An expanded typology of conflict at work: Task,relationship and non-task organizational conflict as social stressors

This study investigated the roles of three types of conflict at work – task, relationship and non-task organizational – in predicting employee strain. These conflict types refer to disputes over issues that are, respectively, work-task specific, driven by emotionally charged interpersonal animosity or rooted in more broad organizationally relevant issues. Findings from a sample of 260 working adults from various organizations in the United States supported the notion that the three types of conflict function as social stressors and are related to a variety of psychological, behavioural and physical strains. They extend previous research based primarily on relationship conflict. Non-task organizational conflict emerged as a key predictor across strain criteria, thus highlighting the importance of including a more complete conceptualization of the conflict construct in social stress research. The results for task conflict are at variance with findings that it can be beneficial, and suggest that its negative relationship with well-being may be due to its co-occurrence with the other forms of conflict. These findings provide support for an expanded typology of conflict.     

The differential role of job demands in relation to nonwork domain outcomes based on the challenge-hindrance framework

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to meta-analytically test a novel theoretical model examining a dual stressor and dual process model relating demands in the work domain to outcomes in the nonwork domain. The foundation for this model rested upon the challenge-hindrance framework and the role depletion and role enhancement perspectives derived from role theory as applied to the work-nonwork interface. The results show mixed support for the proposed model. In line with the challenge-hindrance framework the effects of challenge stressors were less detrimental than hindrance stressors. However, contrary to what has been reported for work domain outcomes, the net effect of both challenges and hindrances on nonwork domain outcomes was negative. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Exploring work- and organization-based resources as moderators between work-family conflict, well-being, and job attitudes

In modern Western life it is difficult to avoid work-family conflict. Therefore the resources that might reduce its negative outcomes on well-being and job attitudes come into focus. Our study contributes to the work-family conflict literature by exploring the indirect (moderator) and direct role of three work- and organization-related resources, i.e., job control, family supportive climate, organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), in the work-to-family conflict and well-being/job attitude relationship. Theoretically, the study tested the recently developed Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model in the Scandinavian context. Data for the study were gathered from three differing Finnish organizations (health care district, ICT company, Cardboard mill; n=1252). In line with the predictions of the JD-R model, job demands (time- and strain-based work-to-family conflict) were more robustly associated with strain-based outcomes (physical symptoms), whereas job resources (job control, family supportive climate, OBSE) were more strongly linked to motivational-based outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment). Both job control and family supportive climate moderated the relationships studied; high job control and family supportive climate buffered against the aversive effects of work-to-family conflict on well-being and job attitudes. These indirect effects also varied in relation to the independent, moderator, and dependent variables. However, OBSE did not operate as a buffering factor, although it showed significant direct effects. From a practical viewpoint, our findings suggest that job control and family supportive climate are resources that help employees to reduce the negative effects related to work-family conflict.     

Work hours and well-being: The roles of work-time control and work-family interference

This study focused on mediating and moderating processes underlying the relationship between work hours and well-being. Questionnaire data from 292 female employees in two UK public sector organizations were analysed. Drawing on effort-recovery theory and published empirical findings, it was hypothesized that work-family interference (WIF) would mediate the relationship between work hours and measures of well-being (psychological distress and family satisfaction), and that work-time control would moderate the association between work hours and WIF. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that, after controlling for demographic variables, neuroticism, and job demands, WIF mediated the effect of work hours on family satisfaction, although no evidence of mediation was found for the psychological distress outcome measure. Work-time control moderated the relationship between work hours and WIF; higher control buffered the effect of longer hours on WIF. These findings add to the literature on the role of WIF in the effort-recovery process by showing that longer work hours are not necessarily associated with higher work-family interference, and hence with poor recovery and impaired well-being. Instead, having a degree of control over work hours moderates the first link in this process. Thus, the provision by employers of some flexibility and control over work hours may help to reduce the potential negative impact of long work hours on employees.     

Work-self balance: A longitudinal study on the effects of job demands and resources on personal functioning in Japanese working parents

Abstract

In work-family research the effects on the individual, or the “self”, in terms of personal interests independent of the work and family domains, have been largely neglected. This longitudinal study on 471 Japanese employees with young children investigated how job demands and job resources may have an impact on well-being by facilitating or hindering personal functioning. It was hypothesized that workload would have an unfavourable impact on work-to-self conflict, while supervisor support would have a favourable impact on work-to-self facilitation. In addition, we hypothesized that work–self conflict would diminish well-being (psychological distress and happiness), while work–self facilitation would enhance well-being over time. Structural equation modelling analyses using a full panel design showed that work overload was positively related to work–self conflict over time, whereas supervisor support was positively related to work–self facilitation. Furthermore, work–self conflict predicted psychological distress and happiness at T2, one year later, after controlling for T1 levels. These findings suggest that the demands and resources encountered at work can spill over to the home domain and have an impact on personal functioning and context-free well-being. Further research is needed to determine the importance of work-self constructs in relation to work-family constructs.     

