Team conflict management and team effectiveness: the effects of task interdependence and team identification

The present study explores the dynamics of conflict management as a team phenomenon. The study examines how the input variable of task structure (task interdependence) is related to team conflict management style (cooperative versus competitive) and to team performance, and how team identity moderates these relationships. Seventy‐seven intact work teams from high‐technology companies participated in the study. Results revealed that at high levels of team identity, task interdependence was positively associated with the cooperative style of conflict management, which in turn fostered team performance. Although a negative association was found between competitive style and team performance, this style of team conflict management did not mediate between the interactive effect of task interdependence and team identity on team performance. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emotion regulation as a boundary condition of the relationship between team conflict and performance: A multi‐level examination

Although task conflict is widely believed to be beneficial whereas relationship conflict is destructive, evidence overall does not support this conclusion. This study develops the idea that the emotion regulation abilities of team members affect how they manage task and relationship conflict, both as individuals and as a team. Findings from a field study involving 39 teams support the argument that individuals skilled in emotion regulation can take advantage of task conflict to perform effectively and limit the negative impact of relationship conflict. Groups that have individuals highly skilled in emotion regulation were also found to make good use of team conflict. Results suggest that emotion regulation skills contribute to the effective management of task conflict and relationship conflict at both individual and group levels. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conflict values and team relationships: conflict's contribution to team effectiveness and citizenship in China

Although conflict has traditionally been considered destructive, especially in collectivist societies like China, recent studies indicate that valuing and approaching conflict can contribute to effective teamwork. A hundred and six pairs of employees and their leaders were recruited from State Owned Enterprises in Shanghai and Nanjing. Employees described their conflict values and relationships. Their immediate supervisors rated the effectiveness of their teams and the extent of their citizenship behavior. Results indicate that positive conflict attitudes and approaching conflict can contribute to strong relationships, which in turn strengthen team effectiveness and employee citizenship. Findings suggest that how conflict values affect relationships and outcomes are more differentiated than originally expected. Results were interpreted as supporting the traditional idea that relationships are critical for effective organization work in China but also challenging future research to understand the processes by which conflict has a positive contribution to work relationships. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collectivistic orientation in teams: an individual and group-level analysis

With the increasing use of work teams in U.S. industry, understanding team members' collectivistic orientation toward group goals and activities is critical for developing cooperative and productive teams. Using the research on expectancy theory, self-efficacy, locus of control, and individualism–collectivism, collectivism is examined as both an individual difference variable and a group composition variable. One hundred and forty-eight individuals (comprising 33 groups) working on a complex and interdependent task comprised the research sample. Results indicated that individual difference variables of self-efficacy for teamwork, need for social approval, and positive past experience working in teams were related to self-report collectivism. Additionally, team collectivistic orientation was examined as a group composition variable and found to be related to cooperative team behaviors. In turn, these cooperative team behaviors acted as a mediator of the relationship between team collectivistic orientation and team performance. Results are discussed in terms of theory building and applied research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Energy's role in the extraversion (dis)advantage: How energy ties and task conflict help clarify the relationship between extraversion and proactive performance

While academic and practitioner literatures have proposed that extraverts are at an advantage in team‐based work, it remains unclear exactly what that advantage might be, how extraverts attain such an advantage, and under which conditions. Theory highlighting the importance of energy in the coordination of team efforts helps to answer these questions. We propose that extraverted individuals are able to develop more energizing relationships with their teammates and as a result are seen as proactively contributing to their team. However, problems in coordination (i.e., team task conflict) can reverse this extraversion advantage. We studied 27 project‐based teams at their formation, peak performance, and after disbandment. Results suggest that when team task conflict is low, extraverts energize their teammates and are viewed by others as proactively contributing to the team. However, when team task conflict is high, extraverts develop energizing relationships with fewer of their teammates and are not viewed as proactively contributing to the team. Our findings regarding energizing relationships and team task conflict clarify why extraversion is related to proactive performance and in what way, how, and when extraverts may be at a (dis)advantage in team‐based work. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conflict,justice, and inequality: Why perceptions of leader–member exchange differentiation hurt performance in teams

