Chapter 1

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Learning objectives
• Understand the significance of conflict management
• Know different viewpoints about conflict
• Appreciate the nature of conflict and its components
• Identify two perspectives of conflict
• Describe four basic types of conflict
• Explain models of conflict
• Distinguish between functional and dysfunctional
conflict
• Describe the relationship between conflict and
performance

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Introduction to conflict
management
• Conflicts are endemic o the human society.
• Workplace is often infected by-
❑ Grudges
❑ Rumors

❑ Complain

❑ Criticism

❑ Sarcasm

❑ Unpleasant comments

❑ Gossips

❑ Politicking etc.

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Introduction to conflict
management
• Conflict arises due to variety of factors. These may be
individual differences in-
❑ Goals

❑ Expectations

❑ Values

❑ Proposedcourse of actions or suggestions about

how to handle a situation

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Introduction to conflict
management
• Conflict is aggravated due to-
❑ Changes in technology
❑ Global shifting of power
❑ Political unrest
❑ Financial uncertainties
❑ Operational procedures
❑ Personnel
❑ Clientele
❑ Product line
❑ Financial climate and even corporate philosophy or
vision
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Conflict avoidance vs. Conflict
management
 Conflict is harmful. It incurs costs. So, avoid conflict.
This is called conflict avoidance.
 If conflict is handled constructively, it can bring with a
great benefit. This viewpoint highlights shift in the
paradigm. This is called conflict management.

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Different schools of thought on
conflict
 Traditional school- Conflicts of all kinds is harmful
and must be avoided.
 Human relations school-
❑ Conflict is natural and is an inevitable outcome in any
group.
❑ Conflict is reality.

❑ Sustaining a target level of conflict and selecting a

conflict reduction strategy

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Different schools of thought on
conflict
 Interactionist school-
❑ Conflict is a positive force in a group

❑ It is absolutely necessary for a group to perform

effectively
❑ Managers can purposely create conflict to keep
viable, self-critical and creative

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Understanding conflict
 Conflict refers to a series of-
❑ Disagreements

❑ Arguments

❑ Incompatibility between opinions, principles etc.

 A conflict exists when two people wish to carry out

acts that are mutually inconsistent.

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Understanding conflict
 Conflicts are complex processes.
 There are three factors that influence conflict.
❑ Attitudes-perception & misconception
❑ Behaviors-cooperation, coercion, gestures signifying hostility

❑ Structures-organizational mechanisms, processes and groups

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Components of Conflict
 Three components of conflict are-
❑ Cognitive- can be equated with the presence of
disagreement.
❑ Behavioural- can be equated with debate,
arguments, competition, political
maneuvering, backstabbing, aggression,
hostility and destruction.
❑ Affective- can be equated with negative
emotions such as fear, jealousy, anger, anxiety
and frustration.

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Components of Conflict
D.I= Disagreement
NE= Negative Emotion
I= Interference D.I

NE I
Figure: Interrelationship
Among components

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Perspectives of conflict
 Cognitive perspective of conflict
❑ Emphasize on how and what people think or on what
goes on intellectually in a given situation.
❑ Defines a given situation as the knowledge structure
or schema people hold.
❑ Describes situations as firm, stable entities or
activities with fixed label
❑ It assumes that individuals are fundamentally goal-
oriented
❑ People are unique

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Perspectives of conflict
 Interactional perspective of conflict-
❑ Focuses on the issue that how one behaves in a given
situation determines the way other individual will react.
❑ The actions are a series of interconnected events.
❑ It regards situations as largely emergent
❑ A situation is seen as far more fluid than fixed

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Types of conflict
 Goal conflict-
❑ It arises when an individual selects or is assigned goals
that are incompatible with each other.
❑ Goal incompatibility refers to the extent to which an
individual’s or group’s goals are at odds with one other.

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Types of conflict
 Affective conflict-
❑ It can be explained as the incompatible feelings and
emotions within the individual or between individuals.
❑ Most affective conflict is focused on personalized anger
or resentment.
❑ It comes from the perception that one is being attacked
or criticized.
❑ Its effects can be seen in poor decision making quality,
lower productivity and less creativity.

