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This study aims to examine the relationship between concrescent conversation environment (CCE), psychological safety and team effectiveness. Although CCE has been known to influence team outcomes, little is known about how it influences them. Integrating the social constructionist and social psychology perspectives, this study argues that CCE ignites a climate of psychological safety resulting in “joint-action” necessary for positive team outcomes.

Survey data were collected from 301 team members from US firms operating in different industries. Data were analyzed using SmartPLS.

The study establishes CCE as an antecedent to psychological safety and demonstrates that psychological safety mediates the relationship between CCE and team effectiveness.

This is one of the initial studies to show how verbal behaviors socially construct team dynamics in the shape of psychological safety to influence team outcomes. In doing so, the authors advance the theory pertaining to the role of social exchanges in team processes and outcomes.

The results provide insights on how managers can improve team outcomes by influencing the conversational environment of the team to elicit feelings of psychological safety. The results also suggest that managers must focus on relational outcomes as well, along with performance outcomes.

From a social constructionist perspective, team development is built upon the verbal behaviors of the members as they pursue tasks. However, the extant group dynamics literature undervalues conversations’ role in team processes and outcomes. This is the first study that examines the link between a team's conversational environment, psychological safety and team outcomes.

To identify and cite examples of critical tactics for implementing Porter's generic strategies.

A survey of over 200 organizations was conducted to determine their relative use of tactics and organizational performance. Factor analysis and regression analyses were used to identify tactics that were strongly related to organizational performance. Examples of implementation are presented to illustrate use of the critical tactics.

A list of ten tactics were identified as significantly related with the generic strategies and higher levels of organizational performance.

As is typical with survey research, the convenience sample of organizations used in this survey may or may not be representative of all organizations. Also, when using regression analysis it is important to keep in mind that correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Therefore we are not certain that the significant tactics caused the higher levels of organizational performance.

Managers will gain the knowledge of how to better tailor their strategy implementation to more effectively implement whatever generic strategy they attempt to use. Managers should pay particular attention to the critical tactics associated with their generic strategy.

This article is a practitioner‐oriented translation of an academic research study. The value of the current article is to share our findings with a more practitioner‐oriented community and present the implications of our findings to managers and decision‐makers in a less technical format.

To provide an alternative paradigm to traditional group development research in understanding how group performance is constructed through conversation by its members.

In this qualitative field study, empirical data was collected on the performing stage of two work groups. Searle's speech act categories were used to analyze the conversation of group members. Using grounded theory a model is inductively constructed by examining the individual communication pieces (i.e. speech acts) and putting those pieces back together into a coherent frame.

This study proposes that during the performing stage of work group talk, a unique type of describable verbal behavior, termed concrescent conversation, is present which enables group member's ability to “contribute to task success” – being a more productive group.

How productive groups are is a highly relevant issue to managers in complex organizations. In the new workplace, groups are the primary work unit used to achieve business goals. Understanding how groups develop and how to improve their performance is of primary interest to managers and leaders of successful organizations.

What is required to make groups productive? Taking a social constructionist's perspective to this question means acknowledging the social constructionist's view that conversation helps produce reality and that group productivity is a communication‐driven phenomenon. The study explores conversation's role in one phase of Tuckman's group development model – the performing stage. The goal is to extend the understanding of group performance and to be better able to create and sustain productive groups

The purpose of this paper is to determine if “fit” and “non-fit” between authoritarian versus demonstrator teaching and visual versus verbal learning preferences differ in impact on Chinese MBA student academic performance in a large local urban Chinese university setting. In addition, the role of Chinese cultural behavioral tendencies in dictating specific teaching and learning style preferences among Chinese MBA students is also examined.

Subjects were 135 Chinese MBA students that indicated their learning style preference (verbal or visual) and predominant teaching style encountered (authoritarian or demonstrator). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) main effects were used to identify the best teaching style and best learning style. ANOVA interaction effects were used to test the meshing hypothesis (i.e. teaching-learning style “fit” versus “non-fit” conditions).

The results provided support for the mesh hypothesis – teaching style – learning style fit does matter. In general, authoritarian teaching was superior to demonstrator, and verbal learning was superior to visual. Findings also suggest that the demonstrator teaching style may better handle different learning styles (e.g. both verbal and visual) simultaneously as compared to the classic authoritarian teaching style.

The findings support and contribute to the body of knowledge about the mesh hypothesis and provide the foundations for further longitudinal studies evaluating teaching and learning styles learning styles in a multicultural and cross-cultural context. A limitation of the study is that self-report responses were used and the data were collected at one Chinese university.

The results suggest that instructors are likely to reach only a selected few students if it is assumed that all students learn in the same way or based on cultural orientation alone. University administrators should be aware of the role of cultural tendencies related to teaching and learning and how cross-cultural communication and multicultural awareness can provide insights into strategies for social and academic integration of foreign students.

To date, the meshing hypothesis has received far less theoretical or empirical attention than the general learning style and teaching style hypotheses. This study addresses that gap.