To better understand why leader–member exchange (LMX) differentiation in teams may be detrimental to individual and team performance, we propose that team members' perception of LMX differentiation (PLMXD) is more important than statistical measures of LMX differentiation. Specifically, we hypothesize a multilevel model in which relationship conflict and procedural justice (climate) mediate the relationships of individual and collective PLMXDs with individual and team performance, respectively. Using a sample of 235 individuals in 53 teams, we found that individual PLMXD was negatively related to individual performance through relationship conflict perceptions, controlling for LMX. At the team level, collective PLMXD was negatively related to team performance through procedural justice climate and relationship conflict, controlling for a statistical measure of LMXD. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are explored.     

Missing persons in the study of groups

This research examined relationships between team‐level variables with various patterns of individual non‐response. In the first analysis, professional basketball teams (n = 389) were used to study the relationship between team cooperation and team performance. In the second analysis, the same teams were used to study the relationship between team experience and team performance. In the third analysis, professional baseball teams (n = 1984) were used to study the relationship between team experience and team performance. Individuals were deleted from the complete data sets to simulate three different types of non‐response that might be encountered in organizational group or team research. In all three analyses, team‐level relationships were attenuated as individual members were deleted randomly. Team‐level relationships were also generally reduced as individuals were deleted as a function of their level of participation with the team. The overall amount of variance explained, however, showed a pronounced curvilinear effect. Namely, in all three analyses, the variance explained in team performance peaked when 30–40 per cent of the low‐participation members were deleted. Finally, in the first analysis, relationships were also attenuated as the least cooperative members were deleted from the data set. The results demonstrate the need for researchers to understand the diverse effects of various types of non‐response in team and group research. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Managing relationship conflict and the effectiveness of organizational teams

Past research has revealed that team effectiveness and satisfaction suffer when teams experience relationship conflict—conflict related to interpersonal issues, political norms and values, and personal taste. This study examined how teams should respond to these conflicts. Three types of conflict responses were studied: collaborating responses, contending responses, and avoiding responses. A field study involving a heterogeneous sample of teams performing complex, non‐routine task showed that collaborating and contending responses to relationship conflict negatively relate to team functioning (i.e., voice, compliance, helping behavior) and overall team effectiveness, while avoiding responses were associated with high team functioning and effectiveness. It is suggested that collaborating and contending responses to relationship conflict distract team members from their tasks, while avoiding responses appear more functional in that they allow team members to pursue task performance. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The consequences of (not) seeing eye-to-eye about the past: The role of supervisor–team fit in past temporal focus for supervisors' leadership behavior

This study seeks to advance our understanding of the leadership consequences that may ensue when supervisors and their teams have similar versus differing orientations toward the past. Integrating a leader–team fit perspective with functional leadership theory, we cast incongruence between supervisor and team past temporal focus as a key antecedent of supervisors' active (i.e., task-oriented and relationship-oriented) and passive (i.e., laissez-faire) leadership behaviors toward the team. We tested our hypotheses in a team-level study that included a field sample of 84 supervisors and their teams using polynomial regression and response surface analyses. Results illustrated that supervisors demonstrated more task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership when supervisors' and their team's past temporal focus were incongruent rather than aligned. Furthermore, in situations of supervisor–team congruence, supervisors engaged in less task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership and more laissez-faire leadership with higher (rather than lower) levels of supervisor and team past temporal focus. In sum, these findings support a complex (mis)fit model such that supervisors' attention to the past may hinder their productive leadership behaviors in some team contexts but not in others. Hence, this research advances a novel, multiple-stakeholder perspective on the role of both supervisors' and their team's past temporal focus for important leadership behaviors.     

