The Role of Constructive Controversy for Team Support and Team Productivity: Managing Teams in China

Abstract

Strong feelings of social support are apt to a foundation for productive teamwork as team members provide each other with practical assistance as well as strengthen their relationships and their effective coordination of resources. But working in a team can be frustrating and team members may well feel angry with each other, thus threatening team support. This study argues that constructive controversy, open-minded discussion of anger, helps team social support. Structural equation results support our argument that constructive controversy of Chinese team members’ anger helps them modify their angry feelings and thus help develop team social support, which leads to team productivity.