Intragroup conflict as a mediator between cultural diversity and work group outcomes

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which intragroup conflict mediates the relationship between cultural diversity and group outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThree types of intragroup conflict were considered: relationship, process, and task conflict. Cultural diversity was defined as group members' dissimilarity in horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. Group outcomes were operationalized as satisfaction with the group and perceived performance of the group. Mediated regression analysis was used to test the hypothesized relationships with data from 76 science research groups.FindingsCultural diversity was positively related to relationship, process, and task conflict. In turn, the three conflict types were associated with unfavorable group outcomes. Further, the three types of conflict were shown to mediate the relationship between cultural diversity and group outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsPotential limitations of this study include its cross‐sectional design, common method bias, generalizability of findings, and use of three different questionnaire formats. The possible impact of these limitations is addressed.Practical implicationsAlthough this research implies that culturally homogeneous groups have better outcomes, it is often impossible and undesirable to assemble such groups. The targeted use of cross‐cultural training programs may help individuals function well in culturally diverse groups by lessening conflict and thus allowing more favorable group outcomes.Originality/valuePrevious research has either asserted a relationship between cultural diversity and unfavorable group outcomes or shown a relationship between intragroup conflict and unfavorable group outcomes. The contribution of this study is to show that intragroup conflict mediates the relationship between cultural diversity and group outcomes.