The dual effects of task conflict on team creativity

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun Kyung Lee ◽  
Ariel C. Avgar ◽  
Won-Woo Park ◽  
Daejeong Choi
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Harmful Effect ◽  
Task Conflict ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Team Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Conflict ◽  
Positive Direct ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the dual effects of task conflict on team creativity and the role of team-focused transformational leadership (TFL) as a key contingency in the task conflict–team creativity relationship.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 325 teams across ten large companies in South Korea. The study tested the hypothesized moderated mediation model using an SPSS macro (PROCESS, Hayes, 2008).FindingsResults showed that task conflict is directly and positively related to team creativity and is negatively and indirectly related to team creativity via relationship conflict. Furthermore, the study found that team-focused TFL moderates all paths through which task conflict affects team creativity. Specifically, team-focused TFL enhances the positive direct effect of task conflict and alleviates the negative indirect effects of task conflict on team creativity.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this study could not test the causal chains of the proposed relationships owing to a cross-sectional nature of data, the present research provides theoretical implications for the conflict, leadership and team creativity literatures. The study highlights the role of transformational leadership in the process through which team conflict is managed so as to increase team creativity.Practical implicationsTo capitalize on the creativity-related benefits associated with task conflict, managers will need to pay attention to the role they can play and their leadership that emphasizes collective goals and identity. Managers and team leaders are also expected to intervene in conflict situations to minimize the harmful effect of task conflict that may take place owing to the association between task conflict and relationship conflict.Social implicationsThe findings will have implications for any social contexts where people work together toward common goals. In such contexts, the study emphasizes the role of leadership in teams to use the creative potential associated with different opinions and values regarding what and how work to be completed.Originality/valueThe study’s examination of the dual paths through which task conflict affects team creativity brings insights into why the impact of task conflict on team creativity has been inconsistent or unclear in past research. This paper also articulates a leader’s role in teams in relation to managing team conflict to increase team creativity.

Differentiated transformational leadership, conflict and team creativity: an experimental study in China

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peihua Dai ◽  
Mingming Feng ◽  
Jing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Task Conflict ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Team Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Conflict ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose The authors investigated the impacts of differentiated transformational leadership (TFL), including team-focused TFL and individual-focused TFL, on team creativity through the mediating effect of team conflict, consisting of task conflict and relationship conflict.Design/methodology/approach The authors designed and conducted a close-to-reality experiment, enrolling 180 students and six professors from a large Chinese university. Student participants worked on a real marketing project and professor participants imitated the behaviors of transformational leaders. Using the computed values of team-focused TFL, individual-focused TFL, team creativity, task conflict and relationship conflict, the authors assessed the relationship among differentiated TFL, team creativity and team conflict.Findings Team-focused TFL has a significantly positive impact on team creativity through the mediating effect of task conflict, whereas individual-focused TFL has a significantly negative impact on team creativity through the mediating effect of relationship conflict.Originality/value From a new perspective of team conflict, the authors revealed the “black box” of the differentiated TFL–team creativity relationship. Moreover, other determinants were well controlled in the experiment, and thus, the authors effectively clarified the intervening mechanism of differentiated TFL on team creativity through the mediating effect of team conflict.

Conflict and creativity in inter-organizational teams

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Hu ◽  
Zhi Chen ◽  
Jibao Gu ◽  
Shenglan Huang ◽  
Hefu Liu
Keyword(s):  
Shared Leadership ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Task Conflict ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Curvilinear Relationship ◽  
Team Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
Organizational Teams ◽  
Study Offer

