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WELCOME TO THIS SESSION
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Chapter-one
K. Harigopal
Lecture: 02
copyright:m.ahamed@nub 1
Q. CAN CONFLICTS BE POSITIVE
 Conflict in work situations may also give

rise to organization related individual
consequences: absenteeism, job
dissatisfaction, apathy or indifference to
work, role set members and the company,
job stress and burnout, disloyalty, work
sabotage, employee turnover, increased
territoriality and resistance to change,
decreased information sharing etc
copyright:m.ahamed@nub Continuing 2
 Organizations are also affected by intra-
and inter organizational conflicts that
undermine organizational performance and
efficiency. Organizations unable to resolve
internal and external conflicts may not be
able to survive in the long run .
 There is common evidence that
organizations unable to resolve union
management conflicts or inter
organizational competitiveness have faced
closer or become defunct.
Now it is a question can
conflicts be positive?
 It can also be argued that conflicts are not
necessarily bad. The progress we have
made so far in our civilization is due to the
conflict between nature and man.
 Conflict releases energy at every level of
human activity energy that can produce
positive , constructive results.
 Conflicts tend to have a motivational value ,
they drive or energize an individual to
tackle a situation.
 To resolve a conflict one might explore
different avenues or alternatives of action
which make him/her more knowledgeable.
 Conflicts also provide opportunities to test
one’s own abilities. While successful
resolution of a conflict adds to one’s self
confidence, unsuccessful attempts make one
more realistic and resourceful to seek better
alternatives and thereby improve one’s skills.
 For an example, think of any of the personal
or organizational problems that you may
have faced five or six years ago. It was
probably difficult for you to resolve them at
that time. But it the same problems were to
recur surely you would have more
confidence to tackle them at present than
you had earlier when they first occurred.
Q. Functional & Dysfunctional
aspects of conflict.
 Beneficial consequences- when properly managed,
conflicts can have beneficial consequences. They
can….
 Motivate individuals to do better and to work harder.
One’s talents and abilities come to the forefront in a
conflict situation
 Satisfy certain psychological needs like dominance,
aggression, esteem and ego and thereby provide an
opportunity for the constructive use and release of
aggressive urges.
copyright:m.ahamed@nub
Continuing 8
 Provide creative , constructive and innovative
ideas . For example employee benefits of the
present day are an outcome of the union
management conflicts over the past decades.
 Add variety to one’s organizational life,
otherwise work life would be dull and boring.
Continuing
 Facilitate an understanding of the
problem, people and
interrelationships between people,
better coordination among
individuals and departments, in
addition to strengthening intra
group relationships etc.
Dysfunctional consequences
 Conflicts affect individual and organizational
performance. Resolving conflicts consumes a
considerable amount of managerial time and
energy, which could be more productively spent in
the absence of conflict.
 In a conflict situation people may promote their
self interests or personal gains at the cost of others
or the organization. For example a union leader
may call for a strike to assert his superiority or the
stabilize his leadership.
 Intense conflicts over a prolonged period affect
individuals emotionally and physically and give
rise to psychosomatic disorders.
 Time spent on conflicts if costed could mean
considerable amount of money wasted.
 Conflicts may lead to work sabotage, employee
morale problems, decline in the market share of
product/ services and consequent loss of
productivity.
Q. Interpersonal conflict :
Helpful or Harmful
 Johnson (1978) suggests the following
criteria to judge whether a conflict between
two individuals has been helpful or harmful.
Conflict is beneficial, if the aftermath of the
conflict reveals:
 Both individuals are able to work better together
 They feel better about each other and their own
job.
 Both express satisfaction
about the way the conflict was
resolved and
 Consider their abilities to
handle future conflicts
improved.
 So far we have presented two
opposite views regarding the nature
of conflict. Which one of them is
valid? It is true that conflicts are
dysfunctional.
 They affect one’s performance give
rise to maladjusted behaviors and

causes psychosomatic disorders.
 However it is also true that
conflicts are motivational and
enhance one’s performance and
that resolving them makes one
more knowledgeable , self
confident, skillful and
competent.
H
P
E
R
F B A
O
R Low
Effectiv
M motivational
e zone Psychosomatic
zone
A Zone
C
E
H
L
Conflict intensity
 Let us present the relationship
between the two variables: conflict
and performance. The X axis
represents conflict from low to high
intensity.
 The Y axis represents performance
from low to high degree. As

conflict increases performance also
increases but only to a certain point.
 Beyond this point which may be called the
optimal point or perhaps one’s tolerance
level. With further increase in conflict
performance decreases.
 In fact it may even drastically drop. Hence
we might say that below the optimal
point( for the individual’s tolerance level
conflict and performance are positively and
linearly related. Above the optimal point
they are negatively related.
 Above the optimal point they are
negatively related.
 From the graph three zones may be
noticed (1) the non motivational

zone which is below B (2) the
effective zone which is between B
and A and (3) the psychosomatic
zone which is beyond A.
 Non motivational zone- The conflict is
of a low intensity. Hence one may not
be bothered at al by the conflict
situation. And its stimulus value is
minimal.
 One may or may not notice it. Even if
one notice one may be indifferent or
passive towards it. One’s behavior
could be non could be non committal
even if one cares to respond.
 For example individuals are
less motivated by jobs for
which they are overqualified
or possess skills that greatly
exceed the demands of the
task or situation.
 Effective zone- when conflict is in
the effective zone the conflict
situation is strong enough to
demand attention and one is very
concerned about resolving it.
 However he is not agitated and has
positive emotions towards it . To a

considerable degree he might have
personal stakes in the situation.
 His behavior is characterized by the desire
and need to meet the challenge, explore the
environment to gather relevant information
and search for appropriate goals and
alternatives.
 He tends to be proactive and resolves the
conflict in terms of what he considers an
appropriate decision.
 There is also perseverance or tenacity or
purpose in his behavior. It is healthy tension
zone with an optimal level of arousal for
effective functioning.
 Psychosomatic Zone -when the intensity of
conflict is beyond a person’s tolerance
level, that is beyond point A. he enters the
psychosomatic zone. Two levels of conflict
intensity may be assumed in this zone: high
intensity and extremely high intensity.
Continuing
 When conflict is beyond one’s tolerance
level or the ability to cope with the person
exhibits a variety of defense mechanisms to
come to terms with the situation. Some of
them are withdrawal, submission,
projection, denial etc.
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WELCOME TO THIS SESSION

 Conflict in work situations may also give

rise to maladjusted behaviors and

from low to high degree. As

noticed (1) the non motivational

positive emotions towards it . To a

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