Data from 40 packaged software development teams are
used to test a path model that relates three
antecedents, the presence of intra-group conflict, and
the level of conflict management to software development
team performance. Findings indicate that a combination
of the team’s characteristics, teammember
characteristics, and existing levels of intra-group
conflict accounts for nearly one-half of the variance
between the best and worst-performing teams. Further,
the level of conflict management moderates the
relationship between existing levels of intra-group
conflict and performance. These results highlight both
the complexity of the social processes of packaged
software development and the value of this perspective
for gaining insight on software development performance.
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