Lourdes Munduate

A contingency perspective on the study of the consequences of conflict types: The role of organizational culture

The potential positive or negative consequence of relationship conflict versus task conflict for group members and organizations continues to be a controversial topic. Whereas a certain amount of agreement exists on the negative consequences of relationship conflict, the evidence for task conflict is not as conclusive. This has led some authors (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003a, 2003b) to propose a contingency perspective. This article continues this approach and analyses the influence of types of conflict on group members’ satisfaction and well-being, considering the moderating role that organizational culture plays in this relationship. Two types of service organization have been studied: private organizations with a high goal-oriented culture, and public organizations with a low goal-oriented culture. Results show that (a) relationship conflict decreases both public and private workers’ job satisfaction and affective well-being; (b) task conflicts decrease private organization workers’ satisfaction and affective well-being, while this dysfunctional effect is absent in public organizations; (c) goal orientation culture moderates the effect of task conflict in private organizations; and (d) support orientation culture moderates the effect of task conflict in public organizations.

Constructive Consequences of Leaders’ Forcing Influence Styles

Par comparaison avec les styles dOinsuence non autoritaire utilis”s par lesleaders, leurs styles dOinsuence autoritaire sont habituellement jug”s inefÞ-caces, suscitant une forte r”sistance plutŽt que de la soumission. Nous d”du-isons de la th”orie du comportement consictuel synth”tis” que lOautorit”, si elleest associ”e ‹ une attitude d”mocratique, peut n”anmoins ’tre tout ‹ fait efÞ-cace puisque les deux styles interagissent de telle fa“on que lOautorit” tend ‹renforcer lOacquiescement ”manant de la d”mocratie. On a r”colt” par ques-tionnaires, sur un ”chantillon de 145 ofÞciers de police, des donn”es Þablesconcernant le type de pouvoir de leur sup”rieur (autoritaire-non autoritaire) etleur tendance ‹ r”pondre favorablement ‹ ses d”sirs. LOhypoth‘se de lOinterac-tion autoritaire-non autoritaire a ”t” mise ‹ lO”preuve avec des analyses der”gression. Comme pr”vu, une interaction signiÞcative est apparue en ce quiconcerne lOimpact de lOusage des pouvoirs autoritaire et non autoritaire par lesleaders dOune part, et la soumission comportementale des collaborateursdOautre part. LOappel ‹ des styles dOinsuence autoritaire rend ainsi le leader-ship plus efÞcace, non parce que cette fa“on dOagir lOest en elle-m’me, ma™sparce quOelle renforce lOimpact de lOusage du pouvoir d”mocratique.In contrast to non-forcing insuence styles used by leaders, their forcing insu-ence styles are commonly found to be ineffective, evoking sheer resistance,rather than compliance. As a corollary of conglomerate consict behavior the-ory, we state that forcing, if combined with non-forcing, may nonetheless bequite effective, while both styles interact in such a way that forcing tends tostrengthen the compliance brought about by non-forcing. In a sample of 145

Power Dynamics and Organisational Change: An Introduction

Cet article propose un cadre conceptuel pour apprehender les dynamiques de pouvoir lors de changements organisationnels. Weick et Quinn (1999) etablissent une distinction entre le changement episodique, discontinu et intermittent, et le changement continu, evolutif et progressif. Apres avoir discute cette distinction, nous analysons comment les processus de l’influence et du pouvoir social peuvent constituer la base du changement continu. Les bases du pouvoir des agents du changement sont ensuite decrites. Puis nous portons notre attention sur les relations de pouvoir dynamiques entre les agents du changement et les cibles, ainsi que sur les processus sociaux qui facilitent le changement continu. L’article se termine par un survol des contributions a cette edition speciale. This article offers a framework for understanding power dynamics in organisational change. Weick and Quinn (1999) make a distinction between change that is episodic, discontinuous, and intermittent, and change that is continuous, evolving, and incremental. After discussing this distinction, we analyse how processes of social power and influence can form the basis for continuous change. Subsequently, the power bases of change agents are described. Then we pay attention to the dynamic power relationships between change agents and targets as well as to the social processes that facilitate continuous change. The article ends with an overview of the contributions to this special issue.

Computer-Mediated Negotiation of an Escalated Conflict:

This study analyzed style of handling an escalated conflict in a computer-mediated negotiation context. Literature focusing on negotiation and media evidenced two contradictory perspectives. One of them asserted that negotiators are less integrative when interacting in a computer-mediated context. The other perspective affirmed that a barrier in the communication enhances integrativeness. These contrary perspectives motivated the present study. In a computer-mediated negotiation setting a confederate escalated the conflict with the participants in a standardized way. Interactions were recorded and two groups of coders assessed the use of avoiding, compromising, problem solving, accommodating, and forcing. Results showed a higher use of avoiding and a decrease in forcing behavior along the computer-mediated interaction. Results from revised literature regarding face-to-face context show a different pattern consisting of an increase in forcing behavior and compromising along the encounter. Practical implications of results are discussed.