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effects of task and relationship conflicts on team creativity, and the moderating role of shared leadership in inter-organizational teams. An inter-organizational team normally comprises employees from collaborated organizations brought together to conduct an initiative, such as product development. Practitioners and researchers have witnessed the prevalence of conflict in inter-organizational teams. Despite significant scholarly investigation into the importance of conflict in creativity, a deep theoretical understanding of conflict framework remains elusive. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was conducted in China to collect data. Consequently, 54 teams, which comprised 54 team managers and 276 team members, were deemed useful for the study. Findings By testing our hypotheses on 54 inter-organizational teams, we found that relationship conflict has a negative relationship with team creativity, whereas task conflict has an inverted U-shaped (curvilinear) relationship with team creativity. Furthermore, when shared leadership is stronger, the negative relationship with team creativity is weaker for relationship conflict, whereas the inverted U-shaped relationship with team creativity is stronger for task conflict. Research limitations/implications The main limitation is cross-sectional, which cannot establish causality in relationships. Despite this potential weakness, the present research provides insights into conflict, leadership and inter-organizational collaboration literature. Practical implications The findings of this study offer some guidance on how managers can intervene in the conflict situations of inter-organizational teams. Social implications Managers are struggling to identify ways to effectively manage team conflict when a team of diverse individuals across organizational boundaries are brought together to solve a problem. The findings of this study offer some guidance on how managers can intervene in the conflict situations of inter-organizational teams. Originality/value This paper provides understandings about how relationship and task conflicts affect team creativity in inter-organizational teams.

Probing the impact of transformational leadership on job embeddedness: the moderating role of job characteristics

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Usman Khalid ◽  
Rabia Mushtaq ◽  
Abdul Zahid Khan ◽  
Faisal Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Job Characteristics ◽  
Job Embeddedness ◽  
Transformational Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Leadership Research ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate how transformational leadership can increase job embeddedness in their employees that persuade them to stay in their organization and how this relationship is contingent upon the job characteristics. Design/methodology/approach Sample of 328 useable responses was available for analysis. Questionnaires were distributed to the employees who are working in different Pakistani organizations. Regression analysis was used to test for hypotheses. Findings The findings support that there is a significant impact of transformational leadership for shaping job embeddedness, and the results endorsed the role of job characteristics as a moderator in describing the relationship of transformational leadership and job embeddedness. Transformational leaders would motivate employees to work together in productive manners in challenging work settings. Originality/value This paper makes three key contributions to the literature on job design. First, this inquiry shows that a strong link does exist between transformational leadership in creating organizational job embeddedness. Second, it highlights how job characteristics of highly challenging work settings may shape employees’ job embeddedness. Third, this paper offers a novel perspective in leadership research by incorporating high challenging work setting (i.e. job characteristics) as moderator. Managers may get new insight by opting for transformational leaders' attributes and concentrating on high challenging work settings for creating embeddedness in employees to prolong their stay with the job and firm.

Leader-member exchange differentiation and team creativity

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 798-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongdan Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Team Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Member Exchange ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation on team creativity by developing a moderated mediation model. The model focuses on the mediating role of relationship conflict in linking LMX differentiation with team creativity and the moderating role of team-member exchange (TMX) median in influencing the mediation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors tested the model with a time-lagged field survey data from 358 employees and 98 supervisors belonging to 98 teams in a large diversified company with more than 15,000 employees, based in Shanghai, Southeastern China. In the first stage (T1), employees assessed LMX, TMX, relationship conflict, and control variables. In the second stage (T2), the leaders were asked to report team creativity. Findings – Results indicated that the relationship between LMX differentiation and team creativity was mediated by relationship conflict. Moderated mediation analyses further revealed that relationship conflict mediated the relationship between LMX differentiation and team creativity for only those teams with low-TMX median. Research limitations/implications – Testing the moderated mediation model helps to advance our theoretical understanding of the intervening processes that underlie the effect of LMX differentiation on team creativity. The findings may also help Chinese managers to inform the importance of helping subordinates better adapt to LMX differentiation, reducing relationship conflict, and constructing high-quality TMX relationships within groups, in order to promote team creativity. Originality/value – This empirical study provides preliminary evidence of the mediating role of relationship conflict in the negative relationship between LMX differentiation and team creativity. The moderated mediation model also extends the existing finding by showing that not only the quality of social exchange relationships with a supervisor (i.e. LMX) but also with team members (i.e. TMX), can moderate the impact of LMX differentiation on team outcomes.