工作和家庭冲突的前因和后果变量:中国情景因素形成的差异

本研究通过对347名中国员工问卷调查获得数据的分析,对西方文献中常见的工作和家庭冲突的前因和后果变量进行了探索性的研究。研究发现:中国员工一般还是以工作为生活中的核心。在本样本中,员工的角色冲突和工作负荷越大,工作-家庭冲突会越大。员工的角色冲突越大,个性越倾向于积极情感,家庭-工作冲突会越大。上司对员工的工作越支持,家庭-工作冲突会越小。本研究着重结合中国的社会和文化情景对获得的结论,尤其是和西方研究不同的结果进行了解释和讨论。     

Crossover of distress due to work and family demands in dual-earner couples: A dyadic analysis

Abstract

Distress resulting from work and family overload is likely to be interdependent between partners, as both men and women increasingly participate in work and family tasks. We attempted to explain distress of both partners by looking at their work and family demands and the resulting time and energy deficits experienced by each partner. Furthermore, we investigated how time deficit, energy deficit and distress due to such demands crossover between partners. The study, which used a precise measurement of family demands, was based on a sample of both partners from 828 dual-earner couples in The Netherlands. The results showed that for both partners work and family demands increase time deficit and energy deficit. Energy deficit due to heavy demands resulted in more feelings of distress, whereas time deficit did not contribute significantly to distress. We found different patterns of crossover between male and female partners. Feelings of time deficit and energy deficit crossed over from the man to the woman, whereas feelings of distress crossed over from the woman to the man. These results indicate that the demands on each partner contribute to their own distress, as well as to their partner's distress, either through the crossover of energy deficit or through the crossover of distress     

创业者的工作家庭冲突——基于角色转型的视角

本研究从角色转型的视角探讨了创建新企业的过程中,创业活动的推进是否会促发创业与家庭事务间冲突的问题.基于身份理论,本文提出在创建新企业的早期阶段,创业者会经历角色分离、角色调整与新角色生成等角色转型过程,其中伴随的身份模糊感,是创业情境下引发工作家庭冲突的独特压力源,并呈现出先升后降的变化.因此,创业进程与工作家庭冲突水平之间呈现出一种倒U型关系.同时,创业者感知到其所在地区对创业活动的社会支持程度会弱化创业过程与工作家庭冲突间的曲线关系.基于中国创业动态跟踪调查的201个新生企业的实证研究支持了假设.本研究拓展了蓬勃发展的家庭嵌入视角下的创业研究,识别出创业情境区别组织情境下引发工作家庭冲突的独特诱因,以及社会支持对于缓解创业者的角色转型压力与工作家庭冲突的作用.研究结论为创业者的职业转型与家庭关系维护提供了建议,并在宏观上启发有关创业生态系统建设的探讨     

Work-nonwork conflict among MBAs: Sex differences in role stressors and life satisfaction

Predictors of work-nonwork conflict (work role conflict, career salience, age, length of service, number of children living at home) and relationships between work-nonwork conflict and life satisfaction were investigated among 271 MBA students. There were no significant differences in the level of work-nonwork conflict due to sex or marital status, and work role conflict was the best independent predictor of work-nonwork conflict for both women and men. The number of children living at home was unrelated to work-nonwork conflict. Except for single women, work-nonwork conflict was significantly related to life satisfaction.     

Measuring exposure to bullying at work: The validity and advantages of the latent class cluster approach

Abstract

This paper addresses the construct and predictive validity of two methods for classifying respondents as victims of workplace bullying. Although bullying is conceived as a complex phenomenon, the dominant method used in bullying surveys, the operational classification method, only distinguishes two groups: victims versus non-victims. Hence, the complex nature of workplace bullying may not be accounted for. Therefore a latent class cluster approach is suggested to model the data, which was obtained by using the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ) administered to employees in Belgium (n=6,175). Latent class modelling is a method of analysis that does not appear to have been used in occupational health psychology before. In this study, six latent classes emerged: “not bullied,” “limited work criticism,” “limited negative encounters,” “sometimes bullied,” “work related bullied,” and “victims.” The results show that compared to the traditional operational classification method, the latent class cluster approach shows higher construct and higher predictive validity with respect to self-assessments and indicators of strain and well-being at work. The consequences of these results for theory, future research, and practice are discussed.     