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Types of conflict
 Cognitive conflict-
❑ It occurs when ideas and thoughts within an
individual or between individuals are incompatible.
❑ Its effects are mainly positive like better decision
quality, higher productivity and more creativity.

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Types of conflict
 Procedural conflict-
❑ It exists when group members disagree about the
procedures to be followed in accomplishing the group
goal.
❑ Union management negotiations often involve
procedural conflict before the negotiations actually
begin.

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Models of Conflict
 Process model-
❑ Conflict process follows five stages occurring
sequentially one after the other.
❑ The five stages are-
➢ Frustration
➢ Conceptualization
➢ Behavior
➢ Interaction
➢ Outcome

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Models of Conflict
 Structural model-
❑ The structural model identifies the parameters that
shape the conflict episode.
❑ There are four such parameters-
➢ Behavioral predisposition
➢ Social pressure
➢ Incentive structure
➢ Rules and procedures

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Functional and Dysfunctional
conflict
 Functional conflict-
❑ Conflict in organizations can be a positive force.
❑ Functional conflict is understood as the creation or
resolution of conflict that often leads to-
➢ Quality of decisions
➢ Stimulating involvement in the discussion
➢ Building group cohesion

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Functional and Dysfunctional
conflict
 Dysfunctional conflict-
❑ It has serious negative effects.
❑ It creates difficulties in communication, break down
relationships, reduces effectiveness by causing tension,
anxiety and stress.

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 Functional and Dysfunctional
conflict
 Responses to conflict
Responses to conflict

DISAGREEME
AVOIDANCE DIFFUSION
NT

Hide Ignore Postpone Wait Violently Nonviolently

Psychologic
Physical Verbal Intimidation
al

Discuss Hear other person’s Agree to

feelings Collaborate
point of view disagree

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Conflict and Performance
 Low level of conflict-
❑ When the conflict level is low, the behavior of the
employees is observed to be apathetic, stagnant and
non-responsive
❑ It can be described as dysfunctional conflict.
❑ It can result in complacency and poor performance.

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Conflict and Performance
 Optimum level of conflict-
❑ Conflict is characterized as functional

❑ It is the effective zone leading to high productivity

outcome.
❑ Employee is observed to be viable, self-critical and
innovative.

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Conflict and Performance
 High level of conflict-
❑ It is resulted in disruptive, chaotic and uncooperative
behavior.
❑ It is the psychosomatic zone
❑ The performance of the employees is badly affected.
❑ Once an employee reaches this stage, it is extremely
difficult to retrieve him back to the effective zone.

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 Thank You

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Chapter 2
An individual may experience internal
conflict due to the presence of;
❑A number of competing needs and roles
❑ A variety of different drives that compel the
individual to act in a certain way.
❑ Barriers that may come in between the drive and
the goal achievement.
❑ Both positive and negative aspects attached to
desired goals.
❑ Not having a clear understanding of what is
expected from the job role.
❑ Conflict -frustration model
1. Need (Desire to study)
2. Drive (Study hard)
3. Barrier (Monetary problem)
4. Goal ( Ph. D. degree in US)
 Thereactions or the behavioral pattern of
the employees when faced with a barrier:
1. Aggression
2. Withdrawal
3. Rationalization
4. Compromise
5. Fixation
 Approach-Approach conflict
 Avoidance-Avoidance conflict
 Approach-Avoidance conflict
 Multiple approach-Avoidance conflict
 Person and the role conflict
 Intra-role conflict
 Inter-role conflict
 Conflict experienced between two or more
individuals can be termed as interpersonal
conflict.
❑ Substantive conflict
❑ Emotional conflict
 It is beneficial if the aftermath of the
conflict reveals that-
❑ Both individuals are able to work better together.
❑ They feel better bout each other and their own jobs.
❑ Both express satisfaction about the way the conflict
was resolved.
❑ They consider abilities to handle future conflicts
improved.
 Three stages of interpersonal conflict:
1. Developing conflict stage (latent
conflict, conflict awareness,
frustration)
2. Recognizable conflict (Tension,
friction, disagreement)
3. Aggressive conflict stage (Verbal
abuse, threats, assault)
❑Intra-group conflict
❑Inter-group conflict
 There is an inherent conflict in the group
life and development regardless of the
size of the group. It can be explained with
the help of two approaches:
❑ Group development approach

