The phenomenon of task conflict continues to intrigue scholars, particularly in terms of the inconsistent empirical relationship between task conflict and team performance. Taking a step back, in this paper, we revisit fundamental theorizing of task conflict so as to offer a more nuanced and complex view of this ubiquitous team-level phenomenon. We highlight the three implicit assumptions
... [Show full abstract] underlying current conceptualizations of team conflict, and propose task conflict as a team process that emerges through the expression (i.e., how), origin (i.e., who), and content (i.e., what) of disagreements in the team. With the goal to build consensus around the relationship of task conflict with team performance, we elaborate on how violations on these implicit assumptions affect conflict emergence and task conflict’s role in facilitating information elaboration. To conclude, we challenge the current view of task conflict as a passive process, and propose a contrasting view of task conflict as an active, strategic tool for teams to adapt and adjust the emergence of task conflict behaviors to yield optimal team performance.
