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This paper aims to investigate the effects task conflict has on agreement seeking behavior and interpersonal conflict. In addition, it seeks to examine the moderating role of trust on the effects of agreement seeking behavior and interpersonal conflict on the styles of handing conflict, namely, avoidance, collaboration, and third party intervention.

Using a structured survey instrument, this paper gathered data from 252 senior executives from Mainland China and analyzed these using the regression technique to see how interpersonal trust between executives moderates the relationship between conflict and conflict response mechanisms. The study also investigates the relationship between task and relationship conflict as well as agreement‐seeking behavior among Chinese executives in Mainland China.

Results show that the presence of interpersonal trust among executives affects the conflict responses for the benefit of organization. The results show that task conflict in top management teams is positively related to relationship conflict and negatively related to agreement‐seeking behavior. The data support the view that intra‐group trust moderates the relationship between agreement‐seeking behavior and collaborating responses such that high‐trust groups will have greater collaboration than low‐trusting teams. Results also support that intra‐group trust moderates the relationship between agreement‐seeking behavior and third party responses such that high‐trust groups will have greater third‐party responses than low‐trusting teams.

Self‐report measures may have some inherent social desirability bias. Despite this potential weakness, this study examines Chinese executives and therefore provides insights into top management team literature.

This study contributes to both practicing managers as well as to strategic management literature. This study suggests that administrators need to focus on interpersonal trust while dealing with the outcomes of task and relationship conflict.

Although the study is related to Chinese executives, the findings from the study, that task conflict has its affect on interpersonal conflict and agreement‐seeking behavior, contribute to the strategic decision making literature.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of cooperative conflict management on agreement-seeking behavior, agreement-seeking behavior on decision outcomes, moderating role of competence-based trust on the relationship between agreement-seeking behavior and decision outcomes, and mediating role of agreement-seeking behavior between cooperative conflict management and decision outcomes.

Using a structured survey instrument, this paper gathered data from 348 students enrolled in a strategic management capstone course that features strategic decision-making in a simulated business strategy game. The data from 94 teams were collected from the student population using a carefully administered instrument. The data were aggregated after running the inter-rater agreement test and the analyzed to test the hypotheses.

The results from the hierarchical regression of the complex moderated mediation model reveal that cooperative conflict management is positively related to agreement-seeking behavior, and agreement-seeking behavior mediates the relationship between cooperative conflict management and decision outcomes. The results also suggest that competence-based trust acts as a moderator in the relationship between agreement-seeking behavior and decision quality; agreement-seeking behavior and team effectiveness, and agreement-seeking behavior and decision commitment. Results also support mediation of agreement-seeking behavior between cooperative conflict management and decision outcomes.

The present research is based on self-report measures, and hence, the limitations of social desirability bias and common method bias are inherent. However, adequate care is taken to minimize these limitations. The research has implications for the strategic decision-making process literature.

In addition to the strategic management literature, this study contributes to practicing managers. The study suggests that competence-based trust plays a vital role in decision effectiveness. Administrators need to select the members in the decision-making process who have competence-based trust on one another and engage in agreement-seeking behavior.

The findings from the study help in creating a fruitful social environment in organizations.

This study provides new insights about the previously unknown effects of cooperative conflict management and agreement-seeking behavior in strategic decision-making process.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of three important group process variables, namely, agreement-seeking behavior, group trust, and cognitive diversity, on decision outcomes. In addition, it seeks to examine the role of process conflict as a moderator in the relationship between agreement-seeking behavior and team effectiveness; agreement-seeking behavior and decision commitment; cognitive diversity and team effectiveness; and cognitive diversity and decision commitment.

Using a structured survey instrument, this paper gathered data from 160 students enrolled in a strategic management capstone course that features strategic decision making in a simulated business strategy game. The data from 41 teams were collected from the student population using a carefully administered instrument, and the data were aggregated only after appropriate inter-rater agreement tests were run.

Results show that the group process variables are positively related to decision outcomes. The data support the view that process conflict acts as a moderator in the relationship between agreement-seeking behavior and team effectiveness and decision commitment. Further, the results support that cognitive diversity has a positive impact on decision commitment and team effectiveness. Process conflict, which acts as a deterrent, is outweighed by the presence of agreement-seeking behavior.

