Stress and Burnout in Bicultural Teams in Hi‐tech Industry
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12056 |
| Date | 01 October 2014 |
| Author | Ayala Malach Pines,Nurit Zaidman |
| Published date | 01 October 2014 |
Stress and Burnout in Bicultural Teams in
Hi-tech Industry
Ayala Malach Pines1and Nurit Zaidman
The Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, Department of Business Administration,
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Corresponding author email: zeidman@som.bgu.ac.il
This study examined burnout, stress and work importance among 120 Israelis working in
binational teams, using quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (semi-structured
interview) methodologies. Based on the existential perspective, the study documented low
levels of burnout despite high levels of stress, which were explained by the high perceived
importance of the work. Hierarchical regression showed that importance moderated the
effect of stress on burnout. Findings also revealed that the unexpected social stressors
associated with cultural differences between team members were more stressful than the
stressors associated with high-tech work.
Introduction
Global multicultural teams, task-oriented groups
from different national cultures (Marquardt and
Horvath, 2001), are becoming the norm in the
high-technology (high-tech) industry. Members in
such teams face many challenges as a result of the
need to work together while being situated at
physically large distances from one another (e.g.
Cramton and Hinds, 2007; Gibson and Gibbs,
2006; Levina and Vaast, 2008). In addition, cul-
tural differences may lead to misinterpretations in
cross-site communications (e.g. Kayworth and
Leidner, 2002; Krishna, Sahay and Walsham,
2004; Zimmermann, 2011), fuel conflict (e.g.
Hinds and Mortensen, 2005), undermine trust
(e.g. Baba et al., 2004; Zimmermann, 2011) and
lead to errors (e.g. Grinter, Herbsleb and Perry,
1999).
Cultural differences between members of mul-
ticultural teams compound team member stress
levels (Spector et al., 2004), especially when the
individuals originate from national cultures with
divergent work values and time perspectives, and
when team communication is based on a language
that is not the mother tongue of all team members
(van Marrewijk, 2010; Zaidman, 2001; Zaidman
and Brock, 2009).
The challenges facing multicultural teams are
compounded by the high stress that is part and
parcel of the high-tech industry. This stress is
caused by such work features as long work days,
overload, demand for innovation and the stiff
competition to produce the best and most cost-
effective products (Cohen and Fields, 1999;
Kunda, 1992).
Based on the literature on the stressors associ-
ated with the work of multicultural teams (e.g.
Cramton and Hinds, 2007) and with work in high-
tech industry (e.g. Cohen and Fields, 1999), it can
be expected that high-tech employees working in
multicultural teams will report high levels of
stress. Will they also report high levels of
burnout? Furthermore, while stress in a fast-
growing group of employees working in global
multicultural teams in the hi-tech industry is
evident, work in high-tech is considered a high-
status, highly desirable, occupation (Kunda,
1Ayala Malach Pines passed away in September 2013; an
obituary is given in the article Appendix.
This research was supported by grant Number 764/08
from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF). Thanks to Avi
Silbiger, BJM Editor, and the anonymous reviewers for
their assistance in improving the quality of this paper.
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British Journal of Management, Vol. 25, 819–832 (2014)
DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.12056
© 2014 British Academy of Management. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4
2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA, 02148, USA.
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