Supervisor Conflict Research Articles

Supervisor relationships, peer support and mental health stressors in the Australian building and construction industry

Mates in Construction (MATES) is a multi-faceted strategy developed in Australia to address suicide prevention in the workplace. MATES operationalized a workplace mental health framework consisting of five domains in 2019 in a move toward a broader systems-based approach to workplace mental health in the building and construction work environment. Using job demands-resources (JD-R) theory and a revised version of the People at Work Survey (PAW-Con), the objective of this study is to explore workplace mental health trends within the Australian building and construction industry with the aim of identifying areas of improvement required to mitigate psychosocial hazards at work. A quantitative method of analysis of reported job demands and resources of 1158 construction workers was used to establish correlation and means scores within the building and construction work environment. Industry means scores enabled comparison with existing safe valid mean scores utilizing established JD-R measurements. Data was collected from construction industry workers over a twelve-month period with the findings highlighting concerns related to supervisor conflict, peer support and job control as psychosocial hazards requiring industry wide improvement. Fly-In Fly-Out (FIFO) and Drive-In Drive-Out (DIDO) work environments demonstrated different hazards in procedural justice, role ambiguity and role conflict. This study demonstrates workplace mental health issues that require attention. Targeted training of supervisors and implementation of workplace plans to address areas of identified concern will reduce rates of mental distress, harm and suicide in a high-risk industry.

Unraveling the link between innovative work behavior and despotic leadership: the roles of supervisor conflict and dispositional resistance to change trait

PurposeThis paper aims to probe the prevailing belief that engaging in innovative work behavior (IWB) will invariably lead to favorable outcomes. To do so, the paper integrates followership theory and cognitive dissonance theory to investigate the connection between employees’ IWB and despotic leadership, and the mediating role of interpersonal conflict with the supervisor in this connection. Moreover, the moderating impact of the supervisor’s dispositional resistance to change trait on the direct and indirect relationship between IWB and despotic leadership is explored.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through a multi-wave survey of 350 employees and 81 supervisors working in 81 public schools.FindingsThe findings show that IWB has a positive and significant relationship with despotic leadership, and this relationship is mediated by interpersonal conflict with the supervisor.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines the link between IWB and despotic leadership via interpersonal/dyadic conflict and explores the moderating effect of leadership dispositional resistance to change trait in this indirect relationship.

Workplace Flexibility Analysis in Cyberphysical Human Systems Using Cloud-Enabled Deep Autoencoder Networks

To examine the correlation between worker safety, workplace interpersonal problems, and individual flexibility within a cyberphysical human system (CPHS), we employed a stacked autoencoder (SAE) approach and a cloud-based computing environment. The study’s statistical population includes construction companies in Mashhad, Iran. To collect data, descriptive surveys and applied research approaches are employed. Thus, data is collected using a cloud-based platform, data processing tools, and information analysis methods. It is our main objective to figure out how to reduce construction accidents and make people safer. Our study used a sample of 200 people to study the entire study population because it is difficult to study the entire study population. There were 151 valid questionnaires collected after the questionnaire distribution. We developed a 28-item questionnaire as part of the study in addition to the Questionnaire on Experience and Evaluation of Work (QEEW). Implementing an optimized SAE network can reduce dangerous situations, physical injuries, supervisor conflict, workplace stress, interpersonal conflict, and colleagues’ involvement. As a consequence of the large amount of data needed for quick analysis and mechanism construction, cloud computing performed admirably. The study of interpersonal conflicts and individual flexibility among construction workers was necessary because only limited research had been conducted on these topics.

