1. Intragroup and Intergroup Conflict BH2286 Effective Teamwork Lecture 5

2. Learning Outcomes After this lecture you will be able to…
define intra-group conflict, explain how and in what ways it affects group performance, and how it can be leveraged for team effectiveness.
define inter-group conflict, explain how and in what ways it affects organisational effectiveness, and how it can be leveraged for organisational effectiveness.

3. Input–Process–Output (IPO) Model of Team Effectiveness
Organisational context
Task design (lecture 3)
Team composition (lecture 4)
Size
Longevity
KSAs
Personality
Diversity
Team objectives
Reflexivity
Communication
Interdependence (lecture 1)
Decision making (lecture 3)
Conflict (lecture 5)
Leadership (lecture 7)
Trust
Cohesion
EFECTIVENESS:
Team performance
Team innovation
Team viability
Team member affective outcomes
Inputs Group Processes Outputs
& Emergent states
Shared mental models
Cohesiveness
Team potency
Psychological Safety 3

4. Lecture Structure Defining conflict Intra-group Conflict
Models of Intra-group Conflict
Empirical Evidence and Critique
Management of Intra-group Conflict
Inter-group Conflict
Theories of Intra-group Conflict
Management of Inter-group Conflict

5. Definition of Conflict
Conflict is …
… the struggle that arises when the goal-directed behavior of one person or group blocks the goal-directed behavior of another person or group; … … even if this state of affairs is only perceived by one of the parties involved.

6. Levels of conflict Intrapersonal conflict Interpersonal conflict
Intragroup conflict
Intergroup conflict
Interorganisational conflict

7. Intragroup vs. Intergroup Conflict
Intra-group conflict refers to conflicts within groups
Inter-group conflict refers to conflicts between groups

8. INTER-group Conflict

9. Is this positive or negative for team performance?
INTRA-group Conflict
Is this positive or negative for team performance?

10. Three Different Answers...
Traditional View: Negative
Avoid!
Human Relations View: Inevitable
Accept!
Interactionist View: Positive
Promote!
Robbins (2003)

11. Conflict Types of Conflict Functional Dysfunctional Robbins (2003)
Conflict supports the goals
of the group and improves
its performance
Dysfunctional
Conflict hinders group performance
Robbins (2003)

12. Dysfunctional Conflict
Diverts energies
Hinders group cohesion
Promotes interpersonal hostilities
Creates a negative environment for workers
Can decrease productivity and job satisfaction and contribute to absenteeism.
Robbins (2003)

13. Functional Conflict Facilitates change, innovation and creativity
Facilitates better group decision making
uncovers unshared information in hidden profiles
helps to overcome groupthink
breaks down group polarization
Robbins (2003)

14. Conflict Intensity and Outcomes
Low Moderate High
C o n f l i c t I n t e n s i t y
Positive
Neutral
Negative
Robbins (2003)

15. The Conflict Process
Robbins (2003)

16. Antecedents of Intra-group Conflict
Differences in personality, values, functions
Inadequate communication
Status inconsistencies
Overlapping authority and job boundaries
Task interdependence
Incompatible evaluation systems
Scarcity of resources
Unreasonable or unclear policies, standards, rules
Organisational complexity (e.g. job specialisation)
Decision making by consensus
Robbins (2003)

17. The Current View... Conflict in teams increases team performance …
on non-routine tasks
when conflict concerns tasks/processes
Conflict in teams decreases team performance …
on routine tasks
when conflict concerns relationships

18. Types of conflict Relationship conflict Emotional in nature
A perception of interpersonal incompatibility and typically includes tension, annoyance and animosity among team members
Task conflict
Cognitive in nature
A perception of disagreements among team members about the content of their decisions and involves differences in viewpoints, ideas and opinions

19. Effects of Relationship Conflict
Satisfaction
Intention to stay in the group
High
High
Low
High
Low
High
Relationship
conflict
Relationship
conflict
Jehn (1995)

20. Effects of Task Conflict
Routine tasks
Non-Routine tasks
Performance
Performance
High
High
Low
High
Low
High
Task conflict
Task conflict
Overall: negative effect of conflict
Overall: positive effect of conflict
Jehn (1995)

21. Effects of Task Conflict
21 self-managing postal service teams
Supervisor ratings of team innovation
Curvilinear relationship
Moderate levels of task conflict promote team innovation
High/low levels are detrimental
De Dreu (2006)
High
Innovation
Low
Task conflict
Intense

22. Discourage Undesirable Conflict
Dilemma:
Task conflict has positive effects
Relationship conflict has negative effects
Implication: Enhance task conflict and reduce relationship conflict.
BUT: relationship conflict and task conflict are highly related (r=.47).
Simons & Peterson (2000)

23. Towards a Solution Study 70 top management teams Develop trust
Teams will low intra-group trust displayed much stronger positive associations between task and relationship conflict
High trust leads to more accurate attributions
Develop ‘loudness’
Open expression of differing positions prevents those differences from festering into relationship conflict
Conclusion: Trust is key to gaining the benefits of task
conflict without suffering the costs of relationship conflict
Simons & Peterson (2000)

24. Critique and Empirical Evidence
Team Performance
Team Member Satisfaction
Task Conflict
Decision Making Teams
Project Teams
Production Teams
Mixed types of teams
ρ = -.23
ρ = -.20
ρ = -.26
ρ = .04
ρ = -.43
ρ = -.32
Relationship Conflict
ρ = -.22
ρ = -.39
ρ = -.17
ρ = -.04
ρ = -.38
ρ = -.54
Meta-analysis by DeDreu & Weingart (2003)

