Group & Teams:
From Conflict to Cooperation
Topics for discussion
1. What is “conflict”? Is it good for
organization?
2. Causes of conflict
3. Why “teamwork” matters for organization?
4. “Group” & “team”, are they the same?
5. How can you as a manager build an effective
team?
CONFLICT
Conflict
• A process in which one party perceives that
its interests are being opposed or negatively
affected by another party.
• Nature of conflict: disagreement is normal
Types of Conflict
• Negative conflict--bad for organizations
– Conflict that hinders the organization’s performance
or threatens its interests.
– Sometimes called dysfunctional conflict
• Constructive conflict--good for organizations
– Conflict benefits the main purposes of the
organization and serves its interests.
– Sometimes called functional conflict or cooperative
conflict
CAN TOO LITTLE OR TOO MUCH
CONFLICT AFFECT PERFORMANCE?
Too Little v.s. Too Much ?
• Too little conflict—indolence
Apathy, lack of creativity, indecision, and missed
deadlines
• Too much—warfare
 Political infighting, dissatisfaction, lack of
teamwork, turnover, workplace aggression and
violence
• Moderate Level—creativity and initiation
7 Causes of Conflicts
1. Competition of Scarce Resources: When 2
parties need the same things
2. Time Pressure: When people believe there
aren’t enough hours to do the work
3. Inconsistent Goals or Reward Systems: when
people pursue different objectives
7 Causes of Conflicts (con’t)
4. Ambiguous Jurisdictions: when job boundaries
are unclear
5. Status Differences: when there are
inconsistencies in power & influence
6. Personality Clashes: when individual differences
can’t be resolved
7. Communication Failures: when people
misperceive & misunderstand
How to Stimulate Constructive
Conflict
1. Spur competition among employee
 Example: offering salespeople bonuses and
awards for achievement
2. Change the organization’s culture &
procedures
 Example: announcing to employees that the org.
is now going to be more innovative and reward
original thinking and unorthodox ideas
How to Stimulate Constructive
Conflict (Con’t)
3. Bring in outsiders for new perspectives

Example: people from a different unit of org., new hires
from competing companies, or consultants
4. Use programmed conflict: advocacy & the dialectic
method


Devil’s advocacy—role-playing criticism to test whether
a proposal is workable: assigning someone to play the
role of critic to voice possible objections to a proposal
Dialectic method—role-playing 2 sides of a proposal to
test whether it is workable: having 2 people or groups
play opposing roles in a debate in order to better
understand a proposal
TEAMWORK
Why Teamwork Matters
Results from companies, teamwork can achieve:
• Increased productivity
• Increased speed
• Reduced costs
• Improved quality
• Reduced destructive internal competition
• Improved workplace cohesiveness
GROUP VS. TEAM
Groups & Teams: How Do They Differ?
• Group: Collections of people performing as
individuals
 two or more freely interacting individuals who share
collective norms, share collective goals, and have a
common identity i.e. group of passengers on a flight
• Team: Collections of people with common
commitment
 a small group of people with complementary skills
who are committed to a common purpose,
performance goals, and approach for which they hold
themselves mutually accountable
Formal v.s. Informal Group
• Formal Group—created to do productive
work
– A group that established to do something
productive for the organization headed by a
leader
• Informal Group—created for friendship
– A group formed by people seeking friendship and
has no officially appointed leader, although a
leader may emerge from the membership
4 Purposes of Work Teams
1. Advice Teams
 They are created to broaden the info. base for
managerial decisions i.e. committees, advisory
councils, and review panels.
2. Production Teams
 They are responsible for performing day-to-day
operations i.e. mining teams, flight attendant
crews, and manufacturing crews.
4 Purposes of Work Teams (con’t)
3. Project Teams

They work to do creative problem solving, often by
applying the specialized knowledge of members of a
cross-functional team i.e. research groups, planning
teams, and development teams.
4. Action Teams

They work to accomplish tasks that require people
with specialized training and a high degree of
coordination i.e. hospital surgery teams, airline
cockpit crews, and police SWAT teams.
Various Types of Teams
Team
Description
Cross-functional team
Members composed of people from different
departments, such as sales and production,
pursuing a common objective
Problem-solving team
Knowledgeable workers who meet as a
temporary team to solve a specific problem and
then disband
Quality circle
Volunteers of workers and supervisors who meet
irregularly to discuss workplace and quality related problems
Self-managed team
Workers are trained to do all or most of the jobs
in a work unit, have no direct supervisor, and do
their own day-to-day supervision
Various Types of Teams
Team
Description
Top-management team
Members consist of the CEO, president, and top
department heads and work to help the
organization achieve its mission and goals
Virtual team
Members interact by computer network to
collaborate on projects
Work team
Members engage in collective work requiring
coordinated effort; purpose of team is advice,
production, project, or action
Group and Team Development:
5 Stages
Forming
Storming
Getting
oriented &
getting
acquainted
Individual
personalities
& roles
emerge
Norming
Performing
Conflicts
resolved,
relationships
develop, unity
emerges
Solving
problems &
completing
the assigned
task
Adjourning
Preparing for
disbandment
Considerations in Building a Group
into an Effective Team
1.
2.
3.
4.
Performance goals & feedback
Motivation through mutual accountability
Size: small teams or large teams?
Roles: how team members are expected to
behave
5. Norm: unwritten rules for team members
6. Cohesiveness: the importance of togetherness
7. Groupthink: when peer pressure discourages
“thinking outside the box”