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HR, People & Culture – Kulturelle Barrieren überwinden: Compassion als handlungsleitendes Ideal für globale Führungskräfte

Die Globalisierung setzt Führungskräfte verschiedenen ethischen Systemen aus. Es ist nahezu unmöglich, jede einzelne Kultur und die damit verbundenen ethischen Systeme in ihrer Gesamtheit tiefgreifend zu verstehen. Herkömmliche – und mittlerweile eher veraltete – Ansätze zur Erfassung des “doing business in” anderen Ländern konzentrierten sich oft auf die Interpretation der populären dimensionsbasierten Kulturmodelle wie Individualismus, Kollektivismus, Machtdistanz, Unsicherheitsvermeidung usw. Leider sind ad hoc basierte Interpretationen auf Grundlage dieser Dimensionen zwar hilfreich als Ausgangspunkt, aber vage und tendieren dazu, zu stereotypisieren, da Kultur kein statisches und eindimensionales Konstrukt ist. Kultur ist äußerst komplex und dynamisch. Es kann schwierig sein, über eine gesamte Kultur zu verallgemeinern, und Verallgemeinerungen helfen oft nicht viel für eine konkrete Geschäftssituation. Mit zunehmender Vielfalt und Pluralität der Arbeitswelt und der Gesellschaft gewinnt die Mitmenschlichkeit über Kulturen hinweg an Bedeutung. Sie kann als eine Meta-Kompetenz betrachtet werden, die das Wissen aus dimensionsbasierten Kulturmodellen ergänzt und wesentlich für die Entwicklung von Fähigkeiten ist, die sowohl internationale Manager als auch Führungskräfte benötigen, um effektiv und effizient in einem multikulturellen Arbeitsumfeld zu agieren.

“Compassion, grob übersetzt als pro-aktive Mitmenschlichkeit, bezieht sich nicht unbedingt auf Verhaltensnormen, die durch Sozialisation erlernt wurden, sondern konzentriert sich im Wesentlichen auf unsere gemeinsame Menschlichkeit, über kulturelle Barrieren hinweg.”

Compassion, grob übersetzt als pro-aktive Mitmenschlichkeit, bezieht sich nicht unbedingt auf Verhaltensnormen, die durch Sozialisation erlernt wurden, sondern konzentriert sich im Wesentlichen auf unsere gemeinsame Menschlichkeit, indem sie kulturelle Barrieren überwindet. Compassion liegt im Kern dessen, was uns menschlich macht. Es beinhaltet das “Mitfühlen” und den Wunsch, das Leiden anderer zu lindern, indem man helfen möchte oder zumindest herausfindet, was man tun kann, um zu helfen. Dies kann ein sehr ehrenhafter und effektiver Führungsansatz sein. Leiden kann persönliche Tragödien, Entäuschungen oder Belastungen am Arbeitsplatz umfassen. In multinationalen Unternehmen (MNCs) gelten interkulturelle Spannungen und Konflikte als unvermeidlich und stellen einen typischen Stressfaktor für die globale Belegschaft dar. Gegenseitigkeit spielt eine bedeutende Rolle bei einem auf compassion basierenden Führungsansatz. Das Mitfühlen für andere, der Antrieb und die Handlung, jemandem zu helfen, Altruismus – dies sind sehr positive Eigenschaften und sollten nicht einseitig, sondern multilateral sein. Einseitige Mitmenschlichkeit kann kaum überleben, wenn sie zwar angewendet, aber nicht erwidert wird. In einem solchen Fall würde sich jemand, der mitfühlend handelt, bald ausgebeutet fühlen, das Risiko eingehen, ausgenutzt zu werden, und als naiv angesehen werden. Daher sollte Mitmenschlichkeit zu einem Ideal werden, das in die Unternehmenskultur und die Geschäftssysteme insgesamt eingebettet ist.