The role of knowledge sharing culture in business performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laila Marouf
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Km Strategy ◽  
Positive Direct ◽  
Hr Strategy ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate the role of knowledge sharing (KS) culture in leveraging knowledge management (KM) strategy and human resource (HR) strategy to improve business performance (BP). Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire survey was distributed to 120 randomly selected companies in Kuwait. A total of 392 valid responses were collected and tested using a structural equation model. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS and LISREL software to verify the research hypotheses. Findings The results revealed the impact of the mediating variable KS culture on the enhancement of BP. Both KM strategy and HR strategy were observed to have a positive direct effect on KS culture. Practical implications The results indicate that top management should make efforts to cultivate a KS culture to achieve better BP and future success. Originality/value The primary research contribution is the conceptual model for the role of KS culture as a mediator between KM strategy, HR strategy and BP.

The impact of transformational leadership on employee creativity: the role of learning orientation

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeevan Jyoti ◽  
Manisha Dev
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Learning Orientation ◽  
Transformational Leader ◽  
Employee Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderating Role

Purpose – This research aims to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity. In addition, we intend to study the moderating role played by learning orientation in the relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity. Design/methodology/approach – Data have been collected from employees working at the Airtel and Aircel call centers of J&K (India). A two-step approach to structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the proposed measurement model fit and construct validity. The structural model was generated to test the significance of the theoretical relationships. Findings – The results revealed that there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity, and it is being moderated by learning orientation. Research limitations/implications – Although this study expands our knowledge about the role of learning orientation between transformational leadership and employee creativity, the prospects for further research are still present. The cross-sectional design of study might not have been able to extract the true essence of the cause-and-effect relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity. Practical implications – Transformational leaders promote followers’ creativity, so the management may find it valuable to invest in transformational leadership training for supervisors and team leaders, or use personality testing to screen for high-caliber candidates, who have high potential of becoming a transformational leader. The characteristics of a transformational leader, when coupled with the learning orientation of employees, yield positive results in the form of employee creativity, which managers can use to generate sustainable competitive advantages for their organizations. Originality/value – This paper is original, as it contributes to existing theory by establishing the moderating role played by learning orientation in between transformational leadership and employee creativity. The moderation has been proved via SEM with the help of latent constructs, which is seldom done.

Enhancing performance and commitment through leadership and empowerment

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 303-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Abid Saleem ◽  
Zahra Masood Bhutta ◽  
Muhammad Nauman ◽  
Sadaf Zahra
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Employee Empowerment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Employee Trust ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Mediational Role ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of transformational leadership and employee empowerment on employee performance and organizational commitment through the mediational role of behavioral integrity (BI).Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a self-administered questionnaire based on measurement of variables adopted from earlier studies. A total of 532 usable responses were collected through officer grade and executive level employees of selected banks from the Multan district, Pakistan. Confirmatory factor analysis was run using AMOS 23.0 whereas PROCESS macro in SPSS 23.0 was used for path analysis.FindingsThe study results revealed that transformational leadership and employee empowerment positively affect employee performance and organizational commitment through the mediational effect of BI.Originality/valueThe role of BI in enhancing employees’ performance and organizational commitment has been overlooked in the extant literature. Especially, in the emerging economies, where there is growing employer–employee trust deficit, this investigation brings in useful contribution.

The role of regulatory focus and team mindfulness in megaproject conflicts

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dedong Wang ◽  
Yuxue Wang
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Task Conflict ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Prevention Focus ◽  
Promotion Focus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Process Conflict ◽  
Positive Effect

