Title: Diversity and conflict in teams: a contingency perspective

Authors: Jonas F. Puck, Anne-Katrin Neyer, Tobias Dennerlein

Addresses: Institute for International Business, Department of Global Business and Trade, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Althanstr. 51, 1090 Vienna, Austria. ' Department of Information Systems I, Faculty of Law and Business Administration, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Lange Gasse 20, 90403 Nuremberg, Germany. ' Research Institute for International Management (FIM-HSG), University of St.Gallen, Dufourstr. 40, 9000 St.Gallen, Switzerland

Abstract: Diverse teams are becoming widespread in the workplace. However, previous research shows that many organisations fail to successfully manage diversity. Using survey data collected from 27 teams in ten different countries, we investigate the link between team diversity and intra-team conflicts. Building on a contingency approach, we analyse moderating effects of the surrounding organisational context of teams, namely organisational supportiveness and openness. The results of our quantitative study show that the diversity-conflict relation strongly depends on a team|s context. This presents interesting alleys for future research and leads to implications for practice regarding the design of a team|s context.

Keywords: teams; diversity management; conflict; contingencies; context; teamwork; team diversity; intra-team conflicts; organisational supportiveness; organisational openness.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2010.033610

European Journal of International Management, 2010 Vol.4 No.4, pp.417 - 439

Published online: 07 Jun 2010 *

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