THE EFFECTS OF CONFLICT, TRUST, AND TASK COMMITMENT ON PROJECT TEAM PERFORMANCE

Whereas recent research linking conflict to performance has focused on strategic or executive teams, this paper examines task performing project teams. The authors present an overall model for team performance which includes relationship characteristics such as commitment, trust, conflict, and task processes. The authors propose that conflict, which may be quite beneficial for strategic teams, is more likely to hinder than help performance in project teams. The structural model is tested using data from 464 individuals in 80 student teams working on a new product introduction case project. The empirical findings support the view that (1) commitment and trust have only an indirect relationship with team performance, (2) and conflict and task processes are key explanatory variables directly related to team performance.