CHAPTERFIVE

Management of Organizational Conflict

5.1. Definition Of Conflict

The word “conflict” is often used in an imprecise way and is defined here as: the behavior of an individual or
group which purposely sets out to block or inhibit another individual or group from achieving its goals.
Note that conflict involves one party purposely standing in the way of another achieving its goals, and this
distinguishes it from competition. Conflict can be a disagreement, the presence of tension, or some other difficulty
between two or more parties.
Conflict is a process in which an effort is purposely made by “A‟ to offset the efforts of “B‟ by some form of
blocking that will result in frustrating “B‟ in attaining his or her goals.
A conflict may be defined as the pursuit by two different persons or goals that are incompatible so that gains by
one person must come about at the expense of the other.
Conflict results from incompatible influence attempts between and within individuals, groups, or organizations.
Conflict often accompanies differences in power among parties.
Conflict commonly arises from four circumstances.
 Conflict can occur when individuals or groups perceive they have mutually exclusive goals or values.
 Behavior designed to defeat, reduce, or suppress an opponent may cause conflict.
 Groups that face each other with mutually opposing actions and counteractions cause conflict.
 If each group attempt to create a relatively favored position vis-à-vis the other, than conflict may ensue.
Conflict can easily occur in multinational or multicultural situations, since basic differences in language, norms,
personal styles and other cultural characteristics hinder effective communication and set the stage for conflict.
Cross-cultural sensitivity and understanding are key ingredients for minimizing dysfunctional conflict.
Conflict has a number of dimensions. These dimensions are public (overt, visible, and authorized), or private
(covert, hidden, and unauthorized), formal or informal, rational (premeditated or logical) or non-rational
(spontaneous, impulsive, and emotional).
The likelihood of conflict increases when parties interact, view their differences as incompatible, and see conflict
as a constructive way of resolving disagreements. Perceptions play a major role in conflicts.
5.2. Functional Vs Dysfunctional Conflict (Nature of Conflict in Organizations)
Conflict in organizations is inevitable as far as people work together. It can be defined as any situation in which
incompatible goals, attitudes, emotions or behaviors lead to disagreement or opposition between two or more
organizational members or groups. That is, conflict occurs because people do not always agree on goals, issues,
perception, and because people inevitably compete. Conflicts can be functional or dysfunctional.
Functional conflict is healthy & constructive disagreement between two or more people, whereas, dysfunctional
conflict is unhealthy & destructive disagreement between two or more people.
Dysfunctional conflict (destructive conflict): Behaviors that escalate a conflict until it seems to have a life of its
own are dysfunctional and destructive. Destructive conflicts may degenerate sufficiently so the conflict parties
forget the substantive issues and transform their purposes to getting even, retaliating or hurting the other person.
In destructive conflict, no one is satisfied with the outcome, possible gains are not realized and the negative taste
left over at the end of one conflict episode is carried over to the beginning of the next conflict--creating a
degenerating or negative spiral. Destructive conflicts are more likely to occur when behaviors come from rigid,
competitive systems.
Functional conflict (constructive conflict): Behaviors that are adaptive to the situation, person and issues of the
moment are functional and constructive. Many conflicts are a mixture of competitive and cooperative impulses.
Constructive conflicts appropriately balance the interests of both parties to maximize the opportunities for mutual
gains. Constructive conflicts contain an element of creative adaptation born from a realization that one must know
both one's own and the other's interests and goals to be able to find a road both parties are willing to walk to
discover a mutually acceptable outcome. Focusing on the process, not just the outcome one person desires, is key
to productive conflict management.
5.3. stages of conflict

Although some conflicts can become intense and full-blown virtually instantaneously, it is more often the case
that inter group conflicts develop over a period of time. When this happens, there are typically several stages of
evolution through which the conflict passes.
 Perceived conflict-The first stage of the conflict process, exists when there is a cognitive awareness on the
part of at least one party that events have occurred or that condition exists favorable to creating over conflict.
 Felt conflict-the felt stage of conflict represents, an escalation that includes emotional involvement. It is ‘felt’
in the form of anxiety, tension, and or hostility.
