Managing Conflict Through Technology: The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Integrative Complexity and Conflict Outcomes

Abstract: For organizations, it is essential that employees manage conflicts successfully, a process increasingly mediated by different information and communication technologies (ICTs). This raises the question of whether certain ICTs are better suited for cooperative conflict management than others. To address this question, this study examined differences in cooperative conflict outcomes across different ICTs. Drawing on integrative complexity (IC)–a central concept in cooperative conflict management describing how groups differentiate and integrate divergent perspectives in conflict-related communication–we proposed that different ICTs foster different levels of IC in conflict-related communication. Specifically, we expected email compared to chat to support higher levels of IC in conflict-related communication, thereby leading to higher levels of cooperative conflict outcomes. Conducting a laboratory negotiation task, our hypotheses were supported. Overall, by comparing different ICTs, this study provides theoretical and practical insights into which ICTs employees should use to manage conflicts successfully.

Keywords: information and communication technology, integrative complexity, conflict management, cooperation, cooperative conflict outcome