The Rise and Fall of Subgroups and Conflict in Teams: Faultline Activation and Deactivation

Abstract

We review and reconceptualize faultline activation, defined as the process by which members of a team come to perceive subgroups, and add the notion of faultline deactivation, the process of minimizing the salience of perceived subgroups in teams. We develop a typology for faultline activators and deactivators and relate this to subgroup formation, and conflict in teams. This theory is used to explore the effect of team faultlines on team conflict and the implications for research on faultlines and subgroup formation and the effects on conflict in teams.

Keywords: Team faultlines, faultline activation, faultline deactivation, team conflict, multiteam systems