Research On The Conflicts Between Task Design And Execution In Knowledge Worker Team Under Temporal Framing Effect

Knowledge worker team is the key unit which executes knowledge tasks to realize knowledge creation in organizations, while the conflicts between task design and execution derived from limitations of task design and task cognitions diversity among knowledge workers is becoming a common and important kind of knowledge conflicts in knowledge worker team. Moreover, this kind of conflicts is always constrained by flexible and complex temporal frames of tasks. The theory of temporal framing effect demonstrates clearly that a team can use temporal framing effect to design conflict management strategy, which could affect the decision and behavior modes of team members in knowledge conflicts, so that the interaction of heterogeneous knowledge resources would be promoted during the process of conflicts, and the goal of effective knowledge conflicts management and team innovation would be achieved finally. Therefore, research on the conflicts between task design and execution from the view of temporal framing effect is of important value for the theoretical progress of conflict management mechanism under temporal constraints. A series of studies were conducted in this paper to probe into the connotation of temporal framing effect, its generation mechanism, and its effecting path and mechanism on the conflicts between task design and execution in knowledge worker team.In study one, temporal framing effect was theoretically extended from the area of behavioral decision to the research field of team's knowledge conflict, and the logistical relationship between temporal framing effect and team's knowledge conflict was explored either. Subsequently, actual evidences of the construct above were searched by the way of case analysis, in which the exhibition forms or patterns of temporal frame were classified, knowledge conflicts and conflict management strategies in team's knowledge conflict management practice were categorized, and the temporal framing effect existing in conflict management decision and its influence on team's knowledge conflict were also analyzed. Finally, theory extension and case study were summarized to find perspectives which are worthy of further research.In study two, an experiment was designed to explore the relationships among temporal frame, time personality, task cognition and task participation decision. Firstly, the temporal framing effect in individuals' task participation decision under uncertain task context was examined, which validated the conclusions about temporal framing effect in previous studies through an rigorous way. Secondly, through analyzing temporal frame's moderating effect on relationships among time personality, task cognition and task participation decision, theoretical supports on individual level were provided to explore the relationship between temporal framing effect and the conflict between task design and execution in knowledge worker team on team level. Finally, some other possible mediators or moderators were explored for further researches to carry out a full-scale study about the affecting mechanism of knowledge worker team's innovation under temporal constraints.In study three, a team-level questionnaire study was carried out to analyze the relationships among temporal framing effect, time personality diversity, the conflict between task design and execution and knowledge worker team's innovation on the basic of previous studies. In this study, time personality diversity was used as an independent variable, knowledge worker team's innovation was used as a dependent variable, the conflicts between task design and execution was used as a mediator and temporal framing effect was used as a moderator. Moderating effects of temporal framing effect on relationships of time personality diversity affecting the conflicts between task design and execution and knowledge worker team's innovation were tested, and as a result the main logistic axis of this paper's entire research conception was validated.Based on the results of previous studies, the forth study designed a full-scale empirical study through introducing the variables of relationship conflicts and time pressure. In this study, time personality diversity was used as independent variable, knowledge worker team's innovation was used as a dependent variable, the conflicts between task design and execution, relationship conflict and time pressure were used as mediators, and temporal framing effect was used as a moderator. On the basic of analyzing the correlation among variables in the full-scale model, it examined the moderating mechanism of temporal framing effect and the mediating mechanism of relationship conflict and time pressure.Conclusions of this paper were drawn from the previous four studies as follows:â‘ actual evidences shows that temporal framing effect can affect team's knowledge conflict;â‘¡there exist individual-level mechanisms about temporal framing effect influencing team's knowledge conflict;â‘¢in the affecting mechanisms of knowledge worker team's innovation which concludes the main axis of time personality diversity affecting the conflicts between task design and execution and knowledge worker team's innovation, temporal framing effect exhibits an important moderating effect, the conflicts between task design and execution, relationship conflict and time pressure exhibit important mediating effects. Some theoretical developments were also achieved in this paper:â‘ the explicit definition of temporal framing effect was proposed, and the construction of temporal framing effect's generation mechanism was identified;â‘¡the theory of temporal framing effect was applied to the area of conflict management research;â‘¢the classification of temporal framing effect, time personality diversity and team's knowledge conflict was advanced;â‘£temporal framing effect's affecting mechanism on the conflicts between task design and execution and knowledge worker team's innovation was constructed. This paper is also of practical significance:â‘ it provides theoretical and practical guides for the joint of time and conflict management practice in knowledge worker team;â‘¡it supplied the theoretical basis and practical trail of thought about "temporal framing effect-based time management strategy" for knowledge worker team;â‘¢it creates a new design thought about conflict management based on the influence mechanism of time factors, in order to improve the effective utilization of the conflicts between task design and execution and its positive effect on facilitating the innovation of knowledge worker team.