CONFLICT AND WORKPLACE OUTCOMES

RESEARCH QUESTION
How and when task conflict influence the workplace relationships and workplace performance
of employees through the moderating effect of personality?
RESEARCH PURPOSE
This study is used to recommend the four variables included in this themed issue that focus on
task conflict and workplace outcomes with moderating effects of personality types. This study
is available to help that how the task conflict effects relationships and performance of
employees towards their workplace outcomes with the moderating effect of personality.
These outcomes are important and relevant for conflict management for assessing and
influencing actual outcomes which is significant for organizations across the globe.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1.1 TASK CONFLICT & WORKPLACE RELATIONSHIP
People are in conflict when they obstructed by another person and conflict may involve
relationship or task oriented dissent. Task conflict is disagreement between opinions and ideas
and relationship is interpersonal disagreement. Task conflict affects the workplace relationship
of employees. It can be handle by talk with other persons, focus on behavior and events not
on personalities.
1.2 TASK CONFLICT & WORKPLACE PERFORMANCE
Workplace task performance of employees can be improved by task conflict because task
conflict generates new ideas which is beneficial for employees and organization innovation.
Many studies are available that facilitate the performance gains from task conflict.
1.3 TASK CONFLICT & PERSONALITY
The focus of many researchers on personality in teams because personality types has direct
effect on team outcomes. Mostly employees has different personality traits such as emotional
stability, conscientiousness, openness to experience, extraversion, introversion and
agreeableness. They perform under their personality traits which represent their behavior
towards their task performance. And the task conflict arise when they have different
personalities some are willing for perform a task and some employees deny to perform task or
goal because often they have new ideas because they are creative and can effects the
performance in a positive way but some of them has other personality such as emotional
stability they are unable to perform well due to stress. However personality types strongly
effect the task conflict, task performance and relationships of employees in organization.
1.4 PERSONALITY & WORKPLACE RELATINSHIPS
Personality moderate the workplace relationship, because these relationships are involving
individuals with opposite personalities which can becomes a challenge for each person to view
situation from a different perspective. In the workplace, differing personality traits are
important to create a diverse workplace where creativity and ideas can thrive.
1.5 PERSONALITY & WORKPLACE PERFORMANCE
Personality also moderating the workplace performance, it affects the all aspects of person
performance even how he reacts to situation on the job. Not every personality suited for job
position therefore it is important to recognize personality traits and pair of employees which
fit their jobs with their personalities.
MODEL
PERSONALITY
TYPES

WORKPLACE
RELATIONSHIP

TASK CONFLICT

WOKPLACE
PERFORMANCE

INTRODUCTION
Conflict refers to an incompatibility between cognitions and emotions within individual or
between the individual. It is inevitable and persuasive aspects of organization life it arises
between the individuals, within or between organizations giving a bad names by associations
as violence, hostile behaviors, and disturbance (De Dreu & Beersma 2005).
Task conflict refers to different opinions, ideas and behaviors of individuals. It occurs when
two parties are unable to move forward with similar task due to differing needs and thoughts,
attitudes. It can be conflict over organizational policies and procedure, distribution of
resources, or the method or means of performing a task. Task conflict frequently influence by
personality types of employees in organization because individuals are different in their nature
to avoid, accommodate, compromise or compete with others. Therefore the role of traits-
relatives motives is explaining the conflict behavior and reactions to conflict.
Personality is a set of characteristics or traits of individual physical appearance. Team conflict,
team work, can create conditions under which task can improves team performance, the
moderating effect of personality influence the team member characteristics are absent from
the literature (Behfar et al., 2008; Bradley et al., 2012; Jehn & Mannix., 2001). Focusing on
personality compositions help team benefit from conflict should contributed to understanding
the conflict in teams and provide guidance to manager trying to better understand that how
personality traits and conflict improve team performance.
Emotional stability states to emotionally stable, or behaved under stress, steady and self-
assured. The team who has emotional stability their level have contingency effects on the
conflict and performance relationship (Driskell et al., 2006).
Conscientiousness denotes to dependable and well organized personalities, they perform
their duties with full responsibility. Their team’s level give efficient results, their task
performance is well because they are achievement oriented and determined.
Openness to experience refers to imaginative and curious, creative and open minded peoples.
The team level of open individuals effects the performance and relationships of employees.
They tend to be successful in resolving the conflict .they do not avoid conflict but approach it
with a collaborative attitude (Burke., 2006).
Extraversion peoples are socially perceptive, expressive .friendly in nature, affiliated, and tend
to be assertive and dominant. The average level of extraversion teams, two opposing process
is emerge. They are take participate in group discussions which should facilitate the resolution
of task conflict.
Agreeableness describes the interpersonal interactions tend to be cooperative and helpful and
trusting. The teams agreeableness should not affects the relationship between the task
conflict and team performance because when agreeableness is high in teams, teammates
rarely perceives that conflict occurs because conflicts tends to fade away (Costa & McCrae.,
1992).
Workplace relationship is a unique interpersonal relationship with important implications for
individuals in those relationships, and the organizations in which the relationship exist and
develop, these connections are multifaceted ,can exist in and out of organization and be both
positive and negative. It is socio emotional disagreements that are usually associated with
feelings of annoyance and animosity (Jehn., 1995). The conflict in relationship can be resolve
by adopting the strategy, focus on behavior and events, listen carefully, identify the points of
agreements and disagreements, prioritize the areas of conflict, and develop a plan to work on
each conflict and follow through your plan and build on your success.
Workplace performance is a generic term for how a person does on a given task. For instance
task performance is sometimes measured as response time how long a person takes to
respond on a given time period or it could be measured as accuracy. There is too many
organizational managers thinks that conflict is a threat for coordination and compromising and
ineffective functioning therefore it should be prevent or avoided (Jaffee.,2000). But now study
recommend that task conflict is necessary for innovation and different ideas it enhance the
performance of employees by their creativity (CKW De Dreu, LR Weingart., 2003).