Identifying Victims of Workplace Bullying by Integrating Traditional Estimation Approaches Into a Latent Class Cluster Model

Research findings underline the negative effects of exposure to bullying behaviors and document the detrimental health effects of being a victim of workplace bullying. While no one disputes its negative consequences, debate continues about the magnitude of this phenomenon since very different prevalence rates of workplace bullying have been reported. Methodological aspects may explain these findings. Our contribution to this debate integrates behavioral and self-labeling estimation methods of workplace bullying into a measurement model that constitutes a bullying typology. Results in the present sample (n = 1,619) revealed that six different groups can be distinguished according to the nature and intensity of reported bullying behaviors. These clusters portray different paths for the workplace bullying process, where negative work-related and person-degrading behaviors are strongly intertwined. The analysis of the external validity showed that integrating previous estimation methods into a single measurement latent class model provides a reliable estimation method of workplace bullying, which may overcome previous flaws.

Efectos positivos de la activación del conflicto de tarea sobre el clima de los equipos de trabajo

Resumen El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar las relaciones existentes entre el tipo de conflicto—centrado en las tareas vs. centrado en las relaciones—y el clima en los equipos de trabajo. 169 empleados de diferentes organizaciones de servicios fueron analizados. El tipo de conflicto se midió mediante la escala de Jehn (1995)—conflicto de tarea—y la escala de Cox (1998, cfr., Friedman, Tidd, Currall y Tsai, 2000)—conflicto relacional—; el clima organizacional fue medido mediante la escala FOCUS- 93 (van Muijen et al., 1999). Los resultados confirman que un determinado nivel de controversia entre los empleados en cuanto a aspectos relacionados con la actividad laboral, facilita la aparición de un clima laboral caracterizadopor la creatividad y la adopción de retos laborales; mientras que un elevado conflicto centrado en las relaciones personales afecta negativamente al clima de dichos equipos de trabajo. Del mismo modo se confirma que la satisfacción de los trabajadores se incrementa cuando éstos pueden plantear controversias constructivas sobre del trabajo, en un clima laboral que permita la consecución de objetivos grupales.

The relationship between interpersonal conflict and workplace bullying

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that conflict management styles play in the relationship between interpersonal conflict and workplace bullying. Design/methodology/approach – A survey study was conducted among 761 employees from different organizations in Spain. Findings – Results suggest that an escalation of the conflict process from task related to relationship conflict may explain bullying situations to some extent. Regarding conflict management, attempts to actively manage conflict through problem solving may prevent it escalating to higher emotional levels (relationship conflict) and bullying situations; in contrast, other conflict management strategies seem to foster conflict escalation. Research limitations/implications – The correlational design makes the conclusions on causality questionable, and future research should examine the dynamic conflict process in more detail. On the other hand, to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study empirically differentiating in...

Breaking Negative Consequences of Relationship Conflicts at Work: The Moderating Role of Work Family Enrichment and Supervisor Support

The negative consequences of relationship conflict in organizations are well-known. Nevertheless, research concerning possible moderators that could attenuate its detrimental effects is still scarce. The present study aimed to fill this gap by addressing work-family enrichment and supervisor support as moderators of relationship conflict. The study involved 288 employees from small and medium companies from Andalusia (Spain). Consistent with previous evidence, results demonstrate a strong and negative association between relationship conflict and job satisfaction. However, work-family enrichment and supervisor support revealed to play a key role in buffering this effect, so that for employees that perceive a supportive supervisor and an enriching work environment, the negative consequences of relationship conflict on job satisfaction are not so damaging.

Estilos de gestión del conflicto interpersonal en las organizaciones

ResumenEl estudio de los estilos de gestion del conflicto en las organizaciones, por parte de los directivos, es el objeto de analisis de este trabajo. Realizamos para ello la adaptacion y validacion del cuestionario ROCI-II (Rahim, 1983a), basado en una aproximacion bidimensional—interes propio e interes por los demas—con cinco estilos distintos de gestion del conflicto interpersonal—integracion, servilismo, dominacion, evitacion y tendencia al compromiso—, y evaluamos las estrategias de gestion del conflicto empleadas por los directivos en la actualidad. Los resultados obtenidos confirman que la estructura de los cinco estilos distintos de gestion del conflicto se reproduce en nuestro contexto cultural, hallandose algunos datos de interes en relacion a las variables demograficas consideradas en el presente estudio.

Power and conflict in cooperative and competitive contexts

Power and conflict are classic research topics in organizational theory and important practical management issues. The goal of this article was to analyse the influence of supervisor power bases and goal interdependence situations over intragroup conflict. The study involved the participation of 401 workers from a range of social service organizations. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that (a) supervisor personal power bases were negatively associated with task and relationship conflict; (b) supervisor position power bases were positively associated with relationship conflict; (c) cooperative environments were negatively associated with task and relationship conflict; and (d) that goal interdependence moderates the negative consequences of the use of position power. The implications for research and managerial practices are discussed.