Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2013

Publication Title

IIE Annual Conference and Expo: May 18-22, 2013, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Pages

1196-1204

Conference Name

2013 Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference, May 18-22, 2013, Puerto Rico

Abstract

The emergence of information and communication technologies has provided firms with global access to individual talent often resulting in virtual work teams with diverse sets of skills and perspectives. Diversity in the virtual workplace has been linked to richer and more innovative work solutions. However, diversity in surface attributes (ethnicity, gender, etc.) and deep-level attributes (values, attitudes, etc.) may also lead to conflict and misunderstandings which affect the level of trust and team outcome. A virtual environment further complicates diversity interactions because of reduced levels of awareness, isolation, and uninhibited behaviors. Perspective taking has the potential to help teams deal with the challenges of diversity in a virtual environment by increasing awareness of other people's underlying attributes which promotes understanding. This paper studies the role of perspective taking in diversity management in virtual teams by evaluating its impact on team trust and team performance. This paper reports on an in depth literature review on the topic and it proposes the theoretical foundation and methodological approach to explore the research question. An experimental design and moderated hierarchical regression method is proposed to evaluate the impact of a perspective taking intervention. Limitations and potential implications are also discussed.

Rights

© 2013 Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. All Rights reserved.

Comments

Note: The 2013 Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference was part of the IIE Annual Conference and Expo, 18-22 May 2013, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

ORCID

0000-0003-4348-7798 (Pazos)

Original Publication Citation

Magpili, N. C., & Pazos, P. (2013). Managing diversity in virtual teams through perspective taking. In A. Krishnamurthy & W. K. V. Chan (Eds.), IIE Annual Conference and Expo: May 18-22, 2013, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers.

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