Dr L. (Lisanne) van Bunderen
![Lisanne van Bunderen](/fileadmin/_processed_/6/a/csm_lisanne-van-bunderen_76eaa62d1f.jpg)
PhD Track Tug-of-War: Why and when teams get embroiled in power struggles
Many organizational teams get tormented by performance-detracting power struggles. In this dissertation, I aim to unravel why and when power struggles emerge within organizational teams. I draw on individual-level research on power and integrate this with the diverse literatures on group threats and team (power) structures to theorize that power may be sought after as a protection-tool when members feel threatened and are motivated by the team structure to cope with this threat in individualistic manners. Accordingly, I developed an overarching framework in which I propose that the combination of a threatening team environment with an individualistic team structure encourages intra-team power struggles. I tested and found support for this overarching framework with three studies that examined the combined effects of team threats (i.e., inter-team conflict in chapter 2, team uncertainty in chapter 3, and organizational change in teams in chapter 4) and internal team structures (i.e., intra-team power structures in chapter 2 and 4 and intra-team outcome interdependence in chapter 3). The research in my dissertation has both important theoretical as well as practical implications.
- Keywords
- Power struggles, Intrateam competition, Intergroup conflict, Hierarchy, Team uncertainty, Team threats, Team interdependence, Organizational change
- Time frame
- 2013 - 2018
Event (1)
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Netherlands