and Allen Weiss for their helpful input. We are especially grateful for the valuable feedback provided by Daniel Brass, Linda Johanson, and three anonymous reviewers. This research was funded by the Stanford Integrated Manufacturing Association.If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. -John F. KennedyIn this paper we present an integrative model of the relationships among diversity, conflict, and performance, and we test that model with a sample of 45 teams. Findings show that diversity shapes conflict and that conflict, in turn, shapes performance, but these linkages have subtleties. Functional background diversity drives task conflict, but multiple types of diversity drive emotional conflict. Race and tenure diversity are positively associated with emotional conflict, while age diversity is negatively associated with such conflict. Task routineness and group longevity moderate these relationships. Results further show that task conflict has more favorable effects on cognitive task performance than does emotional conflict. Overall, these patterns suggest a complex link between work group diversity and work group functioning.'In the past decade, demographic diversity has become one of the foremost topics of interest to managers and management scholars. The term demographic diversity refers to the degree to which a unit (e.g., a work group or organization) is heterogeneous with respect to demographic attributes. Attributes classified as demographic generally include "immutable characteristics such as age, gender, and ethnicity; attributes that describe individuals' relationships with organizations, such as organizational tenure or functional area; and attributes that identify individuals' positions within society, such as marital status" (Lawrence, 1997: 1 1). The heightened concern with demographic diversity (hereafter referred to simply as diversity) stems not only from the growing presence of women and minorities in the work force (Buhler, 1997) but also from modern organizational strategies that require more interaction among employees of different functional backgrounds (e.g., Dean and Snell, 1991). One of the most significant bodies of research to arise from this trend is a stream of field studies linking group composition to cognitive task performance-i.e., performance on tasks that involve generating plans or creative ideas, solving problems, or making decisions. The impact of diversity on cognitive task performance has been examined in studies of top management teams (e.g.

Research has suggested that, within a work group, diversity with respect to members' demographic backgrounds can have a powerful effect on both turnover from the group and on the group's performance on cognitive tasks (i.e., “thinking” tasks that involve generating plans or ideas, solving problems, or making decisions). While such diversity tends to increase turnover, its effects on cognitive task performance are more mixed, sometimes enhancing performance and sometimes impairing it. An understanding of how diversity leads to these outcomes may help managers enhance work group effectiveness. Thus, in this paper I develop a theoretical model to explain the turnover and mixed performance consequences of demographic diversity in work groups. The proposed model suggests that each demographic diversity variable (e.g., diversity with respect to age, gender, race, group tenure, organization tenure, education, or functional background) can be classified according to its level of visibility and its level of job-relatedness. Visibility is the extent to which the variable is easily observed by group members, and job-relatedness is the extent to which the variable directly shapes perspectives and skills related to cognitive tasks. The model then suggests that the visibility and job-relatedness of a diversity variable indirectly influence how much turnover and/or performance enhancement the variable yields. More specifically, the visibility and job-relatedness of a diversity variable influence the levels of affective (emotional) and substantive (task) conflict in the group, and the levels affective and substantive conflict, in turn, influence the amount of turnover from the group and the group's performance. After generating six research propositions based on the model, including three addressing demographic diversity variable- conflict linkages and three addressing conflict-turnover and conflict-performance linkages, I discuss boundary conditions of the model and offer recommendations for future research.

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