PurposeProject conflicts are inevitable. Megaproject conflicts need to be managed across different levels. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of individual-level regulatory focus and organization-level team mindfulness in managing megaproject conflicts.Design/methodology/approachBy combining the individual motivation basis and organizational background of conflict resolution, this study constructed a multi-level structural equation model. The hypothesis is tested based on data collected from 182 respondents.FindingsThe findings of this study show that project manager's promotion focus has a direct positive effect on task conflict and a negative effect on relationship conflict. Prevention focus has a positive effect on relationship conflict and a negative effect on task conflict and process conflict. Team mindfulness has a negative effect on relationship conflict and process conflict and a positive effect on task conflict. Task conflict was negatively affected by the interaction between team mindfulness and promotion focus. The interaction between team mindfulness and prevention focus had a positive effect on relationship conflict.Originality/valueThis study verifies the positive role of project manager's promotion focus and prevention focus in conflict management and clarifies the strengthening role of team mindfulness in constructive conflict and the prevention role in destructive conflict. This study also confirms that team mindfulness can act as a reinforcement and complementary factor of regulatory focus in megaproject conflict, contributing to the current understanding of the project manager's role in megaproject mindfulness contexts.

How does network position influence project performance in Chinese megaprojects? An inter-organizational conflict-based perspective

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Liu ◽  
Jiming Cao ◽  
Guangdong Wu ◽  
Xianbo Zhao ◽  
Jian Zuo
Keyword(s):  
Project Performance ◽  
Network Governance ◽  
Task Conflict ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Organizational Conflict ◽  
Structural Holes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Network Position ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to explore the relationship between network position, various types of inter-organizational conflicts and project performance in the context of megaprojects. Design/methodology/approach Centrality and structural holes were used to represent network position. A theoretical model was developed, and a structured questionnaire survey was conducted with construction professionals involved in megaprojects. A total of 291 valid responses were obtained, which were analyzed via structural equation modeling. Findings The results showed that centrality negatively impacts project performance, while structural holes do not significantly impact project performance. Centrality negatively affects task conflicts, but positively affects process conflicts and relationship conflicts. Structural holes positively impact task conflicts, but negatively impact both process conflicts and relationship conflicts. Task conflict and relationship conflict exert constructive and destructive effects on project performance, respectively, while process conflict does not significantly impact project performance. Task conflict and relationship conflict play mediating roles. Task conflict weakens while relationship conflict strengthens the relationship between centrality and project performance. Task conflict strengthens while relationship conflict weakens the relationship between structure hole and project performance. Research limitations/implications This study provides a reference for the implementation of network governance, inter-organizational conflict management and project performance management in megaprojects. However, the impact of dynamic changes of inter-organizational conflicts and network position on project performance has not been discussed in the context of megaprojects. Future research may explore the impact of dynamic changes of conflicts and network position on project implementation. Originality/value This study increases the current understanding of the impact of network position on project performance. Moreover, a new direction for network governance in the context of megaprojects is provided. This study also verified both the constructive and destructive effects of conflicts and the mediating role they play, thus supplementing the literature on inter-organizational conflict management in the construction field.

The relationship between R&D team diversity and team creativity

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinyong Kim ◽  
Chanhoo Song
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Task Conflict ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Team Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Diversity ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis study aims to explore how and what type of team diversity is related to team creativity in R&D organizations, incorporating conflict as a mediator and transformational leadership as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachSurvey questionnaires were used to collect data from 24 Korean R&D teams (185 team members, 24 team leaders and 24 managers) in the public and private sectors. The dependent variable, team creativity, was measured by questioning R&D team managers to whom R&D team leaders report directly, and the antecedents, mediator and moderator were answered by team members and their leaders.FindingsThe data confirmed that team diversity, particularly informational diversity, was positively associated with team creativity. However, conflict did not show a significant mediating effect between team diversity and creativity. Transformational leadership had a negative moderating effect between informational diversity and task conflict in such a way that when transformational leadership was high, teams with higher informational diversity showed lower task conflict between team members.Originality/valueA growing number of R&D projects require interdisciplinary efforts resulting in incorporating scientists and engineers from multiple disciplines, and growing numbers of women and minorities now choose careers in science and technology. Naturally, R&D project teams have become more diverse than before. This study provides empirical evidence from multiple sources, showing both mediating and moderating effects on the relationship between R&D team diversity and creativity.

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