IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AD-HOC MARKETING TEAMS

Ad-hoc, cross-functional teams including marketers are widely used by businesses as a mechanism to incorporate cross-functional perspectives into the solution of business problems. While incorporating diverse perspectives offers the potential for novel, superior solutions, the diversity of perspectives in cross-functional teams can generate conflict that inhibits effective problem solving. This research develops and tests a framework outlining the causes and effects of conflict in ad-hoc teams and how the use of conflict management behaviors can mitigate the negative effects of the conflict inherent in ad-hoc, cross-functional teams. A study of 84 ad-hoc teams finds that diversity in team member commitment and previous social relationships between team members increases affective and task conflict. Diversity in power increases task conflict. Affective conflict in teams decreases the team member satis faction; however, task conflict decreases task performance as well as satisfaction. The use of confrontational conflict management behaviors improves task performance, while compromise conflict management behaviors improve the creativity of the team and the satisfaction of team members. Finally, conflict management behaviors moderate the impact of task conflict on team outcomes. Confrontational conflict behaviors mitigate the effects of task conflict on task performance. Specifically, compromise and avo idance conflict management behaviors exacerbate the effects of task conflict on the team’s creativity and the satisfaction of its members.