WEAVING A HEALTHY DIVIDE: THE EFFECTS OF GROUP FAULTLINE AND SUBGROUP CROSS-DEPENDENCY

This study examines a dualistic nature of group fautlines and subgroups. Though the negative effects of group faultlines are well known, we argue that certain relationships between subgroups may lead to positive team performance (i.e. healthy divide). Drawing upon power and mutual dependence theory, we develop the construct of cross-dependency which refers to the dependence between subgroups across different resources. Based on social network analysis, we explore conditions for the negative and positive aspects of group faultlines. Using data from 50 work teams in a manufacturing company, we tested the effects of cross-dependency as well as the negative effects of power imbalance and faultline strength. Contrary to previous studies, we found that faultline strength itself did not have a significant effect on team performance evaluated by upper-level managers. Instead, perceived power imbalance between two subgroups was negatively associated with team performance. Consistent with our expectation, cross-dependency between subgroups in task advice and friendship networks had a positive effect on team performance. Moreover, LMX differentiation exacerbated the negative effect of power imbalance and mitigated the positive effect of cross-dependency. We discuss the implications of these results in group diversity research.