Surface‐ and deep‐level diversity in workgroups: examining the moderating effects of team orientation and team process on relationship conflict

The increased use of teams in organizations, coupled with an increasingly diverse workforce, strongly suggests that we should learn more about how team diversity affects functioning and performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the differential impact of surface‐level diversity (gender, ethnicity), deep‐level diversity (time urgency, extraversion), and two moderating variables (team orientation, team process) on relationship conflict over time. Hypotheses were tested by tracking 45 student project teams in a longitudinal design. Results revealed that team orientation and team process moderated the diversity–conflict link. Specifically, team orientation helped to neutralize the negative effects of surface‐level (gender) diversity on relationship conflict. In a similar manner, team processes worked to weaken the deleterious effects of deep‐level diversity (time urgency) on relationship conflict. In addition, relationship conflict resulted in lower perceived performance by team members. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stress and team performance: principles and challenges for intelligent decision aids

Advances in computer technology and artificial intelligence are providing powerful capabilities for developing intelligent decision aids (IDAs) to support operating teams in managing complex systems. Early system designs, which acted as independent computer advisors, constrained human decision making, were brittle and encountered problems of user acceptance. As a result, there has been a shift towards making IDAs more cooperative in assisting users to make decisions under stress. Although there is a growing body of research on how to design IDAs as collaborate team players, this article provides additional insights by focusing on the competencies manifested by efficient teams in adapting to stress. To this extent, a survey of how teams adapt their decision-making strategies, cooperation patterns and team structure has provided a good basis for proposing design principles for collaborative IDAs. The article concludes with some challenges for further developments in information technology and research needs in the area of teamwork under stress.     

Scaling the quality of teammates' mental models: equifinality and normative comparisons

We tested the impact of teammates' team and task mental model sharedness on team processes and performance using 70 undergraduate teams that completed a series of missions on a PC‐based flight simulator. Moreover, we considered how the quality of mental models might moderate such relationships. Team processes were found to partially mediate the relationship between task mental model sharedness and team performance. Although team mental model sharedness failed to exhibit a significant linear relationship with team processes or performance, it did evidence a multiplicative relationship as moderated by the quality of those models. Team processes and performance were better among teams sharing higher‐quality team mental models than among teams evidencing less sharedness or who had lower‐quality models. Again, team processes partially mediated these relationships. Results are discussed in terms of the equifinality of mental model quality and applications to various team environments. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The proficiency trap: how to balance enriched job designs and the team's need for support

The present study seeks to enlighten our understanding of ways to promote the performance of teams of professionals. Considering that job enrichment practices might block support for a team, and hence its performance, the study examined the moderating effects of cultural factors, namely individualism–collectivism and power distance, and the team leader's practices as a source of support in the job enrichment–team support relationship. Further, the study examined the mediating role of team support in improving the performance of professional teams. Results from 56 healthcare teams from different hospitals indicated that attempts to promote professionals' performance should consider at a minimum how to balance job enrichment practices and the team's need for support. The findings suggest that this balance could be achieved by emphasizing the support provided by the leader, and by strengthening the cultural values of low power distance and collectivism in the team. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When is female leadership an advantage? Coordination requirements,team cohesion,and team interaction norms

This study seeks to understand to what extent and in what contexts women leaders may be advantageous for teams. More specifically, this study examines how team leader gender relates to team cohesion, cooperative learning, and participative communication. Furthermore, the study argues that advantages derived from female leadership may be contingent on teams' coordination requirements. I propose that as teams' coordination requirements increase (i.e., with functional diversity, size, and geographic dispersion), teams with women leaders report more cohesion and more cooperative and participative interaction norms than those with men leaders. I aggregated survey responses from the members of 82 teams in 29 organizations at the team level. Findings from hierarchical linear modeling analyses suggest that female leadership is more positively associated with cohesion on larger and more functionally diverse teams and more positively associated with cooperative learning and participative communication on larger and geographically dispersed teams. These results call for more research on boundary conditions on the relationship between leader gender and team outcomes, on the role of relational leadership on complex and diverse teams and, ultimately, on the potential mediating role of cohesion and team interaction norms on the relationship between leader gender and team performance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Professional diversity,identity salience and team innovation: The moderating role of openmindedness norms