Since the present research is based on self-report measures, the limitations of social desirability bias and common method bias are inherent. However, sufficient care is taken to minimize these limitations. The research has implications for both the conflict management and strategic decision-making process literatures.

This study contributes to both practicing managers and the strategic management literature. The study suggests that administrators should select those teams who are prone to agreement-seeking behavior; and team members who trust one another. Administrators need not unduly avoid process conflict because diversity in opinions and thinking and agreement-seeking behavior outweigh the negative effects of process conflict.

The findings from the study will be useful for creating congenial social environment in the organizations.

This study provides new insights about the previously unknown effects of process conflict in strategic decision-making process.

The aim of this research is two‐fold: to examine the effects of certain characteristics of top management teams (TMTs) on innovative performance in their companies; and to determine if this influence is direct or if it is influenced by other factors, such as the existence of strategic consensus in the team.

The research is developed using Upper Echelon Theory. This study was conducted with a sample of 100 companies from innovative sectors. Different regression analysis were undertaken in order to test the established hypotheses.

Three main conclusions can be drawn from this research. First, it cannot be stated that all types of diversity related to TMT activity or work have a positive effect on innovation in companies. In this way, diversity in TMT tenure appears to have a negative influence. Second, the incidence of diversity on innovation cannot be direct in all cases. Therefore, functional diversity has a positive effect on innovation, but always when there is a context of strategic consensus in the management team. Finally, TMT educational level exerts a positive effect on organizational innovation degree, independently on processes, which may occur within the team.

The paper has tried to improve and clarify the contributions about the direct relationship model proposed by Upper Echelon Theory between TMT demographic characteristics and innovation. The results have confirmed, in support of the critics of the theory that it is necessary to introduce and analyze, along with demographic variables, other factors and processes which affect TMT decision making.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the educational level and diversity of a firm's top management team (TMT), moderated by strategic consensus, influence its innovation performance.

Using Poisson regression analysis, the proposed models were tested on 97 innovative Spanish firms selected from the Dun and Bradstreet database of 2000.

Results show that a higher educational level in the TMT has a positive and direct effect on innovation performance, while functional diversity and diversity in TMT tenure have a direct and negative effect. However, in a situation of strategic consensus in the TMT, the relationship between functional diversity and innovation is positive.

The paper makes several contributions to previous research. First, few studies have considered the influence of the characteristics and composition of the TMT on the organization's innovation performance. Second, this paper responds to the calls of researchers to enrich the upper echelon theory by considering strategic consensus as a process of interaction between the members of the TMT that modifies the relationship between TMT diversity and the firm's innovation performance.

This study aims to explore and clarify the mechanism by which cognitive heuristics influence strategic decision-making during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in an emerging economy.

Data collection was conducted through a survey completed by 213 top-level managers from firms located in the twin cities of Pakistan. A convenient, purposively sampling technique and snowball method were used for data collection. To examine the relationship between cognitive heuristics and strategic decision-making, hypotheses were tested by using correlation and regression analysis.

The article provides further insights into the relationship between cognitive heuristics and strategic decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results suggest that cognitive heuristics (under-confidence, self-attribution and disposition effect) have a markedly negative influence on the strategic decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic in an emerging economy.

The article encourages strategic decision-makers to avoid relying on cognitive heuristics or their feelings when making strategic decisions. It provides awareness and understanding of cognitive heuristics in strategic decision-making, which could be very useful for business actors such as managers and entire organizations. The findings of this study will help academicians, researchers and policymakers of emerging countries. Academicians can formulate new behavioural models that can depict the solutions to dealing with an uncertain situation like COVID-19. Policymakers and strategic decision-making teams can develop crisis management strategies based on concepts from behavioral strategy to better deal with similar circumstances in the future, such as COVID-19.

The paper’s novelty is that the authors have explored the mechanism by which cognitive heuristics influence strategic decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic in an emerging economy. It adds to the literature in strategic management, explicitly probing the impact of cognitive heuristics on strategic decision-making; this field is in its initial stage, even in developed countries, while little work has been done in emerging countries.

The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-10-2021-0636.

The purpose of this paper was to examine knowledge hiding behaviours with perceived conflict types, competition and personal values of employees.

