Exploring the Black Box in Brazilian Work Groups: a Study of Diversity, Conflict and Performance

Over the last few decades, several studies have been conducted to examine the complex relationships betweenteam diversity and individual and organizational outcomes. Although, in theory, team diversity can fosterpositive organizational synergies by increasing the variance of perspectives and approac...

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Main Authors: Filipe Sobral, Daan Bisseling
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração (ANPAD) 2012-04-01
Series:BAR: Brazilian Administration Review
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.anpad.org.br/periodicos/arq_pdf/a_1298.pdf
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author Filipe Sobral
Daan Bisseling
author_facet Filipe Sobral
Daan Bisseling
author_sort Filipe Sobral
collection DOAJ
description Over the last few decades, several studies have been conducted to examine the complex relationships betweenteam diversity and individual and organizational outcomes. Although, in theory, team diversity can fosterpositive organizational synergies by increasing the variance of perspectives and approaches to work differentmembers can bring, the same idiosyncratic characteristics can also engender significant difficulties resultingfrom problems in coordination, communication and conflict. This study used a sample of 44 work groups toexamine the influence of five types of diversity on team outcomes and the mediating role of task and relationalconflict on this relationship. A survey of 279 team members and interviews with the 44 team managers wereused to examine these relationships. Findings suggest that different forms of diversity impact task conflict indifferent ways, which in turn is negatively associated with job satisfaction and team performance. Results furthershow that diversity is unrelated to relational conflict; however, this type of conflict seems to hinder both jobsatisfaction and team performance. Overall, these patterns suggest a complex link between team diversity andhow work groups function.
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spelling doaj.art-65c9b53644074ea7b8fc9176550e87052023-01-03T05:33:19ZengAssociação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração (ANPAD)BAR: Brazilian Administration Review1807-76922012-04-0192127146Exploring the Black Box in Brazilian Work Groups: a Study of Diversity, Conflict and PerformanceFilipe SobralDaan BisselingOver the last few decades, several studies have been conducted to examine the complex relationships betweenteam diversity and individual and organizational outcomes. Although, in theory, team diversity can fosterpositive organizational synergies by increasing the variance of perspectives and approaches to work differentmembers can bring, the same idiosyncratic characteristics can also engender significant difficulties resultingfrom problems in coordination, communication and conflict. This study used a sample of 44 work groups toexamine the influence of five types of diversity on team outcomes and the mediating role of task and relationalconflict on this relationship. A survey of 279 team members and interviews with the 44 team managers wereused to examine these relationships. Findings suggest that different forms of diversity impact task conflict indifferent ways, which in turn is negatively associated with job satisfaction and team performance. Results furthershow that diversity is unrelated to relational conflict; however, this type of conflict seems to hinder both jobsatisfaction and team performance. Overall, these patterns suggest a complex link between team diversity andhow work groups function.http://www.anpad.org.br/periodicos/arq_pdf/a_1298.pdfwork groupsteam diversityintragroup conflictperformancejob satisfaction.
spellingShingle Filipe Sobral
Daan Bisseling
Exploring the Black Box in Brazilian Work Groups: a Study of Diversity, Conflict and Performance
BAR: Brazilian Administration Review
work groups
team diversity
intragroup conflict
performance
job satisfaction.
title Exploring the Black Box in Brazilian Work Groups: a Study of Diversity, Conflict and Performance
title_full Exploring the Black Box in Brazilian Work Groups: a Study of Diversity, Conflict and Performance
title_fullStr Exploring the Black Box in Brazilian Work Groups: a Study of Diversity, Conflict and Performance
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the Black Box in Brazilian Work Groups: a Study of Diversity, Conflict and Performance
title_short Exploring the Black Box in Brazilian Work Groups: a Study of Diversity, Conflict and Performance
title_sort exploring the black box in brazilian work groups a study of diversity conflict and performance
topic work groups
team diversity
intragroup conflict
performance
job satisfaction.
url http://www.anpad.org.br/periodicos/arq_pdf/a_1298.pdf
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