TY - CONF
T1 - Dynamics of collaboration and conflict in multi-party systems: An empirical investigation using a multiparty simulation
AU - Schruijer, S.G.L.
AU - Curşeu, Petru Lucian
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Multi-party systems bring together various stakeholder groups or group representatives and offer an 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-group interactions (interpersonal interactions within each stakeholder party) as well as between-group interactions (interactions between the stakeholder parties) intertwine to generate bottom-up and top-down influences. Bottom-up influences describe the relational dynamics that arise from the stakeholder parties influencing the way all other parties are perceived, that is, having an impact on the overall system. Top-down influences refer to how relational dynamics characterizing the larger system influence the stakeholder parties. So far, the literature on multi-party systems lacks systematic investigations of these concurring types of influences. Our study investigates the dynamic interplay between experienced conflict within one’s stakeholder party, and perceived collaborativeness as well as conflictuality of the other stakeholder parties, using a simulation and adopting a longitudinal perspective. 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. We discuss our results in terms of their practical implications for the development of multi-party collaboration as well as their theoretical contributions to the multiparty literature.
AB - Multi-party systems bring together various stakeholder groups or group representatives and offer an 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-group interactions (interpersonal interactions within each stakeholder party) as well as between-group interactions (interactions between the stakeholder parties) intertwine to generate bottom-up and top-down influences. Bottom-up influences describe the relational dynamics that arise from the stakeholder parties influencing the way all other parties are perceived, that is, having an impact on the overall system. Top-down influences refer to how relational dynamics characterizing the larger system influence the stakeholder parties. So far, the literature on multi-party systems lacks systematic investigations of these concurring types of influences. Our study investigates the dynamic interplay between experienced conflict within one’s stakeholder party, and perceived collaborativeness as well as conflictuality of the other stakeholder parties, using a simulation and adopting a longitudinal perspective. 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. We discuss our results in terms of their practical implications for the development of multi-party collaboration as well as their theoretical contributions to the multiparty literature.
M3 - Paper
ER -