Chapter 11

Conflict in Organizations

Learning Goals
Define conflict and conflict behavior in
organizations
Distinguish between functional and
dysfunctional conflict
Understand different levels and types of
conflict in organizations
Analyze conflict episodes and the linkages
among them

Learning Goals (Cont.)

Understand the role of latent conflict in an
episode and its sources in an organization
Describe a conflict management model
Use various techniques to reduce and
increase conflict
Appreciate some international and ethical
issues in conflict management

Chapter Overview
Introduction
Functional and Dysfunctional Conflict
Levels and Types of Conflict in
Organizations
Conflict Episodes
Conflict Frames and Orientations
Latent Conflict: The Sources of Conflict in
Organizations

Chapter Overview (Cont.)

Conflict Management
Reducing Conflict
Increasing Conflict
International Aspects of Conflict in
Organizations
Ethical Issues in Conflict in Organizations

Introduction
Conflict: What does the word mean to you?

Conflict

Conflicto

Conflit

Conflito

Introduction (Cont.)
Definition

Opposition
Incompatible behavior
Antagonistic interaction
Block another party from reaching her or his
goals
Range of conflict behavior

Doubt or questioning

Annihilation of opponent

Introduction (Cont.)
Key elements
Interdependence with another party
Perception of incompatible goals

Conflict events

Disagreements
Debates
Disputes
Preventing someone from reaching valued goals

Introduction (Cont.)

Conflict is not always bad for an organization

Do not need to reduce all conflict
Conflict episodes: ebb and flow of conflict
An inevitable part of organization life
Needed for growth and survival
Conflict management includes increasing and
decreasing conflict
Major management responsibility

Introduction (Cont.)
Brazilian Saying
(Ditado popular, Portuguese)

Toda unanimidade burra.

(Its dumb if we all agree.)

Special thanks to Gustavo Sette Rabello,

Graduate Student, The Robert O. Anderson Graduate School of Management, 1996

Functional and
Dysfunctional Conflict
Functional conflict: works toward the
goals of an organization or group
Dysfunctional conflict: blocks an organization or group from reaching its goals
Dysfunctionally high conflict: what you
typically think about conflict
Dysfunctionally low conflict: an atypical view
Levels vary among groups

Functional and
Dysfunctional Conflict (Cont.)
Functional conflict
Constructive Conflict--Mary Parker Follett
(1925)
Increases information and ideas
Encourages innovative thinking
Unshackles different points of view
Reduces stagnation

Functional and
Dysfunctional Conflict (Cont.)
Dysfunctionally high conflict

Tension, anxiety, stress

Drives out low conflict tolerant people
Reduced trust
Poor decisions because of withheld or distorted
information
Excessive management focus on the conflict

Functional and
Dysfunctional Conflict (Cont.)
Dysfunctionally low conflict
Few new ideas
Poor decisions from lack of innovation and
information
Stagnation
Business as usual

Levels and Types

of Conflict
Level of conflict
Organization

Group

Individual

Type of conflict
Within and between organizations

Within and between groups

Within and between individuals

Levels and Types

of Conflict (Cont.)
Intraorganization conflict
Conflict that occurs within an organization
At interfaces of organization functions
Can occur along the vertical and horizontal
dimensions of the organization
Vertical conflict: between managers and
subordinates
Horizontal conflict: between departments and work
groups

Levels and Types

of Conflict (Cont.)
Intragroup conflict
Conflict among members of a group
Early stages of group development
Ways of doing tasks or reaching group's goals

Intergroup conflict: between two or more

groups

Levels and Types

of Conflict (Cont.)
Interpersonal conflict

Between two or more people

Differences in views about what should be done
Efforts to get more resources
Differences in orientation to work and time in
different parts of an organization

Levels and Types

of Conflict (Cont.)
Intrapersonal conflict
Occurs within an individual

Threat to a persons values

Feeling of unfair treatment
Multiple and contradictory sources of socialization
Related to the Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
(Chapter 5) and negative inequity (Chapter 8)

Levels and Types

of Conflict (Cont.)
Interorganization conflict
Between two or more organizations
Not competition
Examples: suppliers and distributors,
especially with the close links now possible

Conflict Episodes
Simple conflict episode

Latent conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

Latent conflict: antecedents of conflict
behavior that can start conflict episode
Manifest conflict: observable conflict
behavior
Conflict aftermath

End of a conflict episode

Often the starting point of a related episode
Becomes the latent conflict for another episode

