Kramer, MichaelTornes, Michael2015-12-162015-12-162015-12http://hdl.handle.net/11244/23299The purpose of the present study was to use the bona fide group perspective to study organizational assimilation through the work team context. Applying this perspective served to address two limitations in the organizational assimilation literature. First, studies on organizational assimilation tend to focus on the experiences of newcomers to organizations as opposed to the experiences of more established employees. Second, studies on organizational assimilation typically do not account for the group context. The bona fide group perspective was used to address these limitations because it requires researchers to study group communication by accounting for both within group communication and intergroup communication simultaneously. The organizational assimilation literature and the bona fide group perspective suggested four research questions regarding the work team assimilation process. These research questions revolved around the importance of addressing the perspective of newcomers, established members, and the context in which the assimilation process occurs. The research questions were: In what ways does within group communication shape the work team assimilation process?; In what ways does intergroup communication shape the work team assimilation process?; How is intergroup communication facilitated during the work team assimilation process?; How does communication with members of other groups shape how employees understand their organization during the work team assimilation process? To answer these research questions, interviews were conducted with 27 employees of an information technology division of a large organization. These participants represented different teams and positions in the organization, with some having recently entered the organization and others having been employees for over a decade. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a modified constant comparative method consisting of data reduction, unitizing, open-coding, focused coding, and axial coding. In addition, follow-up interviews were conducted based on categories that were identified during data analysis. Data collection ended once saturation was reached in that interviews did not yield new categories. Results from the present study addressed the four primary research questions regarding within group communication, intergroup communication, and the context in which this communication occurs. First, results identified the sources that employees communicate with in their immediate work teams during the assimilation process. Employees approached their immediate team members and supervisors frequently when they needed information. Employees received information from their team members through asking questions, observing, and receiving unsolicited information. These sources yielded information relating to tasks, teams, the organization, and individuals. Employees also received information from their team supervisors, who typically provided task, team, individual, and organizational information. Employees received information from supervisors primarily through asking questions and receiving unsolicited information. In addition, team meetings were identified as sites where newcomers were encouraged to ask questions of team members. Employees sometimes utilized team documents in addition to documents outside of IT. Employees also supplemented the information they received from immediate team members with their personal experience from working in IT and similar organizations. Second, results identified sources of information that employees communicate with from other teams and/or organizations. Sources of information within IT included members of other teams, the human resources team, and members of management. Employees typically received task, team, and organizational information from these sources through asking questions, observing, or receiving unsolicited information. The human resources team was unique in that it handled the standard onboarding process in the organization by providing newcomers with general information on the organization (including a tour) and the newcomers’ teams. Employees also received information from sources external to IT such as clients, vendors, and industry peers. These external sources typically provided task information such as how to solve a problem or providing role expectations. Employees received information from these sources through asking questions or receiving unsolicited information. Third, results identified the ways in which communication with members of other groups is facilitated. Sometimes employees simply contacted a member of another group if they knew who they needed to contact. However, these interactions often had to be facilitated in some way. Facilitation sometimes occurred through team members arranging meetings with members of other groups. In addition, communication with members of other groups was facilitated by employees being present in points of overlap between groups (i.e., nexus). These nexus served as sites where employees communicated with members of other groups. Relevant nexus in the present study were cross-functional meetings, training workshops and conferences, and backstage sites like breakrooms. Employees gained access to additional sources of information through these nexus. These sources typically provided task, team, and organizational information. Fourth, results indicated the ways in which communication with members of other groups influenced how employees understood the information and technology division’s culture. Some participants explained that they had an initial understanding of the information and technology division’s culture that was changed over time through communication with members of other teams in the information and technology division. This initial understanding focused on employees’ immediate roles in their teams. However, through communication with members of other teams, usually in nexus like cross-functional meetings, these employees adopted a new understanding that focused more on how teams are interdependent with one another or with the large, multi-divisional organization, which encompassed the information and technology division, and similar industries as a whole. Findings from the present study resulted in some key contributions to the study of organizational assimilation. First, results provided a more complex understanding of the information seeking process. In addition, the present study addressed the context in which information seeking occurs. The physical spaces that information seeking took place in was also considered in that team meetings sometimes served as sites where questions from newcomers were encouraged. Second, results highlighted the role of intergroup communication during the assimilation process. Communication with members of other groups helped employees learn their roles and learn about their organization. In addition, members of other groups sometimes provided information or perspectives that immediate team members could not provide. Third, the present study contributed to the bona fide group perspective by identifying the role of nexus in the organizational assimilation process. In the present study, different forms of nexus were identified such as cross-functional meetings, conferences, and breakrooms. For some participants in the present study, communication in such nexus fostered a more holistic understanding of their organization. In these instances, employees went from thinking about their role within their immediate team to thinking about how their team is interdependent with other groups whether they are within or external to the organization. Such findings suggest that communication in nexus can influence how employees perceive their degree of interdependence with other groups. On a similar note, findings from the present study stressed the importance of meetings during the assimilation process. Meetings are typically not thought of as sites relevant to learning roles, but participants described instances where attending meetings helped them learn about their roles and or about the organization as a whole. The importance of nexus suggested another way to conceptualize group assimilation by accounting for groups that employees are not members of, but still communicate with during the assimilation process.Assimilation, Work Team, Bona Fide Group