Can connectors change team culture on fluid teams?

Klevsky, Elena

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/93051 Copy

Description

Title

Can connectors change team culture on fluid teams?

Author(s)

Klevsky, Elena

Issue Date

2016-07-14

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Jackson, Kevin E.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Jackson, Kevin E.

Committee Member(s)

• Autrey, Romana L
• Bauer, Timothy D
• Hecht, Gary W.
• Somaya, Deepak

Department of Study

Accountancy

Discipline

Accountancy

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Connectors
• Cultural Controls
• Fluid Teams
• Social Norms
• Proactive Controls
• Reactive Controls

Abstract

"Connectors—likable people with abnormally high motive, ability, and opportunity to develop relationships with lots of different people from different backgrounds (Autrey, Jackson, Klevsky, and Drasgow 2015a)—can help their teams become more effective by enhancing the team processes which significantly impact team outcomes (Autrey, Bauer, Jackson, and Klevsky 2015b). Yet if connectors are a scarce resource, the most effective strategy for assigning them to teams in order to enhance team effectiveness depends on what happens when the connectors leave the team. I hypothesize and find that connectors benefit teams with at least one member not predisposed to cooperate (""less cooperative teams""), and these organizational benefits remain after the connector is replaced by a non-connector. I also find that teams with every member predisposed to cooperate (""more cooperative teams"") do not need a connector’s help as much. After the connector leaves, the organizational benefits more cooperative teams obtained from working with a connector revert back to average levels experienced by more cooperative teams. This pattern of results suggests that exposure to connectors may help less cooperative teams because of the cooperative social norms connectors create and leave behind, but may not help more cooperative teams because the benefit requires the connector’s presence. These findings not only have practical implications for organizations with fluid teams, but also theoretical implications for the mechanisms underlying a previously documented connector effect. Specifically, these findings imply that while all teams can benefit from a connector’s presence, only less cooperative teams sustain that benefit via developing healthier social norms."

Graduation Semester

2016-08

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/93051

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2016 Elena Klevsky

Owning Collections