Business Commons^™

Open-Minded Discussion In Interdepartmental Collaboration : Contribution Of Goal Interdependence And Social Motives, Jiewei, Antonia Lu

Lingnan Theses

Combining theories of social motives, goal interdependence, and conflict management, this study theorized a model in which interdepartmental goal interdependence affects conflict outcomes between different departments through open-minded discussion dynamics adopted by employees from different departments in the organization. This study also proposes that social motives moderate the link between inter-departmental goal interdependence and open-minded discussion.

A sample of 133 employees from different business organizations in China were interviewed to recall a critical incident when they had a conflict with their coworker from different departments. SEM results and other analysis results support the hypotheses that cooperative interdepartmental goal interdependence and …

Conflict Management Between Employees From Different Departments : Contribution Of Organizational Identification And Controversy, Taohong Zhu

Lingnan Theses

Synthesizing theories of social identity, goal interdependence, and conflict management, this study built and tested a theoretical model in which interdepartmental goal interdependence affects conflict outcomes between different departments through constructive controversy (i.e. the open-minded discussion for mutual benefit) dynamics adopted by employees from different departments in the organization. This study also proposes that organizational identification moderates the link between interdepartmental goal interdependence and constructive controversy.

An interview sample of 129 employees from various business organizations and diverse industries in mainland China described and rated a critical incident when they had a conflict with their coworker from another department in …

Effects Of Goal Interdependence And Social Identity On Departments And Their Relationships In China, Liyan Wang

Lingnan Theses

Synergy among departments is increasingly considered vital for organizations to use their full resources to deal with threats and explore opportunities in the rapidly changing marketplace. Although valuable, developing synergy among departments is a difficult management challenge.

Departments within organizations often have their own business goals, yet the coordination of these goals is a precondition for overall organizational effectiveness. The need for goal coordination makes departments interdependent (Thompson, 1967), but this interdependence may become particularly problematic when the different departmental goals are incompatible (St. John & Hall, 1991).

Because of the value of cooperative goals for coordination, managers want to …