Supervisor conflict management climate and emotion recognition skills

PurposeGroups’ perceptions of their supervisors’ conflict management styles (CMSs) can have important implications for well-being. Rather than being examined in isolation, supervisor CMSs need to be considered in the context of supervisors’ emotional ability and the amount of conflict in workgroups. This paper aims to investigate the three-way interactions between group-level perceptions of supervisor CMSs (collaborating, yielding, forcing), supervisor emotion recognition skills and group relationship conflict in predicting collective employee burnout.Design/methodology/approachGroup-level hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted with 972 teaching professionals nested in 109 groups.FindingsThe positive association between supervisor yielding climate and collective employee burnout was evident when supervisor emotion recognition was low but absent when supervisor emotion recognition was high. Groups with high supervisor forcing climate and high supervisor emotion recognition experienced lower group burnout, an effect evident at high but not low relationship conflict.Practical implicationsSupervisors have a critical – and challenging – role to play in managing conflict among group members. The detrimental effects of supervisor yielding and forcing climates on collective employee burnout are moderated by personal (supervisor emotion recognition) and situational (the level of relationship conflict) variables. These findings have practical implications for how supervisors could be trained to handle conflict.Originality/valueThis research challenges traditional notions that supervisor yielding and forcing CMSs are universally detrimental to well-being.

Conflict management style and exhaustion in public accounting

PurposeAs exhaustion is a core dimension of job burnout, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that individual perceptions of supervisor conflict management style (collaborative, dominating and avoidant) are antecedents of role stressors (role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload) in public accounting exhaustion.Design/methodology/approachSurvey results from a sample of 208 public accountants from six firms in upstate New York are used to test the conceptual model using regression and mediation techniques.FindingsThe findings indicate that perceptions of collaborative and dominating conflict management styles are important antecedents to the role stressors that precede exhaustion in public accounting. The findings also indicate that collaborative and dominating management styles have an indirect effect on exhaustion through both role conflict and role overload.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was taken from six accounting firms in one geographic area of the USA and may not be representative of all public accountants. As a result, generalizability may be limited. Theoretical implications include expansion of the existing public accounting exhaustion model to incorporate individual perceptions of conflict management styles as antecedents to role stressors, and consequently to demonstrate the indirect effects of these conflict management styles on exhaustion.Practical implicationsThis study’s findings provide practitioners with insight regarding conflict management styles, specifically which ones have a positive versus negative effect on role stressors. This can be considered in hiring, training and promotion decisions in firms’ efforts to reduce exhaustion.Originality/valueThis augmentation of the existing public accounting exhaustion model is unique, as prior research has not examined individual perceptions of conflict management style. This not only enriches the model but also is actionable by public accounting firms seeking to mitigate exhaustion.

The moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between supervisor conflict and employees’ counterproductive work behaviors

PurposeResearch concludes that supervisor conflict is a primary antecedent of employee counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). However, previous studies mainly focused on direct supervisor conflict, with indirect supervisor conflict understudied. To fill the research gap, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between indirect supervisor conflict and employee CWBs and the buffering effect of emotional intelligence on indirect supervisor conflict–CWB relationships in two studies.Design/methodology/approachThe study used time-lagged design (Study 1) and longitudinal design (Study 2) with multisource data to test the theoretical model presented in this study.FindingsThe positive relationship between indirect supervisor conflict and CWBs were consistently supported with self-report CWBs but not with coworker-report CWBs. SEA and OEA were found to buffer the indirect supervisor conflict–CWB relationships with both self-report and coworker-report CWBs.Originality/valueThe study suggests that while covert and implicit, indirect supervisor conflict could drive employees to engage in CWBs that impose a threat to organization and its members. The emotional-appraisal aspect of emotional intelligence (i.e. SEA and OEA) could help employees to better cope with indirect supervisor conflict and mitigate employees’ engagement in CWBs.

Effective coping with supervisor conflict depends on control: Implications for work strains.

This study examined the interactive effects of interpersonal conflict at work, coping strategy, and perceived control specific to the conflict on employee work strain using multisource and time-lagged data across two samples. In Sample 1, multisource data was collected from 438 employees as well as data from participant-identified secondary sources (e.g., significant others, best friends). In Sample 2, time-lagged data from 100 full-time employees was collected in a constructive replication. Overall, findings suggested that the success of coping efforts as indicated by lower strains hinges on the combination of the severity of the stressor, perceived control over the stressor, and coping strategy used (problem-focused vs. emotion-focused coping). Results from the current study provide insights for why previous efforts to document the moderating effects of coping have been inconsistent, especially with regards to emotion-focused coping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring Supervisor-Related Job Resources as Mediators between Supervisor Conflict and Job Attitudes in Hospital Employees.

