The Influence of an Individual’s Hierarchical Position on their Activity and Performance

1. Diversity in Communities of Learning
The Influence of an Individual’s Hierarchical Position on
their Activity and Performance
Martin Rehm
JURE 2010, Frankfurt
21st of July, 2010

2. http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/3e874_Toy-Story-2-pixar-116966_1024_768.jpg

3. http://disney.go.com/toystory/

4. Organizational Training
• contributing to the competitive advantage of
organizations (e.g. Nonaka, 1994)
• traditional methodologies are neutral to
circumstances (e.g. Eraut, 2000)
• superiority of collaborative learning methods
“hothouse for new ideas and thoughts”
(Schlager, Fusco & Schank, 2002)

5. Community of Learning (CoL)
• “engaging in collaborative learning and reflective
practice involved in transformative learning”
(Paloff & Pratt, 2003, p. 17)
“ins-and-outs”
“Expert” “Novice”
“up-to-date”

6. Diversity
+ sharing of experiences & effectively processing
new information
(Jehn & Bezrukova, 2004)
- create varying degrees of anxiety inhibiting
cognitive functioning
(Jehn, 1995)

7. Hierarchial Position
• “major obstacle to collaborative learning
processes” (Romme, 1996)
• ambiguous findings
• replicate behaviour (e.g. Thomas-Hunt, et al., 2003)
• “break free” (e.g. Edmondson, Bohmer & Pisano, 2001)

8. Hierarchical
Position
Community of Learning (CoL)
Activity
Performance

9. Setting
• Global organizational training program
(“Economics”)
• 14 weeks of e-Learning
• 27 CoLs
• 235 participants
– 80 “Low” position
– 89 “Middle” position
– 66 “High” position
• asynchronous discussions forums:
– Café-Talk
– Content-Related (real-life tasks)

10. Multimethod Approach
1. Hypotheses Test
• Nonparametric
2. Regression
• forced entry
3. Cluster Analysis
• two-step

11. Controlling for …
• Value diversity
– Questionnaire
• Informational diversity
– Educational background
– Pre-knowledge test
• Social category diversity
– Age, Gender, Ethnicity
(e.g. Jehn, et al, 1999; Pelled, Eisenhardt & Xin, 1999; van den Bossche, et al., 2006)

12. Research Hypotheses
• H1 - Activity:
– Low < Middle < High
“fear of speaking up and making mistakes in the
group” (Edmondson, 2002, p. 139)
• H2 - Performance:
– Low < Middle < High
“more senior managers are used to integrating
new and diverse information” (Bunderson, 2003)

13. Hypotheses Tests & Regression
Level of Activity / Performance
“High”
“Middle”
“Low”
Hierarchical Position

14. Cluster Analyses
“Follower” “Leader”

15. Results
• “Stars”
– Leading CoLs irrespective of hierarchical
position
• Duality of “Low”
– A small subset is not confining itself to
merely following discussions

16. Implications & Next Steps
• Anticipate behaviour
– device collaborative learning activities
– target specific groups
social interaction and cognitive discourse
• SNA dynamics / “one-way” vs. “reciprocal”
• CA degree of knowledge creation & diffusion

17. Diversity in Communities of Learning
The Influence of an Individual’s Hierarchical Position on
their Activity and Performance
Martin Rehm
JURE 2010, Frankfurt
21st of July, 2010