Verhalten am Arbeitsplatz, das Altruismus, Freundlichkeit, Verständnis und Geduld widerspiegelt, sind heute geschätzte Ideale. Die Entwicklung von Mitmenschlichkeitskompetenzen bei Führungskräften und der Belegschaft durch eine Schärfung unseres Verständnisses für unsere gemeinsame Menschlichkeit in Beziehungen kann viele Herausforderungen lösen, denen sich globale Unternehmen heute in Bereichen wie Motivation, Engagement, Vielfalt, Inklusion, u.a. stellen. Das Verständnis der Barrieren für Mitmenschlichkeit und die Entwicklung von Maßnahmen zur Förderung von Mitmenschlichkeit ueber kutlurelle Barrieren hinweg, werden zu Schlüsselkompetenzen für erfolgreiche globale Geschäftstätigkeiten. Führungskräfte sollten zu den Ersten gehören, die die Ideale interkultureller Mitmenschlichkeit annehmen and leben. Diese Kompetenzen können durch Schulungen und Coaching erlernt und verbessert werden, da die meisten Menschen zum Glück bereits über ein gewisses Maß an Einfühlungsvermögen verfügen.

Weiterführende Literatur:

Jakobsen, M., Worm, V., & Horak, S. (2023). Compassion in the international business studies–prospects for future research. Critical Perspectives on International Business, in press, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/cpoib-01-2021-0012

Horak, S.; Worm, V., & Jakobsen, M. (2023). Cross-cultural compassion. In Audra I. Mockaitis and Lena Zander (Eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural Management, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. Forthcoming.

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People & Culture – Leading with cross-cultural Compassion

Cross-cultural compassion is a key skill for global leaders //

Globalization exposes leaders to a variety of different ethical systems. It is nearly an impossible task to deeply understand each and every culture and the attached ethical systems they are dealing with in their entirety. Conventional – and meanwhile rather outdated – approaches to understanding “doing business in” other countries focused often on interpreting the popular dimensional models of culture, such as individualism, collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, etc. Unfortunately, though helpful as a start, ad-hoc interpretations drawn based on these dimensions are vague and tend to stereotype as culture is not a static and uni-dimensional construct. Culture is an extremely complex and dynamic construct. It can be difficult to generalize about an entire culture, and generalizations often don’t help much for a specific business situation. As work and societal environments become increasingly diverse and pluralistic, the role of compassion across cultures, regarded as a meta-competency that complements knowledge derived from dimensional cultural models, can be of central importance for the development of skill sets international managers and leaders alike need in order to work effectively and efficiently across cultures.

“Cross-cultural compassion goes beyond learned behavioral norms and instead focuses on our shared humanity”

Cross-cultural compassion doesn’t necessarily relate to behavioral norms that have been learned through socialization, but essentially focusses on our shared humanity by superseding cultural peculiarities. Compassion lies at the heart of what makes us human. It involves ‘feeling for another’ and involves the desire to alleviate another’s suffering by having the desire to help or, at the very least, see what one can do to help. This can be a very honorable and effective leadership ideal. Suffering can include personal tragedies or job stressors like layoffs and injuries. In multinational corporations (MNCs) cross-cultural tensions and conflicts are regarded inevitable and represent a typical factor causing stress to a global workforce. Reciprocity plays a considerable role in cross-cultural compassion. Feeling for another, the drive and action to help someone, altruism – these are very positive qualities and intended not to be unidirectional but rather multilateral. Unidirectional compassion across cultures can hardly survive if it is used but not returned. If this is the case, someone acting in a compassionate way would soon feel exploited, be at risk of taken advantage of and regarded naïve. Hence, cross-cultural compassion should become an ideal engrained into the corporate culture and business ecosystems at large.

Corporate behavior that reflect altruism, kindness, understanding and patience are highly valued ideals today. Developing compassion skills among leaders and the workforce by sharpening our understanding of our shared humanity in relationships can solve many challenges global firms face today in the area of interpersonal conflict, relationship quality, motivation, commitment, creativity, engagement, diversity, inclusion, purpose, passion, etc. Understanding the barriers to cross-cultural compassion and developing measurements to develop cross-cultural compassion will become key skills for successful global operations. Leaders need to be among the first embracing ideals of cross-cultural compassion. Cross-cultural compassion skills can be learned and improved through training and coaching as most people are equipped with some level of compassionate feelings already, fortunately.

More here:

Jakobsen, M., Worm, V., & Horak, S. (2023). Compassion in the international business studies–prospects for future research. Critical Perspectives on International Business, in press, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/cpoib-01-2021-0012

Horak, S.; Worm, V., & Jakobsen, M. (2023). Cross-cultural compassion. In Audra I. Mockaitis and Lena Zander (Eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural Management, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. Forthcoming.

