The Influence of Transformational Leadership, Cultural Orientation, and Emotional Conflict on Innovation in Multicultural Teams

Abstract

Multicultural teams represent a key strategic action that generate significant competitive advantages and innovation. The authors address the question of how transformational leadership, cultural orientation, and emotional conflict impact on multicultural teams focused on innovation. The methodology used has a quantitative and transversal approach because the measurement is carried out in a specific moment. The sample is composed by 415 multicultural-team members working in multinational companies. Results indicate that the dimension of intellectual stimulation and a horizontal hierarchy are factors that influence the team innovation. In contrast, the emotional conflict did not show a significant relationship. The positive moderating effect of organizational support on intellectual stimulation and team innovation´s relationship is proven. This study contributes significantly to international human resource management domain by leading to a better understanding of the functioning of work teams to ensure business innovation and the need for internationalization.

Individual characteristics on multicultural team performance: does the role played by leaders and team members matter?

“…In other words, both leaders and members agree that an orientation to collaboration and submission of individual interests for the team goals (e.g., collectivism), expectation regarding importance of positions within team hierarchy (e.g., power distance dimension), preference for achievement, competition, confrontation and individual goals and material rewards for success (e.g., masculinity dimension), and the preference to avoid working under unplanned situations or in the absence of formal rules and structures (e.g., Uncertainty avoidance) are factors that do not significantly influence the team performance. Our findings exploring the effects of cultural diversity of multicultural team performace are slight similar than previous work on multicultural team innovation ( Guzmán-Rodríguez et al, 2021 ) although in that case, Guzman-Rodriguez and colleages found than only the power distance orientation affected positively to the team innovation.…”

“…Cultural diversity can be defined as the set of ways of thinking, attitudes, and values that characterize the team and the product of the mixture of national cultures of its members ( Hofstede, 1980 ; Kim, 2017 ; Guzmán-Rodríguez et al, 2021 ; Stahl and Maznevski, 2021 ).…”