Assistant Professor Lingtao Yu wins AOM Conflict Management Division 2016-2019 Most Influential Article Award

The Conflict Management Division of the Academy of Management recently announced its annual “Most Influential Article award, recognizing a paper published 5-8 years ago that has made the most significant contribution to the study of conflict management. For the most recent time period of consideration (2016-2019), the winner is UBC Sauder Assistant Professor Dr. Lingtao Yu’s paper "Introducing Team Mindfulness and Considering its Safeguard Role Against Conflict Transformation and Social Undermining."

The Most Influential Article Award is given each year to an article or chapter published 5-8 years in the past that has made a significant and influential contribution to research in the Conflict Management Division (CMD) domain. Possible indicators of influence on the field might include citation count, generative research and theory impact, and wide use in doctoral seminars, among others. Nomination of articles are encouraged by members that have used the articles in doctoral seminars or that have been important in guiding their own research. A winning paper will be selected by a committee of five prominent scholars in the field invited by the Division Chair.

About the Research

"Introducing Team Mindfulness and Considering its Safeguard Role Against Conflict Transformation and Social Undermining" was co-authored by Dr. Lingtao Yu and Dr. Mary Zellmer-Bruhn of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. The authors introduce the concept of team mindfulness, defined as a shared belief among team members that their interactions are characterized by awareness and attention to present events, and experiential, nonjudgmental processing of within-team experiences. Team mindfulness is examined as a safeguard against multilevel team conflict transformation processes. Results from three multi-wave field studies validate a team mindfulness instrument and indicate that team mindfulness (1) negatively relates to team relationship conflict, (2) reduces the connection between task conflict and relationship conflict at the team level, (3) and reduces the cross-level spillover of team relationship conflict to individual social undermining.

“Receiving the award for the most influential article is truly an incredible honour,” says Dr. Yu. “Our research on team mindfulness highlights its crucial role in mitigating conflict and promoting positive interactions within teams. This recognition not only validates our efforts but also underscores the importance of fostering mindfulness in collaborative environments. We hope our findings inspire further exploration and practical application in organizational settings.”