 Manifest conflict-The final stage; the conflicting parties are engaging in conflict behavior. Manifest conflict
is not only perceived and felt, it is acted up on. That is ,at this stage, the conflicting party are engaging in
conflict behavior. There may be verbal, written, even physical attacks. Although it is still possible to
successfully resolve the manifest conflict, it is far better to deal with conflict at an earlier stage. Additionally,
manifest conflict is more likely to have longer-lasting effect than either perceived or felt conflict.
5.4. Cause Of Conflict In Organizations
A variety of factors can lead to intra-group and inter-group conflicts.
1) Organizational Change
Conflicts may arise due to differing views on the directions to take in the wake of new developments in the
dynamic environment. These new developments take place in technological, political, economic, and social areas.
These new developments, in turn, affect the organization. So, conflicts may develop among people when there are
diverse opinions about how to face and move along with the dynamic environment.
2) Personality Clashes
People do not think, feel, look or act alike. Though the reasons could be difficult to explain, many a time people
find others “rubbing them the wrong way.”
3) Differences in Value Sets
There are different sets of values and beliefs for different people, which may sometimes contradict each other.
Such disputes may be difficult to resolve due to the lack of objectivity in them.
4) Threats to Status
Status in the society, group, or organization is very important for many individuals. When the desired image is
threatened or under threat by someone’s actions, conflict arises.
5) Perceptual Differences
It is quite natural that people perceive things in different ways, but it is also true that they fail to appreciate such
differences in each other’s perception. This is yet another cause for conflicts.
6) Competition for Limited Resources
Resources of organizations are finite and not infinite. As a result there are times when groups or individuals fight
for resources. Top management may prioritize some group(s) over other groups for more allocation of resources.
And heads of various departments may make value judgments about why management had favored that group(s)
and not others that may result in intra or inter-group conflict. The general rule is that, the greater the scarcity of
resources in the organization, the greater the potential for conflict.
7) Work Flow Relationship
Conflict may arise where the group’s performance is dependent on another group, or if interdependence allows
one group to gain at another group’s expense, opposing forces are stimulated. This is a sure recipe for generating
conflict.
5.5. Conflict management strategies
It may be said that it is the mismanagement of conflict rather than the conflict itself that causes real trouble in an
organization. Current ideas imply that the level of conflict in an organization needs to be carefully managed. If
there is too much conflict, it needs to be reduced, and if there is too little, the level may need to be increased in a
controlled way. In practical terms this means that a decision has to be made about whether to resolve any conflicts
or to stimulate a conflict that exists. It is difficult, however, because there are no hard-and-fast guidelines to judge
an appropriate level of conflict.
A viable strategy for conflict management begins with an analysis of the conflict situation and then moves to the
development of strategy options.
A) Analysis Of Conflict Situation
Managers can analyze a conflict situation by identifying the following:
1) Conflicting parties: The conflict may arise between individuals, groups, or departments.
2) Source of conflict: The conflict may arise from factors such as differences in value sets, perception
differences, scarcity of resources, workflow relationship, etc. Analyzing this requires trying to view each situation
through the eyes of the parties involved.
3) Level of conflict: The situation may be at a stage where the manager must deal with it immediately; or the
conflict may be at a moderate level of intensity.
If the goals of the workgroup are threatened or sabotage is occurring, the manager must take action immediately.
If individuals or groups are simply in disagreement, a less immediate response is required.
B) Conflict Stimulation
The current view is that in certain circumstances there can be benefits in stimulating a degree of conflict within an
organization. In situations such as this, the matter needs to be handled in a very careful and controlled way so that
matters do not go too far and result in something that is highly dysfunctional.
A great deal seems to depend on the type of conflicts that result. The conflict types that results are relational
conflict and task-focused conflict. Relational conflict: is conflict in interpersonal relations. Task-focused
conflict: is conflict within a group about how it should complete its task.
