship, the publication would be less likely to be published under Gold Access terms (26.31% compared to 31.65% of male-first-author structure). In addition, publications written by a solo female author (14.19%) or a group of female authors (10.72%) had lower OA publishing probabilities than those written by a solely male author(s) (17.14%). These findings hint at the possible advantage of gender diversity and the disadvantage of gender homophily (especially female-only authorship) on OA publishing likelihood. Moreover, they show there might be some negative impacts of gender inequality on OA publishing. As a result, the notion of gender diversity, financial and policy supports are recommended to promote the open science movement.

Cognitive Diversity as the Quality of Leadership in Crisis: Team Performance in Health Service during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The level of leadership skills of healthcare team leaders has long been the subject of interest and many discussions. Several studies have pointed to their inadequacy, which is becoming a serious problem during the global crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a direct link between the leadership in the healthcare system and its performance, conditioned by the level of decisions of leaders of medical teams. It is they who determine the performance of healthcare delivery. The study published in this article contains the results from the examination of the dependence between crisis leadership and team performance in healthcare providers. The subject of the research is the impact of cognitive diversity and the quality of crisis-leadership decision-making on the performance of medical teams in the acute crisis phase. The study was conducted on a research sample of 216 healthcare providers after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia (April 2020). The respondents to the research sample involved team leaders in healthcare providers, who have been involved in managing the crisis. The study has justified the positive association between crisis leadership and team performance, which is mediated by cognitive diversity, supporting the quality of decision-making in crisis leadership. The results of the research have proven that the performance of the medical team in the acute crisis phase can be positively influenced through qualified decision-making in crisis leadership amplified by the usage of cognitive diversity.

Effects of Group Formation on Student Satisfaction and Performance: A Field Experiment

This study analyzes the relation of group formation on outcomes of a 4-week online course for prospective students. Group formation was experimentally manipulated based on predefined criteria, personality traits conscientiousness and extraversion. As research questions, groups were considered advantageous if they were formed (a) heterogeneously in extraversion, and (b) homogeneously in conscientiousness. As a result, no uniform outcome was identified. Most variance could be explained on group level, but no significant main effect for experimental grouping was found. Significant interaction between both main effects hint that the results do not provide final answers, but guidance for further research.

The female presence in different organisational positions and performance in secondary schools: Does a woman leader function as mediator?

This study examines the relationship between female representation in different organisational positions and performance using a sample of Spanish secondary schools. These organizations have been usually depicted as ‘feminised environments’ although women in managerial positions are still underrepresented. Based on different theoretical approaches, we separately investigate the relationship between a greater female presence and school performance in three positions: a) as principal; b) on the management team; and c) as teachers. We also investigate if having a female leader exerts a significant mediator role on the relationship between greater female representation on the management team and teachers, respectively, and school performance. Our results reveal a positive and significant relationship between having a woman principal or a greater proportion of women teachers and school performance. However, the relationship between a high proportion of women on the management team and school performance is negative. We also find that a female principal does not play a significant role as mediator in the relationship between having a greater proportion of women on the management team and as teachers and school performance.

Adult and young women communication on sexuality: a pilot intervention in Maputo-Mozambique

BACKGROUND

Communication on sexuality within the family has been considered a determinant factor for the sexual behaviour of young women, contributing to delaying sexual initiation. Taking into account that young women are increasingly exposed to sexualized messages, they need clear, trustful and open communication on sexuality more than ever. However, in Mozambique, communication about sexuality is hampered by strict social norms. This paper evaluates the case of an intervention aimed at reducing the generational barrier for talking about sexuality and to contribute to better communication within the family context.

METHODS

The intervention consisted of three weekly one-hour coached sessions in which female adults and young interacted about sexuality. Realist evaluation was used as a framework to assess context, mechanisms, and outcomes of the intervention. Interviews were conducted among 13 participants of the sessions.

RESULT

The interaction sessions were positively appreciated by the participants and contributed to change norms and attitudes towards communication on sexuality within families. Recognition of similarities and awareness of differences were key in the mechanisms leading to these outcomes. This was reinforced by the use of visual materials and the atmosphere of respect and freedom of speech that characterized the interactions. Limiting factors were related to the long-standing taboo on sexuality and existing misconceptions on sexuality education and talks about sex.

