Taking Advantage of Conflicts in Group Decision Making
In past research it was often argued that group decision making (GDM) improves if task-conflicts are present.
Task-conflicts are different opinions about the content and outcomes of the task being
performed.
 Why this positive effect? Because task-conflicts prevent premature consensus and encourage critical thinking. It seems obvious. But other studies found no such relationship or even a negative one. The relationship between tasks conflicts and good GDM is thus ambiguous.
De Wit, Jehn and Scheepers have recently discovered that another factor is playing an important role when we're analyzing the extent to which task-conflicts are beneficial for GDM: the presence (or absence) of a relationship conflict.
According to the authors, task conflicts are more likely to have a positive effect on GDM if relationship conflicts are absent in the company.
They suggest 2 possibilities in which a relationship conflict negatively affects the relationship between task conflict and GDM:
1. A relationship conflict causes rigidity: Frictions, negative emotions, or antipathy towards others leads to certain reactions in a debate that are likely to spill over to other group members. The flexible, open-minded attitude in debates becomes more rigid and closed as a result and the willingness to accord to opinions of other group members is reduced. Rather people will rigidly hold their initial opinions.
2. A relationship conflict creates processing information biases: In healthy decision-making processes, group members use their own information as well as information they can obtain from other team members. However, if relationship conflicts are present group members often decide to only use their own information when making decisions.
Both of these possibilities are hard to measure. However, the study of de Wit argues that in assessing the relationship between task conflicts and GDM it is important to take other factors into account that indirectly affect this relationship.
Source: de Wit, F. R., Jehn, K. A., and Scheepers, D. (2013). Task conflict, information processing, and decision-making: The damaging effect of relationship conflict. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 122(2), 177-189.
X
Welcome to the Six Thinking Hats best practices. The topic being discussed here is: "Taking Advantage of Conflicts in Group Decision Making".
Log in
|
|
|
1 |
|
Ken Sylvester, United States
|
|
Most Important in GDM: Dealing with Self-Interest. What Conflict Models can Resolve that?
I remain a constant learner as regards conflict. My professional background as negotiator in 23 coun... Sign up
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
Tan Poh Lip, Malaysia
|
|
The Emotional Bank Account (EBA) versus Conflicts
For me, conflict is happening everywhere in our personal and working life. Conflicts are a source of... Sign up
|
|
|
|
4 |
|
melchiorre calabrese, Italy
|
|
Avoiding Emotional Conflicts in Group Decision Making
The problem of relationship conflicts must be solved upstream, in the sense that I will explain belo... Sign up
|
|
|
|
3 |
|
melchiorre calabrese, Italy
|
|
Preconceived Notions in Group Decision Making
@Srinivas: Thanks for your consideration! Please, think deeply about what I am telling you:
A perso... Sign up
|
|