BackgroundConservation of resources theory assumes loss of resources as a cause of job strain. In hospital work, conflicts with supervisors are tested to predict lower resources, that is, supervisory social support, participation possibilities, and appreciation. All three resources are expected to predict, in turn, experienced stress (job strain) and lower job satisfaction, lower affective commitment, and a higher resigned attitude towards the job (job attitudes).MethodsThe sample included 1,073 employees from 14 Swiss hospitals (n = 604 nurses, n = 81 physicians, n = 135 medical therapists, and n = 253 technical and administrative staff). Of the total sample, 83.1% were female and 38.9% worked full-time. The median tenure was between 7 years and 10 years. Constructs were assessed by online questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used to test mediation.ResultsStructural equation modeling confirmed the negative association of conflict with supervisors and job resources. Tests of indirect paths to resources as a link between conflicts with supervisors and job attitudes were significant. For nurses, social support, participation and appreciation showed a significant indirect path, while among medical technicians the indirect paths included social support and appreciation, and among physicians only appreciation showed a significant indirect path. In medical therapists no indirect path was significant. Job resources did not mediate the link between conflict with supervisors and stress in any occupational group.ConclusionConflicts with supervisors are likely to reduce job resources and in turn to lower job attitudes. Work design in hospitals should, therefore, address interpersonal working conditions and conflict management in leadership development.

Shared perceptions of supervisor conflict management style

Purpose– This study aims to investigate the extent to which employee outcomes (anxiety/depression, bullying and workers’ compensation claims thoughts) are affected by shared perceptions of supervisor conflict management style (CMS). Further, this study aims to assess cross-level moderating effects of supervisor CMS climate on the positive association between relationship conflict and these outcomes.Design/methodology/approach– Multilevel modeling was conducted using a sample of 401 employees nested in 69 workgroups.Findings– High collaborating, low yielding and low forcing climates (positive supervisor climates) were associated with lower anxiety/depression, bullying and claim thoughts. Unexpectedly, the direction of moderation showed that the positive association between relationship conflict and anxiety/depression and bullying was stronger for positive supervisor CMS climates than for negative supervisor CMS climates (low collaborating, high yielding and high forcing). Nevertheless, these interactions revealed that positive supervisor climates were the most effective at reducing anxiety/depression and bullying when relationship conflict was low. For claim thoughts, positive supervisor CMS climates had the predicted stress-buffering effects.Research limitations/implications– Employees benefit from supervisors creating positive CMS climates when dealing with conflict as a third party, and intervening when conflict is low, when their intervention is more likely to minimize anxiety/depression and bullying.Originality/value– By considering the unique perspective of employees’ shared perceptions of supervisor CMS, important implications for the span of influence of supervisor behavior on employee well-being have been indicated.

The mediating effects of organizational conflict on the relationships between workplace ostracism with in-role behavior and organizational citizenship behavior

