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Scenario: Charles, David, Mike and Ruth are assigned to Team A and start work on their team paper, “Team Dynamics and Conflict Resolution In Work Teams”. They seem to click as a team and encounter almost no emotional conflict, while their task-oriented conflict proves productive. Yet, somehow, tasks aren’t getting done as quickly as everyone on the team would prefer. No one seems to know which person is supposed to do what, and this is causing frustration. (Introduction and Part II) (My part with references at the end) Recognizing the inevitability of conflict in a work team leads to the next phase of conflict resolution: identifying the types of conflict. The most commonly accepted conflict model is based on two basic types. Thompson, Aranda and Robbins (2000) define these types as “A-Type; emotional” and ”C-Type; cognitive” (p. 218), while Guetzkow and Gyr (1954) label them "affective" and "substantive" (para. 2). Coser (1956) called the same two types “emotional” and “goal-oriented” (para. 3), whereas Priem and Price (1991) refer to them as “social-emotional” and “task-related” (para. 2). Pinkley (1990) recognized the “task” versus “relationship” aspect of conflict (para. 2), as did Jehn (1992, para 4.). All of these experts agree that the two types of conflict have diametrically opposed affects on work group outcomes. Type-A, emotional conflict, involves interpersonal friction not related to the task and is considered harmful conflict (Amason, A. C., Thompson, K. R., Hochwarter, W. A., & Harrison, A. W., 1995, para. 6), but Type C, task-oriented conflict, revolves around discussion and debates about the task itself, and can promote productivity (Thompson et al., 2000, p.219). In an article published in the Administrative Science Quarterly, Jehn (1997) notes a third type of conflict, “process conflict” (para. 3), and proposes an updated model of conflict that encompasses three conflict types (para. 5). Amabile (2001) cites Jehn (1997) in support of three conflict types, and defines process-based conflict as that which pertains to disagreement over who is responsible for what among team members (para. 2). Jehn (1997) reports that process conflict appears to be counterproductive to team performance (para. 4). Since emotional and process-based conflict are both seen as detrimental to team productivity, and task-based conflict is generally determined to be productive, it is imperative that the conflict type be defined before further steps are taken in the resolution process.
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