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.     

Relative power and influence strategy: the effects of agent/target organizational power on superiors' choices of influence strategies

The present study examined superiors' tendency to utilize different top–down influence strategies according to their evaluation of their own power relative to that of their subordinates. Four hundred and fifty‐five subordinates (schoolteachers) from different schools described the extent to which their superiors used each item of the influence strategy questionnaire to influence them, while their immediate superiors evaluated superior's power and subordinate's power. Overall, superiors tended to use soft and rational strategy more often than hard strategy. However, regarding the parameter of relative power, the results indicated that the agent's power, as well as the target's power, affected the superior's choice of particular influence strategy. The results suggest that power should be discussed in relative rather than absolute terms. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationships of participative leadership with relational demography variables: a multi‐level perspective

Relationships of participative leadership with relational demography variables (age, tenure, education, and gender) were explored in an integrated model, combining the ALS (Average Leadership Style) and the LMX (Leader–Member Exchange) approaches to leadership. Data were collected from 561 staff members from 36 schools. The r_wg and the WABA (within‐ and between‐analysis) results indicated the prevalence of the LMX model and the individual‐differences approach in explaining the relationship of the leader's participative behaviors with relational demography variables. In addition, consistent with the study hypotheses, the negative relationship between demographic dissimilarity and PDM (participative decision‐making) was stronger in short‐term superior–subordinate relationships than in longer‐term relationships. These results should encourage researchers to theorize on, and then test for levels of analysis when studying participative leadership. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.