According to Jehn & Mannix (2001), work groups conflict can be classified into three namely relationship, task and process conflicts. The knowledge about interpersonal disagreements involving tensions and frictions is called relationship conflict while awareness of polarity in perspectives and verdicts regarding a group task is called task conflict whereas process conflict is described as controversies in context to knowledge that revolves round the progress of tasks meant to be accomplished. Researchers have argued that individual and group performances, satisfaction of members and possibility of working in future is destructive in context to relationship conflict while for certain tasks mild levels of task conflict are benefiting to group performances further improving quality of decisions. However, not much research has been done on process conflict, which is related with a group’s lower morale level and reduced productivity. Static levels of conflict have been focused in most researches and different patterns of conflict that takes place overtime have been ignored. However, it has been emphasized by Professor Gersick that a punctuated equilibrium is exhibited by groups, on other hand it has been agreed by other researchers that within groups, inherent and concrete phases might not be suitable further suggesting move away from characterization of group development as uniform sequence of stages or activities.
The main questions that the article seeks to answer revolves around that how individual or group performances gets impacted by different types of conflicts. A new question that can be derived from studying this article- ‘What is the relationship between group atmosphere, conflict and performance’ and for looking deep into this particular research field area two articles namely “Group Atmosphere, Shared Understanding, and Perceived Conflict in Virtual Teams: Findings from an Experiment” (Paul & Ray, 2014) “Exploring the Association between Relationship Conflict and Group Performance” (Manata, 2016) will help in serving the purpose of gaining comprehensive understanding about the topic. The first article has been chosen because it validates theoretical model representation on relationships between group atmosphere, shared understanding and the discerned task conflict within teams by evaluating data gathered through laboratory experimentation. The second article, on the other hand has been chosen owing to its detailed assessment on whether the negative impacts of conflicts on group performance can be mediated through group cohesion.
In the article it has been emphasized that there are certain patterns of conflict relating to the higher-level performance of group. From the three types of conflicts that have been identified in the article namely relationship, task and process conflicts, concrete literatures and case evidences are very few in context to the process conflict. It has further been observed that the article lacks in accurately examining the time period when the conflict takes place besides lacking to identify their patterns that occur over the time. So the link amidst the different types of conflict and individual and group performance cannot be completely comprehended. The three points that are raised by this study which can give rise to discussion revolves around “how different patterns of conflicts influences group performance and the organizations productivity”, “how much and when team will experience lower levels of group performance during higher levels of process conflict” and “examine the broader patterns of group interactions for comprehending the levels of conflicts in high-performing and low-performing groups in every phase of group interaction”. As an audience I would have responded to these points by ensuring that conflicts reap productive outcomes and not destructive as well as by emphasizing over the use of open discussions method to be encouraged by managers. Articles substantiating my arguments are “The impacts of leadership on workplace conflicts” authored by Olivier Doucet (Doucet, Poitras & Chenevert, 2009), “Individual and organizational well-being when workplace conflicts are on the agenda: A mixed-methods study” authored by Heidi Enehaug, Migle Helmersen and Svenn-Erik Mamelund (Enehaug, Helmersen & Mamelund, 2016) and “Promoting fairness in the face of conflict: The moderating effect of social control” authored by Chris Long (Long, 2016).
The first article emphasizes that group performances are impacted by three types of conflicts i.e. relationship, task and process conflicts. Although sufficient literatures have been reviewed for the first two but much research has not been done on the third regarding how and when it occurred and affected performances. While Boone, De Brabander & Witteloostuijn (1999), discussed impact of personality traits on cooperative behavior, but failed to discuss impact of five core personality traits namely Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness on both low score and high score people’s behavior. Further Seo & Lisa (2007), have failed to understand how emotional experience influenced decision-making in generalized corporate setting. Further Schminke, Ambrose & Cropanzano (2000), focused on exploring relations between three dimensions of organizational structure and on understanding procedural and interactional fairness but did not include top executives instead relied on lower-to middle level supervisors for analysis. According to Hofstede, et al., (1990), during examining six dimensions of organizational cultures, certain types such as military organizations, government offices and national environments were not considered rather predicted only differences in cultures.
After studying all five articles it has been inferred that culture of every organization differs while structures affect procedural and interactional fairness; decision-making in both personal and organizational settings are largely influenced by emotions that may lead to conflicts. Hence, I believe these studies have added more knowledge about issues however, it is suggested that for analysis wider range of participants can be adopted. The research that focused on personality can be compared with concept that has been discussed by Gordon Allport which revolves around understanding how personality can affect performance within organizational setting. For example, a short-tempered person handling customer interaction may lead to dissatisfaction eventually affecting organizational performance. Personalities are analyzed through close observation of the ways people choose to make adjustments with different situations in life. In his book Gordon has perceived personality as external appearance while behavior is seen as inner awareness of self and distinctive patterns of permanent traits that can be measured.
References
Allport, G.W. (2014). What is a trait of personality? Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 25(4), 368-372. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EBR-09-2012-0051 [Accessed on 20 Nov. 2018]
Boone, C., De Brabander, B., & van Witteloostuijn, A. (1999). The impact of personality on behavior in five prisoner’s dilemma games. Journal of Economic Psychology, 20(3), 343- 377. doi: https://search.proquest.com/docview/231110042?accountid=30552 [Accessed on 20 Nov. 2018]
Doucet, O., Poitras, J. & Chenevert, D. (2009). The impacts of leadership on workplace conflicts. International Journal of Conflict Management, 20, 340-354. https://doi: 10.1108/10444060910991057
Enehaug, H., Helmersen, M., & Mamelund, S. E. (2016). Individual and organizational well-being when workplace conflicts are on the agenda: A Mixedmethods Study. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 6(1), 83-104. https://doi: 10.19154/njwls.v6i1.4911
Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohayv, D. D., & Sanders, G. (1990). Measuring organizational cultures: A qualitative and quantitative study across twenty cases. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(2), 286.
doi: https://search.proquest.com/docview/203968973?accountid=30552 [Accessed on 20 Nov.
Jehn, K. A., & Mannix, E. A. (2001). The dynamic nature of conflict: A longitudinal study of intragroup conflict and group performance. Academy of Management Journal, 44(2), 238-251. doi: https://search.proquest.com/docview/199832165?accountid=30552 [Accessed on 20 Nov. 2018]
Long, C.P. (2016). Promoting fairness in the face of conflict: the moderating effect of social control. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 37(5), 593-608. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-09-2014-0175
Manata, B. (2016). Exploring the association between relationship conflict and group performance. GroupDynamicsTheory, Research, and Practice, 20(2), 93–104. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/gdn0000047
Paul, S. & Ray, S. (2014). Group Atmosphere, Shared Understanding, and Perceived Conflict in
Virtual Teams: Findings from an Experiment. Twentieth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Savannah. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fa51/43ae51e7724fb3a73303f7ebaf7506b11b02.pdf
Schminke, M., Ambrose, M. L., & Cropanzano, R. S. (2000). The effect of organizational structure on perceptions of procedural fairness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(2), 294-304. doi: https://search.proquest.com/docview/213940417?accountid=30552 [Accessed on 20 Nov. 2018]
Seo, M., & Lisa, F. B. (2007). BEING EMOTIONAL DURING DECISION MAKING–GOOD OR BAD? AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION. Academy of Management Journal, 50(4), 923-940. doi: https://search.proquest.com/docview/199793853?accountid=30552 [Accessed on 20 Nov. 2018]
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