Conflict management can substantially impact on the vital organizational objective of serving customers. This study used the goal interdependence approach to analyze the specific conflicts that marketing groups had with each other. As hypothesized, cooperative goals and open discussion of opposing views were found to contribute substantially to serving customers, completing tasks, using resources effectively, and strengthening expectations of future collaboration. Results also suggest that common tasks, shared vision, tasks requiring teamwork, and complementary roles underlie the conclusion of cooperative goals. In contrast to goal interdependence, amount of power was not highly related to the dynamics or outcomes of conflict.
It has been argued that leadership research questionnaires should be based upon a theoretical position that has considerable experimental support for its causal relationships. This study drew upon the experimentally supported theory of cooperation and competition to develop measures of three different kinds of leader orientation: cooperative, competitive, and individualistic. These measures were used by 310 medical laboratory technicians from 10 different hospitals to describe the specific job behaviors of their immediate supervisor. The leaders' orientation scores derived from these behavior descriptions were then correlated with measures of overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with supervision, the desire to perform well, and the desire to stay on the job. As predicted by theory, the correlations with dependent measures were strongly positive for a cooperative orientation and strongly negative for a competitive orientation. The correlations for an individualistic orientation were negative and larger than expected. These results, and previous experimental research, suggest that leaders can improve subordinate reactions to their leadership by emphasizing areas of overlap between their goals and subordinate goals, by helping subordinates work toward their goals, and by sharing the rewards of mutual effort.
In today's fast changing, hyper-competitive environment, teamwork and co-operative working enhance the organisation's adaptive capability. The team, rather than the individual, is increasingly seen as the building block of organisations and a key source of competitive advantage. The International Handbook of Organisational Teamwork and Co-operative Working provides a clear focus on the psychological and social processes that can stimulate successful cooperation and teamwork. Michael West, Dean Tjosvold and Ken Smith have brought together the world's leading authorities from a range of social sc
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PurposeHow can governments and survivors prepare for and manage natural disasters? Post-disaster reconstruction researchers advocate that community involvement is needed to help survivors recover effectively. This study aims to propose that cooperative goals between government officials and survivors develop guanxi relationships and constructive controversy wherein survivors voice their opinions to aid disaster recovery.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted the critical incident technique (CIT), which has proved especially useful for studying complex issues, as well as site-intensive research for interviews and participant observation. After developing a local reputation and rapport by working in a residential resettlement area for two months, an author used the CIT to ask 118 survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to describe specific incidents when they interacted with government officials about recovery issues and then to rate survey items that measure independent and dependent variables.FindingsResults, including structural equation analyses, support the reasoning that cooperative goals between government and survivors facilitate guanxi and constructive controversy, which in turn produced effective disaster recovery, as indicated by survivors' social support, satisfaction, reduced stress and beliefs that government officials led effectively.Research limitations/implicationsThe data are self-reported and subject to biases and may not be accurate.Practical implicationsIn addition to developing theoretical understanding, the results can have important practical implications for strengthening relationships and constructive controversy between government and survivors.Social implicationsResults suggest that communities have practical ways to prepare for disasters. Structuring cooperative goals among survivors, encouraging guanxi relationships, and training in constructive controversy should promote effective recovery from natural disasters.Originality/valueThe paper develops theory and research on how leaders can promote community involvement for effective disaster management. The paper proposes that high-quality interpersonal relationships, also referred to guanxi, and the open-minded discussion of opposing ideas, labeled constructive controversy, are major components of effective community involvement. The paper adds to the literature by empirically documenting the utility of the Western-developed theory of cooperation and competition and the concept of constructive controversy for understanding the effectiveness of government leadership for disaster recovery in China.
Given the susceptibility of cross‐cultural interaction to misunderstandings and disagreements, conflict management may be especially useful for helping employees develop quality leader relationships with their foreign managers. One hundred and eleven Chinese employees from various industries in Shanghai were interviewed on specific incidents where they had a conflict, defined as incompatible actions, with their Japanese manager or American manager. A qualitative analysis of the incidents and statistical tests of the data supported the hypotheses that a cooperative approach to conflict, rather than competitive or avoidance approaches, help Chinese employees and their foreign managers strengthen their relationship and improve their productivity. Cooperative conflict management may be an important way to overcome obstacles and develop an effective leader relationship across cultural boundaries.
Groups are increasingly responsible for accomplishing critical, complex tasks for organizations, but understanding and developing effective teamwork have proved difficult. Findings from groups in Chinese enterprises supported recent theorizing that confidence in the group's interpersonal relationships promotes team effectiveness. Results also suggested, in contrast to traditional theorizing about Chinese values, that conflict management was an important foundation for this confidence in relationships. Specifically, the structural equation analysis supported the reasoning that cooperative conflict builds confidence in relationships that, in turn, results in team effectiveness. Results were interpreted as providing support for the universalistic aspirations of the theory of cooperation and competition and that managing conflict cooperatively is a foundation for team effectiveness in China as well as in the West.
Deutsch's theory of cooperation and competition may be usefully extended to understand how employees decide to commit to their organizations. Results ofstructural equation analyses on data colkctedfrom interviews of Chinese and Japanese employees of Japanese multinational organizations operating in Hong Kong indicate that cooperative goals contributed to open discussion between employees, which resulted in productive workand stronger work relationships, which in turn led employees to feel committed. Competitive and independent goals were largely negatively correlated with dynamics and outcomes. These results argue that the theory of cooperation and competition is usefulfor understanding interdependence and interaction in Asian as well as North American organizations. The theory may have the potentialfor structuring interaction that rewards employees, facilitates their relationships and productivity, and results in commitment.
Addresses the problem of implementing relationship marketing systems. Uses LISREL to analyze how co‐operative, competitive and independent goals affect the ability of a firm′s personnel to work together in serving customers. Results indicate that goal interdependence affects employee perceptions of the quality of service they deliver.
Deutsch 's theory of cooperative and competitive conflicttmay be usefully extended to Chinese people. Results of LISREL and other analyses of data collectedfrom interviews of Chinese immigrants indicate that those who developed cooperative goals in a conflict were able to discuss issues open-mindedly, and this constructive interaction helped them make progress on the task, work efficiently, and strengthen their work relationship and their confidence in future collaboration. These results do not argue that Chinese and North Americans handle conflict similarly, for how these groups operationalize the theory may differ significantly. Goal interdependence may have the potential to be a framework for promoting conflict management between Chinese and North Americans.
