Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

While most work activities today are performed in work groups or teams, relatively few studies in public management have focused on the dynamics of work groups in public organizations. In the proposed research, we address this gap by focusing on the relationship between group conflict and group helping/citizenship behavior in law enforcement workgroups.

The extensive research on group relations indicates that, while conflict in generally is undesirable, a moderate level of conflict improves group performance (Coser, 1956; Deutsch, 1969; Sandberg & Rechner, 1989). However, excessive conflict reduces cooperation in the group, increases member dissatisfaction, and potentially influences members to leave the group (Gladstein, 1984; Wall & Nolan, 1986). In the proposed research, we plan to examine the relationships among inclusive leadership, group conflict and group helping/citizenship behavior in selected law enforcement work groups. Our goal is to assess empirically whether and how inclusive leadership (or lack thereof) shapes the relationship between group conflict and cooperation (i.e., helping) in law enforcement workgroups.

Inclusive leadership refers to “words and deeds by a leader…that indicates an invitation and appreciation for others’ contributions” (Nembhard & Edmonson, 2006: 947). Inclusive leaders downplay status differences between the leader and subordinates and acknowledge the unique value of each group member regardless of their social status or position in the group. We propose that inclusive leadership may influence the connection between group conflict and citizenship behavior in two ways. First, inclusive leadership may enhance group helping behavior by reducing the incidences or likelihood of group conflict. Second, inclusive leadership may moderate/buffer the negative effects of group conflict on group helping behavior.

We examine the two mechanisms with data collected through separate surveys from 104 workgroups in Ohio law enforcement organizations. The preliminary analysis provides support for both of the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, we find that inclusive leadership improves cooperation by reducing group conflict. We also observe a moderation effect. Cooperation declines sharply in workgroups that face high levels of conflict when the group manager is not inclusive. More importantly, we find that cooperation remains high in workgroups facing considerable conflict when the group manager demonstrates inclusive leadership. This suggests that inclusive leadership behavior of law enforcement managers plays an important role in ensuring that conflict does not diminish group cooperation. We discuss implications of these findings for research on leadership and workgroup dynamics in public agencies.