Abstract
Although task conflict is usually seen to be beneficial to team creativity, the relationship is still unclear because of the mixed results. This research investigated why task conflicts resulted in some positive outcomes in terms of team creativity. Drawing on minority dissent theory, this study examined the conflict-creativity relationship by focusing on the mediating role of team reflexivity. We collected the sample data from 338 employees and 67 supervisors (67 teams) across three different sectors (banking, pharmaceuticals, and insurance) in Pakistan to support our hypotheses. We used bootstrapping analysis and the Sobel test to check for the mediation analysis. The results indicated that task conflict increases team reflexivity, team reflexivity facilitated team creativity, and thus, task conflict positively influenced team creativity via team reflexivity. The theoretical and practical implications of this study plus future directions are further discussed. 
Highlights
In this rapidly changing 21st century, the success of organizations depend on the creative ideas of their employees (Anderson, Potočnik, & Zhou, 2014; Zhou & Shalley, 2011)
The indirect effect of task conflict on team creativity was significant (0.14), which supported H3. These hypotheses H1-H3, demonstrated that team reflexivity mediated the relationship between task conflict and team creativity
But in line with the previous research findings, we found support that task conflict is positively related to team creativity, showing that it brings diverse ideas required for team creativity (Jehn & Mannix, 2001; Lee et al, 2019)
Summary
In this rapidly changing 21st century, the success of organizations depend on the creative ideas of their employees (Anderson, Potočnik, & Zhou, 2014; Zhou & Shalley, 2011). A lot of research has been conducted on whether conflict within teams is beneficial or not, and the results are inconsistent It can effect routines, decrease productivity and satisfaction (Gladstein, 1984; Jehn, 1995; Wall & Nolan, 1986). Team members specialized in different areas have the potential for creativity (Keller, 2001; Lovelace, Shapiro, & Weingart, 2001). They bring different ideas to find solutions which are novel and useful (Amabile, Conti, Coon, Lazenby, & Herron, 1996; Oldham & Cummings, 1996). Task (or cognitive) conflict is the difference in opinion or perception of the task being performed by the team member (Yong, Sauer, & Mannix, 2014), whereas, relationship conflict refers to incompatibilities among members about personal issues
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