Skip to content
Product cover

Improving the Performance of Top Management Teams

April 1, 2007 | Prof. Andrew J. Ward ajward@terry.uga.edu , Prof. Melenie J. Lankau mlankau@terry.uga.edu , Prof. Allen C. Amason aamason@terry.uga.edu , Prof. Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld jeffrey.sonnenfeld@yale.edu , Prof. Bradley R. Agle ethics@pitt.edu | Workplace, Teams, & Culture

Even the most seasoned executives may have strongly opposing views about the wisest course of action for an organization, particularly given their diverse personal backgrounds or previous immersion in other corporate cultures. But such differences in approach don't necessarily lead to conflicts that are unproductive and damaging to an organization. To investigate such issues, the authors conducted a study of the organizational values of the top management teams in 31 companies. (As defined by the authors, organizational values are the objectives that an individual or group believes are important in running a business, such as industry leadership, employee welfare, and profit maximization.)

The authors investigated two specific types of team conflict: task and relationship. Task conflict is characterized by substantive, issue-related differences in opinion. This type of disagreement can be beneficial when it ensures that a greater number of possible solutions are explored and that ideas are battle-tested within the group before significant resources are deployed. In contrast, relationship conflict -- characterized by disagreements over personalized, individually oriented matters -- is generally detrimental. It corrodes trust, hinders communication, slows the acceptance of ideas and leads to isolation and politicization among group members.

When it comes to both task and relationship conflicts, the study results showed that behavior is driven by perception rather than reality. Specifically, the greater the perceived difference in organizational values among members of a top management team and their CEO the greater the conflict. Interestingly, any actual dissimilarity was not a factor. Thus, the bottom line is that many top management teams are unnecessarily encountering difficulties because of members' faulty assumptions. To lessen this tendency, the authors advise companies to consider the following: establish an appropriate atmosphere for the team; because perceptions become reality, understand and manage them; investigate the gaps between perceptions and reality; and act decisively to correct gross misperceptions.

Purchase Options

Educator and Student Discounts Available. Learn more »

  BENCHMARKS  
Loading Time: Base Classes  0.0005
My Controller Construct  0.0003
Build Nav  0.0005
Controller Execution Time ( Products / Route )  0.0751
Total Execution Time  0.0756
  GET DATA  
No GET data exists
  MEMORY USAGE  
1.5797 MB
  POST DATA  
No POST data exists
  URI STRING  
store/improving-the-performance-of-top-management-teams
  CLASS/METHOD  
products/route
  DATABASE:  MITSLOAN_DEV   QUERIES: 68  (Hide)
0.0003  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0003  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0008  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0004  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0005  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0065  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0099  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0010  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0009  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0034  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0004  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0006  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  'ae88bbe623ab245cfd7ccfac791a2a75'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0002  

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS cat_id
FROM (`product_categories`)
WHERE `status_id` =  'A'
AND `url_friendly` =  'improving-the-performance-of-top-management-teams'
AND `parent_id` =  1 
0.0047  

SELECT c.parent_id, c.format_id
                    FROM products AS p, products AS c
                    WHERE p.prod_id = c.parent_id AND
                        c.avail_id IN ('A','B','D') AND
                        c.type_id = 'V' AND
                        (
                            c.sku = 'improving-the-performance-of-top-management-teams' OR
                            if(c.format_id = 'Certificate', '', p.url_friendly) = 'improving-the-performance-of-top-management-teams'
                        )
                    LIMIT 1 
0.0001  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  1205 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '1205' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '1205'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0001  

SELECT `cat_id`
FROM (`product_categories__products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '1205' 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`product_flags__products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '1205' 
0.0001  

SELECT `sku`
FROM (`products__xsell`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '1205'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position` 
0.0250  

SELECT `products`.`parent_id`
FROM (`transaction_lines`)
JOIN `products` ON `products`.`sku` = `transaction_lines`.`sku`
JOIN `product_categories__products` ON `products`.`parent_id` = `product_categories__products`.`prod_id`
WHERE `products`.`avail_id` =  'A'
AND TO_DAYS(transaction_lines.updated_at) < (TO_DAYS(NOW()) - 90)
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` IN ('244') 
GROUP BY `products`.`parent_id`
ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC
LIMIT 6 
0.0002  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '431' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '431' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '431'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0002  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '825' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '825' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '825'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0001  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '4029' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '4029' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '4029'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0001  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '439' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '439' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '439'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0001  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '3579' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '3579' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '3579'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0001  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '1571' 
0.0003  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '1571' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '1571'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0003  

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '1205'
AND `kind` =  'image_600x600'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position` 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `media`.`media_id` =  '588' 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`mime_types`)
WHERE `mime_types`.`extension` =  'jpg' 
0.0001  

SELECT *
FROM (`media_metadata`)
WHERE `media_id` =  '588' 
0.0002  

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '1205'
AND `kind` =  'gallery_image'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position` 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `avail_id` IN ('A', 'B', 'C', 'H') 
AND `parent_id` =  '1205'
AND `type_id` =  'V'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `title` 
0.0001  

SELECT `c`.`format_id`, `c`.`price`, `c`.`sale_price`
FROM (`products` AS c)
WHERE `c`.`prod_id` =  '1206'
LIMIT 1 
0.0002  

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '1206'
AND `kind` =  'thumbnail'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position` 
0.0002  

SELECT `product_categories__products`.`cat_id`
FROM (`product_categories__products`)
JOIN `product_categories` ON `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` = `product_categories`.`cat_id`
WHERE `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` =  '1205'
AND `product_categories`.`parent_id` =  1
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261)  
0.0004  

SELECT `cat_id` AS id, `parent_id` AS parent, `status_id`, `name`, `description`, `url_friendly`, `page_title`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_description`, `position`, `updated_at`
FROM (`product_categories`)
WHERE `cat_id` != 1
ORDER BY `parent_id`, IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `name` 
0.0003  

SELECT *
FROM (`product_categories`)
WHERE `status_id` =  'A'
AND `parent_id` =  1
AND `cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261) 
ORDER BY `name` 
0.0003  

SELECT *
FROM (`site_settings`)
WHERE `option_key` =  'announcement' 
  HTTP HEADERS  (Show)
  SESSION DATA  (Show)
  CONFIG VARIABLES  (Show)