The challenge of board composition: Effects of board resource variety and faultlines on the degree of a firm’s international activity

This study explores the relationship between diversity in board composition and the degree of a firm's international activity. Specifically, we posit that board resource variety has a positive relationship with the international activity of the firm and that the strength of board faultlines moderates this relationship. Using data collected from Spanish public companies over the period 2005 to 2010, our analysis shows strong support for our hypotheses. Our work contributes to the literature on board's diversity by demonstrating that board resource variety should be captured by considering “the director profile” rather than any single attribute and that this type of variety can engender subgroups that weakens its benefits. Therefore, our results have implications for the strategic management challenge international firms face when they put together their boards. A corporate board needs to structure itself in such a way as to benefit from the wealth of the variety of its resources, but without succumbing to the risks posed by conflicts between subgroups arising from the presence of faultlines.     

Can dealing with emotional exhaustion lead to enhanced happiness? The roles of planning and social support

Drawing upon the sustainable happiness model (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005), we examine boundary conditions to the detrimental effect of emotional exhaustion on happiness. We posit that perceiving low supervisor support enhances the employee’s engagement in the development of an action plan, which, when paired with an active search for instrumental social support, boosts happiness. Drawing on three distinct samples from participants working in diverse occupations (81 Portugal-based team leaders working under direct supervision; 177 US-based supervised full-time workers and 242 US-based employees working full-time and under direct supervision), we found that perceived supervisor support (PSS) moderated the emotional exhaustion-planning association, whereas searching for instrumental social support moderated the planning-happiness relationship. We also found that the indirect effect of emotional exhaustion on happiness, via planning, was positive and significant only when employees perceived low supervisor support and searched highly for instrumental social support. We conclude that under some conditions, the process of dealing with emotional exhaustion can enhance happiness. Implications for research on happiness, coping and social support are discussed, as well as implications for practice.     

Can organizations help adjust?: The effect of perceived organizational climate on immigrants' acculturation and consequent effect on perceived fit

Acculturation, or the process of adjustment in a host culture, is a determinant of immigrants' overall success and well-being. Surprisingly, less is known about the role organizations may play in influencing immigrants' acculturation and how this process, in turn, may influence organizations. Thus, we examine how an organizational climate in the form of a diversity climate and an intercultural group climate may influence immigrants' acculturation strategies, as shown by the degree they adopt the host culture and retain their original culture. Furthermore, we explore how immigrants' adopted acculturation strategies may, in turn, influence their attitudes toward the organization in the form of person-organization fit and person-workgroup fit. Using a latent profile analysis, MANOVA, and multinomial logistic regression in a sample of 244 Mexican immigrants working in the Southwest U.S., we found that higher levels of intercultural group climate, but not diversity climate, are more likely to increase the likelihood of immigrants' embracing of acculturation strategies where the host culture is highly adopted. We also find embracing such acculturation strategies increases perceptions of fit. Our results offer two important highlights: first, to show the influence of organizational factors on an immigrant's acculturation and acculturation's workplace effects, and second, to contribute to the fit literature by showing that even when individuals may have contrasting cultural orientations, they are still able to perceive high levels of fit within their workplace.