Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Mar 2024)
A Study of the Developmental Mechanisms of Inter-Team Conflict Processes Within Multi-Team Systems - An Exploratory Analysis Based on a Collaborative R&D Context
Abstract
Nan Niu, Haozhe Shi, Hongfei Lv School of Management, Hebei University, Baoding, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Nan Niu, School of Management, Hebei University, Lianchi District, Baoding City, Hebei, Province, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: The analysis of the pivotal determinants that impact the progression of inter-team conflict processes in multi-team systems, as well as their underlying mechanisms, serves to explicate the developmental framework of said conflict processes.Methodology: This study adopts a vantage point centered on the evolution of inter-team conflict in multi-team systems, with a specific focus on the sequential progression including ”conflict latency → conflict perception → conflict management → conflict outcome → conflict feedback.Results: By transmuting qualitative data into quantitative data through the discernment of inter-conceptual relationships’ directionality and quantity, this study distills the key chain of relationships between categories. Employing the explanatory structure model, the developmental mechanism of inter-team conflict processes in multi-team systems is unveiled. Notable sources of conflict include team goal identification, team role multiplicity, inter-team relationships, and team competence. Factors that exert a significant influence on conflict management comprise inter-team conflict types, inter-team relationships, team competence, inter-team heterogeneity, team affiliation, and system goals. Reviewing the genuine motivations underlying conflict management behavior, as well as adopting a lengthier temporal perspective, emerges as a crucial consideration when analyzing the implications of conflict management on both the system and the team for evaluative purposes. Inter-team communication emerges as a pivotal influence on the efficacy of conflict management, which, in turn, is influenced by boundary managers, inter-team heterogeneity, and the inter-team interactive memory system.Conclusion: Through an in-depth analysis of the hierarchical interrelationships among factors that influence conflicts within teams, we have established a model for the conflict development process. This model is instrumental in comprehensively understanding the dynamics of conflict evolution within teams. It serves as a reference point for formulating more precise and effective conflict management strategies. Moreover, this model not only offers practical guidance for resolving conflicts within a multi-team framework but also enhances inter-team collaboration. Therefore, it contributes significantly to achieving the objectives of the multi-team system.Keywords: multi-team systems, conflict processes, developmental mechanisms, explanatory structural models
