Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Language as a lightning rod: Power contests, emotion regulation, and subgroup dynamics in global teams

  • Article
  • Published:
Journal of International Business Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Based on an ethnographic study comprising interviews with and observations of 96 globally distributed members of six software development teams, we propose a model that captures how asymmetries in language fluency contribute to an us vs them dynamic common in global teams. Faultlines, formed along the dimensions of asymmetries in lingua franca fluency, location, and nationality of team members, were associated with subgrouping in some but not all of the teams. Our findings suggest that divisive subgroup dynamics occurred only in teams that also suffered from power contests, suggesting that power contests activate otherwise dormant faultlines. Our findings extend theory on subgroup dynamics in global teams by adding language as a potential faultline dimension, showing how power struggles activated faultlines and were, in turn, reinforced by them and documenting the emotion-regulation processes triggered by subgrouping and enacted through language-related choices and behaviors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Although functional area or discipline has also been shown to be an important faultline dimension, the teams in our study were fairly homogeneous in functional/disciplinary area, so functional area did not constitute a faultline dimension.

  2. Ideally, we would have employed a quantitative measure of faultlines, but were unable to, because most existing measures were not robust to groups as large as those in our study (e.g., Bezrukova et al., 2009), and those that were tended to generate too many subgroups to be meaningful.

  3. This is a pseudonym, as are all other informant names reported in this paper.

References

  • Auer, P. 1984. Bilingual conversation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Auer, P. 2000. A conversation analytic approach to code-switching and transfer. In L. Wei (Ed), The bilingualism reader. 166–187. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barsade, S. 2002. The ripple effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47 (4): 644–675.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barsade, S., & Gibson, D. 2012. Group affect: Its influence on individual and group outcomes. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21 (2): 119–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bezrukova, K., Jehn, K. A., Zanutto, E. L., & Thatcher, S. M. 2009. Do workgroup faultlines help or hurt? A moderated model of faultlines, team identification, and group performance. Organization Science, 20 (1): 35–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bono, J. E., & Vey, M. A. 2005. Toward understanding emotional management at work: A quantitative review of emotional labor research. In C. E. Härtel, W. J. Zerbe, & N. M. Ashkanasy (Eds), Emotions in organizational behavior: 213–233. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brannen, M. 2003. What is culture and why does it matter? Current conceptions of culture from anthropology. In N. A. Boyacigiller, R. A. Goodman, & M. E. Phillips (Eds), Crossing cultures: Insights from master teachers: 20–37. New York: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. 2004. Language and identity. In A. Duranti (Ed), A companion to linguistic anthropology, Vol. 1. 369–394. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. 2005. Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies, 7 (4–5): 585–614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carton, A., & Cummings, J. 2012. A theory of subgroups in work teams. Academy of Management Journal, 37 (3): 441–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chrobot-Mason, D., Ruderman, M, Weber, T., & Ernst, C. 2009. The challenge of leading on unstable ground: Triggers that activate social identity faultlines. Human Relations, 62 (11): 1763–1794.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cossette, P. 1998. The study of language in organizations: A symbolic interactionist stance. Human Relations, 51 (11): 1355–1377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cramton, C. D., & Hinds, P. 2005. Subgroup dynamics in internationally distributed teams: Ethnocentrism or cross-national learning? Research in Organizational Behavior, 26: 231–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. H. 1983. Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44 (1): 113–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewaele, J. M., & Wei, L. 2012. Multilingualism, empathy, and multicompetence. International Journal of Multilingualism, 9 (4): 352–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Earley, P. C., & Mosakowski, E. 2000. Creating hybrid team cultures: An empirical test of transnational team functioning. Academy of Management Journal, 43 (1): 26–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elfenbein, H. A. 2007. Emotion in organizations: A review and theoretical integration. Academy of Management Annals, 1 (1): 371–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feely, A., & Harzing, A. W. 2003. Language management in multinational companies. Cross-Cultural Management, 10 (2): 37–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fixman, C. 1989. The foreign language needs of US-based corporations. National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) Occasional Papers Presentation. (also published in Annals, 511: 25–46).

  • Giles, H., & Johnson, P. 1981. The role of language in ethnic group relations. In J. C. Turner, & H. Giles (Eds), Intergroup behavior: 99–243. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J. 1998. The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2 (3): 271–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J., & Thompson, R. 2007. Emotion regulation: Conceptual foundations. In J. J. Gross (Ed), Handbook of emotion regulation: 3–24. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harzing, A. W., & Feely, A. J. 2008. The language barrier and its implications for HQ–subsidiary relationships. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 15 (1): 49–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harzing, A. W., Köster, K., & Magner, U. 2011. Babel in business: The language barrier and its solutions in the HQ-subsidiary relationship. Journal of World Business, 46 (3): 279–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heller, M. 1992. The politics of codeswitching and language choice. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 13 (1–2): 123–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, J. K. 2005. Language diversity in international management teams. International Studies of Management and Organization, 35 (1): 66–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hochschild, A. R. 1979. Emotion work, feeling rules, and social structure. American Journal of Sociology, 85 (3): 551–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR). 2012. Skill level descriptions for competence in intercultural communication, http://www.govtilr.org/skills/competence.htm, accessed 27 June 2013.