❑ Concomitant approach
 Forming
 Storming
 Norming
 Performing
 Adjourning
 Conflictis concomitant, attendant process of
collective life. There are seven paradoxes:
❑ Paradox of identity
❑ Paradox of disclosure
❑ Paradox of trust
❑ Paradox of individuality
❑ Paradox of authority
❑ Paradox of regression
❑ Paradox of creativity
 Colleagues not speaking to each other or
ignoring each other
 Contradicting and bad-mouthing one another
 Deliberately undermining or not co-operating
with one another etc.
 Communication flow can be-
❑ Downwards
❑ Upwards
❑ Horizontal
❑ Diagonal
❑ Outward
 Organizational conflict can be understood as
the clash that occurs when the goal directed
behavior of one group blocks or thwarts the
goals of other groups.
 Stage 1: Latent conflict
 Stage 2: perceived conflict
 Stage 3: Felt conflict
 Stage 4: Manifest conflict
 Stage 5: Conflict aftermath
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For
Attending the Session
Chapter 3
 Cognitive dissonance
➢ It is an unpleasant state that occurs when
individuals discover inconsistencies between two
of their attitudes or between attitudes and
behavior.
➢ Individual needs to change his thoughts or
behaviors or obtain more information about the
issue to reduce inconsistencies.

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 Neurotic tendencies
➢ These are irrational personality mechanisms that
an individual uses, often unconsciously, that
create inner conflict.
➢ Managers having neurotic personality use
excessively tight organizational controls.

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 Relationship rules
➢ Rules of support
➢ Rules of intimacy
➢ Rules relating to third parties
➢ Task related rules

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 Personality, gender and age related issues
➢ Personality clash: people can interpret same
facts differently.
➢ Gender differences: Women find their jobs more
satisfying but, at the same time more stressful
than men.
➢ Age differences: Age based stereotypes
influence our perception of and reaction towards
with whom we work.

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 Evaluating others
➢ Factors inherent in our evaluation and treatment
of others are assumptions about others, misuse
of authority and power tactics and manipulation.
➢ Conflict occurs when one’s perception of another
person is biased.

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 Evaluating the situation
➢ Evaluation of the situation is influenced by our
perception of the situation and its
interpretation.
➢ Our expectations and belief also influence our
evaluation of the situation.

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 Role incompatibility
➢ Managers and employees have tasks and
functions that are highly interdependent.
➢ The individual roles of different managers may
be incompatible.

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 Changes and stress resulting from
environmental factors
➢ Environment characterized by scare resources,
competitive pressures, high degree of
uncertainty, status and power differences,
conflicting goals and objectives may lead to
interpersonal conflict.

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 Difficult boss
➢ Managers who show favoritism or are extremely
critical of subordinates create an environment in
which hostility and tension predominate.
➢ Inappropriate leadership style can create
conflict.

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 Difficulties with colleagues
➢ Conflict arises with colleagues when there is
power play.
➢ Power play strategies include use of overt
threats, psychological threats and game playing.

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 Negative stereotypes about the other group
➢ Stereotypes are social schema that includes
characteristics which can be positive and
negative and belong to all members of a group.
➢ Conflict arises when negative stereotypes are
used to make predictions about the behavior of
the other group.

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 Not acknowledging the conflict
➢ The most common repressive management
strategy is not acknowledging the conflict.
➢ It is a type of non-action for doing nothing.

