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Revisiting Team Psychological Safety at Work: A Case Study Approach to Its Dimensions, Intergroup Variations, and Influencing Factors
Type
doctoral thesis
Date Issued
2021-09-20
Author(s)
Abstract
Previous research has shown the central role of psychological safety for promoting employee engagement, learning, innovation, and performance. Research now calls for a more thorough understanding of how team psychological safety is fostered and the ways in which its perceptions vary between groups. Research also suggests agreement on a common measurement instrument, an emphasis on conducting studies in globally dispersed teams, and greater use of qualitative methods. I answer these calls by investigating the dimensionality of team psychological safety, intergroup variations, and influencing factors. Over 4 years, I was part of a German automobile manufacturer and its North American mobility services subsidiary and conducted a case study comprising two studies. In Study 1, I used a 10-item survey to analyze perceptions of team psychological safety among 61 respondents. Based on this analysis, I posit that team psychological safety consists of two dimensions: perceived appreciation and perceived vulnerability. Furthermore, I found significant variations between genders, showing that women reported lower team psychological safety than men. These variations were partially explained by more ego strength by women, enabling them to admit issues surrounding team psychological safety more easily. There were no significant variations between frequency of remote collaboration, between the parent company, subsidiary, and markets, and between German and American citizens. In Study 2, I conducted 90 interviews and numerous participant observations to explore factors influencing team psychological safety. I advance existing knowledge on such factors by concluding that the following skills and virtues are crucial for team psychological safety: bottom-up empathy, ownership, and ego strength. In addition, I determined the importance of self-awareness, mindset flexibility, and genuine interest in others. Moreover, womens leadership, a clear mission, mediators in teams, dynamic roles, and autonomy in exploratory tasks were all positively related to team psychological safety. In contrast, interdependence between members of the parent company, subsidiary, and markets was ascribed a negative influence. Overall, my research offers new impulses for scholars in the field of psychological safety, contributes to the current state of literature, and helps managers to develop a psychologically safe team climate.
Abstract (De)
Previous research has shown the central role of psychological safety for promoting employee engagement, learning, innovation, and performance. Research now calls for a more thorough understanding of how team psychological safety is fostered and the ways in which its perceptions vary between groups. Research also suggests agreement on a common measurement instrument, an emphasis on conducting studies in globally dispersed teams, and greater use of qualitative methods. I answer these calls by investigating the dimensionality of team psychological safety, intergroup variations, and influencing factors. Over 4 years, I was part of a German automobile manufacturer and its North American mobility services subsidiary and conducted a case study comprising two studies. In Study 1, I used a 10-item survey to analyze perceptions of team psychological safety among 61 respondents. Based on this analysis, I posit that team psychological safety consists of two dimensions: perceived appreciation and perceived vulnerability. Furthermore, I found significant variations between genders, showing that women reported lower team psychological safety than men. These variations were partially explained by more ego strength by women, enabling them to admit issues surrounding team psychological safety more easily. There were no significant variations between frequency of remote collaboration, between the parent company, subsidiary, and markets, and between German and American citizens. In Study 2, I conducted 90 interviews and numerous participant observations to explore factors influencing team psychological safety. I advance existing knowledge on such factors by concluding that the following skills and virtues are crucial for team psychological safety: bottom-up empathy, ownership, and ego strength. In addition, I determined the importance of self-awareness, mindset flexibility, and genuine interest in others. Moreover, womens leadership, a clear mission, mediators in teams, dynamic roles, and autonomy in exploratory tasks were all positively related to team psychological safety. In contrast, interdependence between members of the parent company, subsidiary, and markets was ascribed a negative influence. Overall, my research offers new impulses for scholars in the field of psychological safety, contributes to the current state of literature, and helps managers to develop a psychologically safe team climate.
Language
English
Keywords
Teamwork
Führung
Management
Innovation
Virtuelles Team
Diversity Management
Automobilindustrie
Multinationales Unternehmen
Tochtergesellschaft
EDIS-5122
Team Psychological Safety
High-Performance Teams
Leadership
HSG Classification
not classified
HSG Profile Area
None
Publisher
Universität St. Gallen
Publisher place
St.Gallen
Official URL
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
264353
File(s)