2D part 2- Conflict in Teams

Question 1

What are the types of conflict?

Answer 1

Relationship/A-type/emotional conflict

Task/C-type/Cognitive conflict

Process Conflict

Question 2

What is proportional and perceptual conflict?

Answer 2

Proportional conflict occurs when
team members have different ideas about the amount and type of conflict that exists within their group- really about the level of each type of conflict in comparison to each other

• Perceptual conflict refers to if there is an agreement or a lack
  thereof, in terms of whether team members perceive conflict

Question 3

Results of relationship conflict

Answer 3

interfere with the mental
effort and performance of team members,

and can be
detrimental to job satisfaction

Question 4

Increased team conflict leads to

Answer 4

inefficient team
restructuring

Question 5

Team in conflict has

Answer 5

lower levels of intergroup
trust, which can lead to reductions in individual
autonomy and fewer task interdependencies (in an aim to increase performance)

Question 6

Team Power

Answer 6

the control of resources that enable a team to influence
others in the organization

Question 7

The type of conflict behaviour
(constructive versus destructive) in a team depends on

Answer 7

. The level of team power
* The likelihood that power
determines the success or failure of the team

Teams low in power became more constructive when power did not determine success, but when it did, they acted more unconstructively

Question 8

Cross-functional teams

Answer 8

composed of people from multiple disciplines, functions, and divisions that have different areas of expertise

Question 9

Conflicts in Cross-functional teams. These teams can have

Answer 9

representational gaps, or inconsistent views in the way people define or approach a problem- different mental models

Question 10

Minority and Majority Conflict

Answer 10

Method of influence- direct influence- entice other team members to adopt their position

Indirect influence- people in the majority privately agree with the minority

Question 11

Compliance

Answer 11

When people change their attitudes and behaviours as a result of direct influence or pressure

Question 12

Conversion

Answer 12

when people change their attitudes and
behavior as a result of their own thinking about a subject

Can have a delayed impact and come later- sleeper effect

Question 13

Benefits of Minority Representation in teams

Answer 13

• Cognitive activity in a group
  increases
• Increase in message scrutiny
• Divergent thinking and
  consideration of multiple
  perspectives

Question 14

Confict in culturally diverse teams

Answer 14

Linguistic-related challenges
* Individualism versus collectivism

Question 15

Benefts of training to express
confict appropriately and
efectively

Answer 15

Less misundertandings and thus less conflict

Question 16

work-family conflict

Answer 16

when an individual experiences incompatible demands between work and family role

WFC at the work group level leads
to WFC at the individual level

• When team members feel they
  have the support of the team, WFC
  is reduced

Question 17

Blake and Mouton conflict resolution

Answer 17

Avoidance (stalemate)
Competition(intimidation)
Compromise
Collaboration(win-win)
Accommodation (capitulation)

Question 18

D Dreu and Weingart developed a model that
views team performance as a function (related to and changes with) of the
following elements:

Answer 18

• Type of task confict
• The confict management style
• The nature of the task performed by the group

Question 19

Another determinant of team performance is
the approach team members use to manage
conflict

Answer 19

Team members tend to use one of
the following three methods to resolve disputes :

• Rights-based approach- applying some standard of fairness, precedent, contract or law
• Power-based - use of force, intimidation, rank, or power
• Interest-based approach: use methods that will satisfy member’s core interests- so maybe not all, but the most important ones

Question 20

Wageman and Donnenfeld distinguish four
kinds of interventions that team leaders
can use to improve the confict resolution
process

Answer 20

Team (re)Design
* Task process coaching
* Confict process coaching
* Changing the
individual

Question 21

Wageman and Donnenfeld also distinguish
four guiding principles for enhancing
teams with respect to confict

Answer 21

Principle 1: Start at team (re)Design - task, process and people

• Principle 2: After the team is well-designed, the team leaders should use the strategy of
  team coaching. - Focus on key performance drivers
• Principle 3: Develop group norms regarding how to
  manage confict- makes life easier
• Principle 4: Attempts to change individual behaviour will have the greatest impact only after
  the team design and team processes are
  addressed(good design, positive processes)

Question 22

There are several diferent methods for allocating
resources :

Answer 22

Equity method :
Prescribes that benefts (and costs) should
be proportional to team member’s
contributions

• Equality
  method : Prescribes that all team members
  should sufer or beneft equally,
  regardless of input
• Need
  method : Prescribes that benefts (and costs)
  should be proportional to members’
  needs

Question 23

Distributive and procedural justice

Answer 23

Distributive justice :
*The method of how to best allocate rewards/punishments/resources in an
organization

• Employees who regard their organization to be
  market focused tend to be interested in the
  distributive fairness of their organization

Procedural justice :
Concern for how a person is treated by
others, particularly authority figures

Fairness and transparency of processes by which decisions are made

Employees who regard their organization to be
bureaucratic tend to be interested in the
procedural justice of their organization

Question 24

Conflict states vs Conflict Processes

Answer 24

Conflict states how intense the group members think the conflict is- (task/relational disagreements)

conflict processes are members’ interactions
aimed at working through task and interpersonal disagreements

Question 25

Conflict contagion

Answer 25

refers to how interpersonal, dyadic conflict can spread to others.
Conflict contagion can lead to conflict escalation.