The impact of managers' personality on task and relationship conflict: The moderating role of family and non-family business status

Abstract

When it comes to organizational conflict in (small) family businesses, managers’ personality has received little attention. We investigated the relationship between managers’ personality traits (Big Five) and their perceptions of task conflict and relationship conflict in two types of firms (family vs. non-family business). We collected data from 103 managers in small firms (56 family firms and 47 non-family firms) in Ecuador. Our findings show that family firms have less relationship conflict compared to non-family firms. Managers’ personality seems to play a key role in perceiving conflicts. Particularly, managers’ openness and extraversion are related to less perceived conflict. Introverted managers in non-family businesses perceive more relationship conflict than those in family businesses. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.