Group Process and Conflict in System Development
通过问卷、会议记录、访谈和档案数据，考察一家保险公司信息系统开发项目中的群体过程，分析参与、影响、冲突与冲突解决四变量在22个月内的关系，发现参与正向影响影响力，影响力又正向影响冲突和冲突解决。
Information system development projects engage organizational members in a process with potential for conflict. Managing such conflicts in project groups is an important but often neglected aspect of systems development. This research assesses group process during the development of an information system in an insurance company, using questionnaires, recorded transcripts of group meetings, interviews, and archival data. We describe the relationships among four variables in a model of conflict—participation, influence, conflict, and conflict resolution—at five different periods over a 22-month period. Our results show that in every time period participation positively affected influence and that influence positively affected both conflict and conflict resolution. These findings are supported by an analysis of communication patterns within four project meetings and by qualitative data collected during the project. The practical implications of conflict and group processes in system development are discussed.