Informal Network Leadership—Proactive Versus Reactive Strategic Choices

Global managers know that developing networks in a host country can be a tedious endeavor. Whereas developing friendly work relationships locally is often regarded as less problematic, developing informal networks is challenging but important for business success. The function of informal networks becomes relevant for transactions under ambiguity that require trust and commitment between actors. Global, or expatriate, managers need the support and goodwill of a variety of stakeholder in business, like colleagues, employees, customers, suppliers, government representatives, community leaders, and many more to fulfill their companies’ mission, which is, simply put, to build a successful and profitable market presence and become a respected and hopefully liked local actor. Why is it so difficult to build a network of deep relationships abroad? Here are some of the major reasons.

Informal networking—one size fits all?
We often think of networking, in a nutshell, as an activity that in principle everybody can do and that requires going out there and meeting people, being extroverted, doing small talks, being likeable, and most importantly, thinking instrumentally and mentioning things that we possess or can do that a potential network partner wants. However, the conventional ideals of networking are not as universal as we may think. Informal networking abroad follows different ideals than managers are used to in their home country. Due to different values and norm systems, the way that social ties are chosen, concluded, maintained, and deepened differs across cultures. Societal structures play an important role in setting the framework for networking possibilities as some cultures sharply distinguish informal networks in in-groups from out-groups. Out-group members are often per se not relevant for any networking activity. Global mangers are often regarded as out-group members per se. Given their status and that they are being exposed to a new business culture, it is tough to engage in network building. While culture can change, informal networks appear to be persistent. There is no shortage of evidence that country-specific informal ties and networks maintain their importance in many countries. Some well-known examples of informal networks we refer to here range from yongo and inmaek in South Korea, guanxi in China, wasta in the Middle East, or blat/sviazi in Russia and large parts of the post-Soviet Union. These informal ties and networks are embedded in the respective cultural environments. Hence, the nuances of these informal networks vary across countries. However, they have in common that they play an important, sometimes central, role in doing business in the respective countries while they are difficult to penetrate for outsiders. The dilemma is that expatriate managers are outsiders.

Informal networking abroad follows different ideals than managers are used to in their home country. Due to different values and norm systems, the way that social ties are chosen, concluded, maintained, and deepened differs across cultures

How to network effectively aboard?
For the reasons put forward above, it is an important competency for global managers to thoroughly understand a respective networking context and to proactively lead the network-building process to help the local business prosper. There are two basic strategic choices—reactive and proactive—that can be pursued.    

Reactive strategy. A reactive strategy focuses on learning how to comply with local norms and imitating what local competitors do. Global managers can learn local practices, values, and norms of behavior and change their specific routines, practices, and behaviors over time to resemble local norms. By doing so, global managers may gradually become more of an insider in a particular host country. However, this is a daunting task for outsiders, as many informal networks feature rather particularistic and personalistic characteristics. Trying to get network access can lead to disappointment, especially for those global managers—although not all—from Western countries where interpersonal ties in business are typically believed to be more rational and instrumental. The primary approach of the reactive strategy is therefore related to harnessing the informal networks of local managers. A way for foreign companies to overcome the lack of informal networks is by hiring local managers who possess strong informal networks. However, this approach involves substantial costs and certain risks. Harnessing the local managers’ informal networks may result in considerable costs being incurred to understand the quality and influence of their informal ties and how they can be beneficial, yet this may not guarantee the acquisition of the same level of informal networks as local counterparts. In other words, hiring local managers who possess influential informal networks may lead to a single access point to networks for a foreign firm, which would be a too narrow a focus on one or a few local individuals. There is also a risk that these individuals may become too powerful in decision-making within the organization, which may result in a loss of control. Moreover, local managers may use a foreign company to accumulate social capital for their own gain and eventually leave the company, taking those important networks with them as well as insider knowledge. Further, trust issues may arise as well as difficulty in controlling the information exchange within the informal network of the local manager. Some informal networks feature behavioral ethics that demand loyalty between informal network members to be of higher priority than to a corporate code of conduct. Hence, there is a risk that competition-relevant information and intellectual property would travel via informal networks to competitors. How to control this risk is an issue firms must care about. A proactive strategy is not risk-free either but represents a second option to develop informal networks in host countries.

