The Sequence Effect and its Impact on Cooperation, Conflicts, and Conflict Management in IT Freelancer-Client Relationships

Since conflict is a ubiquitous phenomenon in inter- but also intra-organizational work, conflict management behavior (CMB) is a preconditioning factor for successful cooperations. Prior research shows that CMB can be individualistic or collectivistic in orientation and highlights the episodic nature of CMB. However, in focusing on analyzing specific conflicts and conflict dynamics in collaborative contexts, research paid less attention to how conflict and CMB are influenced by structural patterns and thus might overstate the role of individual agency compared to the role of the general structure of the cooperation. We address this issue by investigating the inter-organizational cooperation of IT-freelancers and their client organizations. Based on 18 semi-structured problem-centered and expert interviews with IT-freelancers, representatives of client organizations and agencies, we show that the CMB orientation depends on the institutionalized sequential stages of the cooperation. While individualistic CMBs dominate the pre-contract sequence, in which recruitment processes and negotiations take place, the parties switch to collectivistic CMB in the contract sequence, in which the actual cooperation is carried out. The post-contract sequence serves for reflections on the cooperation and thus influences the willingness to engage in future cooperations and, in turn, affects future pre-contract sequences. With a focus on the IT industry, the paper addresses research gaps related to the specific temporality and temporal structuring of contingent work. It introduces a sequence-oriented framework and analysis of conflict and conflict management in inter-organizational projects, complementing related episodic perspectives on conflict, and psychological contracts with a more chronological and structural perspective.