Antecedents of intergroup conflict in multifunctional product development teams: a conceptual model

Author

Pelled, Lisa H. ; Adler, Paul S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Manage. & Organ., Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Volume

41

Issue

1

fYear

1994

fDate

2/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

21

Lastpage

28

Abstract

Multifunctional teams are an increasingly popular way of organizing product development. While a considerable body of research has addressed process-related challenges facing teams in general, there is a relative lack of clarity on the specific challenges confronting multifunctional product development teams. This paper therefore elaborates on the challenge of intergroup conflict in multifunctional product development teams, proposing a model that explains how functional diversity within such teams can lead to task and emotional intergroup conflict. The model is developed through a synthesis of organizational behavior and social psychology literature, and illustrative examples are drawn from interviews with members of five teams in three manufacturing firms

Keywords

concurrent engineering; design engineering; psychology; research and development management; R&D management; conceptual model; functional diversity; intergroup conflict; manufacturing firms; multifunctional product development teams; organizational behavior; research; social psychology; Cost function; Cultural differences; Organizing; Process design; Product development; Productivity; Psychology; Quality assurance; Research and development; Virtual manufacturing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Engineering Management, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9391

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/17.286322

Filename

286322