CONCLUSION

By elucidating mechanisms and contextual factors our study adds knowledge on strategies to improve transgenerational communication about sexuality.

A review of leadership theories: identifying a lack of growth in the HRD leadership domain

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the life-cycle of leadership theory from both the human resource development (HRD) and the organizational/leadership literature while providing a contrast between the two bodies of literature. The current research identifies which theories are being represented within the HRD literature, followed by a review of current directions in the leadership fields, primarily from literature in the organizational and leadership fields. By identifying these two bodies of leadership theories, the following research question will be answered: How current are the leadership theories provided in the literature of HRD compared to research that is reported from other external leadership fields?

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines how leadership theories are represented in the HRD literature. Data for the current article provide a preview of leadership theories that are used to inform HRD scholars and scholar–practitioners for a period of 15 years (2000-2015) in the four Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) publications (Advances in Developing Human Resources; Human Resource Development International; Human Resource Development Quarterly; and Human Resource Development Review). The four journals within the AHRD were reviewed to identify which leadership theories were being researched and used to inform members of HRD. The search terms for the current study included “leadership AND theory,” “team AND leadership,” “leadership AND development” and “team AND development.” Studies that presented a leadership theory and either described or defined the theory were coded for the current study. Within this body of literature, there were a total of 74 leadership theories identified (some repeating), among those there were a total of 20 unique leadership theories. The literature external of HRD was identified using the ScienceDirect database for 10 years (2007-2017) with the topics limited to “topics–leadership.” Once the HRD and organizational/leadership literature are presented, a comparison between the two literature streams will be provided, highlighting any deficiencies within either body of literature and recommendations for future research efforts for the field of HRD.

Findings

This examination of leadership theory study within HRD and other fields highlights the deficiencies within either body of literature and offers recommendations for future research efforts for the field of HRD. In line with the trend in leadership research, HRD should call for more longitudinal and multi-level research efforts to be conducted as opposed to cross-sectional studies.

Research limitations/implications

The current study is limited in the literature that was used to collect/code data. Also, the time frame for the HRD literature ended in 2015 due to the long duration required to review articles and to code the data. Secondary data were obtained from organizational/leadership literature and are more current because they are more recent. Overall, even with an end date of 2015 for the HRD literature, the HRD field has not changed too much during this time and the authors recognize some minor changes, but the research findings are still relevant and the leadership deficits presented are still realized.

Practical implications

The field of HRD is behind when it comes to leadership theories. This paper identifies this in an effort to aid researchers, students and practitioners to look beyond the leadership theories presented in the HRD literature for more relevant and current leadership theories. This paper highlighted a number of newer and current leadership theories and trends for scholars and scholar-practitioners to begin to focus on; however, this list is only a snapshot and is bounded by the data collected for the current paper.

Originality/value

This paper is original in that it is both critical of leadership research within the HRD literature while also providing new directions for the field. The snapshot of where the field of HRD is compared to the leadership and organizational fields becomes apparent with multiple future directions for research.

The Differentiated Effects of Human Resource Diversity on Corporate Innovation

By linking theoretical perspectives on human resource diversity to the distinction between knowledge exploration and exploitation, this paper contributes to the growing research literature on diversity and innovation by following up on the original argument by March [1991] that different dimensions of organizational learning depend on different inputs and processes. Empirically, the paper draws on a unique dataset constructed by merging Norwegian employer–employee register data for 2004–2008 with Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data covering the years 2008–2010. Bivariate probit regressions with controls for innovation strategy find patenting propensities more responsive to the diversity of experience-based knowledge accumulated in firms, than the propensities to improve production processes or introduce new products onto the market. The latter depends foremost on firms’ investments in innovation, and responds positively to human resource diversity only when the financial commitment of firms to development work is limited.

