Team Receptivity to Newcomers
Dr. Kane’s work on team receptivity to newcomers enriches the group learning and socialization literatures. In a review of five decades of research in the organizational and psychological sciences on team responses to newcomers, Dr. Kane and colleagues, Prof. Dr. Floor Rink, Prof. Dr. Naomi Ellemers, and Prof. Dr. Gerben Van Der Vegt show that, on balance, teams are willing to reflect on their existing practices in the presence of new members, but are relatively unwilling to socially accept newcomers or utilize their knowledge (Rink, Kane, Ellemers, Van Der Vegt, 2013; also see, Kane & Rink, 2015a; Kane & Rink, 2020; Rink, Kane, Ellemers, & Van Der Vegt, 2017). Kane (2010) and Kane et al. (2005) operationalized knowledge transfer via membership change, which means that the work provides insights into team receptivity to newcomers. In particular, these studies demonstrate that teams are more receptive to the unique knowledge of new members when team members identify strongly with a superordinate group that includes the newcomer. Accordingly, teams would be advised to draw newcomers from within their organization, but the applicability of this implication is limited by the benefits and prevalence of inter-organizational mobility.
Research conducted with Dr. Rink addresses whether marginal members, such as newcomers, themselves can increase team receptivity and proposes that newcomers calibrate the way they contribute knowledge to address social identity concerns (Kane & Rink, 2011; Kane & Rink, 2015b; Kane & Rink, 2016; Rink & Kane, 2014; Rink et al., 2017). Experimental studies reveal that newcomers are accepted more easily and, hence, enhance the utilization of their knowledge when the newcomers themselves use an integrating strategy (i.e., plural pronouns) that emphasize their new team rather than the more common differentiating strategy (i.e., singular pronouns) that emphasize personal identity and separation from the team (Kane & Rink, 2015). Prior research had found that a group’s affiliative needs vary as a function of a new member’s future prospects in a group (Rink & Ellemers, 2009). Consistent with this logic, subsequent experiments reveal greater embracing of a permanent newcomer who used integrating pronouns compared to a permanent newcomer who used differentiating pronouns, but more distancing of a temporary newcomer who used integrating pronouns compared to a temporary newcomer who used differentiating pronouns (Kane & Rink, 2016). Taken together this research suggests that groups have affiliative concerns, which a change-agent newcomer may address by using inclusive pronouns (“we,” “our”) rather than the more common differentiating pronouns (“I,” versus “you”), which in turn, renders groups likely to adopt a new work routine (Kane & Rink, 2015), especially when the newcomer joins the group on a permanent basis (Kane & Rink, 2016). In all of these studies, groups may have been especially open to innovating because of the changes and disruptions that come with newcomer entry (Rink et al. 2017). This work, much of which was supported by a grant from the A.J. and Sigismunda Palumbo Charitable Trust, identifies actionable practices that managers and marginalized employees, such as new members, may undertake to become effective agents of organizational renewal and social change.
Review Article
Rink, F., Kane, A. A., Ellemers, N., & van der Vegt, G. S. (2013) Team receptivity to newcomers: Five decades of evidence and future research themes. The Academy of Management Annals, 7:1, 245-291. doi: 10.1080/19416250.2013.766405
Bibliography
Kane, A. A. & Rink, F. (2015). Team Newcomers. Oxford Bibliographies in Management. Ed. Ricky Griffin. New York: Oxford University Press. doi : 10.1093/OBO/97801998467400050
Empirical articles
Kane, A. A., & Rink, F. (2016). When and how groups utilize dissenting newcomer knowledge: Newcomers’ future prospects condition the effect of language-based identity strategies. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Special issue: Deviance in Groups: Current Perspectives on Enduring Questions edited by J. M. Levine & J. M. Marques. 19(5): 591-607 doi: 10.1177/1368430216638534
Kane, A. A., & Rink, F. (2015). How newcomers influence group utilization of their knowledge: Integrating versus differentiating strategies. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice,19, 91 - 105. doi:10.1037/gdn0000024
Kane, A. A. & Rink, F. (2011) Newcomers as active agents: Team receptivity to integrating vs. differentiating identity strategies. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings (Meeting Abstract Supplement), 1-6. doi: 10.5465/AMBPP.2011.65869733
Kane, A. A. (2010). Unlocking knowledge transfer potential: Knowledge demonstrability and superordinate social identity. Organization Science, 21(3), 643-660. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1090.0469
Kane, A.A., Argote, L., & Levine, J.M. (2005) Knowledge transfer between groups via personnel rotation: Effects of social identity and knowledge quality. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 96, 56-71. doi: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2004.09.002
Edited Book Chapters
Kane, A. A. & Rink, F. R. (2020) Personnel movement as a mechanism for learning in organizations and teams. In. L. Argote & J. M. Levine (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Group and Organizational Learning. (355 - 364). New York, N.Y: Oxford University Press. Online publication . doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190263362.013.20
Rink, F., Kane, A. A., Ellemers, N., & van der Vegt, G. S. (2017). Change in organizational work teams. In E. Salas, R. Rico, & J. Passmore (Eds.) The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Teamworking and Collaborative Processes (pp. 177 - 194) Somerset, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.
Rink, F. & Kane, A.A. (2014) Conflict and change in teams: The innovative newcomer challenge. In O.B. Ayoko, N.M. Ashkanasy, & K.A. Jehn (Eds.) Handbook of Conflict Management Research (pp. 205 - 220). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Edgar.
Updated July 2023