Interorganizational task and emotional conflict with international channels of distribution $ Gregory M. Rose a, * , Aviv Shoham b,1 a Department of Management and Marketing, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA b Graduate School of Business, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel Received 30 April 2001; accepted 19 August 2002 Abstract Recent conceptualizations of conflict have proposed a two-dimensional structure where emotional conflict is personal and dysfunctional and task conflict is issue-oriented and functional. Empirical studies of these two types of conflict, however, have focused on intraorganizational conflict, where frequent, personal and on-going contact between parties is high. This study builds on this literature by examining the antecedents and consequences of task and emotional conflict in an interorganizational context between manufacturers and their international channels of distribution. Contrary to the findings in previous intraorganizational research, both task and emotional conflict reduce the quality of strategy employed, reducing performance. D 2002 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Channels of distribution; Globalization; International channel conflict Conflict between manufacturers and channels of distri- bution has been an important topic of inquiry for decades (El-Ansary, 1979; Lusch, 1976a,b; Rosenberg and Stern, 1970; Stern and Gorman, 1969). Previous studies have tended to view conflict as dysfunctional and established that conflict can harm the performance of the dyad (Frazier and Rody, 1991; Mohr et al., 1996). Recent discussions of intraorganizational conflict, however, have suggested that conflict may involve two dimensions: task and emotional (Amason, 1996; Jehn, 1994; Menon et al., 1996). Although emotional conflict is harmful, task conflict may contribute to building a relationship by resolving logistical or tactical issues. Empirical research on these dimensions of conflict, however, has been confined to dyads within a single organization. We are unaware of any previous empirical studies of this type involving interorganizational dyads, including manufacturers and their channels of distribution. Previous research has also tended to focus on the domestic operations of North American firms. International channels of distribution may be particularly susceptible to the deleterious effects of channel conflict. Legal, logistical and cultural considerations increase the complexity of successfully establishing, maintaining and managing suc- cessful relationships across borders. Physical distance decreases opportunities for frequent interaction, while cul- tural distance increases the potential for misunderstandings and the frequency of channel conflict (Shoham et al., 1997). Thus, international channels of distribution present a unique opportunity to study conflict among culturally dissimilar partners. In short, little is known about the antecedents and consequences of task and emotional conflict in an interor- ganizational context. Our study was designed to fill this gap in the literature. Specifically, we develop hypotheses about two potential antecedents (team spirit and interorganiza- tional connectedness) to two types of conflict (task and emotional). The consequences of these types of conflict on the quality of the strategy employed as well as its effect on business performance and manufacturer’s satisfaction with 0148-2963/$ – see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(02)00490-3 $ The authors are listed alphabetically and contributed equally to this article. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-662-915-5839; fax: +1-662-915- 5821. E-mail addresses: rose@bus.olemiss.edu (G.M. Rose), ashoham@research.haifa.ac.il (A. Shoham). 1 Tel.: + 972-4-8249580; fax: + 972-4-8249194. Journal of Business Research 57 (2004) 942 – 950