Name: Ben Jones

Dissertation Proposal Defense Meeting

Date: Monday, November 16, 2018

Time: 3:00pm

Location: J.S. Coon Bldg. Room 217

Advisor:

Howard M. Weiss, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Dissertation Committee Members:

Ruth Kanfer, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Kimberly A. French, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Jamie C. Gorman, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Leslie A. DeChurch, Ph.D. (Northwestern University)

Title: Establishing the Construct of Subtle Identity PerformancesDAO and Providing an Answer to Successful Multigroup System Leadership

Abstract: Leaders in multiteam systems (MTS) increase the likelihood of accomplishing organizational goals if they can successfully garner support and trust from the multiple teams they lead. However, when a leader emerges from one component team within the MTS, he or she may be viewed by others in the system as having an inherit bias to his or her own group. How can a leader gain the support and trust of those on other teams without alienating him or herself from his or her base? This is a common, but understudied, intergroup leadership dilemma. In this dissertation, I aim to show that subtle identity performances directed at the outgroup (subtle identity performancesDAO), subtle appeals that are effectively invisible to those who are not familiar with the targeted outgroup’s norms, can be used by leaders to gain support and trust from their outgroup members, allowing them to maximize their potential following.  Indeed, subtle identity performancesDAO are increasingly possible in today’s technological age; motivated, multigroup leaders can access information that informs them of a targeted outgroup’s normative behavior and utilize this information to conduct subtle appeals to gain support from their opposition. In my dissertation, I propose three studies that introduce the construct subtle identity performancesDAO and demonstrate its effectiveness as a solution to a common problem of multigroup leadership.