Exploring the black box in Brazilian work groups: a study of diversity, conflict and performance

Abstract

Over the last few decades, several studies have been conducted to examine the complex relationships between team diversity and individual and organizational outcomes. Although, in theory, team diversity can foster positive organizational synergies by increasing the variance of perspectives and approaches to work different members can bring, the same idiosyncratic characteristics can also engender significant difficulties resulting from problems in coordination, communication and conflict. This study used a sample of 44 work groups to examine the influence of five types of diversity on team outcomes and the mediating role of task and relational conflict on this relationship. A survey of 279 team members and interviews with the 44 team managers were used to examine these relationships. Findings suggest that different forms of diversity impact task conflict in different ways, which in turn is negatively associated with job satisfaction and team performance. Results further show that diversity is unrelated to relational conflict; however, this type of conflict seems to hinder both job satisfaction and team performance. Overall, these patterns suggest a complex link between team diversity and how work groups function.

The Value of Board Diversity in the Relationship of Corporate Governance and Investment Decisions of Pakistani Firms

“…Results of mode 3.3.3 include all of the independent variables, i.e., corporate governance, determinants, and diversity. Experience diversity XD (Coeff = 0.197) showed a positive relationship with ID, which is in concurrence with cognitive diversity hypotheses, i.e., diverse boards in term of experience leads to innovation, thus leading to more investments [11,66,70]. No strong relationship is found with other diversity variables, i.e., ED, GD, and ND on ID.…”

“…Cognitive diversity refers to team members' differences in characteristics such as experience, expertise, and perspectives. The cognitive diversity hypothesis advocates that underlying cognitive diversity features originating from cultural differences among group members tend toward newness, creative problem resolution, and improved team performance [65,66]. On the other hand, few researchers suggest that team heterogeneity has adverse implications on the decision-making in the light of theories such as social identity theory and similarity attraction paradigm.…”

The effect of team emotional intelligence on team process and effectiveness

“…Contrary to our expectation, we find no significant moderating effect of team emotional intelligence on the association between relationship conflict and team performance and innovation. One possible explanation is that relationship conflict has a negative impact on team performance, as shown by conflict research (Jehn, 1994; De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; De Wit, Greer, & Jehn, 2012; Sobral & Bisseling, 2012; Jiang, Zhang, & Tjosvold, 2013). Although emotionally intelligent teams faced with relationship conflict can reduce the negative emotions engendered by relationship conflict, interpersonal conflict among members is more likely to interfere with team functioning and effectiveness.…”

“…In addition, moderate task conflict can contribute to better decision making (Amason, 1996). However, many empirical studies have shown the negative effects of task conflict on performance, team member satisfaction, and cohesion (Jehn, 1995; De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; Choi & Sy, 2010; Sobral & Bisseling, 2012). Finally, meta-analysis has demonstrated that task conflict is negatively related to team performance (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; De Wit, Greer, & Jehn, 2012).…”