Organization and Strategy Seminar（2016-17）

Topic:Across the great divides: How gender affects task conflict and creativity in intercultural collaborations

Speaker:Roy Chua,Singapore Management University

Time: Friday, 18 November, 14:00-15:30 pm

Location: Room 111, Guanghua Building 2

Abstract:

Although working across cultures is commonplace in the global economy, we know little about how gender influences intercultural collaborations. This research investigates the role of gender in dyadic intercultural collaboration, examining how gender and cultural composition of dyads interact with task conflicts to predict creativity. Through two studies (an online survey and a laboratory study), we found that task conflict is especially high in dyads comprising of two men from different cultures. However, intercultural male-male dyads are not able to translate that heightened task conflict into creativity gains as extant theories on creative abrasion would predict. In fact, we found that task conflict has a negative effect on creativity in intercultural male-male collaborations. Conversely, task conflict has a positive effect on creative outcomes in intercultural female-female collaborations. It appears that women are better at harnessing the power of task conflict for creativity benefits than do men when working across cultures. We traced these differences to the different ways that men and women manage task conflicts during collaboration. Our findings shed light on gender differences in managing cross-cultural conflicts and collaborations.

Biography:

Roy Chua is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Singapore Management University (SMU) – Lee Kong Chian School of Business. He teaches primarily in the MBA, EMBA, PhD in Organizational Behavior, and Doctor of Innovation programs. Prior to joining SMU, he was on the faculty of Harvard Business School for six years.

Roy’s research draws on psychological and organizational theories to understand important social processes in business organizations. In his primary stream of research, he studies how cultural diversity in a globalized workplace influences creativity and innovation. He also has a keen interest in understanding organizational behavior and management processes in the Asian context.

Roy is an award winning management scholar and business school professor. He has published in leading academic periodicals such as the Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, and MIT Sloan Management Review. His research on “ambient cultural disharmony” won the 2013 Best Article Award at the Academy of Management. He also won the Best MBA core Professor award and Most Appreciated Professor award at Singapore Management University in 2015.

Outside academic research, Roy is active in executive teaching. He has conducted case discussions and given talks at various companies including Bank of China, Bank of East Asia, Charoen Pokphand Group (Thailand), Goldman Sachs, SEACEN (South East Asian Central Banks), Shangri La hotel, A.S. Watson, San Miguel, Hitachi, Barclays, DBS Bank, UOB, Infineon, Unilab, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), Deutsche Knowledge Services, Deustsche Bank, Temasek Holdings, Johnson & Johnson, Sembawang Corp, and John Clements Consulting.

A native of Singapore, Roy received a BSc with First Class Honors in Computer and Information Sciences from the National University of Singapore and a PhD in Management and Organizational Behavior from Columbia Business School.

//www.smu.edu.sg/faculty/profile/108216/Roy-CHUA

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