Managing C-suite conflict: The unique impact of internal and external governance interfaces on top management team reflexivity

The ability of Top Management Teams (TMTs) to reflect critically on their own actions represents an important element of effective TMT decision making and governance effectiveness. This paper therefore examines how the TMT-board interface internal to the organization, as well as the TMT interface with the external supervisory authority, shape TMT reflexivity. Drawing from governance and psychological theories, we posit that cognitive conflict at the TMT-board interface can escalate by increasing levels of affective TMT-board conflict, and hereby, harm TMT reflexivity if not managed well. This proposition was tested in a multisource team-level data set collected in the field among TMTs (N = 111 TMT members) and their supervisory boards (N = 152 board members) of 56 Dutch insurance companies. The findings demonstrate that the link between cognitive and affective TMT-board conflict is mitigated by board membership influx. Yet in cases where conflict escalation does occur, its subsequent impact on TMT reflexivity hinges on the degree to which an external supervisory authority monitored TMT actions. The results illustrate that TMT decision making processes can be effectively influenced by internal and external TMT-governance interfaces, yet at different conflict stages, and through different governance actions.     

The mediating role of work-to-family conflict in the relationship between shiftwork and depression

Abstract

With significant segments of the working population involved in shiftwork, there is the possibility of serious health outcomes. There are two possible pathways to ill health. In the biological pathway the body's circadian rhythms are affected, leading to physiological disturbances and the inability to cope. By contrast, the aim of this study is to elucidate a social pathway by which shiftwork may lead to mental ill health. It examines the mediating influence of work-to-family conflict in the association between shiftwork and depression. Gender differences are also investigated. The sample included 2,931 Canadian respondents with a spouse and at least one child living at home. Close to 28% of respondents were involved in some form of shiftwork. Structural equation modelling supported partial mediation through work-to-family conflict. Further analyses found that mediation was supported in sub-samples of male and female respondents. The results, however, suggest that the experience of shiftwork is quite similar for men and women as no significant differences were found between mediating models. Overall, the findings support the social explanation of the effect of shiftwork on mental health, but they do not rule out other social or biological pathways.     

Building better measures of role ambiguity and role conflict: The validation of new role stressor scales

Occupational stress researchers have given considerable attention to role ambiguity and role conflict as predictors of employee health, job attitudes and behaviour. However, the validity of the Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman’s (1970 Rizzo, J. R., House, R. J., &; Lirtzman, S. I. (1970). Role conflict and ambiguity in complex organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 15, 150–163. doi: 10.2307/2391486[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) scales – the most popular role stressor measures – has been a source of disagreement among researchers. In response to the disputed validity of the Rizzo et al. scales, we developed new measures of role ambiguity and role conflict and conducted five studies to examine their psychometric qualities (Study 1 N?=?101 U.S. workers; Study 2 N?=?118 workers primarily employed in the U.S.; Study 3 N?=?135 employed U.S. MBA students; Study 4 N?=?973 members of the U.S. Air Force (USAF); Study 5 N?=?234 workers primarily employed in the U.S.). Across these five studies, we found that the new role stressor scales have desirable psychometric qualities: they displayed high levels of substantive validity, high levels of internal consistency and test–retest reliability, they produced an interpretable factor structure, and we found evidence of their construct validity. We therefore recommend that these new scales be used in future research on role stress.     

Emotional labour profiles: Associations with key predictors and outcomes

ABSTRACT

The present study examines how three emotional labour strategies (hiding feelings, faking emotions, and deep acting) combine within different profiles of workers among two samples characterised by different types and intensity of customer contact. In addition, this research investigates the role of perceived workload as well as perceived organisational support, supervisor support, and colleagues support in the prediction of profile membership. Finally, this research also documents the relation between emotional labour profiles and adaptive and maladaptive work outcomes (job satisfaction, work performance, emotional exhaustion, sleeping problems, psychological detachment, and counterproductive work behaviours). Latent profile analysis revealed three similar emotional labour profiles in both samples. Results also showed the most desirable levels on all outcomes to be associated with Profile 3 (Low Emotional Labor/Low Surface Acting and Moderate Deep Acting), followed by Profile 2 (Moderate Emotional Labor/Moderate Surface Acting and High Deep Acting) and Profile 1 (High Emotional Labor), with most comparisons being statistically significant in both samples. In contrast, a more diversified pattern of findings was observed in the prediction of profile membership. For instance, perceived colleagues support did not predict membership into any of the profiles, while supervisor support predicted an increased likelihood of membership into Profile 3 relative to Profiles 1 and 2.     

