{"id":12915,"date":"2026-03-05T08:40:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insights.ieseg.fr\/?p=12915"},"modified":"2026-03-05T08:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:40:57","slug":"research-and-development-ethical-conflict-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insights.ieseg.fr\/en\/resource-center\/research-and-development-ethical-conflict-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"R&D: how ethical conflict in teams can impact innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A team of researchers has been delving into the impact of ethical conflict for research and development teams (R&D). This is an important topic given the role of these teams in pushing the boundaries of knowledge, technology, and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding team dynamics, and the impact of different types of conflict is a key challenge for organizations. For example, relationship conflict, which involves interpersonal tensions and incompatibilities, can reduce team cohesion, satisfaction, and communication. However, disagreements over task content and outcomes can foster critical thinking and generate a wider range of ideas. This can potentially drive more innovative and well-informed decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEthical conflict happens when team members disagree about moral or ethical issues, such as issues of what is right or wrong. We know this is common, and can hurt how the group performs. However, there have been few empirical studies on how these moral disagreements can affect team dynamics, for example in terms of knowledge sharing and innovation,\u201d explains professor Cathy Guo<\/a> a co-author of the *study<\/a>. This is particularly important in the sector of R&D where moral dilemmas (e.g. relating to privacy, confidentiality, etc.) can be both common and important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negative impact of ethical conflict<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The researchers suspected that ethical conflict would negatively impact knowledge and information sharing and ultimately reduce teams\u2019 innovative capacity (e.g. generating and implementing ideas). However, they also believed that process conflict \u2013 the distribution of tasks and roles within the team \u2013 could moderate the role of ethical disagreements. In other words, teams with clear role distribution, efficient task allocation, and consensus on workflows, were less likely to feel the negative effects of ethical or moral disagreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They tested their hypotheses through a study of 90 R&D teams from 34 technology and software companies in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe results were clearly consistent with the idea that ethical conflict negatively affects team innovation through a process called information elaboration,\u201d explains professor Melvyn Hamstr<\/a>a. \u201cWe also found that when these ethical conflicts did not co-occur with \u2018process\u2019 conflicts and disagreements in teams the negative impact of moral differences would disappear\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 strategies to counteract this problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe outline three avenues that companies with R&D teams can explore to minimize the potential of ethical conflict to reduce or impinge team innovation\u201d, adds professor Jingjing Yao<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n