Antecedents of frontline manager handling relationship conflicts

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasir Tanveer ◽  
Qi Jiayin ◽  
Umair Akram ◽  
Anum Tariq

Purpose Conflicts are inevitable in organizations and are a significant challenge for frontline managers (FLMs). This study aims to investigate the relationship between the leadership styles of FLMs and relationship conflicts (RLCs), with the indirect intervention of emotion regulation (ER) and five conflict-handling styles (CHSs). Design/methodology/approach Research data were obtained from 243 FLMs in the Pakistan textile industry. SPSS 23 and PROCESS macros software were used to test and verify hypotheses regarding leadership styles, ER, CHSs and RLC. The authors conducted 5,000 bootstrap replications to verify mediation. Findings Leadership styles are significantly associated with RLC. A high degree of ER can negatively moderate RLCs through transformational leadership (TFL) and transactional leadership (TCL) styles and positively moderate RLCs through a laissez-faire leadership (LZF) style. Among CHSs, a compromise style mediates the relationship between RLC and the TFL and LZF styles, and a domination style mediates the relationship between RLC and the TCL style. Practical implications FLMs should be trained to overcome workplace interpersonal conflicts. Appropriate cognizance of a conflict before it occurs is a requisite skill. FLMs must be able to use all five given CHSs. Originality/value This study identifies the association of leadership styles with CHSs and ER to manage RLC in a non-Western context. The study enhances understanding of the use of the ER factor with the different CHSs of FLMs.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gentrit Berisha ◽  
Besnik Krasniqi ◽  
Justina Shiroka-Pula ◽  
Enver Kutllovci

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between conflict handling styles (CHS) of business managers in their entrepreneurial intentions (EI). The business manager’s propensity to become entrepreneurs is a relatively unexplored area of research. The relationship between conflict handling style and entrepreneurial intention is under-researched, particularly in a developing country like Kosovo. Design/methodology/approach A self-report questionnaire containing measures of conflict handing style, entrepreneurial intention and demographics was delivered to business managers in Kosovo. Findings Forcing style has a positive and statistically significant relationship with entrepreneurial intention. Yielding, compromising, problem solving and avoiding have weak and insignificant effects on EI. Research limitations/implications The relationship between conflict handling styles of managers and their entrepreneurial intention is investigated. No situational, organizational or environmental factor was considered influencing this relationship. Practical implications Conflict management is important in predicting the entrepreneurial intention of managers. Organizations should design human resource interventions aimed at effective team composition and employee retention to ensure performance. Originality/value This is the first study to investigate the relationship between conflict handling style and entrepreneurial intention using a manager sample. Furthermore, it is the first study of conflict handling styles and entrepreneurial intention of managers in Kosovo.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings The results show that trust and operational cohesion have a mediating role between leadership style and virtual team efficiency. Media richness is shown to moderate the relationship between leadership styles and trust. Transformational style has an important impact on operational cohesion when media richness is high while transactional leadership has a positive significant impact when it is low. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingya You ◽  
Yongqiang Chen ◽  
Yuanyuan Hua ◽  
Wenqian Wang

Purpose This paper aims to explain how contractual complexity, including contractual control, coordination and adaptation, makes a difference to the task and relationship conflict, and then, to investigate the moderating roles played by both, total interdependence and interdependence asymmetry, in altering the association between the two types of conflicts. Design/methodology/approach This study obtained data through a questionnaire survey in the Chinese construction industry and the final sample consisted of 232 responses. The data were analysed using hierarchy analysis using SPSS. Findings The results are as follows: first, higher contractual control and coordination reduce the level of relationship conflicts, and higher contractual coordination also reduces the level of task conflicts; second, task conflict positively affects relationship conflict; third, task conflict mediates the relationship between contractual coordination and relationship conflict; and finally, when total interdependence is higher, task conflict induces more relationship conflict. On the contrary, high interdependence asymmetry weakens the positive relationship between task and relationship conflicts. Practical implications This study highlights the importance of contracts in conflict management. The findings can guide practitioners in drafting suitable contracts to deal with task and relationship conflicts more effectively. Originality/value This study differentiates the effects of distinct components of contracts on task and relationship conflicts, and then reveals the contingent effects of interdependence on the relationship between task and relationship conflicts in inter-organisational transactions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Pauleen