Purpose– This study aims to examine the mediating effects of organizational conflict on the relationships between workplace ostracism with in-role behavior and organizational citizenship behaviors. The workplace is a social context where many individuals spend a great amount of their time. Frequently being excluded or ignored is a common experience within all social contexts, and the study emphasizes how those feelings can affect organizational members. The current study extends research, as prior empirical studies have focused mainly on the direct consequences of workplace ostracism.Design/methodology/approach– The study was longitudinally designed, as data were collected using a two-wave self-reported survey. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted to test the study’s hypotheses.Findings– The study found workplace ostracism to be positively related to coworker conflict, supervisor conflict and task conflict. Coworker conflict was found to fully mediate the relationships between workplace ostracism with in-role behavior and organizational citizenship behaviors.Research limitations/implications– As the study was conducted in Korea, the results cannot be generalizable and should be tested in Western cultures. Although the study was longitudinally designed, the first-wave survey measured the independent variable, while the second-wave survey measured the mediating and dependent variables. Also, self-reported surveys are always of concern; thus, multiple sources should be considered to strengthen the research model’s relationships.Practical implications– Organizations and managers need to continuously address the quality of interpersonal relationships among all organizational members. As studies reveal that being “out of the loop” is quite a common phenomenon, individual and organizational performance can be greatly affected, as work is becoming more interdependent and team work is frequently implemented within organizations.Social implications– Individuals interact in numerous social contexts and as the workplace is an important context where many individuals spend a lot of their time and interact with other organizational members, the quality of the relationships at work can have spillover effects that can affect interpersonal relationships outside of the workplace.Originality/value– The study explores and empirically tests the mediating effects of organizational conflict on the relationships between workplace ostracism with in-role behavior and organizational citizenship behaviors. The study extends research on the consequences of workplace ostracism and helps further understand how workplace ostracism can affect workplace attitudes and behaviors.

Supervisor conflict management, justice, and strain: multilevel relationships

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to test a multilevel model of the main and mediating effects of supervisor conflict management style (SCMS) climate and procedural justice (PJ) climate on employee strain. It is hypothesized that workgroup-level climate induced by SCMS can fall into four types: collaborative climate, yielding climate, forcing climate, or avoiding climate; that these group-level perceptions will have differential effects on employee strain, and will be mediated by PJ climate.Design/methodology/approach– Multilevel SEM was used to analyze data from 420 employees nested in 61 workgroups.Findings– Workgroups that perceived high supervisor collaborating climate reported lower sleep disturbance, job dissatisfaction, and action-taking cognitions. Workgroups that perceived high supervisor yielding climate and high supervisor forcing climate reported higher anxiety/depression, sleep disturbance, job dissatisfaction, and action-taking cognitions. Results supported a PJ climate mediation model when supervisors’ behavior was reported to be collaborative and yielding.Research limitations/implications– The cross-sectional research design places limitations on conclusions about causality; thus, longitudinal studies are recommended.Practical implications– Supervisor behavior in response to conflict may have far-reaching effects beyond those who are a party to the conflict. The more visible use of supervisor collaborative CMS may be beneficial.Social implications– The economic costs associated with workplace conflict may be reduced through the application of these findings.Originality/value– By applying multilevel theory and analysis, we extend workplace conflict theory.

Examining the mediating effect of supervisor conflict on procedural injustice–job strain relations: The function of power distance.

The present study examined the associations among procedural injustice, conflict with a supervisor (supervisor conflict), and job strains for employees with different power distance orientations. Using data from 301 university employees, along with corroborative reports from a coworker of each employee, we tested a moderated mediation model in which the indirect effect of procedural injustice on job strains (e.g., anxiety and depression) through supervisor conflict was conditional upon employees' power distance orientation. We found perceived procedural injustice was positively related to supervisor conflict, and this relation was moderated by employees' power distance orientation (as supported by both self- and coworker-reported conflict data). The pattern of the moderating effect indicated the positive relation between procedural injustice and supervisor conflict was only significant among employees with low to moderate power distance orientations. As expected, supervisor conflict served as the underlying mechanism linking perceived procedural injustice and employees' anxiety/depression (as supported by self-reported conflict data). The mediating effect of supervisor conflict was significant for employees with low to moderate power distance orientations but not for employees with high power distance orientation. This study broadens the focus of research on supervisor conflict and presents a more complex model of how perceived injustice influences employees' job strains than is currently available in the literature.

