Leaders can be 'stuck in their past' when they try to bring their previous workplace culture into a new setting, a Rotman researcher says.Ridofranz
The Globe’s bimonthly report on research from business schools.
Asking for a job candidate’s relevant experience is a routine practice among companies looking to bring in new leaders.
It makes sense – previous experience is a critical element, especially in enabling new managers or executives to hit the ground running.
There’s a catch, though. A new study from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management suggests that a leader’s past cultural experience in a work group may inhibit the success of his or her new group.
By analyzing newly formed sales groups at a manufacturing startup, as well as groups created in a behavioral laboratory, researchers were struck by what they term “cultural transfer perspective” – that is, a tendency by new leaders to impose cultures on their new teams based on what they’ve learned from their work with previous organizations.
“In other words, the new leaders are stuck in their past,” says Yeun Joon Kim, the study’s lead author and a Rotman PhD student, in an e-mail.
Group culture plays a big role in an organization structure, shaping team dynamics and a group’s ability to achieve collective goals, says Mr. Kim.
Groups with more creative roles, for example, benefit from a looser culture, where there are relatively fewer norms and rules to follow, team members have greater autonomy and are encouraged to voice their opinions. Conversely, tight cultures are conducive to jobs where the best outcomes are achieved by members strictly following rules or protocols.
Exactly how group cultures are formed is still a hazy area for researchers. What is known is that once formed, these cultures are deeply entrenched in people’s minds, continuously offering implicit guidelines for how people should think, feel and behave in their groups.
“Cultures provide groups with ways of interpreting and judging others’ behaviours, resolving conflicts that arise from competing demands, managing social relationships, and organizing resources to accomplish collective goals,” says Mr. Kim.
For organizations looking to avoid the cultural transfer trap, the answer lies in awareness of the problem, as well as training new leaders on the detrimental consequences of such behaviour.
“Just sticking to their past experience inhibits [new leaders] from creating effective cultures. At the same time, they should not completely ignore their past experience because their past experience provides deep insights into how to resolve problems in their new groups,” says Mr. Kim.
For organizations looking to avoid the cultural transfer trap, the answer lies in awareness of the problem, as well as training new leaders on the detrimental consequences of such behaviour.
“It’s not the past experience per se that is detrimental for their new teams. It’s the new leaders’ behaviour sticking to their past experience,” says Mr. Kim. Through past experience, leaders gain deeper understanding of their jobs, which could be beneficial for their new teams. However, new teams must pay attention to the specific needs of their new teams first.
For example, a new faculty dean of a business school with 10 years of experience decides to dismiss some faculty members over a perceived issue with their performance levels. That practice might work in the dean’s former university because that school has a very competitive culture. If the new school has a less competitive culture or a strong labour union, it won’t work and will create strong conflict with faculty members. That, in turn, will ultimately hamper the performance of the school.
The lesson is clear, says Mr. Kim: “Without paying attention to the new work environments in their new companies, new leaders cannot effectively use their capability for their new teams.”
Mr. Kim’s future research will examine how companies can create programs to better ensure successful leadership transitions.
The current study is co-authored by Soo Min Toh, an associate professor of organizational behaviour at the University of Toronto Mississauga, with a cross appointment to Rotman. It’s been accepted for publication in the Academy of Management Journal.
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