Response To Conflict And Team Effectiveness And Functioning Psychology Essay

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23 Mar 2015

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Introduction

Conflict is considered as the most personal and expensive problem in workplace. It affects team work at various levels, both positive and negative (De Dreu, Harinck, Van Vianen, 1999). However, it is inevitable in every workplace. It is a side effect of the employee participation, collaboration, and problem solving that high-performing organizations expect and accept (Cloke, Goldsmith, 2000). Conflict has been associated with greater innovation and more effective interpersonal relations, but also with lower effectiveness, reduced well-being and turnover (Spector, Jex, 1998).

Unresolved conflict can also result in unfortunate consequences such as poor quality and increased costs and waste (Guttman, 2004). Conflicts are sometimes opportunities to company, if they are managed properly. It can lead people to confront the issues, learn to take different perspectives and to be creative (Tjosvold, 1997).

Conflicts in teams

Since team members contribute to the team through interpersonal inputs and tasks inputs, conflict in teams is concerned with relationship and task issues (Jehn, 1997). Task conflict is defined as conflict related to distribution of resources, about judgments, procedures, politics and interpretation of facts (De Dreu et. al. 1999). Relationship conflict concern insights and information that are not related to task, involve negative emotions and threaten one's personal identity and feelings of self-worth (Pelled, 1995). Task conflict is less threatening to personal identity, and involves less intense, negative emotions and tends to motivate team members to search for optimal judgments and decisions (De Dreu et. al., 1999). In team, relationship conflict is far more influential regarding team effectiveness and functioning. This paper will discuss about how different responses towards relationship conflict result in team effectiveness and functioning and analysis the data of survey conducted by De Dreu and Van Vianen (2001).

Different responses to relationship conflict in teams

A conflict response is what parties to a conflict intend to do as well as that they actually do (Van de Vliert, Euwema, 1994). The different response of team towards conflict can lead to different consequence. According to Kilmann and Thomas (1975), there are five conflict-handling modes as shown in Fig. 1 with respect to assertiveness and cooperativeness. To be more specific, Putnam and Wilson (1982) defined three major responses towards relationship conflicts, collaborating (collaborate with other parties with oppose ideas and try to work out a mutually acceptable solution), contending (compete and try to impose others will, wishes and perspectives) and avoiding (avoid conflict issues and ignore the problem). Van de Vliert and Euwema (1994) found that collaborating and contending responses were perceived as less passive than avoiding responses, while avoiding and collaborating were seen as more agreeable than contending responses. They suggested that collaborating and contending are more likely to actively solve or escalate the conflict respectively. In contrast, avoiding responses leave the conflict at the condition without solving or escalating it. De Dreu (1997) stated that there had a negative correlation between relationship conflict and collaborating response, and a positive correlation with contending response. These studies suggest to responds to relationship conflict through contending and avoiding responses.

Fig. 1: The five conflict-handling modes according to a two-dimensional model

Source: Thomas & Kilmann, 1974

Response to conflict and team effectiveness and functioning

Team effectiveness refers to the system of getting members in a team to work together effectively. An effective team is characterized by several factors according to Viveiros (1999) as shown in Table 1. To conclude, for which the team has high effectiveness, the members need to avoid process losses by helping each other, coordinating activities, complying with demands and requirements, and voicing opinions and ideas (West, Borrill, Unsworth, 1998).

Table 1: Effective and Ineffective Team Characteristics

Effective Team Characteristics

Ineffective Team Characteristics

Clear goals that all group members committed

Formal and tense interactions

Open, honest communication

Poor communication

Cooperative decision-making

Hierarchical Structures

An atmosphere of trust

Low trust levels

A sense of belonging

Role confusion

Good listening skill

Unclear team mission

Participation by all members

Lack of cooperation among members.

Source: Viveiros, 1999

Team functioning means the internal function of team and how does it work. Studies by Tjosvold (1997) and De Dreu, Giebels, Van de Vliert (1998) suggested that when teams manage conflicts through collaborating, team effectiveness is enhanced. They also emphasized the importance of pro-social motives and concomitant collaborating behavior as a way to solve conflicts about opposing interests. Collaboration gives the open-minded discussion about opposing ideas, feelings and opinions. On the whole, these studies conclude that collaboration increases individual and team effectiveness, as exemplified by greater satisfaction and feelings of self-efficacy among conflict parties, more mutually beneficial solutions, reduced likelihood of future conflict and better goal achievement (Tjosvold, 1997).

