What is Conflict ?
Conflict is a state of opposition, disagreement or incompatibility between two or
more people or groups of people.
b. A state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests.
c. A hostile encounter between two or more people.
d. Conflict is usually based upon a difference over goals, objectives, or
expectations between individuals or groups. Conflict also occurs when two or
more people, or groups, compete over limited resources and/or perceived, or
actual, incompatible goals.
Conflict
Conflict is a natural and inevitable part of all human social relationships. Conflict
occurs at all levels of society-intrapsychic, interpersonal, intra-group, inter-group,
intra-national and international.
Conflict management is the practice of identifying and handling conflict in a
sensible, fair, and efficient manner. Conflict management requires such skills as
effective communicating, problem solving, and negotiating with a focus on
interests.
Conflict occurs when two or more people oppose one another because their
needs, wants, goals, or values are different. Conflict is almost always
accompanied by feelings of anger, frustration, hurt, anxiety, or fear.
Conflicts on the basis of existence in various units can be classified in terms of
inerorganizational, intergroup, interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts. Prefix
inter is used for depicting conflict `between" units or parties whereas the prefix
intro is used to refer conflict "within" unit or party.
Interorganizational Conflicts: These are conflicts that arise between two or
more organizations. There are numerous examples of interorganizational
conflicts. These can be functional as well as dysfunctional conflicts. When
organizations, due to competition enhance their quality, the same can be treated
as functional conflict. However, if the same organizations are engaged in
malicious campaign against each other, conflict will be termed as dysfunctional
conflict.
Intergroup Conflict: When conflict occurs between two or more groups,
departments, teams, the same is called intergroup conflict. When there is
intergroup conflict, the groups become more cohesive, task focused and
members show greater loyalty. However the out group i.e., the other group is
seen as an enemy, hostility and obstructing behaviour is among members
negatively affecting the interest of other group. It is therefore suggested that
competition must be managed carefully, and competing groups should not lose
sight of super ordinate goals of organizations.
Interpersonal Conflict: Conflict between two or more individual can be
considered as interpersonal conflicts. Such conflicts may occur due to individual
differences including differences in perception of problems, perception of
situations, attitudes, values apart from differences arising out of control and
allocation of resources.
Intrapersonal Conflict: When conflict occurs within a person, the same is called
intrapersonal conflict. There are several types of intrapersonal conflict including
interrole, intrarole, and person-role conflict. Role is a set of expectations put by
others. Persons who are putting their expectations are called role senders and
the person who is receiving set of expectations and is focus of attention is called
focal person.
Interrole conflict: Interrole conflict can occur when a person is experiencing
conflict due to competing demands in two roles. An employee may be a union
leader and also executive in production department. Persons role as executive
expects him to be obedient to his boss and work diligently for the organization,
however his role as a union leader is to raise issues with management to further
the interest of their union. By playing the two roles the person experiences
interrole conflict. Intrarole conflict can occur when the persons receives
contradictory expectations in the same role. For example, manager suggests an
employee to finish the project by tomorrow and also suggest to visit five clients
personally today itself. It is virtually impossible to finish the project by tomorrow if
the employee complies to the other expectation, i.e., visiting five clients
personally today itself. This may generate intrapersonal conflict.
Person-role conflict: It occurs when a person is expected to do certain thing as
part of his/her role, which is against personal value system. For example, a
person strongly feels about environmental pollution. She is asked to defend act
of unguarded pollution of her company to the Government officials. Such
expectation put her in the person-role conflict.
Types of Conflict
By evaluating a conflict according to the five categories below -- relationship,
data, interest, structural and value -- we can begin to determine the causes of a
conflict and design resolution strategies that will have a higher probability of
success.
Relationship Conflicts
Relationship conflicts occur because of the presence of strong negative
emotions, misperceptions or stereotypes, poor communication or
miscommunication, or repetitive negative behaviors. Relationship problems often
fuel disputes and lead to an unnecessary escalating spiral of destructive conflict.
Supporting the safe and balanced expression of perspectives and emotions for
acknowledgment (not agreement) is one effective approach to managing
relational conflict.
Data Conflicts
Data conflicts occur when people lack information necessary to make wise
decisions, are misinformed, disagree on which data is relevant, interpret
information differently, or have competing assessment procedures. Some data
conflicts may be unnecessary since they are caused by poor communication
between the people in conflict. Other data conflicts may be genuine
incompatibilities associated with data collection, interpretation or communication.
Most data conflicts will have "data solutions."
Interest Conflicts
Interest conflicts are caused by competition over perceived incompatible needs.
Conflicts of interest result when one or more of the parties believe that in order to
satisfy his or her needs, the needs and interests of an opponent must be
sacrificed. Interest-based conflict will commonly be expressed in positional terms.
