The Nature of Conflict in Project-Based Teams
Final Research Paper
THE NATURE OF CONFLICT IN PROJECT-BASED TEAMS
Northeastern University
College of Professional Studies
LDR 6110- Leading Teams Fall Term
Professor Julia Ivy
December 5, 2012
Anh Do, Yishan Chen, Zhu Pinchun Huang,
Steven Miller, Yajing Xu, Hana Zhang, Bowen Zheng
INTRODUCTION:
Our topic on conflict was inspired by the experiences we shared as a team in course LDR 6110- Leading Teams. At the start of the course, we were randomly broken up into teams. The demographics of our class are such that majority of the students are from foreign countries.
In preparing our presentation for our class, we researched the topic of conflict, power and decision making. However, the topic of conflict we found to be the most fundamental and crucial to understand in its own right to better understand the dynamics of power and decision making.
Levi (2011, Chapter 7) makes it very clear on the outset that conflict is not all bad and in fact has dimensions that are quite healthy. The fear of conflict, and more so its avoidance for the sake of conformity and preserving the cohesiveness of the group, can lead to the team being resistant to creativity and outside input (Nemeth & Staw, 1989, in Levi, pg)
The healthy and unhealthy components of conflict contributed to a better understanding of our challenges and using conflict as a springboard for greater productivity in our group. This was something we discovered only midway through our team on a five week course. One reason for this is the fact that we had very little time to form as a team. In addition, our team projects forces us to go through stages of Storming (conflict), Norming (establishing rules and responsibilities), and Performing (completing our task) (Tuckman & Jenson, 1977 in Levi, pg. 40) rather quickly.
Our seven-person team is made up of the following nationalities: American, Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese. The combination of our different
THE NATURE OF CONFLICT IN PROJECT-BASED TEAMS
Northeastern University
College of Professional Studies
LDR 6110- Leading Teams Fall Term
Professor Julia Ivy
December 5, 2012
Anh Do, Yishan Chen, Zhu Pinchun Huang,
Steven Miller, Yajing Xu, Hana Zhang, Bowen Zheng
INTRODUCTION:
Our topic on conflict was inspired by the experiences we shared as a team in course LDR 6110- Leading Teams. At the start of the course, we were randomly broken up into teams. The demographics of our class are such that majority of the students are from foreign countries.
In preparing our presentation for our class, we researched the topic of conflict, power and decision making. However, the topic of conflict we found to be the most fundamental and crucial to understand in its own right to better understand the dynamics of power and decision making.
Levi (2011, Chapter 7) makes it very clear on the outset that conflict is not all bad and in fact has dimensions that are quite healthy. The fear of conflict, and more so its avoidance for the sake of conformity and preserving the cohesiveness of the group, can lead to the team being resistant to creativity and outside input (Nemeth & Staw, 1989, in Levi, pg)
The healthy and unhealthy components of conflict contributed to a better understanding of our challenges and using conflict as a springboard for greater productivity in our group. This was something we discovered only midway through our team on a five week course. One reason for this is the fact that we had very little time to form as a team. In addition, our team projects forces us to go through stages of Storming (conflict), Norming (establishing rules and responsibilities), and Performing (completing our task) (Tuckman & Jenson, 1977 in Levi, pg. 40) rather quickly.
Our seven-person team is made up of the following nationalities: American, Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese. The combination of our different
References: Brusko, L., (2011) Organized Chaos: A Survey of Conflict Management Strategies, Gender Roles, and Status in an Organizational Setting Levi, D. (2011). Group Dynamics for Teams. 3rd ed. California: Sage Publications, Inc. Olekalns, M., Putnam, L.L., Weingart, L.R & Metcalf, L Putnam, L. L. (1988). Communication and interpersonal conflict in organizations. Management Quarterly, 1, p295-p300 Rahim, M Schwalbe, K. (2010). Revised An Introduction to Project Management, 3rd ed With Brief Guides to Microsoft Project 2010 and @task. Kathy Schwable, LLC. Wall, J., and Roberts-Collister, R., 1995, Conflict and Its Management