  • Jan, J. M. 2003. Code-switching for power wielding: Inter-gender discourse at the workplace. Multilingua, 22 (1): 41–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jehn, K., & Bezrukova, K. 2010. The faultline activation process and the effects of activated faultlines on coalition formation, conflict, and group outcomes. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 112 (1): 24–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keltner, D., Gruenfeld, D., & Anderson, C. 2003. Power, approach, and inhibition. Psychological Review, 110 (2): 265–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kingston, P. 1996. Bridging the language gap through international networking. In M. Berger (Ed), Cross-cultural team building: Guidelines for effective communication and negotiation: 58–70. London: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knapp, K. 2003. Approaching lingua franca communication. In K. Knapp, & C. Meierkord (Eds), Lingua franca communication: 217–245. Frankfurt: P. Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lau, D., & Murnighan, J. K. 1998. Demographic diversity and faultlines: The compositional dynamics of organizational groups. Academy of Management Review, 23 (2): 325–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, J. M., & Moreland, R. L. 1998. Small groups. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds), The Handbook of Social Psychology: pp. 415–469. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, J., & Hambrick, D. 2005. Factional groups: A new vantage on demographic faultlines, conflict, and disintegration in work teams. Academy of Management Journal, 48 (5): 794–813.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lo, A. 1999. Codeswitching, speech community membership, and the construction of ethnic identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 3 (4): 461–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magee, J., & Galinsky, A. 2008. Social hierarchy: The self-reinforcing nature of power and status. Academy of Management Annals, 2 (1): 351–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maloney, M., & Zellmer-Bruhn, M. 2006. Building bridges, windows and cultures: Mediating mechanisms between team heterogeneity and performance in global teams. Management International Review, 46 (6): 697–720.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marschan-Piekkari, R., Welch, R., & Welch, C. 2005. Handbook of qualitative research methods for international business. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metiu, A. 2006. Owning the code: Status closure in distributed groups. Organization Science, 17 (4): 418–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mettler, S. 1984. Acculturation, communication apprehension and language acquisition. Paper presented at the papers and reports on Pidgin and Creole languages, Vol. 16, Fifth Biennial Conference, Kingston, Jamaica.

  • Miller, J. M. 2000. Language use, identity, and social interaction: Migrant students in Australia. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 33 (1): 69–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neeley, T. 2013. Language matters: Status loss and achieved status distinctions in global organizations. Organization Science, 24 (2): 476–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neeley, T., Hinds, P., & Cramton, C. 2012. The (un)hidden turmoil of language in global collaboration. Organizational Dynamics, 41 (3): 236–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Leary, M. B., & Mortensen, M. 2010. Go (con)figure: Subgroups, imbalance, and isolates in geographically dispersed teams. Organization Science, 21 (1): 115–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orzechowicz, D. 2008. Privileged emotion managers: The case of actors. Social Psychology Quarterly, 71 (2): 143–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polzer, J., Crisp, C. B., Jarvenpaa, S., & Kim, J. 2006. Extending the faultline model to geographically dispersed teams: How collocated subgroups can impair group functioning. Academy of Management Journal, 49 (4): 679–692.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sebba, M., & Wootton, T. 1998. Sequential versus identity-related explanation in code-switching. In P. Auer (Ed), Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction, and identity: 262–289. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sivanathan, N., Pillutla, M., & Murnighan, J. K. 2008. Power gained, power lost. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 105 (2): 135–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spradley, J. P. 1979. The ethnographic interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stahl, G., Maznevski, M., Voigt, A., & Jonsen, K. 2010. Unraveling the effects of cultural diversity in teams: A meta-analysis of research on multicultural work groups. Journal of International Business Studies, 41 (4): 690–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. 1998. Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaara, E., Tienari, J., Piekkari, R., & Säntti, R. 2005. Language and the circuits of power in a merging multinational corporation. Journal of Management Studies, 42 (3): 595–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wharton, A. S. 2009. The sociology of emotional labor. Annual Review of Sociology, 35: 147–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. IIS-0220098 and Grant No. IIS-0219754 to the first and third authors, respectively. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We thank Aditya Johri and Tine Koehler for their help with data collection, and Steven Shafer and Heather Altman for their assistance with data analysis. We appreciate the generous assistance of the informants and the organization that participated in the study. We also would like to thank Steve Barley and members of the Harvard Business School Organizational Behavior workshop, especially Patricia Satterstrom, Robin Ely, David Thomas, and Lakshmi Ramarajan, for their insightful comments on earlier drafts.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management Science and Engineering, Center for Work, Technology and Organization, Stanford University, Stanford, USA

    Pamela J Hinds

  2. Harvard Business School, Boston, USA

    Tsedal B Neeley

  3. School of Management, George Mason University, Fairfax, USA

    Catherine Durnell Cramton

Authors
  1. Pamela J Hinds
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tsedal B Neeley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Catherine Durnell Cramton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Accepted by Mary Yoko Brannen, Deputy Editor, 16 October 2013. This paper has been with the authors for two revisions.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hinds, P., Neeley, T. & Cramton, C. Language as a lightning rod: Power contests, emotion regulation, and subgroup dynamics in global teams. J Int Bus Stud 45, 536–561 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2013.62

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2013.62

Keywords

Search

Navigation