A variety of interests and intentions underlie and motivate positions in negotiation
and must be addressed for maximized resolution. Interest-based conflicts may
occur over substantive issues (such as money, physical resources, time, etc.);
procedural issues (the way the dispute is to be resolved); and psychological
issues (perceptions of trust, fairness, desire for participation, respect, etc.). For
an interest-based dispute to be resolved, parties must be assisted to define and
express their individual interests so that all of these interests may be jointly
addressed. Interest-based conflict is best resolved through the maximizing
integration of the parties' respective interests, positive intentions and desired
experiential outcomes.
Structural Conflicts
Structural conflicts are caused by forces external to the people in dispute. Limited
physical resources or authority, geographic constraints (distance or proximity),
time (too little or too much), organizational changes, and so forth can make
structural conflict seem like a crisis. It can be helpful to assist parties in conflict to
appreciate the external forces and constraints bearing upon them. Structural
conflicts will often have structural solutions. Parties' appreciation that a conflict
has an external source can have the effect of them coming to jointly address the
imposed difficulties.
Value Conflicts
Value conflicts are caused by perceived or actual incompatible belief systems.
Values are beliefs that people use to give meaning to their lives. Values explain
what is "good" or "bad," "right" or "wrong," "just" or "unjust." Differing values need
not cause conflict. People can live together in harmony with different value
systems. Value disputes arise only when people attempt to force one set of
values on others or lay claim to exclusive value systems that do not allow for
divergent beliefs. It is of no use to try to change value and belief systems during
relatively short and strategic mediation interventions. It can, however, be helpful
to support each participant's expression of their values and beliefs for
acknowledgment by the other party.
Finding a Definition of Conflict
Conflict means different things to different people. Conflict is a state of
opposition, disagreement or incompatibility between two or more people or
groups of people. For some, a definition of conflict involves fighting, war, trade
embargos and so on. For others, it may be a difference in opinion, perspective or
personality.
One party may feel they are in a conflict situation,
when the other party feels that they are just
discussing opposing views. A lot depends on our
personal "take" of the situation.
As managers, we need to be aware of how conflict
arises and how to manage conflict. If unhealthy conflict is allowed to develop, the
spin off effects can result in lasting damage to relationships and the business.
Conflict normally involves opposing views on one or more of the following:
These often overlap. When managing conflict in the workplace, be aware that
conflict often manifests itself when employees experience:
an uneven distribution of workload
unequal treatment
personality differences
a lack of recognition
So as you can see, there are lots of opportunities for conflict! As a manager, you
can take practical steps to minimise unhealthy conflict. Here I will cover two
perspectives on the definition of conflict:
Role Conflict
Conflict generated around an employee's role is very common. Too often,
employees are put in a new role and left to "sink or swim". Eager to make a good
impression, they are may be reluctant to ask questions.
Over time, their manager is often disappointed when mistakes occur, or work is
not done. They may even feel they have chosen the wrong person for the job.
The employee can quickly became disillusioned and frustrated. Conflict almost
inevitably follows.
To avoid this situation, invest time in meeting your employee at the early stages
in a new role. Clarify:
what tasks have to be completed
how much authority the employee has to make decisions on their own
in what ways are they expected to use their initiative.
Avoid making the assumption that the employee thinks the same way as you do!
What you might feel is straightforward, the employee could regard as complex.
Discuss "what if" scenarios. Meet the employee on a regular basis to discuss
progress and answer any queries.
Giving the employees the attention they need will to minimize the chance of role
conflict in the long term.
Team Conflict
Managing conflict in teams can be challenging as a number of people are
involved. Again, destructive conflict can be minimised by investing time in the
early stages. Clarify:
how you are going to use the individual
strengths in the team
how you are going to divide out the tasks
and measure success
what are the ground rules on how the team will work together and
communicate.
In the early stages of teamwork, conflict is unavoidable as team members are
unsure of their role. As a manager, you can help them move through this
"Storming" stage quickly.
When the team becomes established, constructive conflict is healthy, once the
views of all team members are listened to with respect.
Types of conflict
1) Personal Conflict:
Personal conflict occurs on personal level. It arises when the ideals and aims of
two individuals clash with each other. The fight of the students for the office of the
Secretary of college Union provides a bright example of Personal Conflict.
2) Racial Conflict:
Racial conflict is mostly due to the physical differences. Some races consider
themselves superior to other races and there are also races which feel that they
are inferior to other. The feeling of superiority or inferiority is the root cause of
racial conflict. Conflict between the Whites and Negroes in the U.S.A. provides
an example of racial conflict.
3) Political Conflict:
Political conflict arises when different political parties with their own ideologies try
to achieve their interest. The main cause of this kind of conflict is power which
they want to capture. The conflict between different political parties is an example
of this type of conflict.
4) International Conflict:
International conflict occurs among the different nations of the world. It may take
place for political, religious economic, ideological or for any other reasons. The
conflict between India and Pakistan is an example of such type of conflict.
5) Class Conflict:
Class conflict takes place among classes with their differing interests. In the
feudal society there was conflict between the landlords and the peasants. The
capitalist society is characterised by the bourgeoisie and proletariat.