However, other studies (Druckman, Zechmeister, 1973; Druckman, 1994; Hrinch, De Dreu, Van Vianen, 2000) found that collaborating responses maybe less effective than expected. First of all, relationship conflict is difficult to be settled by mutual satisfaction. Tension and frustration rooted in different personal values and preferences are difficult to reduce as it needs to change issues to personal identity and acquired in the course of the life. Druckman et al., (1973) stated that the mode of response for relationship conflicts is not joint compromise or concession, but altered understanding of the situation by both parties is necessary. Later, Harinck et al. (1999) concluded that seek for a middle-ground and mutually acceptable solution through give and take is unlikely to solve the relationship conflict and may instead make it loom bigger intractable. This is because negotiators have difficulty to compromise when the differences on important issues are derived from long-held social attitudes or are linked to contrasting ideologies.

Relationship conflict requires a certain degree of explicit confrontation and contending since this can clarify issues and fosters altered understanding of the situation by one or both parties (Putnam, 1997). However, contending behaviors always take the conflict into spiral easily. They are quickly reciprocated by even stronger responses by others, undermine trust and benevolent views of the opposing conflict parties and result in poor outcomes for all (Pruitt, Carnevale, 1993). So, although contending responses may help on clarifying issues and alter understanding of situation, they also take the risk of escalating the conflict and hence obstruct the team effectiveness and functioning. Concluding the studies, contending responses are not expected to contribute positively towards team effectiveness and functioning.

A study by Murnighan and Conlon (1991) proves that neither collaborating nor contending responses are adequate in relationship conflict. They studied about the members of British String Quartets and concluded that more successful quartets often abandoned their annoyances and focused on their task. In fact, avoiding responses allow the conflict to become less prominent. Irritations and annoyances related to interpersonal issues may fade out when time passes, as team members go through new experiences and get to know one another in new and different ways (De Dreu, Van Vianen, 2001). So, avoiding responses to relationship conflict may be functional that such responses do not escalate the conflict and teach parties the benefits of patient instead. Ury (1991) introduces 'going to the balcony' which means distracting from one's emotions and natural impulses. This can reduce the tension and frustration to a point where it does not hurt working together on a joint task.

Literature Review

Previous studies conclude that contending in relationship conflict is unlikely to relate positively to team effectiveness and functioning. On the other hand, Druckman et. al. (1973) suggest that collaborating in relationship conflict is unlikely to produce more effective teams. Finally, Murnighan et. al. (1991) found that avoiding responses to relationship conflict increase team effectiveness and functioning.

De Dreu et. al. (2001) conducted a survey about different responses towards relationship conflict. They suggest that avoiding responses contribute positively towards team effectiveness and functioning in relationship conflict. In contrast, contending and collaborating responses to relationship conflict will be negatively related to measures of team effectiveness and functioning. Team is defined as ongoing, partly-autonomous groups whose members have a joint responsibility for accomplishing a set of tasks. They selected clients of a private company who were organizational groups that fit the above definition. Participants were asked to fill the survey during weekly meeting independently. They were surveyed about their responses to relationship conflicts and their satisfaction with team.

The result of survey shows that collaborating and contending responses to relationship conflict were negatively related to team effectiveness and functioning, while avoiding responses to relationship conflict were positively related them. De Dreu and his colleague give two explanations to this. Firstly, relationship conflict is difficult to settle to mutual satisfaction. It is difficult to change one's norms and values to come up with an agreement. Moreover, collaborating and contending responses direct team members away from their tasks and instead focus them on their interpersonal relations. As a result, they do not invest time and energy in works, and hence hinder team effectiveness and functioning.

The finding that collaborating in conflict is associated with lower team performance is inconsistent with a vast literature suggesting cooperation is key to effective organizations. Relationship conflict should not be met with collaborating or contending responses but instead require avoiding responses as contending responses do not seem to be productive in any type of conflict.

Other factor that affect team effectiveness and functioning in conflict

De Dreu et. al. (1999) argued that time is an important factor in conflict. The effectiveness of responses to conflict should be considered both short-term and long-term consequences. It could be very well that avoiding responses to relationship conflict enhance team effectiveness and functioning in the next several months and dilute the conflict issue at the same time, that provide an even better position for the team to perform effectively. But it may also lead to intensely escalated relationship conflict several months later (De Dreu et. al. 2001).

Conclusion and Discussion

As relationship conflict always happens in team, team leader should have sufficient skills and appropriate responses towards conflict. Current finding (De Dreu et. al. 2001) suggests that avoiding responses for relationship conflict contribute positively towards team effectiveness and functioning. As team members with oppose ideas are difficult to come up with mutual satisfaction (through collaborating), and contending directs team members away from their tasks and focus on interpersonal relations. It is suggested that future research should examine whether the result is objective or not. Time factor should also be taken into account. Leaders have to determine the statue of conflict so as to give appropriate responses. Conflicts are sometimes opportunities to teams or organizations, and depend on how to manage them properly.



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