Abstract: Conflict is one of the major challenges encountered by teams to work effectively. Researches on relationship between intra-group conflict and team effectiveness showed inconsistent results academically, which triggered discussion on mechanism of intra-group conflict on group effectiveness. Previous studies have revealed that group characteristics (mood, diversity, group norms and cultural value), group process (conflict management and trust) and task characteristics moderates the effect of conflict on the team effectiveness. It is recommended that future research should draw on following topics: (1) Impact of intra-group conflict on team effectiveness from causes of conflict perspective; (2) Conflict dynamics; (3) the activation effect of new group members’ conflict; and (3) Localization research based on Chinese culture.

Key words: team effectiveness, task conflict, relationship conflict, process conflict, team