Two studies were carried out and structural equation modelling and moderated regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses.

Study I, with employees from software development companies, revealed that task conflict and relationship conflict have additive effect on knowledge hiding behaviour. Additionally, task conflict is positively related to employees’ perceived competition. However, no mediation role of perceived competition was found between conflict types and knowledge hiding. Study II, with employees from the banking sector, indicated that employees’ individualistic or collectivistic values play a moderating role between perceived task conflict and knowledge hiding behaviours. The negative effect of task conflict on knowledge hiding behaviour is higher if the individuals have individualistic personal values.

This study contributes to managers by offering some guidance on what can be the results of conflict and competition between employees and how employees’ personal values can affect conflict and knowledge hiding relation.

To the challenges of knowledge hiding behaviour outcomes for businesses, many managers should first consider the predictors of knowledge hiding and then find some solutions against the negative consequences. This study is one of the first to examine knowledge hiding with regard to conflict types, perceived competition between employees and personal values of employees.

The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of top management team (TMT) processes on firm innovativeness. Firm innovativeness is critical for organizational survival. Yet, the authors’ understanding about the key determinants of firm innovativeness is limited, particularly concerning the role of TMT dynamics. Drawing on upper echelon’s theory, the authors develop and test hypotheses concerning the influence of two TMT processes, namely affective conflict and cognitive conflict, on firm innovativeness. They also explore the boundary conditions of TMT dynamics by examining the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the relationship between TMT conflict (affective and cognitive conflict) and firm innovativeness.

The authors collected survey-based data from TMT members in 171 information technology organizations based in India. They used multiple regression analyses to test the study hypotheses.

The empirical findings indicate that TMT affective conflict is negatively associated with firm innovativeness, whereas TMT cognitive conflict has a negative curvilinear relationship with it. Both relationships are stronger in firms operating in environments characterized by a high degree of uncertainty.

This study highlights the role of TMT conflict in the pursuit of firm innovativeness. Significantly, the study shows that both TMT affective conflict and cognitive conflict can affect firm innovativeness. However, their effectiveness is contingent on environmental uncertainty. This contributes to the firm innovation literature by clarifying how specific types of TMT conflict influence firm innovativeness in different environmental conditions.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of two categories of conflict antecedents – input and behavior antecedents – on the level of relationship conflict (RC) in top management teams (TMTs). The authors apply a process view to conflict, and consider that the effect of the input antecedents on RC may be mediated by a behavioral antecedent: behavioral integration.

Using a survey instrument, multi-informant data were collected from 64 TMTs. An aggregation and measurement analysis was performed. To test the hypotheses of mediation, bootstrapping procedures were used.

The results show that the effects of team tenure, intragroup trust and value consensus on relationship conflict are mediated by behavioral integration. However, TMT size does not affect relationship conflict – either directly or indirectly – through behavioral integration.

It is concluded that encouraging intragroup trust and value consensus among TMT members facilitates the integrated behavior of the team. This behavioral integration may allow conflict to be constructive. Therefore, firms should make an effort to encourage this psychological context.

Previous research about the antecedents of RC in the field of TMTs is inconclusive. Additionally, a new approach to conflict antecedents is considered, to establish a direct and independent relationship between different categories of antecedents and TMT conflict. A relationship of interdependence is considered between different types of antecedents and their effects on RC.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dimensionality of intragroup conflict and to develop an instrument with acceptable psychometric properties for the comprehensive measurement of conflict.

This paper strictly follows the standard scale-developing method: first, establish theoretical dimensions of intragroup conflict; then, develop the initial scale through in-depth interviews and coding schemes; third, revise and verify the scale through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis; and, finally, examine the predictive validity of the new intragroup conflict scale.

This study identifies four dimensions of intragroup conflict – cognitive conflict, affective conflict, behavioral conflict, and interest-based conflict – and provides evidence of construct validity for a new measure. The results show that cognitive and interest-based conflict affect group innovation performance positively, whereas affective and behavioral conflict affects it negatively.

This study first detects interest-based conflict as a new dimension and explores a more comprehensive scale (ABCI) that reflects all the connotations of conflict, which deepens the understanding of intragroup conflict, laying a solid foundation for empirical studies of conflict.