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 Avoiding conflict
➢ Avoiding conflict means keeping appeals for
changes or redress always “under consideration”.
➢ It can be termed as administrative orbiting.
➢ A common means of avoiding conflict is to be
secretive.

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 Law and order
➢ Managers sometimes use law and order to repress
the outward manifestation of conflict.
➢ This doesn’t make conflict go away, it just sends
it scuttling to the underground where it will grow
and increase its destructive power.

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 Frustration
➢ There are three factors participating the
condition for conflict in the frustration stage:
communication, structure and personal variable.

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 Distorted perception and behavioral
predisposition
 Size of a group affects the occurrence of
conflict
 Technological mediation introduces conlfict

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 Communication failure
➢ Inadequate information
➢ Lack of precision or clarity
➢ Lack of legitimacy
➢ Lack of authenticity
➢ Timeliness
➢ Contradictory messages
➢ Distortion of information
➢ Information overload

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 Structural factors
 Level of participation
 Task interdependence
 Task ambiguity
 Differentiation
 Bureaucratic factors
 Incompatible performance criteria

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 Competition for limited resources
 Conflicting reward system
 Power
 Horizontal conflict
 Vertical conflict
 Change
 The domino effect

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 Organizational-professional conflict
 Hybrid channel conflict

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 Structuralfactors: An increase in the size of
the organization is associated with-
❑ Less goal clarity
❑ Greater formality
❑ Increased specialization
❑ More supervisory levels
❑ Increased opportunities for information to
become distorted

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 Structural factors: The consequences can be
seen in-
❑ Poor policy management
❑ Role interference

❑ Ineffective leadership

❑ Program mismanagement

❑ Ineffective processes etc.

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 Staff heterogeneity
❑ Authority
❑ Longevity

❑ Values and beliefs

❑ Decision-making styles

❑ Understanding of the situation

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 Task interdependence
❑ Pooled interdependence
❑ Sequential interdependence
❑ Reciprocal interdependence

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 Differentiation
❑ It emphasizes differences in cognitive and
emotional orientation among managers in
different department.(R&D, Sales, Design and
mechanical engineering departments)
❑ It the differentiation is not done properly, it may
give rise to conflict.(Introvert and extrovert,
methodical, analytical, intuitive)

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 Bureaucratic factors
❑ In many organizations, people in staff functions
are treated secondary players.
❑ People in line position enjoy superior status.

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 Incompatible performance criteria
❑ Conflict arise between subunits because of the
system relating to monitoring, evaluating and
rewarding.
❑ The way an organization designs its structure to
coordinate subunits can have the potential for
conflict. (Production vs. Sales)

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 Horizontal conflict
❑ Conflict between people at similar organizational
level ( R&D vs. sales)
❑ Horizontal power differentials are typically
informal.
❑ The power differentials among departments can
be explained by the theory of strategic
contingencies.

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 Vertical conflict
❑ It is the conflict between different levels in
hierarchy (Management vs. workers).
❑ It often occurs when superiors attempt to control
subordinates too tightly.
❑ Subordinates think the control infringes too much
on their freedom.

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 Change
❑ Reorganization and rightsizing can wreak
havoc in organization.
❑ Communication breakdown is sure to occur as

responsibilities change.

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 The Domino effect
❑ It is the product of poor planning and
communication breakdown.
❑ It occurs when the activities of one
department have a direct impact on another
department continuously.
❑ Top management will take the responsibility

to mitigate this problem.

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 Organizational-professional conflict
❑ Bureaucratic or organizational pressure have
reduced autonomy and impair professionals’
integrity and objectivity.
❑ The goal of knowledge creation,
advancement have been replaced by the
profit maximization and cost containment
goal.

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 Hybrid channel conflict
❑ It occurs when one channel coalition perceives
that another is engaged in behavior that
prevents or impedes the first from achieving its
goals.
❑ Multiple channels place conflicting demands on
internal company resources such as capital,
personnel, products and technology.
❑ Internal squabbles between the channel groups
may lead to an internal focus reducing
customer orientation of channel managers.

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 Thank You
For
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Rout & Omiko