Cognitive Diversity and Initiative-Taking in Crisis: A Multisource Multilevel Dual-Path Model

Disruptive situations experienced in crises require significant initiative-taking among employees, particularly those in the service sector. Relying on the social information processing theory, this study expounds on how and when team cognitive diversity influences employee initiative-taking through work meaningfulness and perceived subgroup splits during a crisis. Data was collected from 232 hotel employees working within 58 work teams from two sources and in two waves. Results from a multilevel, dual-path parallel mediation data analysis did not support the hypothesized direct relationship between team cognitive diversity and personal initiative-taking or the indirect path through perceived subgroup split. This study’s analysis supported only the indirect path through work meaningfulness. Implications of the findings as well as avenues for further research and theory expansion are discussed.