Inclusive workplace and organizational citizenship behavior

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employees’ perception of an inclusive workplace, namely, inclusive practices, inclusive climate and inclusive leadership and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). It also attempts to examine the difference in perception toward the inclusive workplace along the three major dimensions of diversity, namely, gender, category they belong to and their religious orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

Non-probability sampling technique is employed to collect primary data through a self-administered questionnaire from 492 academicians of a higher education institution situated in western Uttar Pradesh of India. The data set was analyzed using statistical tools like descriptive statistics (z-test and ANOVA), and multiple regression analysis.

Findings

Results of the multiple regression analysis reflected direct and significant relationship between inclusive workplace and OCB. It has been observed that organizations with a conducive climate of inclusion, a well formulated inclusive practices and strong leaders’ commitment will result into high level of OCB which is apparent among employees working in a higher education institution western Uttar Pradesh. The results of z-test reflected that male and female employees have similar perception toward inclusive climate. However, there is a significant difference in perception toward inclusive practices and inclusive leadership on OCB. On the other hand, results of ANOVA reflected that with respect to religious orientation there is no significant difference among perceptions toward inclusive workplace. However in case of category employees have similar perception toward inclusive climate in contrast with inclusive practices and inclusive leadership.

Research limitations/implications

The present study established the concept of inclusive workplace, entirely on the basis of individual viewpoint. While to examine the cause and effect relationship of an inclusive workplace on OCB, it is recommended to incorporate some moderating or intervening variables.

Practical implications

This study provides guidelines for academic institutions to understand and foster an inclusive workplace that will encourage the academicians to exhibit OCB.

Originality/value

Very little research had examined the relationship between inclusive workplace and OCB. This research will add value to the existing literature on inclusive workplace and its probable impact on organizations and individuals by examining this relationship with respect to gender, category and religious orientation of employees working in higher educational institution of India.

Differential Relationship of Person- and Task-Focused Leadership to Team Effectiveness: A Meta-Analysis of Moderators

Building on previous findings of C. S. Burke et al. and Ceri-Booms et al., this meta-analytic review aims to investigate the moderating impact of team size, interdependence, power distance culture, effectiveness criteria, and study settings on the differential relationship of person- and task-focused leadership with team effectiveness. Based on 52 studies with 4,958 teams, results suggested that the differential effects of leadership were moderated by effectiveness criteria and the interaction between team characteristics and culture in societies. In high power distance societies, the relationship between person-focused leadership and team effectiveness was stronger in small teams that were characterized by high interdependence. In low power distance societies, the larger effect size of a person-focused leader was found in small teams, while task-focused leadership emerged as a stronger predictor of team effectiveness than person-focused leadership in large teams. Results can be used to guide leader development programs needed to enhance team effectiveness.

Embedding Diversity in Sustainability Reporting

The relevance of diversity has been recognised by academics and researchers as well as decision-makers. Diversity reporting can be perceived as the first step in addressing inequalities in organisations and potential assistance for the diversity agenda, because it allows measuring diversity and ultimately managing it. However, the recognition of the importance of diversity and diversity reporting does not necessarily contribute to a greater inclusion of diversity into sustainability reporting. The following paper attempts to determine the scope of diversity reporting, the specificity of the collected and disclosed diversity data, as well as the determinants of diversity reporting. For this purpose, a CATI (computer-assisted telephone interview) research was conducted, involving companies indexed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The results were analysed using the Cramer’s V contingency measure, the Kruskal–Wallis H test and ordinal regression. The results show a substantial difference in the collection of diversity information between organisations that map and that do not map their stakeholders. Furthermore, they show that, when organisations collect diversity data, their specificity is rather high, however this does not translate into an equally high level of diversity disclosure. Furthermore, the paper analyses the possible determinants of diversity disclosure, which do not necessarily overlap with the determinants of sustainability reporting.

Cognitive diversity and creativity in teams: the mediating roles of team learning and inclusion

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the mechanisms through which cognitive diversity affects creativity. It explores how and in what ways cognitive diversity affects team members by examining the mediating roles of team learning and inclusion.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire survey data were collected from matched supervisor and employee pairs from a direct sales company in the health-care industry in China. The final sample consisted of 216 employees from 48 teams, with a response rate of 90 per cent. Each employee’s immediate supervisor rated his or her creativity and in-role performance.

