Ethical Conflict and Team Innovation: A Categorization– Elaboration Model Approach

Conflict is an inherent aspect of group decision-making and interpersonal negotiations, but how ethical conflict (e.g., disagreement over moral values and ethical principles) shapes group dynamics remains an uncharted area. Drawing on the Categorization–Elaboration Model (CEM), we intend to examine whether and when team ethical conflict influences team innovation in the present study. Specifically, we predict that information elaboration serves as a mediator, as high levels of ethical conflict generate biased judgments among teammates and hinder the exchange of task-relevant information. Also, we predict that process conflict (e.g., disagreement over role allocation and task distribution) serves as the moderator, as low levels of process conflict ensure clear role distribution, efficient task allocation, and consensus on workflows, which can mitigate the negative effect of ethical conflict. We test our hypotheses and find empirical support using a sample of 289 individual responses nested within 90 research and development (R&D) teams. This research advances our understanding of the emerging and important construct of ethical conflict, extends the CEM by emphasizing the pivotal role of information elaboration in group decision-making, and offers new insights into the ongoing debate on conflict, innovation, and the interaction of different conflict types.