How To Eliminate The Negative Impact Of Subgroups?

Nowadays,scholars have shifted the core of team research from team diversity to team faultlines,and then from team faultlines to subgroups.In other words,the study of subgroups is the further development direction of the study of team diversity and team faultlines.A number of studies have documented negative effects of subgroups on group functioning,so some scholars have tried to explore whether team situations can eliminate this negative influence.However,no scholars have explored whether the dynamic change of team composition at the subgroup level can help eliminate this negative influence,such as subgroup member exchange.Therefore,the paper focuses on this topic.The paper takes teams which have two balanced and identity based subgroups as the research object,and uses experimental research methods to explore whether subgroup member exchange can eliminate the negative impact of subgroup on team outcomes.Through the experiment of 75 temporary teams,this paper summarizes:(1)subgroup member exchange has a positive effect on team information elaboration and team decision quality(2)team information elaboration plays an intermediary role in the relationship between subgroup member exchange and team decision quality.The theoretical contribution of this study lies in:(1)to confirm that the subgroup level variables can eliminate the negative effects of subgroups on team functioning,and to propose the concept of subgroup member exchange;(2)to enrich the theory of CEM,subgroup is involved in the path which aims to develop team decision quality through team information elaboration.