Group harmony in the workplace: Conception, measurement, and validation

Chao C. Chen, Ali F. Ünal, Kwok Leung, Katherine R. Xin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Based on a literature review of Chinese traditional philosophies and social science research on social harmony we formulated the group harmony construct, developed a scale, and tested its validity in two studies on 167 top management groups from China. Study 1 demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity of group harmony and evaluated its predictive validity against well-established constructs of relationship conflict, task conflict, group cohesiveness, psychological safety, and conflict avoidance. Study 2 further examined the construct and nomological validity of group harmony and tested the effects of group harmony and found that, as hypothesized, group harmony enhanced group innovative performance through increasing knowledge sharing among group members. However, instead of motivating innovative performance through fostering moderate levels of task conflict, group harmony enhanced innovative performance through reducing task conflict on the one hand and neutralizing the negative effect of task conflict on the other. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)903-934
Number of pages32
JournalAsia Pacific Journal of Management
Volume33
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Business and International Management
  • Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)
  • Strategy and Management

Keywords

  • Group cohesiveness
  • Group harmony
  • Relationship conflict
  • Task conflict
  • Top management groups

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