Proactive strategy. Foreign companies and their foreign managers are viewed as belonging to a different class of actors compared to their local counterparts because of their foreign roots and origin. As a result, they are often shielded from institutional isomorphic pressures. This means that, as long as they act within the boundaries of formal laws and regulations, foreign companies have the discretion to choose their appropriate level of responsiveness to the local environment. Being exposed to a multitude of diverse and often culture-bound local practices and patterns of activity, foreign companies can enjoy some latitude to choose a variety of different patterns that they think fit them best (a fact known, for instance, in Japan as gaijin [Engl. foreigner] bonus). In contrast, local companies often fail to challenge existing norms, expectations, and routines institutionalized in the society because this requires a great deal of time and effort to gain support from local constituents and incurs substantial costs in the form of sanctions from actors who deem such a challenge illegitimate. Foreign companies can confront local norms with fewer costs because they are less expected to adopt locally established practices or social norms. Therefore, foreign companies may overcome the disadvantages arising from the lack of informal ties by deviating from the local way of building and capitalizing on informal networks. Instead, they can proactively develop more extensive diverse and instrumental ties across different groups of actors and not be constrained by cultural norms or in-group/ out-group sentiments and animosities. This can be used as an advantage over local rivals. Hence, foreign companies can capitalize on their competitive strength and reputation to build their informal networks. The competitive strength and reputation of foreign companies can affect their legitimacy in host countries, alleviate opportunistic behaviors of local stakeholders, and increase social acceptance of institutionally deviating behaviors. Large foreign companies with a strong brand name or technology leaders are usually seen as competitive players, and those credentials draw local attention and can be turned into networking power. Thus, foreign companies can effectively enhance their informal networks by driving various initiatives for collaborations. Besides that, many international business clubs (such as the Rotary Club and the Lions Club) and special interest groups for specific industries also represent international networking platforms at the upper and top management level in many countries, providing various networking opportunities for their members through regular meetings, forums, and conferences. While foreign firms compete with local firms for high-quality network ties, access, and influence, it remains an open question whether a proactive strategy can beat local firms in their networking activities. Nevertheless, a proactive strategy can open up opportunities to foreign firms that local firms may not have, and that is the sweet spot upon which foreign firms can build their networking power.
Although a proactive strategy provides some benefits that cannot be achieved by a reactive strategy, it does not come without drawbacks. A proactive strategy calls for a long-term approach. Foreign companies often need to invest for a long time to create informal networks. This fact questions the common practice of using limited expatriate contracts that allow leaders to stay for a limited time, usually 3–5 years, in a country. Given this rather short time frame, effective networks can hardly be established.

Conclusion—Better Go DIY
In sum, the lack of host-country-specific informal networks can be a double-edged sword for foreign companies. Depending on their capability to build and maintain their own differentiated informal networks, the absence of host-country-specific informal networks could offer either a competitive disadvantage or a window of opportunity to create advantages based on a firm’s foreign status. Finally, as complying with local cultural standards can be difficult for foreign firms, especially when local norms deviate sharply form a foreign firm’s convictions in terms of, for example, ethics, gender equality, diversity and inclusion, etc., foreign companies should focus on building their own organically grown informal networks rather than conforming to local norms in order to benefit in the long run.

More here:

Lee, J., Paik, Y., Horak, S., & Yang, I. (2021). Turning a liability into an asset of foreignness: Managing informal networks in Korea. Business Horizons, forthcoming.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2021.04.002

Further related reading (selection):

Horak, S. (2018). Join in or opt out? A normative–ethical analysis of affective ties and networks in South Korea. Journal of Business Ethics, 149(1), 207–220.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3125-7

Horak, S., Afiouni, F., Bian, Y., Ledeneva, A., Muratbekova-Touron, M., & Fey, C. F. (2020). Informal networks: Dark sides, bright sides, and unexplored dimensions. Management and Organization Review, 16(3), 511–542.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2020.28

Horak, S., & Yang, I. (2016). Affective networks, informal ties, and the limits of expatriate effectiveness. International Business Review, 25(5), 1030–1042.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2016.01.006

 

Employee engagement in the digital work era

How to be a part of it when we don’t go to office anymore? //

In recent years, and particularly this one, the workplace has been moving online. Many employees are now working from home without direct supervision from managers or coworkers. This can mean that workflow decreases as there is no encouragement from those in charge, as well as a reduced engagement by the workers themselves. As this looks likely to continue, here are a few ideas to improve employee engagement.

