Conflict and Cooperation Within Police Units: The Importance of Manager Inclusiveness

Multisource survey data were collected from 105 police managers and 534 of their subordinates to assess the influence of manager inclusiveness on unit-level relational conflict and interpersonal helping behaviour. The analysis shows a negative relationship between relational conflict and helping behaviour and between manager inclusiveness and relational conflict. We also observe the negative link between manager inclusiveness and relational conflict is moderated by manager span of control such that the connection is weaker and not statistically significant in relatively larger units. We discuss the implications of these findings for public management research and the management of law enforcement units.