Diversity and conflict are often perceived as double-edged swords (Milliken & Martins, 1996; Jehn, 1995), in that increasing diversity and conflict may also harm implementation efficiency (i.e., speed, cost savings) and member satisfaction. The linkage between team outcomes and diversity and conflict has generally been found to be inconsistent in the literature (Williams & O Reilly, 1998; De Dreu & Weingart, 2003). Jackson, Joshi & Erhardt (2003) were the first to propose that the social context in which a team resides plays a critical role in influencing the outcomes of diversity and conflict. This thesis argues that the interactions between diversity, conflict and team innovation may be clearer if the research population consists of innovative performance driven IT project teams rather than arbitrary groups. / The research examines the effect of diversity and conflict in the tightly controlled context of IT service project teams in a Fortune 500 IT multinational in China (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) that operate with cross-functional, cross-national, cross-regional, cross-company (internal employee versus external client/contractor) and cross-demographic membership. The thesis investigates how the characteristics of the teams, the type of tasks the teams perform, and the research location influence the process. A three-part model hypothesizing the associations between the variables is proposed where diversity is separated into functional and demographic diversity and its effects on team outcomes in terms of innovation, efficiency and member satisfaction are investigated. Conflict is separated into two conditions; task or relationship, and is hypothesised as an intervening variable in this association while the adoption of cooperative goal and conflict management strategies by the teams is hypothesised as moderating the association. / The data presents details of a comprehensive field study into the effect of diversity and conflict on IT project teams in China. The unique nature of IT project teams in China has provided a rich testing ground which contributes to knowledge in the areas of diversity and conflict and highlights the following contributions: First, it has unravelled the crucial role of the project stage in affecting group processes and outcomes in project teams; second, it questions existing theory regarding the use of types of conflict as the mediators between diversity and outcomes; third, it extends the diversity literature by introducing new diversity variables, i.e., national, regional and company affiliations; fourth, it has tested some existing group theories on new group forms including short-term temporary, part-time membership, performance goal driven and virtual oriented IT project teams; fifth, it proposes a useful valid measurement of team performance by separating team innovation from team efficiency; sixth, it has tested some existing diversity and conflict theories in the Chinese context and lastly it has investigated the roles of cooperative goals and cooperative management styles in the conflict-outcome relationship. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2007.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267098 |
| Creators | Farh, Ching-Ping Patty. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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