Findings

The empirical results indicate that team learning and inclusion mediate the effect of cognitive diversity on creativity.

Research limitations/implications

This study was conducted in a single organisation in China and used subjective self-reported measures.

Practical implications

The results suggest that diversity training reduces the negative consequences of team diversity and offer practical insights into the effectiveness of diversity management and the ways to create a diverse and inclusive workplace. The study should help human resource professionals to identify human resources strategies that stimulate an inclusive environment and leverage the benefits associated with higher levels of diversity.

Social implications

The findings have significant implications for developing and maintaining social harmony.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of this study is its simultaneous investigation of diversity and inclusion and how they lead to creativity.

Team Composition, Distributed Leadership, and Performance: It’s Good to Share

The contemporary work environment encourages new models of leadership that support influential behavior across teams. Leadership shared in this way improves team effectiveness and performance and is of interest to both scholars and practitioners. We examine shared leadership influences in the presence of other characteristics that distinguish teams, namely, team size and sex diversity. Using hierarchical multiple regression tests on information gathered from 241 teams during a strategy simulation exercise, we find evidence of a positive relationship between shared leadership and performance over and above the influence of team size and sex diversity. Additionally, we dimensionalize performance to examine impacts of team characteristics on different desirable outcomes and find that team size has a positive relationship with financial performance but a negative relationship with strategic performance. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Successful management of diverse corporate innovation communities

Purpose

Increasing demographic diversity within societies and workforces causes challenges with regard to the innovation performance of companies. By definition, innovation communities nowadays are composed of members with diverse function background and age diversity. The challenging question is how to manage diverse corporate innovation communities. The purpose of this paper is to find out which factors determine the success of corporate innovation communities in times of demographic shifts.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical field to answer the research question are three corporate innovation communities in companies of different industries and size. Multiple case study methodology is applied to gather and analyse the data.

Findings

The study presents an empirically derived framework to structure success factors of diverse corporate innovation communities chronologically in the three phases of preparation, execution and finalization of a community work process. The success factors are described in detail and finally a time sequential guideline for those who are responsible for community management in demographic change is provided.

Research limitations/implications

It is contributed to the literature on innovation communities and it is shown that innovation communities are not only an instrument to solve innovation tasks but are also a promising means to tackle other challenges of recent demographic changes. As limitation must be considered, that the analysed innovation communities only received corporate support for a short period of time and the supporting organizations operate in manufacturing industries in Germany only.

Practical implications

The paper highlights that managers need to be aware that diversity in corporate innovation communities per se does not lead to success. Furthermore, a guideline of success factors for managers of diverse corporate innovation communities is presented which highlights important aspects that managers need to consider during the community work process.

Social implications

Due to demographic shifts in Germany and other European countries, societies in general and workforces in particular have modified. Most pervasive shifts take place with regard to age structures and diversity. Implications how manager could handle diversity successfully are therefore of high relevance for societies.

Originality/value

This study provides a theoretical understanding of the implications of organizational and age diversity on corporate innovation community management. Extant authors have already focussed on success factors in innovation communities and diverse settings isolated, but have not merged these issues.

Diverse Work Groups and Employee Performance

This study is a report of an investigation of group diversity—particularly informational diversity and social diversity—revealing its effects on individual performance through communication ties. Two studies, one using 127 groups of employees from six firms and another using 104 groups of part-time students from a training program, demonstrate that informational diversity affects individual task and creative performance through communication ties, whereas social diversity does not. Future research and practical implications are discussed.

Employee perception of diversity in Morocco: empirical insights

Purpose

– The present paper aims to shed light on workers ' perception of diversity and their demographical characteristics as well as characteristics of their organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

– Descriptive statistics and multiple regression technique were used to, respectively, describe the sample and test the research hypothesis.

Findings

– The current study findings reveal that three variables influence employee perception about diversity within Moroccan organizations, namely, education, industry and nationality. The more employees are educated, the more positively they perceive diversity. The same logic applies to nationality and industry. Diversity is better perceived by foreign workers in Morocco and is most prevalent in the services industry.

