Examine how task conflict (TC) influences employee creativity (EC) and organizational commitment (OC), and whether leaders’ competitive and cooperative conflict management styles differentially moderate these effects in Vietnamese IT firms, drawing on Social Exchange Theory.
A cross-sectional survey of IT project employees in Vietnam was conducted using validated measures of TC, EC, OC, and competitive and cooperative conflict management styles. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM) was used to test reliability/validity, direct paths, moderation, and predictive power through bootstrapping.
TC was negatively associated with both EC and OC, while OC was positively associated with EC. Two novel results emerged: competitive conflict management styles intensified the negative association between TC and EC, whereas cooperative conflict management styles attenuated the negative association between TC and OC. The model explained substantial variance in both outcomes and demonstrated good predictive relevance.
Evidence from this study cautions against the assumption that increasing debate necessarily promotes idea generation. Leaders’ competitive style (COM) is associated with reduced EC, whereas a cooperative style (COO) helps preserve OC under TC. Accordingly, organizations should (i) equip leaders to diagnose task tensions, (ii) institutionalize psychological safety practices, and (iii) match conflict management styles to the specific outcome to be safeguarded, avoiding competitive conflict management styles when creativity is paramount and prioritizing cooperative conflict management styles to maintain commitment.
Introduces evidence of differentiated moderation in a collectivist, knowledge-intensive context, integrating EC and OC within a single framework and clarifying when specific conflict styles exacerbate or buffer the harms of conflict.
