The Subgroup Formation in Chinese Work Groups: An Investigation of Antecedents and Consequences

Group disruptions are very prevalent in practice, yet only little research examines them. We extended the literature on group disruption by exploring its antecedents and consequents. We proposed both perception of guanxi (a Chinese indigenous variable) and perceived organizational politics (an external environmental factor) played roles in group disruption phenomenon, suggesting that group members with high-level perception of guanxi were apt to form subgroups, and so were those who perceived high-level organizational politics. We further proved the importance of subgroup formation by extending the positive effects of subgroup formation on perceived group conflicts, including relationship, task and process conflict.