Cross-Level Dynamics of Collaboration and Conflict in Multi-Party Systems: An Empirical Investigation Using a Behavioural Simulation

Multiparty systems bring together various stakeholder parties and their representatives and offer a platform for sharing their diverse interests, knowledge and expertise in order to develop and realize joint goals. They display complex relational dynamics in which within-party interactions (interpersonal interactions within each stakeholder party) as well as between-party interactions (interactions between the stakeholder parties) intertwine to generate bottom-up and top-down influences. We investigate these influences in a behavioural simulation. Our results show that changes in task conflict at the stakeholder party level positively predict changes in perceived collaborativeness in the overall system, while changes in relationship conflict at the stakeholder party level positively predict changes in perceived conflictuality in the system. Moreover, we show that changes in perceived overall conflictuality leads to a proportional change in relationship conflict experienced within the stakeholder parties

A system psychodynamic perspective on collaborative leadership in multiparty systems:learnings from a behavioral simulation

Purpose: This paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of what collaborative leadership in interorganizational systems entails. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical basis consists of the dynamics observed during two behavioral simulations involving seven stakeholders with managers and professionals as participants, dealing with a complex regional development issue. Findings: The authors describe what functions collaborative leadership in multiparty collaboration serve by discussing relevant literature and introducing a system psychodynamic perspective on leadership that focuses on the emerging dynamics between a leading party and other stakeholders. The relational dynamics between the leading party on the one hand and the other stakeholders on the other, are described and interpreted, taking the larger systemic context into account. Practical implications: The authors discuss some important group dynamics aspects that emerge in a multiparty context that can be used by participants in and facilitators of such complex systems in order to foster effective collaboration. Social implications: Multiparty systems are set up to deal with some important societal challenges that require the integration of insights, resources and interests across several organizations and societal actors, therefore this study provides important insights into the complexity of collaborative leadership emergent in such contexts in which position power is lacking. Originality/value: The study provides a qualitative, in depth analysis of the collaborative leadership as it emerges in a multiparty context simulated by an experiential learning context.</p

A systematic investigation of absorptive capacity and external information search in groups: Implications for group cognition

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Distrust, Identification and Collaboration Effectiveness in Multiparty Systems

Multiparty collaborative systems are created to tackle important societal challenges, yet studies that investigate the relational dynamics of such systems remain scant. Our study explores the role of distrust within and between parties, as well as identification with one’s own party, in the collaborative effectiveness of such multiparty systems (MPS). We use a behavioral simulation context in which distrust, identification, and collaboration effectiveness are assessed at three moments in time: namely, at the onset of the MPS (expectations related to within and between group interactions), during the interactions, and at the end of the simulation. The simulation was played 11 times with different groups, as part of an organization development program for a large organization. We show that high initial expectations of distrust between parties decrease collaboration effectiveness over time, while identification with one’s party has a positive influence on collaboration effectiveness. Moreover, our results show that distrust between parties interacts with distrust within parties in such a way that the highest level of collaboration effectiveness is reported by parties with low within-group distrust and low between-party distrust. The lowest collaboration effectiveness is reported by parties with low within-group distrust and high levels of between-party distrust

Humor and group atmosphere Development of a short scale for evaluating affiliative and aggressive humor in groups

Purpose - Given the importance of humor in interpersonal communication in groups and the influence of the positive group atmosphere on group effectiveness, this paper aims to provide initial empirical evidence supporting the validity of a short measure for affiliative and aggressive humor. Design/methodology/approach - Starting from existing individual-level measures of humor, this paper develops a short measure of affiliative and aggressive humor in groups. The reliability and validity of this scale in a combined Dutch and Romanian sample are tested. Findings - The results support the reliability of the scale, its factorial structure and its predictive validity for positive group atmosphere. Moreover, this papers shows that the measure used in this study captures the affiliative and aggressive humor as group-level phenomena and it is shown that these two forms of humor are antecedents of collective emotional intelligence and group atmosphere. Research limitations/implications - This study provides a starting point for further research on the role of affiliative and aggressive humor in groups. Originality/value - This paper develops a bi-dimensional measure capturing affiliative and aggressive humor in groups and opens new venues for research that extend the knowledge and understanding of the use of humor in interpersonal communication in groups

Minority dissent as teamwork related mental model: Implications for willingness to dissent and group creativity

Traditionally, minority influence literature has conceptualized minority dissent (MD) as a driver of divergent thinking (DT) at the individual and group level of analysis. In this paper we argue that DT and MD have a more complex interdependence and DT could in fact be conceptualized as a prerequisite of MD. In an experimental study carried out in two cultural contexts (The Netherlands and China), we tested the effect of an intervention aimed at emphasizing the value of DT on the MD related mental model change, on willingness to engage in MD and ultimately on group creativity. Our results show that members of groups that received the DT manipulation had less negative evaluations of MD compared to members in groups that did not receive the DT manipulation. However, DT triggered group members to engage in MD only in individualistic groups and not collectivistic ones and ultimately led to less creative performance in groups that operated in a collectivistic cultural context. Our study also contributes to the extrapolation of cultural differences in creative performance from individual to the group level of analysis and shows that groups operating in collectivistic cultures have a lower creativity in a divergent thinking task as compared to groups operating in an individualistic culture. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Mind the (identification) gap:Foci in multiteam systems and their impact on innovative work behaviours

The paper presents a longitudinal exploration of identification with teams and multiteam systems (MTSs) in an organizational context that started using MTSs. Data were collected in five waves during the first 2 years in which the organization started the implementation of MTSs in order to aggregate teams in value streams as organizational units. The results show that there is a clear and distinct gap between team and MTS identification. This gap is greater in larger MTSs than smaller MTSs. This gap decreases in time mostly due to a rise in MTS identification in combination with a stable team identification across time. Additionally, our research showed that MTS identification is hindered when negative relations are present in the MTS. Finally, we show that identification with the team fosters innovative team performance and the identification with MTS moderates this positive association in a compensatory manner. The findings show important implications for the management of MTSs in modern organizations.</p

Social and study related stressors and resources among university entrants: Effects on well-being and academic performance

Learning and Individual Differences37262-26