The impact of diverse composition in teams is neither straightforward nor direct, and evidence suggests that diversity can be either conducive or detrimental to team innovation. Professionally diverse healthcare teams are increasingly used to develop innovative clinical approaches and solve complex healthcare problems; however, there is evidence that collaboration across professional boundaries creates conflict and is frequently unsuccessful. Healthcare organizations consequently face a dilemma. If they embrace professional diversity in teams, they risk interprofessional hostility, but if they choose homogeneous teams, they diminish their teams' capacity to innovate. We respond to this quandary by utilizing social identity theory to better understand the mechanisms through which professional diversity can enhance team innovation. In particular, we argue that professional identity salience operates as a mediator capable of explaining both positive and negative outcomes of professional diversity, contingent on the moderating effect of openmindedness norms. Analysis of survey data from 70 healthcare teams supports our model and indicates that professional salience can both enhance and undermine team innovation, depending on the extent of team openmindedness. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Empirical analysis of shared leadership promotion and team creativity: An adaptive leadership perspective

Promoting shared leadership in teams and enhancing team creativity is aided by complementarity between leader and team member characteristics. We integrate insights from social learning theory and dominance complementarity perspective with the team leadership and creativity literature to explore the facilitating role of formal participative leadership for enhancing team creativity indirectly by promoting shared leadership. The relationships among formal participative leadership, shared leadership, and team creativity are bounded by team voice behavior and team creative efficacy. To test our theoretical model, we collected multisource and multiwave survey data from 382 members of 73 teams. Results revealed a significant positive relationship of participative leadership with shared leadership in teams, which in turn was positively associated with team creativity. Team voice behavior and team creative efficacy moderated these relationships, respectively, by strengthening the positive relationships. We discuss the theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future directions of our findings.     

Team effectiveness under stress: a structural contingency approach

To examine whether working under stressful circumstances restricts or enhances team effectiveness, a structural contingency model for team effectiveness was tested by focusing on job structuring (mechanistic/organic structuring) as a key factor, which interacts with qualitative and quantitative stress on team attitude (team commitment) and outcomes (team effectiveness). Findings from 73 primary care teams indicated that mechanistic structuring for teams working under quantitative stress was positively associated with team commitment, which in turn fostered team effectiveness, whereas organic structuring for working under qualitative stress improved team effectiveness. Furthermore, team commitment mediated the relationships between stress and structuring and team effectiveness. These findings support a structural contingency model for improving team effectiveness under stress. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The conflict‐positive organization: it depends upon us

Although still widely assumed to be disruptive, conflict, when managed appropriately, has been found to make teamwork within and between organizations effective. However, organizational members often have competitive relationships and orientations to dealing with conflict that lead to conflict avoidance and escalation, approaches that sabotage decision‐making and relational bonds. Conflict researchers have contributed to the bad reputation of conflict by confounding conflict and competition and suggesting that the kind of conflict, rather than its management, determines its outcomes. Studies in the West and East indicate that by developing cooperative relationships and the skills to discuss diverse views open‐mindedly, organizations can empower managers and employees to use conflict to probe problems, create innovative solutions, learn from their experience, and enliven their relationships. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Being trusted: How team generational age diversity promotes and undermines trust in cross‐boundary relationships

We examine how demographic context influences the trust that boundary spanners experience in their dyadic relationships with clients. Because of the salience of age as a demographic characteristic as well as the increasing prevalence of age diversity and intergenerational conflict in the workplace, we focus on team age diversity as a demographic social context that affects trust between boundary spanners and their clients. Using social categorization theory and theories of social capital, we develop and test our contextual argument that a boundary spanner's experience of being trusted is influenced by the social categorization processes that occur in dyadic interactions with a specific client and, simultaneously, by similar social categorization processes that influence the degree to which the client team as a whole serves as a cooperative resource for demographically similar versus dissimilar boundary spanner–client dyads. Using a sample of 168 senior boundary spanners from the consulting industry, we find that generational diversity among client team members from a client organization undermines the perception of being trusted within homogeneous boundary spanner–client dyads while it enhances the perception of being trusted within heterogeneous dyads. The perception of being trusted is an important aspect of cross‐boundary relationships because it influences coordination and the costs associated with coordination. © 2015 The Author Journal of Organizational Behavior Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd