Split Model: Social Distance and Attribution Error
    The SPLIT model identifies five factors that, left unmitigated, can increase social distance in global teams. High social distance on teams is associated with the fundamental attribution error, in which people attribute negative behavior to personal traits rather than to the contexts in which they are working. A global team leader's adeptness in identifying and countering an attribution error is crucial to establishing a team culture that supports trust and effective performance. Next Click on each box to read a scenario in which a global team is experiencing a problem related to a SPLIT factor and then view examples of a personal attribution versus a contextual attribution to explain the underlying cause of the problem. Structure The CEO of an international travel agency headquartered in the United States learns that the company's billing software has been compromised, potentially exposing customers' private information. When he contacts members of the global technology team to find the source of the problem, he is confused by what he hears. The Americans claim to have recently sent out an email with instructions to tighten security that the subsidiary offices in Argentina and China never implemented. The Argentinian team says they were never asked if the new security methods could work on their system. The Chinese point out that the Americans never followed up. Personal Attribution The entire IT team is incompetent and untrustworthy. Contextual Attribution Global sub-teams have created an "us versus them" blame culture. Process A global team leader for research and development in a medical device company is frustrated after holding a videoconference with a financial expert in Sweden, who is relatively new to the firm, and a group of Turkish engineers who present their plan for an innovative diagnostic imaging apparatus. The engineers explain how the apparatus will work, but the financial expert is quiet and does not ask about cost. Personal Attribution The financial folks are risk averse. Why won't the new guy speak up? Contextual Attribution The team hasn't developed processes to encourage everyone to bring their expertise to bear on project execution, even if it means disagreement. Language The director of a global telecommunications organization assembles a task force to share information about government regulations in each of their respective countries. At the conference, task force members from the United States, Great Britain, and New Zealand report in detail and at length about their respective countries. People from Indonesia and Thailand contribute brief reports. Personal Attribution The Indonesian and Thai people don't seem very informed. Contextual Attribution Non-native English speakers who don't participate are often unsure of their language abilities and afraid to sound foolish. Identity A team leader from the Parisian headquarters of a global retail-marketing corporation visits the Dubai office to meet with the team responsible for a major marketing campaign soon to be launched across the United Arab Emirates. For the first twenty minutes of the meeting the group chats about their weekend plans. Personal Attribution These people sure know how to waste time. Contextual Attribution The Dubai group wants to establish a relationship before discussing business, which is not a common practice in the Paris office. Technology A global energy company headquartered in London holds monthly conference calls to insure that its international supply team communicates with one another and remain in synch. Team members from Italy and Spain have become accustomed to the late arrival of their team member from China. Personal Attribution The Chinese person has problems managing time and is unreliable. Contextual Attribution The computer conferencing technology in the China location is problematic and there is no tech support to help. Summary When teams experience unproductive conflict and distrust, both personal and contextual factors can be at play. But when social distance is high, team members are more likely to focus on personal rather than contextual explanations. The SPLIT model helps team leaders and members identify the five key variables that increase social distance, and reminds them to consider both personal and contextual factors in developing interventions to overcome unproductive conflict and distrust.