25. Conflict management style: cooperative or competitive?
Hypothesised moderated-mediation model
71 technology teams
Team Identity
Team conflict management:
Cooperative style (+ve)
Competitive style (-ve)
Team performance
Task Interdependence
Somech et al., 2009

26. Interaction graph
Somech et al., 2009

27. Employ Win-Win Strategies
High
win-win solutions
Accommodation
Collaboration
Interest in helping another person or group achieve its goals
Compromise
Avoidance
Competition
Low
Low
High
Interest in achieving own goals
Robbins (2003)

28. Conflict Management
Employ win-win rather than win-lose negotiation strategies
Discourage undesirable conflict
Encourage desirable conflict (better constructive controversy)
Recognize types and sources of conflict and implement appropriate conflict resolution and reduction strategies

29. Conflict Resolution Techniques
Third party intervention
Common task / super ordinate goal
If possible: expand resources
If possible: change structural variables
Clarification of shared goals and values
Robbins (2003)

30. Effects of Inter-Group Conflict
Negative
Between groups: Lack of communication and cooperation, decreases organisational effectiveness
Positive
Between groups: Innovation, higher quality decisions, increases organisational effectiveness
Fosters cohesion within groups

31. Two Approaches A) Realistic Goal Conflict Theory
B) Social Identity Approach
Van Knippenberg (2003)

32. A) Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)
Conflict between groups arises, because of incompatible goals (i.e. competition)
This leads to increased motivation and cohesion within groups…
…but leads to prejudiced attitudes, hostility, and discrimination between groups.
Emphasis on the compatibility of interests
Van Knippenberg (2003)

33. Sherif’s Summer-Camp Studies (1966)
Stage 1: Group Formation
Sample
Boys summer camp
N~24, aged around 12 years
Unacquainted
Design
Three studies
Three stage design
Group Formation
Competition
Cooperation
Group A
Group B
Stage 2: Competition
Group A vs. Group B
Group A vs. Group B
Stage 3: Cooperation

34. Managing Inter-Group Relations
From a RCT perspective:
Change the incentive system: intergroup rewards
Articulate super ordinate goals (effective team leadership)
Eliminate specific negative interactions
Provide well-defined tasks
Mediation/third party intervention if necessary

35. Critique and Empirical Evidence
Competition is only to the detriment of inter-group relations when group members identify strongly with their group.
Studies using the minimal group paradigm show that negative intergroup attitudes and behaviour may even emerge in the absence of conflicting interests.
Van Knippenberg (2002)

36. B) Social Identity Approach
Individuals perceive others as well as themselves in terms of their group membership.
Group membership reflects on the self concept.
Thus, the status of the group also reflects on the self concept.
The status of the group is determined by social comparison with out-groups.
When the in-group has a higher status than the out-group, this reflects positively on the group member’s self concept.
Individuals want to feel good about themselves, therefore they tend to favour their in-group, and discriminate towards the out-group.
Intergroup Bias
Van Knippenberg (2002)

37. Inter-Group Bias: Conditions and Consequences
Conditions for intergroup biases to occur:
Identification with the group
Group membership has to be salient
Competitive settings accentuate, whereas cooperative attenuate group biases
If boundaries are permeable, intergroup bias diminishes
Consequences of intergroup bias:
In-group favouritism
Out-group discrimination
Conflict
Van Knippenberg (2002)

38. Empirical Evidence and Critique
Meta-analytic evidence supports the explanations put forward by the Social Identity approach
Yet, most, if not all of these studies have been conducted in the laboratory
More research in field settings is needed to support the claims made by the Social Identity Approach
Study of teams ‘in the wild’
Van Knippenberg (2002)

39. Managing Inter-Group Relations
From a Social Identity Perspective:
Breaking down group categorisations:
Decategorisation
Encourage frequent interaction (Contact Hypothesis)
Recategorisation
Creating and emphasising shared organisational goals and rewards
Dual identification (organisation and group)
Job rotation
Common Vision
Van Knippenberg (2002)

40. … But still stimulating Constructive Inter-group Conflict
Promote member exchanges between different teams/departments
Facilitate communication
If the organisation is too static and passive a restructure might initiate sharing of different perspectives and foster functional conflict
Empower minority dissents
Van Knippenberg (2002)

41. Lecture summary Different types of conflict Functional/dysfunctional
Task/relationship
Within groups/between groups
Importance of intergroup trust as a team process for managing conflict
Inconclusive evidence on the effects of task conflict on outcomes
Two major theories on intra-group conflict
Practical guidelines on how to manage this

42. Reading
**Knippenberg, D. (2002). Intergroup relations in organizations. In M. A. West, D. Tjosvold & ; K. G. Smith (Eds.), International Handbook of Teamwork and Cooperative Working (pp ). Chichester, England: Wiley.
Somech, A., Desivilya, H.S., & Lidogoster, H. (2009). Team conflict management and team effectiveness: the effects of task interdependence and team identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30,
Jehn, K.A. (1995), ‘A Multimethod Examination of the Benefits and Detriments of Intragroup Conflict’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(2):
Langfred, C.W. (2007). The downside of self-management: a longitudinal study of the effects of conflict on trust, autonomy and task interdependence in self-managing teams. Academy of Management Journal, 50(4),

43. Additional References
De Dreu, C. K. W., & Weingart, L. R. (2003). Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4),
Simons, T.L., & Peterson, R.S. (2000). Task conflict and relationship conflict in top management teams: The pivotal role of intragroup Trust. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85,
Jehn, K. A. (1995). A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(2),
Sherif, M., & Sherif, C. W. (1966). Groups in harmony and tension. New York: Octagon Books.