Effects of Leader/Member Similarity on Resilience in Multinational Work Teams

Globalization is associated with a rapid increase in the number of multinational work teams characterized by cultural and linguistic diversity. In order to cope with the associated demands for adaptability and mental flexibility, individuals working in such teams should be equipped with resilience, a personal resource that helps them cope with stress, adversity, and unexpected challenges. This study contributes to the scant research on resilience in the organizational context by examining the relationship between actual and perceived similarity between team leaders and members on the one hand and individual resilience on the other. Its specific focus is on the effects of dyadic leader/member similarity in nationality and personal values in a multinational work team setting. Hypotheses were tested on 365 dyads of team members and leaders working in 74 mixed Japanese/non-Japanese work teams. The findings reveal that leader/member similarity in nationality alone is not directly related to resilience, while deep-level actual (rather than merely perceived) similarity of values fosters team member resilience both directly and indirectly through perceived similarity. Based on these findings, implications and future lines of inquiry in the under-studied field of resilience in the organizational context are discussed.