Purpose Dave Snowden has been an important voice in knowledge management over the years. As the founder and chief scientific officer of Cognitive Edge, a company focused on the development of the theory and practice of social complexity, he offers informative views on the relationship between big data/analytics and KM. Design/methodology/approach A face-to-face interview was held with Dave Snowden in May 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. Findings According to Snowden, analytics in the form of algorithms are imperfect and can only to a small extent capture the reasoning and analytical capabilities of people. For this reason, while big data/analytics can be useful, they are limited and must be used in conjunction with human knowledge and reasoning. Practical implications Snowden offers his views on big data/analytics and how they can be used effectively in real world situations in combination with human reasoning and input, for example in fields from resource management to individual health care. Originality/value Snowden is an innovative thinker. He combines knowledge and experience from many fields and offers original views and understanding of big data/analytics, knowledge and management.


Author(s):  
Jay Andrew Cohen

Purpose – This paper aims to look at the peripheral management practice that facilitates employee learning. Such management practices are embedded or inseparable to working and being a good manager. Design/methodology/approach – Point of view. Findings – For many frontline managers and their employees, the separation between working and learning is often not apparent. There appears to be no clear distinction between when they are working and when they are learning. Practical implications – Better development of organizational managers. Originality/value – This paper highlights the informal nature of learning and working and builds on the understanding that much of the learning that occurs at work occurs as part of a social act, often involving managers and their employees. In this way, employee learning that is identified and facilitated by frontline managers is so often entwined in other management activity. Furthermore, this paper outlines some practical actions that organizations can undertake to aid greater frontline management involvement in employee learning.


2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark P. Bowden ◽  
Subhash Abhayawansa ◽  
John Bahtsevanoglou

Purpose – There is evidence that students who attend Technical and Further Education (TAFE) prior to entering higher education underperform in their first year of study. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of self-efficacy in understanding the performance of students who completed TAFE in the previous year in a first year subject of microeconomics in a dual sector university in Melbourne, Australia. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilises data collected by surveys of 151 students. Findings – A student’s self-efficacy is positively associated with their marks in a first year subject of microeconomics. However, the relationship between final marks and self-efficacy is negative for those students who attended TAFE in the previous year suggesting that they suffer from the problem of overconfidence. When holding self-efficacy constant, using econometric techniques, TAFE attendance is found to be positively related to final marks. Research limitations/implications – The findings are exploratory (based on a small sample) and lead to a need to conduct cross institutional studies. Practical implications – The research points to the need for early interventions so that TAFE students perform well in their first year of higher education. It also points to potential issues in the development of Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) programs. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the inter-related impact of attendance at TAFE in the previous year and self-efficacy on the subsequent academic performance of TAFE students.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 364-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Joslin ◽  
Ralf Müller

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively validate the constructs of a theoretically derived research model while gaining insights to steer the direction of a greater study on methodologies, their elements, and their impact on project success. In doing so, to investigate whether different project environments, notably project governance, impacts the relationship between methodologies and project success. Design/methodology/approach – A deductive approach was applied to validate a theoretically derived research model. In total, 19 interviews across 11 industrial sectors and four countries were used to collect data. Pattern-matching techniques were utilized in the analysis to deductively validate the research model. Findings – There is a positive relationship between project methodology elements and the characteristics of project success; however, environmental factors, notably project governance, influence the use and effectiveness of a project methodology and its elements with a resulting impact on the characteristics of project success. Research limitations/implications – Project governance plays a major role in the moderating effect of a project methodology’s effectiveness. Contingency theory is applicable to a project’s methodology’s selection and its customization according to the project environment. Practical implications – Understand the impact of project methodologies and their elements on the characteristics of project success while being moderated by the project environment, for example, the risk of suboptimal project performance due to the effectiveness of methodology elements being negatively impacted by the project environment. Originality/value – The impact of a project methodology (collection of heterogeneous-related elements) on the characteristics of project success is identified while being moderated by the project environment, notably project governance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 642-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violet T. Ho ◽  
Amanuel G. Tekleab