Conflict reduction: lower the conflict

level

Conflict Episodes
Latent conflict

Manifest conflict
Conflict reduction
Conflict aftermath

Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

Latent conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

The antecedents of
conflict
Example: scarce
resources

Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

Some latent conflict in the lives of college
students

Parking spaces
Library copying machines
Computer laboratory
Books in the bookstore
School and other parts of your life
University policies

Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

Latent conflict

Observable conflict
behavior
Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

Example:
disagreement,
discussion

Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

Latent conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

Residue of a
conflict episode
Example:
compromise in
allocating scarce
resources leaves both
parties with less than
they wanted

Conflict Episodes
Latent conflict

Perceived conflict

Felt conflict

Manifest conflict
Conflict reduction

Text book Figure 11.1

Conflict aftermath

Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

Perceived conflict
Become aware that one is in conflict with
another party
Can block out some conflict
Can perceive conflict when no latent conditions
exist
Example: misunderstanding another persons
position on an issue

Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

Felt conflict

Emotional part of conflict

Personalizing the conflict
Oral and physical hostility
Hard to manage episodes with high felt conflict
What people likely recall about conflict

Relationships Among
Conflict Episodes
Episodes link through the connection of
conflict aftermath to latent conflict
Effective conflict management: break the
connection
Discover the latent conflicts and remove
them

Relationships Among
Conflict Episodes (Cont.)
Conflict reduction
Latent conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

Latent conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

Latent conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

Conflict Frames
and Orientations
Conflict frames
Perceptual sets that people bring to conflict
episodes
Perceptual filters
Remove some information from an episode
Emphasize other information in an episode

Conflict Frames
and Orientations (Cont.)
Relationship-Task

Conflict
frame

Emotional-Intellectual

Cooperate-Win

Conflict Frames
and Orientations (Cont.)
Conflict frame dimensions
Relationship-Task
Relationship: focuses on interpersonal relationships
Task: focuses on material aspects of an episode

Emotional-Intellectual
Emotional: focuses on feelings in the conflict
episode (felt conflict)
Intellectual: focuses on observed behavior (manifest
conflict)

Conflict Frames
and Orientations (Cont.)
Conflict frame dimensions (cont.)
Cooperate-Win
Cooperate: emphasizes the role of all parties to the
conflict
Win: wants to maximize personal gain

Conflict Frames
and Orientations (Cont.)
Conflict frames
Limited research results
End an episode with a relationship or intellectual
frame: feel good about relationship with other party
Cooperation-focused people end with more positive
results than those focused on winning

Conflict Frames
and Orientations (Cont.)
Conflict orientations
Dominance: wants to win; conflict is a battle
Collaborative: wants to find a solution that
satisfies everyone
Compromise: splits the differences
Avoidance: backs away
Accommodative: focuses on desires of other
party

Conflict Frames
and Orientations (Cont.)
Can change during conflict episode
How firmly the person holds orientation
Importance of the issues to the person
Perception of opponent's power

Collaborative orientation: more positive

long-term benefits than the others

Conflict Frames
and Orientations (Cont.)
Conflict orientation and the conflict aftermath
Collaborative

No residue

Compromise

Conflict aftermath

Avoidance
Accommodative
Dominance
High residue

Conflict Frames
and Orientations (Cont.)
Combinations of conflict orientations in a
group

Dominance, avoidance
Dominance, dominance
Avoidance, avoidance
Dominance, collaborative, compromise
Collaborative, compromise, avoidance
Collaborative, compromise, avoidance,
dominance, accommodative

Latent Conflict: The Sources of

Conflict in Organizations
Antecedents to conflict episodes
Many natural conditions of organizations act as
latent conflicts
Lurk in the background; trigger conflict when
right conditions occur
Does not always lead to manifest conflict
Give us clues about how to reduce
dysfunctionally high conflict

Latent Conflict: The Sources of

Conflict in Organizations (Cont.)
Some representative latent conflict
Scarce resources: money, equipment, facilities
Organizational differentiation: different
orientations in different parts of organization
Rules, procedures, policies: behavioral guides
that can cause clashes
Cohesive groups: value and orientation
differences among groups

Latent Conflict: The Sources of

Conflict in Organizations (Cont.)
Some representative latent conflict (cont.)
Interdependence: forces interaction
Communication barriers: shift work and
jargon
Ambiguous jurisdictions: areas of authority
not clearly defined
Reward systems: reward different behavior in
different parts of the organization
Sales on commission; manufacturing rewarded
for meeting schedules. Communication differences.

