Assessing the State of Top Management Teams Research

Since the earliest days of strategic management research, scholars have sought to measure and model the effects of top managers on organizational performance. A watershed moment in this effort came with the 1984 introduction of Hambrick and Mason’s upper echelon view and their contention that firms are a reflection of their top management teams (TMT). An explosion of research followed and hundreds, if not thousands, of manuscripts have since been published on the subject. While a number of excellent reviews of this extensive literature exist, a relative few have asked questions about the overall state and future of the field. We undertook this assessment in an effort to answer some key questions. Are we still making progress on the big questions that gave rise to the upper echelon view, or have we reached a point of diminishing returns with this stream of research? If we are at an inflection point, what are the issues that should drive future inquiry about top management teams

Strategic Management: From Theory to Practice

A focus on creating and sustaining a flow of profitable transactions, in other words, the creation of sustainable competitive advantage is the seemingly simple, yet complex goal of strategic leaders and managers. Allen Amason and Andrew Ward approach the topic of strategic management with this focus in mind. Rather than simply teaching theory and research, Amason and Ward seek to convey the fundamental keys to how strategy works. This book is designed to help students think critically and understand fully how to strategically manage their future firms. In so doing, it will enable them to adapt and learn, even as their circumstances change; to apply sound logic and reasoning, even in new and unfamiliar settings. By conveying enduring and fundamental principles of economic and human behavior rather than simply reporting on the latest innovations, this book succeeds in preparing students to excel in the business environment over time, regardless of how it evolves.https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/coba-facbookshelf/1000/thumbnail.jp

Why Won\u27t Task Conflict Cooperate? Deciphering Stubborn Results

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest why the theoretically positive relationship between task conflict and team performance has received mixed empirical support. Design/methodology/approach – We review the literature on task conflict and offer explanations for findings that contradict the expected positive relationship between task conflict and team performance. Findings – High levels of correlation among task, relationship and process conflict, and measurement and data analysis issues make it difficult to isolate the effects of each type of conflict. Group-level moderators, including values congruence, goal alignment, norms for debate and the group’s performance history and conflict history affect the relationship between task conflict and performance. The complex relationship between conflict and trust may cause task conflict to have mixed effects on performance. Individual differences and conflict management approaches also affect the relationship between task conflict and performance. Temporal issues and stages of group development are other relevant influences. Practical implications – To better achieve the theorized performance benefits of task conflict, a context characterized by trust is needed. Then norms fostering task conflict can be cultivated and employees can be trained in conflict management. Individual differences that affect team members’ ability to confidently accept task conflict can be considered in selection. Originality/value – Suggestions are presented for future research that may explain discrepant findings in the past empirical literature. In particular, it may be difficult for some team members to perceive task conflict in well-functioning teams. Measures of task conflict that avoid the use of words with a negative connotation should be tested

Values Heterogeneity: An Overlooked but Important Antecedent of TMT Conflict and Effectiveness

Demographic heterogeneity and conflict have both been shown to influence the effectiveness of top management team (TMT) decision-making. While evidence of positive and negative effects exists, evidence linking heterogeneity and conflict together also exists, making it difficult to reach any conclusion about the relationships between conflicts and outcomes. Drawing upon action theory (Parsons, 1937; Parsons and Shils, 1951), this paper argues that value heterogeneity is an overlooked determinant of how demographic heterogeneity affects conflict and how heterogeneity and conflict together influence the effectiveness of TMT decision-making. Results support the hypotheses and make meaningful additions to the conflict literature

An Alternative Approach to Understanding Conflict Management: Exploring the Mutation from Cognitive to Affective Conflict

To a large extent, project success depends on human behavior - particularly the behavior of the team leader. Project management training most often focuses on mastering the tools and applications of project management, such as operational performance, planning and budget management. Good leadership skills enable a project manager to harness the energy and capabilities of a project team in such a way that the performance of the team is greater than the sum of its parts. Often referred to as the human side of project management or people skills, leadership is widely accepted as the critical factor in determining the ultimate success or failure of a project. The Human Side of Project Leadership is a collection of academic studies related to the human side of project management. Taken as a group, these three studies illuminate the ways in which leadership, project spirit and conflict management skills impact project success. Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Transformational Leadership and Hypotheses III. Method IV. Results V. Discussion VI. Introduction VII. Conceptual Background VIII. Spirit-Building Activites IX. Expression Components of Spirit X. Research Design XI. Findings and Analysis XII. Conclusions XIII. Introduction XIV. Theoretical Development XV. Hypotheses Development XVI. How to Avoid the Mutation from Cognitive to Affective Conflict XVII. Research Methods XVIII. Research Reults XIX. Discussion and Analysi