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to disentangle the relationship between the request of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) and the receipt of such deals, and investigate the moderating roles of human capital (gender and industry experience) and social capital (leader-member exchange (LMX)) in this relationship. Attitudinal outcomes of i-deals receipt are also examined. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 244 alumni of a Midwestern public university. Findings – The positive relationship between i-deals request and receipt was stronger at higher than at lower levels of LMX. Receiving i-deals was related positively to job satisfaction and affective commitment, and negatively to turnover intention. Research limitations/implications – The authors provide a nuanced perspective of i-deals by separating employees’ request from their receipt of i-deals, and identifying contingent factors that determine whether i-deal requests are successful. Practical implications – For employees, cultivating a strong relationship with one’s supervisor can yield benefits that extend to i-deals negotiation. Providing i-deals to deserving workers can boost employees’ work attitudes. Originality/value – Previous studies have operationalized the i-deals construct as requesting and receiving the deal, thereby excluding the possibility that employees may have requested but did not receive the i-deal. This is one of the first studies to disentangle these two concepts, thereby providing a more balanced and representative view of i-deal-making in organizations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arménio Rego ◽  
Miguel Pina e Cunha ◽  
Dálcio Reis Júnior ◽  
Cátia Anastácio ◽  
Moriel Savagnago

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study if the employees’ optimism-pessimism ratio predicts their creativity. Design/methodology/approach In total, 134 employees reported their optimism and pessimism, and the respective supervisors described the employees’ creativity. Findings The relationship between the optimism-pessimism ratio and creativity is curvilinear (inverted U-shaped); beyond a certain level of the optimism-pessimism ratio, the positive relationship between the ratio and creativity weakens, suggesting that the possible positive effects of (high) optimism may be weakened by a very low level of pessimism. Research limitations/implications Being cross-sectional, the study examines neither the causal links between the optimism-pessimism ratio and creativity nor other plausible causal links. The study was carried out at a single moment and did not capture the dynamics that occur over the course of time involving changes in optimism/pessimism and creativity. Future studies may adopt longitudinal or quasi-experimental designs. Practical implications Managers and organizations must consider that, even though positivity promotes creativity, some level of negativity may help positivity to produce creativity. Originality/value This study suggests that scholars who want to study the antecedents of creativity (and innovation) must be cautious in focusing only on the positive or the negative sides of individuals’ characteristics, and rather they must explore the interplay between both poles. Individuals may experience both positive and negative states/traits (Smith et al., 2016), and this both/and approach may impel them to think divergently, to challenge the status quo and to propose “out the box” and useful ideas.


Author(s):  
Benjamin R. Kaufman and ◽  
Konstantin P. Cigularov ◽  
Peter Chen ◽  
Krista Hoffmeister ◽  
Alyssa M. Gibbons ◽  
...  

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the main and interactive effects of general and safety-specific leader justice (SSLJ) (i.e. fair treatment) and leader support for safety (LSS) on safety performance. Design/methodology/approach – Two independent samples of construction workers rate their leaders with regards to fair treatment and support for safety and report their own safety performance in a survey. Findings – In both studies, LSS significantly moderated relationships of both general and SSLJ with safety performance. In Study 1, the strength of relationship between general leader justice and safety performance increases while LSS is increased. Similar pattern was found for the relationship between SSLJ and safety performance in Study 2. Practical implications – Safety interventions targeting leadership should consider training for leader safety practices that are perceived as supportive and fair. Originality/value – The research is unique in its examination of leader justice in a safety-specific context and its interactive effects with LSS on safety performance. The present research helps to extend the reach of organizational justice theory's nomological network to include safety.


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