Conflict coping strategy evolution of top management team members in China’s family enterprises

Abstract

Purpose Conflicts among top management team (TMT) members have a significant impact on sustainable development of family enterprises in China. The complex attributes of different kinds of conflicts in a TMT have dual effects on firm performance and its stability. Thus, avoiding conflicts in a TMT through a systematic conflict management strategy is very important. This paper aims to therefore investigate how to maximize the performance and income level of the TMT in family enterprises through managing conflict systematically, while adopting the best conflict coping strategies. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors apply conflict coping strategies as a useful tool of conflict management and propose five kinds of dynamic conflict coping strategies among TMT members. Repeated game and multi-agent simulation by computer experiment are used to dynamically simulate the rules and evolution of individual conflict coping strategy choices. Findings It is found that with the passage of time, different conflict coping strategies have different effects on earnings of individuals and teams at different conflict levels. It is also revealed that conflict coping strategies affect not only the earnings of individuals and teams but also their distribution; it also reflects the conflict level in TMT of a family enterprise but in reverse. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing literature on conflict management in relevance to the choice and revolution of conflict coping strategies in a Chinese business culture context. It focuses on strengthening the unity and cooperation of TMT members. Controlling the conflict level of TMT members at a reasonable level, investigating the primary cause of conflict and identifying its nature lead to better performance of the TMT and the sustainable development of Chinese family enterprises. Based on these outcomes, different conflict coping strategies can be appropriately used to solve TMT conflicts.

Effects of Top Management Team Characteristics on Patent Strategic Change and Firm Performance

“…Another dimension of PSC of an enterprise is its scope, which describes the depth, breadth, and intensity of the change (Wu et al, 2018 ), reflecting the corporate intellectual property culture, the thoughts underpinning patent strategy, and resources committed to the strategy. The scope of the change is seen as an important enterprise response to the dynamic external environment.…”

“…However, it may also result in conservative executives and stagnant strategies, posing problems for achieving goals of the enterprise, i.e., keeping an edge in the patent strategy. Conversely, shorter tenures mean different viewpoints and greater heterogeneity among the members, leading to better adaptation of the dynamics, more innovative strategies, new products and patents, and bigger business numbers (Keck, 1997 ; Wu et al, 2018 ).…”

“…The degrees of homogeneity and heterogeneity in terms of demographics, cognitive traits, values, and experience impact the strategic change. Accordingly, different compositions of TMT play a role in the formation and implementation of the patent strategy (Chen et al, 2010 ; Wu et al, 2018 ). We anticipated that TMT diversity, TMT emotional intelligence, and TMT perception of safety climate serve as relevant antecedents of PSC, which in turn is a significant driver of firm performance ( Figure 1 ).…”

Influence of differential leadership behavior on employees’ deviant innovation: Based on dual perspectives of insider and outsider subordinates

“…On the one hand, when the insider subordinates cannot meet their leader’s role requirements or meet their leader’s expectations, the leader may also gradually weaken or dissolve the business relationship with insider subordinates , which results in the emergence of conversion of the latter from being subordinates inside the circle to subordinates outside the circle ( Liu, 2014 ; Wu et al, 2018b ). Therefore, differential leadership can motivate insider subordinates to improve their work ability, improve work efficiency, and fully explore their own advantages in order to avoid being replaced by other employees.…”

Workplace Bullying, Anxiety, and Job Performance: Choosing Between “Passive Resistance” or “Swallowing the Insult”?

“…Many employees are subjected to bullying of some kind at some point in their career. Chinese employees, however, are more likely to view their experience as typical or normal, given a culture of power orientation and obedience that is unique to Confucianism (Guo et al, 2015;Mengyun et al, 2018).…”