The research evidence suggests that people find relational conflict highly stressful, and so it often evokes strong
emotional responses that lower productive effort and employee satisfaction. Conversely, mild Task-focused
conflict tends to result in a more rigorous examination of the way things are done, which can lead to innovation,
productivity, and satisfaction.
Conflict Stimulation Techniques/ Ways
1) Stimulating Competition: This is probably the least risky strategy of all techniques. Many organizations may
have measures of this type in place. A fairly common one is the use of incentives, such as awards, and bonuses for
outstanding performance.
2) Communication: This is a more risky way of stimulating conflict, and if not used with great care it can result
in emotional conflicts. The tactic here is using ambiguous or threatening messages to increase conflict levels.
Information is used to create ambiguity, or even an element of apprehension or fear. An example is the judicious
use of a rumor that a major reorganization to reduce overheads or improve performance is being considered.
3) Altering Organizational Structure: This is another measure that contains pronounced risks.
While organizational structure can be used to make conflict less likely, it can also be a major source of conflict.
Rearranging work groups, altering rules and regulations, increasing interdependence, and making similar
structural changes can disrupt the status quo in the organization. A healthy degree of competition between
subunits can encourage innovation and improved performance but putting units against each other can lead to
outright war.
4) Bringing in Outside Persons: Often this is the most risky strategy of all. It is usually underpinned by the
belief that if someone with different background values and attitudes is imported, that person will be a source of
inspiration to current employees and pull them out of their contentment or complacency. However, it can also go
sadly off track and result in a high degree of relational conflict because the people come to see the newcomer as a
threat, and they all unite against the person.
C) Conflict Resolution
One of the things that can make conflicts hard to resolve is the way that the parties behave towards each other.
The key to conflict resolution is often found in a fuller understanding of their styles of behavior.
Conflict Resolution Techniques
1) Problem solving: Interested parties confront the issue and cooperatively identify the problem, generate and
weigh alternate solutions and select a solution. It is appropriate for complex issues plagued by misunderstanding.
It is inappropriate for resolving conflicts rooted in opposing value systems.
2) Super ordinate goal: It is a technique used to create a shared goal that cannot be attained without the
cooperation of each of the conflicting parties.
3) Expansion of Resources: When a conflict is caused by the scarcity of a resource – say, funding, promotions,
and desirable work or working conditions, etc- the expansion of resource can create a win-win situation.
Unfortunately, it is often not possible in practice.
4) Avoidance: Managing a conflict with an avoiding strategy involves not seeking to meet your own objectives or
the objectives of the other person. The manager passively withdraws or ignores the problem. It is appropriate
when the issue is trivial, neither party has a chance in satisfying its concerns or people need more time to cool
down. It is inappropriate for difficult and worsening problems.
5) Smoothing: This strategy calls for playing down of differences while emphasizing common interests between
the conflicting parties. It is appropriate when it is possible to eventually get something in return. It is
inappropriate for complex or worsening problems.
6) Compromise: In a compromising strategy, the parties‟ reach a mutually acceptable solution in which each gets
only part of what he or she wanted. This is a give-and-take approach involving moderate concern for both self and
others. This strategy can be used when the parties have equal power and stalemate is likely, or temporary
settlements are needed, or when time is short.
7) Altering the Human Variable: This strategy calls for using the behavioral change techniques such as human
resources training to alter attitudes and behaviors that cause conflict.
8) Altering the Structural Variable: Conflict is resolved through changing the formal organizational structure
and the interaction patterns of conflicting parties through job redesign, transfers, and the like.
9) Authoritative Command / Impose a Solution: Finally, if all fails, it may be necessary to impose a solution.
But this has to be done with great care. It often works in the short term. If the solution suits neither party, it
seldom solves the problem itself. Indeed, there is always a danger that the apparent resolution has been achieved
at the price of both parties uniting against the arbiter, who is now seen as a common enemy.
Concluding Remarks
There is no one best technique; each is appropriate or inappropriate in certain situations. In handling conflict,
managers must remember that cultural differences play a part in the success of a particular method. Some
cultures, for instance, value assertiveness others emphasize group harmony. In the latter type, a manager must
proceed with caution in attempting to bring a dispute into the open.