Measuring bullying at work with the short-negative acts questionnaire: identification of targets and criterion validity

The current study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the abbreviated version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire, also known as the SNAQ (Short Negative Acts Questionnaire). A Latent Class analysis of 7,790 observation from 38 Belgian organizations demonstrated that four latent classes of respondents can be distinguished in our data: ‘not bullied’, ‘work-related criticism’, ‘occasionally bullied’, and ‘severe targets’. Like with the original full version, both occasionally bullied and the severe targets align with the theoretical definition of workplace bullying as exposure to repeated and systematic negative behavior. The extent to which these clusters report bullying does not only account for their difference, yet also the type of behavior sets the two categories apart. Whereas severe targets had a high probability to report social isolation, this type of social behaviors was more likely to be absent among the occasionally bullied group. The results from the HSD post-hoc test demonstrated that both occasionally bullied and severe targets experienced deteriorating health, more sickness absenteeism and lower for job satisfaction than the two other latent class clusters. Hence, the SNAQ seems to be a psychometrically sound and easy to use instrument to identify targets exposed to varying degrees of workplace bullying.     

高管团队职能异质性与企业绩效关系研究:基于管理者认知和团队冲突的中介分析

高管团队的职能特征如何反映到企业绩效中一直是管理领域研究的重点,但是其实证检验结果呈现出复杂化的特征,一致性的结论尚未达成。本文从高阶梯理论和信息处理理论出发,较为全面地探索高管团队职能异质性如何影响企业绩效。研究结果表明:(1)高管团队职能异质性对企业绩效水平有负向的影响;(2)高管团队职能异质性会显著促进管理者认知集中性和复杂性的提高;(3)管理者认知集中性和复杂性的提高会进一步促进绩效水平的提高;(4)管理者认知是高管团队职能异质性影响企业绩效水平的中介机制;(5)高管团队职能异质性的提高会显著促进团队冲突的提高;(6)团队冲突的增强会抑制企业绩效水平的提高;(7)团队冲突是职能异质性影响企业绩效水平的中介机制。     

Overcoming the dark side of task conflict: Buffering roles of transformational leadership,tenacity, and passion for work

Drawing from the job demands–resources model, this study considers how task conflict reduces employees' job satisfaction, as well as how the negative task conflict–job satisfaction relationship might be buffered by supervisors' transformational leadership and employees' personal resources. Using data from a large organization, the authors show that task conflict reduces job satisfaction, but this effect is weaker at higher levels of transformational leadership, tenacity, and passion for work. The buffering roles of the two personal resources (tenacity and passion for work) are particularly salient when transformational leadership is low. These findings indicate that organizations marked by task-related clashes can counter the accompanying stress by developing adequate leadership and employee resources within their ranks.     

The dysfunctions of power in teams: A review and emergent conflict perspective

We review the new and growing body of work on power in teams and use this review to develop an emergent theory of how power impacts team outcomes. Our paper offers three primary contributions. First, our review highlights potentially incorrect assumptions that have arisen around the topic of power in teams and documents the areas and findings that appear most robust in explaining the effects of power on teams. Second, we contrast the findings of this review with what is known about the effects of power on individuals and highlight the directionally oppositional effects of power that emerge across different levels of analysis. Third, we integrate findings across levels of analysis into an emergent theory which explains why and when the benefits of power for individuals may paradoxically explain the potentially negative effects of power on team outcomes. We elaborate on how individual social comparisons within teams where at least one member has power increase intra-team power sensitivity, which we define as a state in which team members are excessively perceptive of, affected by, and responsive to resources. We theorize that when power-sensitized teams experience resource threats (either stemming from external threats or personal threats within the team), these threats will ignite internal power sensitivities and set into play performance-detracting intra-team power struggles. This conflict account of power in teams integrates and organizes past findings in this area to explain why and when power negatively affects team-level outcomes, and opens the door for future research to better understand why and when power may benefit team outcomes when power’s dark side for teams is removed.     

Performance effects of MNC headquarters–subsidiary conflict and the role of boundary spanners: The case of headquarter initiative rejection

Recent research suggests that both the scholarly and the managerial perspectives on intra-organizational conflict in multinational corporations (MNC) between headquarters (HQ) and their foreign subsidiaries have changed. Today, conflict is not necessarily regarded as dysfunctional or the result of inefficient global integration. Instead, conflict is now considered a normal consequence of organizing and managing across national borders. This research advances the literature on HQ–subsidiary relationships by adding new insights to the Headquarters–subsidiary conflict discussion, especially in the so far under-researched case of headquarter initiative rejection by foreign subsidiaries. We specifically focus on subsidiary conflict negotiation tactics, the effects of organizational and individual managerial power, and the characteristics and roles of MNC managers that act as boundary spanners during intra-organizational conflict processes. A qualitative, iterative, multiphase research approach was used to develop new theory pertaining to the phenomenon. The results show that in the presence of boundary spanners, dysfunctional conflict is less common and better overall organizational performance can be achieved for both the subsidiary and the MNC as a whole. The results also indicate that the boundary spanning ability is only partly formalizable and that some MNCs are able to foster boundary spanners better than others.