Why not – Making social media a part of the job. Working from home means that employees engage less with their colleagues simply because of the enforced distance between them. However, utilizing social media platforms can help to bridge that barrier quite effectively. After all, most of us are already playing around on social media sites on a daily basis. Homeworkers are no exception, so why not harness this when communicating with employees? Businesses would do well to create Facebook pages where updates within the workplace can be made. Alternatively, group chats can be created on spaces such as WhatsApp and Slack, enabling quick and easy messaging between specific groups. Zoom and Teams are popular and ideal for meetings, while GatherTown is great for creating a space for coffee breaks so employees can have a chat and network informally, much as they used to do in person. Further, many firms prefer Yammer an open networking tool that allows to tab into the knowledge of others.
Conversations with and questions to others can be viewed by all members and increase the knowledge of participants, who share ideas, discuss updates and network across the global organization.

Leadership culture is key. Leaders need to lead by example and avoid making the impression that remote work is a burden. Leaders that are largely absent or get in touch occasionally via email only will destroy a productive work environment and dilute team cohesion. Leading (often global) virtual teams requires extra efforts and a true interest in the challenges managers and employees face in their environment. Since the private and work sphere more and more merge these days, disregarding the private life of team members would be ignorant. Expecting managers and employees to perform while working remotely starts with the right leadership attitude and culture. They are framing the new normal at work. In a global management environment having cross-cultural compassion skills is key leading a remote team and creating a high-performance work environment.

Communicate. It’s clear from this that communication is vital to successful working when everyone is apart. With remote working the new norm for many, leaders will need to up their game in terms of how they communicate to their teams. Part of this involves creating and setting out detailed plans and goals for remote workers so that they can work more effectively on their projects. This might even see an increase in output from workers, as it has been shown that nearly 40% of homeworkers finish their tasks faster than when at work. By providing goals, everyone gets set up for a successful workday. By including workers in these decisions and taking care of their needs, management will also be promoting a sense of belonging which, in turn, promotes a better work ethic.

Efficient collaboration and information access. An important aspect to promoting a good working environment is to ensure that the team works well together. In order to get good collaboration between team members, employers will need to provide easier ways for this to happen. There are a number of online team collaboration options available. These can include clear calendars and schedules as well as organized meetings to encourage idea-sharing. In conjunction with this, it’s important that employers make it easy for employees to get hold of information. An inability to get access to important information is definitely going to cause a reduced workflow and that’s through no fault of the employee. Relevant information should be readily available to the employee in order to encourage working. Having to trawl for information is discouraging.

However, what all of this comes down to is making the work experience fun – or at least pleasant – for the stay-at-home employee. When encouraging engagement, workers should feel like they want to participate. Tapping into that common phenomenon of FOMO (fear of missing out), is a way to get workers engaged, participating in the work, and adding input. Employers will need to be proactive, though, in order to get here, and leaders need to nurture this team spirit within their virtual teams.

Redes informales en los negocios: los lados oscuros y brillantes

La creación de una red de conexiones informal puede ser vista como una actividad positiva con resultados benéficos para los individuos, las empresas y la sociedad en su conjunto, pero la interconexión informal puede también llevar a la colusión, mafias, nepotismo, y otras formas de conducta poco éticas o corruptas – principalmente relacionada con la investigación sobre mercados emergentes. Hasta la fecha, la construcción de redes informales y su entrelazamiento y desarrollo cultural no ha sido centro de la gestión internacional o los estudios organizacionales, una brecha que este número especial busca darle atención. Este número especial contribuye a comprender mejor las dinámicas de las redes informales y su ambivalencia, en la cual las mismas redes tienen diferentes modos de operación y tienen lados positivos y negativos intermitentemente o simultáneamente. Demostramos que el contexto en el cual las redes informales operan, resalta su complejidad, y fomenta el dialogo entre los académicos que estudian las redes informales en una variedad de países. Usando una perspectiva contextual y comparativa nos permite conceptualizar redes informales en una manera más integrada y balanceada. Entender el funcionamiento de la creación de una red de conexiones informal -conocidas como guanxi, yongo, jentinho, wasta, y blat, en entornos culturalmente específicos, pone a los valores Occidentales, las estructuras sociales, y los ideales de comportamiento en perspectiva y pone a prueba las soposiciones, narrativas y teorías. Debido a que la creación de redes informales es una manera convencional de hacer negocios en muchos países, cómo se describe en este número especial, definiendo los lados iluminado (positivo) y oscuro (negativo) de las redes informales es fundamental para la gestión responsable y el éxito empresarial en las corporaciones multinacionales.

