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Effects of team diversity on project performance in construction projects

Guangdong Wu (Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang, China)
Xianbo Zhao (School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, Sydney, Australia)
Jian Zuo (School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia)
George Zillante (School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia)

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

ISSN: 0969-9988

Article publication date: 28 February 2019

Issue publication date: 3 April 2019

3016

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is fourfold: first, to investigate the effect of team diversity on different types of conflicts; second, to determine if team diversity is significantly correlated with project performance; third, to investigate the mediating effect of project conflicts on the relationship between team diversity and project performance and fourth, to examine the relationship between different types of conflicts and project performance in construction projects.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical model was developed and a questionnaire survey was conducted with 246 professionals. The structural equation modeling technique was applied to analyze the data.

Findings

The results showed that: team diversity was positively associated with project performance; the introduction of conflicts significantly weakened the effect of diversity on performance; conflicts have both constructive and destructive effects on project performance; and team diversity affected project performance through the mediating effects of task conflict and relationship conflict, thus adding both positive and negative effects on performance.

Research limitations/implications

There are other factors which may affect conflicts and project performance such as communication, trust and contract. Future research could be conducted to determine the role of these variables in determining the effects of team diversity on performance.

Practical implications

It is necessary to reduce the relationship conflict whereas maintaining a “healthy” level of task conflict. In light of this, the conclusions of this study highlight practical implications as follows: project teams should attach importance to diverse partner selection and select cooperative partners whose value orientations are similar; when implementing a construction project, the structure of diverse project teams should keep relatively stable, avoiding too many teams entering or exiting the project in a short period; project teams should make greater efforts to deal with destructive conflicts via relational governance such as trust and communication.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature in three areas. First, this study investigated the dynamic mechanism between team diversity, conflicts and performance in construction projects. Second, this study contributes to the body of knowledge on validating the mediating effects of conflicts on the relationship between team diversity and performance. Third, this study validated the positive and negative effects of team diversity on performance with different types of conflicts as mediation variables in construction projects.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71561009 and 71310165), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2016M590605 and 2017T100477), Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (2016KY27), Social Science Planning Foundation of Jiangxi Province (16GL32) and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (20171BAA218004).

Citation

Wu, G., Zhao, X., Zuo, J. and Zillante, G. (2019), "Effects of team diversity on project performance in construction projects", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 408-423. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-05-2018-0220

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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