Age diversity, group organisational citizenship behaviour, and group performance: Exploring the moderating role of charismatic leadership and participation in decision‐making

• Author: Jee Young Seong,Doo‐Seung Hong
• Published date: 01 November 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12197
• Date: 01 November 2018

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Age diversity, group organisational citizenship

behaviour, and group performance: Exploring the

moderating role of charismatic leadership and

participation in decision‐making

Jee Young Seong

1

|Doo‐Seung Hong

2

1

Department of Business Administration,

Chonbuk National University, Jeonju‐si, Korea

2

Department of Sociology, Seoul National

University, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence

Jee Young Seong, Department of Business

Administration, Chonbuk National University,

567 Baekje‐daero, Deokjin‐gu, Jeonju‐si,

Jeollabuk‐do 54896, Korea.

Email: sjylyk@jbnu.ac.kr

Funding information

Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea

and the National Research Foundation of

Korea, Grant/Award Number: NRF‐

2016S1A5A8018948

Abstract

This study examines the effect of age diversity on group

organisational citizenship behaviour (GOCB) and group per-

formance in 99 work‐based teams of a Korean bank. Previ-

ous research on the relationship between work group

diversity and group outcomes has produced inconsistent

results. Based on the categorisation‐elaboration model, the

study finds that both high and low levels of group diversity

limit GOCB and group performance, whereas intermediate

group diversity enhances it, producing relationships that

can be represented by an inverted U‐shaped curve. The cur-

vilinear relationships between age diversity and GOCB and

between age diversity and group performance are moder-

ated by participation in decision‐making. Charismatic lead-

ership also moderates the relationship between age

diversity and group performance, but no moderation effect

was found for charismatic leadership in the relationship

between age diversity and GOCB. The authors discuss the

implications of these results for future research and

practice.

KEYWORDS

age diversity , charismatic leadership, cur vilinear relationship, group

organisational citizenship behaviour,group performance,

participation in decision‐making

Received: 29 July 2016 Revised: 8 March 2018 Accepted: 9 March 2018

DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12197

Hum Resour Manag J. 2018;28:621–640. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltdwileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrmj 621

1|INTRODUCTION

In recent years, age diversity has emerged as a major research topic in the extant literature on work group diversity

(Schalk, van der Heijden, de Lange, & van Veldhoven, 2011; Stone & Tetrick, 2013). The Organisation for Economic

Co‐operation and Development (2006) predicts that all OECD countries will experience a steep increase in the pro-

portion of the elderly in their populations over the coming decades. Sustained increases in longevity and lower fer-

tility rates will extend working lives and raise the employment rates of aged workers and lead to later retirement in

most industrialised countries (Loretto & Vickerstaff, 2013; Vickerstaff, 2010). As the general population ages,

employers are encouraged to make contributions to retaining aged workers and managing age diversity in the work-

place (Kunze & Bruch, 2010; Loretto, Lain, Vickerstaff, & Fuertes, 2013). It is crucial for the success and productivity

of firms that they manage age‐heterogeneous teams harmoniously, and managers are expected to possess credible

insights into how to optimally lead and manage work teams of diverse age composition (Armstrong‐Stassen &

Schlosser, 2011; Kunze & Bruch, 2010; Riach, 2009).

Although much research exists on the diversity of work teams (van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004; Wil-

liams & O'Reilly, 1998), little is known about the circumstances in which age diversity affects group outcomes or how

those outcomes are affected. In the Korean context, where the cultural norm of respect for age has been more prev-

alent in daily life than in most Western societies, age group tends to constitute an important social category in the

workplace.

Previous research on age diversity in the workplace has produced inconsistent results with regard to its effects

on team processes and organisational outcomes (van Knippenberg et al., 2004; van Knippenberg & Schippers, 2007).

Some studies have reported that a high level of age diversity may be deleterious to team functioning and effective-

ness (Shin & Zhou, 2007; van Knippenberg et al., 2004), whereas others have found that high levels of heterogeneity

do not necessarily have a negative impact on group outcomes (Blau, 1977). Team members of similar age often com-

pete against each other, exhibiting a low level of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and, as a result, a low

level of task performance, particularly in a culturally homogeneous society, such as Korea (Cho & Barak, 2008). Thus,

age homogeneity in groups may not bring about a positive effect on group processes and outcomes.

Various authors have introduced a range of conditions into the discussion of the moderating effects on the rela-

tionship between group heterogeneity and organisational outcomes (e.g., Joshi & Roh, 2009; Kearney & Gebert,

2009; Kunze, Boehm, & Bruch, 2011; Wegge, Roth, Kanfer, Neubach, & Schmidt, 2008). It follows from this earlier

work that certain critical contextual factors need to be addressed in the study of the relationship between age diver-

sity and organisational outcomes. To fill this research gap, this study examines the boundary conditions that operate

in the relationship between age diversity in work teams and group outcomes, such as group organisational citizenship

behaviour (GOCB) and group performance. Although the notion of OCB originated at the individual level, researchers

have recently begun to conceptualise OCB as a group‐level phenomenon (Choi & Sy, 2010; Euwema, Wendt, & Van

Emmerik, 2007; Shin & Choi, 2010). Following the conceptualisation of GOCB by Chen, Lam, Schaubroeck, and

Naumann (2002), we define GOCB as a group‐level phenomenon concerning the extent to which team members

as a whole engage in OCB within the work team. Thus, GOCB is an attribute of the group, as distinct from OCB

at the individual level, and is derived from interactions among group members. Group performance is defined as a

group‐level attribute, which refers to the task performance of work teams (Jehn & Mannix, 2001; van Knippenberg

et al., 2004).

In this paper, we develop a conceptual model of the moderating factors, drawing on the theoretical framework of

the relationship between diversity and group outcomes suggested by van Knippenberg et al. (2004). They proposed

incorporation of mediating and moderating variables rarely discussed in previous work for resolving the inconsistent

findings in diversity research. For instance, they suggested elaboration of task‐relevant information and perspectives

as a plausible mediator, and task requirements, task motivation, and task ability as moderators for diversity research.

These mediating and moderating variables have been ignored, or at least not adequately accounted for, in previous

research.

622 SEONG AND HONG