Conflict Management Model

Maintain conflict at functional levels

Not complete elimination

Reducing to functional levels
Increasing dysfunctionally low conflict
Choose desired level of conflict based on
perceived conflict requirements
Varies in different parts of an organization
Managers tolerance for conflict plays a role

Conflict Management Model

(Cont.)
Organizational
culture

Product or
service

Perceived conflict requirements

Desired conflict level

Fast-changing
environment

Conflict Management Model

(Cont.)
Dysfunctionally
low conflict

Dysfunctionally
high conflict

Normal

Increase
conflict

Decrease
conflict

Text book Figure 11.2

Conflict Management Model

(Cont.)
Symptoms of dysfunctionally high conflict

Low trust
Information distortion
Tension/antagonism
Stress
Sabotage of organizations product or service

Conflict Management Model

(Cont.)
Symptoms of dysfunctionally low conflict

Deny differences
Repress controversial information
Prohibit disagreements
Avoid interactions
Walk away from conflict episode

Reducing Conflict
Overview
Lose-lose methods: parties to the conflict
episode do not get what they want
Win-lose methods: one party a clear winner;
other party a clear loser
Win-win methods: each party to the conflict
episode gets what he or she wants

Reducing Conflict (cont.)

Lose-lose methods
Avoidance
Withdraw, stay away
Does not permanently reduce conflict

Compromise
Bargain, negotiate
Each loses something valued

Smoothing: find similarities

Reducing Conflict (Cont.)

Win-lose methods
Dominance
Overwhelm other party
Overwhelms an avoidance orientation

Authoritative command: decision by person

in authority
Majority rule: voting

Reducing Conflict (Cont.)

Win-win methods
Problem solving: find root causes
Integration: meet interests and desires of all
parties
Superordinate goal: desired by all but not
reachable alone

Reducing Conflict (Cont.)

Summary
Lose-lose methods: compromise
Win-lose methods: dominance
Win-win methods: problem solving

Increasing Conflict
Increase conflict when it is dysfunctionally
low
Heterogeneous groups: members have
different backgrounds
Devils advocate: offers alternative views
Organizational culture: values and norms
that embrace conflict and debate

Conflict Insights

Possible positive effects of conflict

Latent conflict
Conflict aftermath
Conflict episodes
Links between episodes
Latent conflict and methods of reduction

International Aspects of
Conflict in Organizations
Cultures that emphasize individualism and
competition
Positively value conflict
English-speaking countries, the Netherlands,
Italy, Belgium

Cultures that emphasize collaboration,

cooperation, conformity
Negatively value conflict
Many Asian and Latin American countries;
Portugal, Greece, Turkey

International Aspects of
Conflict in Organizations (Cont.)
No direct research evidence
Cultural differences imply different
functional conflict levels

International Aspects of
Conflict in Organizations (Cont.)
Cross-cultural research has dealt with
intergroup processes
Collaborative and cooperative cultures
expect little conflict during intergroup
interactions
Favor suppression of conflict with little
discussion about people's feelings
Felt conflict likely part of some conflict
episodes but hidden from public view

International Aspects of
Conflict in Organizations (Cont.)
Managers from an individualistic country
operating in a less individualistic country
Acceptable to express feelings during a conflict
episode
Suppression of feelings could baffle them
Increasing conflict can confuse local people
Almost immediate dysfunctional results

Ethical Issues in
Conflict in Organizations
Tolerance for conflict
Manager with a high tolerance for conflict; keeps
conflict levels too high for subordinates
Should such managers reveal their intentions about
desired conflict levels?
Full disclosure: subordinates could leave the group
if conflict levels became dysfunctionally stressful
Ethical question applies equally to newly hired
employees

Ethical Issues in
Conflict in Organizations (Cont.)
Deliberately increasing conflict is an effort
to guide behavior in a desired direction
Subtle methods of increasing conflict (forming
heterogeneous groups) connote manipulation
Full disclosure: manager states his intention to
use conflict to generate ideas and innovation
If people are free to join a group or not, the
ethical issue likely subsides

Ethical Issues in
Conflict in Organizations (Cont.)
Experiencing intrapersonal conflict
Requests to act against one's moral values
Observing behavior that one considers unethical

Reduce intrapersonal conflict

Report unethical acts
Transfer to another part of the organization
Quit

Ethical Issues in
Conflict in Organizations (Cont.)
Different cultures place different values on
conflict
Optimal conflict levels vary among countries
Lower levels conflict in collectivistic countries
than individualistic countries
Should managers honor such values even if their home
country values support higher levels of conflict?