More here:
Horak, S., Afiouni, F., Bian, Y., Ledeneva, A., Muratbekova-Touron, M., & Fey, C. F. (2020). Informal Networks: Dark Sides, Bright Sides, and Unexplored Dimensions. Management and Organization Review, 16(3), 511-542.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2020.28

Remote work: How to network informally?

With far less face to face, real-life interaction, maintaining informal relationships at work is challenging //

Today, many of us are working from home. While this can still mean good productivity, it does mean that our connections with other people such as our colleagues can be somewhat limited. In fact, without the usual coffee break meetups, chats in hallways, or gossips over the copier, it can be very difficult to maintain these informal ties away from the office. So, how can we stay connected to our colleagues and business partner while remote working and why is it so important?

Importance of keeping in touch. Remote working can ensure that a good flow of work is maintained, but without human connection, employees often struggle getting things done. With everything being online, remote workers can lose that sense of connection with their colleagues, something that can actually be very beneficial when it comes to workflow and mental state. Though companies will have open communication channels such as email or meetings scheduled, this is usually serving work purposes only. Gone are those meetups that help receiving important information and reconfirm trust and collaboration with colleagues. Further, without these informal encounters, it can be difficult to maintain focus and enthusiasm for a job. Instead, employees can end up feeling isolated and stressed. The FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) feeling can become a dominant feeling. However, companies can help promote this aspect of work-life even with everyone spread apart.

Chats over coffee – online. Similar to when in the physical workspace, home employees should be encouraged to take regular breaks throughout the day as this can improve productivity. When meeting in person won’t work, employers can set up virtual coffee room meetings at the same time of day. In this way, a routine is built, and everyone can get their chats in without having to think about work. Team members can join a larger group chat, or set up smaller ones among themselves. This works well with, for instance, GatherTown where employees can chat and network informally much as done in person.

Keeping up engagement. The key to keeping up positivity is encouraging regular engagement among all employees. It can be a great idea to start up a regular game. This could be a ‘question of the week’ game where workers take it in turns to post a general question that everyone answers. In this way, employees can get to know each other better as well as thinking about things outside of work. It can also spark further conversations that can then translate over to the coffee breaks. Alternatively, more complex games could be set up, such as a game of group hangman or other trivia games.

Another option is to set up team contests or challenges. Not being in the office doesn’t mean some of these popular events should go ignored. If your company has an annual contest, keep that going. And if it doesn’t, well, why not start one as something new and exciting. Sparking a little friendly competition and encouraging teaming up is the perfect way to get everyone involved and engaged. This may also create a perfect team dynamic with links to actual work tasks.

A further option to think about is virtual workouts. With employees siting at home they usually exercise less than usual. There’s no better way to push engagement, team spirit, and camaraderie than by engaging in a round of yoga, chair stretches or some other fitness exercise to keep everyone stimulated. This will also go a long way in building a strong core team, one that will translate well back in the face-to-face world too.

While not every employee is into fun, entertainment or sports events, companies may set up informal interest groups and use technology that enables online break out rooms so that private talks can take place. Many firms already utilize technologies that enables closer-to-reality experiences such as augmented reality. Informal interest groups that form within firms may include book clubs and reading circles, travel clubs including business travel clubs, amongst other.

Firms have also made very positive experiences with creating and experimenting with informal groups interested in developing new products and services. Overall, interest groups can be leisure-oriented and/or designed based on the respective industry culture, i.e. taking into account the lifestyle and professional culture of the industry the company is active in.

While these ideas help to create an informal sphere where informal ties and networks can be developed and maintained, privacy concerns when chatting online and video-meeting online remain and require a solution to fully take advantage of the output informal ties and networks can produce for the firm.