Article Review: Problem Solving in Teams

Article Review: Problem Solving in Teams Paper details: e focus on team problem solving, the factors that positively and negatively team problem solving, including the team leader’s role, as well as the topics of creativity and diversity in relation it all. The focus of the group’s efforts, the climate in which the group works, and the type of communication being used all affect how effectively a group can solve problems. Be sure to focus on the ways in which the article could help with team leadership in organizations or how it will help you with situations in situations that require sound problem solving techniques and processes. Conflict management between and within teams for trusting relationships and performance in China PAUL S. HEMPEL 1 * , ZHI-XUE ZHANG 2 AND DEAN TJOSVOLD 3 1 Department of Management, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 2 Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, Beijing, China 3 Department of Management, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Summary Trusting relationships are increasingly considered vital for making teams productive. We propose that cooperative management of conflict can help team members to be convinced that their teammates are trustworthy. Results from 102 organizations in China support the theorizing that how teams to manage conflict with each other affects within-team conflict management. Specifically, cooperative conflict between teams helps teams to manage their internal conflicts cooperatively that strengthens trust that in turn facilitates team performance. Results provide support for managing conflict cooperatively as a foundation for trusting, productive relationships in China as well as in the West. Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Introduction Researchers in the West have joined those in the East in arguing that developing trusting relationships is key to understand organizational dynamics as well as promoting organizational productivity (Gersick, Bartunek, & Dutton, 2000; Kostova & Roth, 2003; Kramer & Tyler, 1996; Lewicki & Wiethoff, 2000; Rousseau, Sitkin, Burt, & Camerer, 1998). Strong, trusting relationships are expected to underline such critical areas as productive teamwork and effective leadership (Dirks, 2000, 1999; Hui & Graen, 1997). However, developing these relationships in teams can be quite challenging. Team members must cope not only with their own leaders and colleagues but also with the demands and behaviors of other teams. This study argues that incompatible activities within teams can be handled in ways that help team members to strengthen their trusting relationships (De Dreu, Weingart, & Kwon, 2000; Lovelace, Shapiro, & Weingart, 2001). Longitudinal studies have shown that conflict influences trust, which in turn has an effect upon performance (Langfred, 2007). This study proposes that it is the way in which conflict is managed that influences trust within teams. How conflicts affect trust is a particularly significant issue within China where the data for this study were collected. Chinese people value trusting relationships very much but are wary of conflict and rely on conflict avoidance (Kirkbride, Journal of Organizational Behavior J. Organiz. Behav. 30 , 41–65 (2009) Published online 15 May 2008 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI : 10.1002/job.540 * Correspondence to: Paul S. Hempel, Department of Management, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. E-mail: mghempel@cityu.edu.hk Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 2 April 2007 Revised 19 March 2008 Accepted 6 April 2008 Tang, & Westwood, 1991; Leung, 1997; Triandis, McCusker, & Hui, 1990). This study uses Deutsch’s (1973) framework of cooperative and competitive approaches to conflict to understand that how conflicts may contribute to, as well as undermine, trust between team members. In particular, we propose that team members who manage conflict cooperatively rather than competitively develop trust (Deutsch, 1973; McAllister, 1995). This study further proposes that the approaches in managing conflict between teams within an organization is a foundation upon which team members develop their approach to manage conflict within their teams. This study adds value to our present knowledge in several ways. In addition to support research showing that productively managed conflict can strengthen trust between team members and thereby improve team performance, it suggests that the way in which teams manage conflict with other teams within the organization affects how team members deal with conflicts within their team (Kozlowski & Klein, 2000; Marks, DeChurch, Mathieu, Panzer, & Alonso, 2005). More generally, it supports Deutsch’s (2005) argument that external conflict affects internal conflict, and in particular that conflict management between teams affects conflict handling within teams. Finally, this study adds value by empirically testing the extent to which the theory of cooperation and competition developed in the West is useful to analyze conflict within and between teams in Chinese organizations. The value of trust Trust can be defined as perceived trustworthiness where people expect support and believe that they have a relationship where they can discuss issues and rely upon each other (Ferrin, Dirks, & Shah, 2006; Lewicki, McAllister, & Bies, 1998). McAllister (1995) has distinguished affect-based trust— feelings of emotional involvement and genuine caring for each other’s welfare—and cognition-based trust—beliefs that others are responsible and competent—and argued that they are the foundations for collaboration in organizations. In addition to being increasingly aware that groups have considerable potential for solving a range of critical organizational problems (Banker, Field, Schroeder, & Sinhan, 1997), researchers and practitioners appreciate that group members may suppress their ideas and fail to coordinate their expertise and that teams may undermine motivation and induce social loafing (Aldag & Fuller, 1993; Ilgen, 1999; Karau & Williams, 1993). Theorists have recently joined managers in arguing that the nature of interpersonal relationships among group members has dramatic effects on the coordination of resources needed for team effectiveness (Gersick et al., 2000; Kostova & Roth, 2003; Kramer & Tyler, 1996; Lewicki & Wiethoff, 2000; Rousseau et al., 1998). In particular, researchers have argued that trusting relationships affect team processes and underlie team effectiveness (Langfred, 2007). Dirks (1999, 2000) found that trust facilitated team coordination and performance, whereas distrust led team members to focus on their individual performance. Relatedly, Edmondson (1999) found that ‘‘psychological safety’’, where team members accept rather than punish or reject well-intentioned action, helps team members to learn from their mistakes. Trust appears to be particularly useful for diverse teams where members belong to different departments and organizations (Aulakh, Kotabe, & Sahay, 1996; Krishnan, Martin, & Noorderhaven, 2006; Kumar, 1996). The value of trusting relationships appears to be particularly true in China, where this study was conducted. Guanxi, relational bonds that consist of both affective and instrumental components, has been thought critical for doing business in China. As collectivists, Chinese people are theorized to value interpersonal relationships very much and avoid aggressive ways of working with others (Kirkbride et al., 1991; Leung, 1997; Morris et al., 1998; Triandis et al., 1990). Effective relationships Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 30 , 41–65 (2009) DOI: 10.1002/job 42 P. S. HEMPEL ET AL.