Research limitations/implications

– The sample size (N = 87) is too small compared to the number of variables included in the research.

Practical implications

– Enhancing employees’ diversity climate perceptions may have financial and non-financial implications for organizations. Moreover, diversity perception is linked to worker attitudes in the workplace.

Social implications

– Policymakers in Morocco ought to design and enforce human resource policies that encourage organizations to recruit employees with diverse backgrounds. To do so, it is recommended that a commission or task force be created to fulfill the role of a “watchdog” in diversity-related spheres such as developing plans and models for employers, setting diversity-related goals and objectives and putting in place adequate and effective mechanisms and tools to assess the implementation of diversity initiatives by Moroccan organizations.

Originality/value

– The current research is the first survey-based study on the topic in the Moroccan context. Further, the fact the respondents are from various organizations, industries and sectors allows for the elimination of the normative influence of a single organizational culture.

Gender Diversity, Business-Unit Engagement, and Performance

This study investigates the relationship between gender diversity and financial performance at the business-unit level and whether employee engagement moderates this relationship. Using more than 800 business units from two companies belonging to two different industries, we found that employee engagement and gender diversity independently predict financial performance at the business-unit level. One implication is that making diversity an organizational priority and creating an engaged culture for the workforce may result in cumulative financial benefits.

An Extended Intervening Process Model

The rapid on-going demographic shifts in workplaces present challenges to Human Resource Development (HRD) scholars and practitioners, creating a significant demand for diversity initiatives that help organizations harvest diversity. To address inconsistencies in diversity research results and limitations of current diversity intervening process theories, the authors propose an extended intervening process model (EIPM) from the perspective of how group processes underlie the linkage between diversity and performance. The model predicts both positive and negative effects of diversity depending on the intervening roles of group processes and moderation effects of research contextual factors. While extending the knowledge by incorporating three group processes simultaneously, this conceptualization can be regarded as the first theoretical framework that explains both positive and negative effects of diversity found in one study. Implications of the present framework for future research are discussed.

Task Types and Team-Level Attributes

Within team research, there is no shortage of literature classifying teams. However, the team taxonomic literature suffers from a few limitations. First, many taxonomies claim to classify teams into mutually exclusive classes, yet when examined closely, are not. Second, some of the most well-known taxonomies are descriptive of various tasks teams engage in, but not of the holistic team-level properties that define different types of teams. A clear understanding of both is necessary if human resource development (HRD) professionals are to develop and train different teams effectively. Therefore, the purpose of the current article is twofold: to present an integrative taxonomy of task types and a set of team-level characteristics that have been carefully synthesized from the prior literature and to explain how these tools can be used in conjunction to inform team-oriented HRD research and practice.

Team Self-Managing Behaviors and Team Effectiveness: The Moderating Effect of Task Routineness

This study investigates the role of team members’ self-managing behaviors in regard to three dimensions of team effectiveness. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating effect of task routineness on these relationships. The sample consists of 97 work teams (341 members and 97 immediate supervisors) drawn from a public safety organization. Results show that team self-managing behaviors are positively related to team performance, team viability, and team process improvement. Results also indicate that task routineness moderates the relationships that team self-managing behaviors have with team performance and team viability such that these relationships are stronger when the level of task routineness is low. However, this moderating effect is not significant in regard to the relationship between team self-managing behaviors and team process improvement. Taken together, these findings suggest that emphasis on team self-managing behaviors may enhance team effectiveness, but this enhancement effect is contingent on task routineness.

Globally distributed teams

Globally distributed teams are becoming more common among organizations that seek to maximize knowledge creation and innovation for competitive advantage. Although they are becoming widely used among global organizations, distributed teams are creating an environment replete in cultural and functional diversity. Whereas synergy among members is desired, diversity is likely to hinder team cohesion and individual performance. Our study models and empirically tests the effect of perceptions of diversity on trust, cohesion, and individual performance in actual globally distributed teams. The results indicate that individual productivity is negatively influenced by the extent of diversity within a team; however, this liability may be restrained if an environment of trust is encouraged and team cohesion develops.