Conflict coaching training for nurse managers: a case study of a two-hospital health system

This study evaluated the application of the Comprehensive Conflict Coaching model in a hospital environment. Conflict coaching involves a coach working with a client to improve the client's conflict understanding, interaction strategies and/or interaction skills. The training of nurse managers as conflict coaches is an innovative continuing education programme that partially addresses conflict-related concerns in nursing. Twenty nurse managers trained as conflict coaches and each coached a supervisee. Qualitative data were gathered from nurse managers, supervisees and senior nursing leaders over an 8-month period and organized using standard programme evaluation themes. Benefits included supervisor conflict coaching competency and enhanced conflict communication competency for nurse managers and supervisees facing specific conflict situations. Challenges included the management of programme tensions. Additional benefits and challenges are discussed, along with study limitations. Conflict coaching was a practical and effective means of developing the conflict communication competencies of nurse managers and supervisees. Additional research is needed. Conflict is common in nursing. Conflict coaching is a new conflict communication and supervision intervention that demonstrates initial promise. Conflict coaching seems to work best when supported by a positive conflict culture and integrated with other conflict intervention processes.

Interpersonal conflicts at work as a predictor of self-reported health outcomes and occupational mobility

Objectives: The aim of this prospective study was to examine the relationship between interpersonal conflicts at work and subsequent self-reported health outcomes (self-reported general health, need for recovery, and prolonged...

Risk factors for interpersonal conflicts at work

The main goal of this study was to identify work-related risk factors for the onset of interpersonal conflicts at work. Longitudinal data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on "fatigue at work" (N=9241) were used. After the respondents who reported an interpersonal conflict at baseline were excluded, logistic regression analyses were used to determine the role of several work-related risk factors at baseline in the onset of a conflict with coworkers or supervisors after 1 year of follow-up. Higher psychological job demands, higher levels of role ambiguity, the presence of physical demands, higher musculoskeletal demands, a poorer physical work environment, shift work, overtime, and higher levels of job insecurity significantly predicted the onset of both a coworker conflict and a supervisor conflict. Higher levels of coworker and supervisor social support, more autonomy concerning the terms of employment, good overall job satisfaction, monetary gratification, and esteem reward significantly protected against the onset of both a coworker conflict and a supervisor conflict. Higher levels of decision latitude and more career opportunities also significantly protected against the onset of a supervisor conflict. Several factors in the work environment were related to the onset of interpersonal conflicts at work. Given the rather serious consequences of interpersonal conflicts at work with respect to health and well-being, the observed risk factors can serve as a starting point for effective prevention and intervention strategies in the workplace.

Conflict Between International Graduate Students and Faculty Supervisors: Toward Effective Conflict Prevention and Management Strategies

Recent research indicates that destructive conflict occurs in a significant number of international graduate student and faculty supervisor relationships. Unfortunately, a paucity of research exists to inform the effective management or prevention of this problem. To address this lacunae, international graduate students (n = 55) and faculty supervisors (n = 53) completed a survey that assessed their needs for managing and preventing destructive conflict with each other. Results indicate that 22% of international graduate students and 34% of faculty supervisors have experienced student-supervisor conflict. Some of the sources of these conflicts were lack of openness, time, and feedback; unclear expectations; and poor English proficiency. Several common needs for managing conflict were found, including a preference to use negotiation rather than more confrontational procedures such as arbitration. Recommendations regarding the management and prevention of international graduate student and faculty supervisor conflict are provided.

Minimization of supervisor conflict for multiprocessor computer systems

In a multiprocessor system, the handling of interrupts generated by jobs in the processors is assigned to a supervisory program and associated data base. The two basic philosophies for deciding which processor executes the supervisor are master-slave and floating executive control. In either case, queueing of requests to the supervisor may occur. With the master-slave structure, the master processor can handle only one request at a time. With floating executive control, while any processor can execute the supervisor, only one processor at a time can be allowed to access the supervisor's data base. A processor which is waiting to use the supervisor is not doing useful work. Therefore, queueing of requests to the supervisor causes a degradation in the performance of the system. Previous studies have indicated that this degradation is significant for systems with a large number of processors. A methodology is developed through simulation which reduces supervisor queueing by scheduling jobs to processors such that they request the use of the supervisor when the supervisor is predicted to be available. Information concerning job execution characteristics required by the scheduler is shown to be available at sufficient accuracy via dynamic monitoring and forecasting during normal program execution.