CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Conflict: What does the word mean to you?

 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
An inevitable part of organization life
Needed for growth and survival
Conflict management includes increasing and decreasing conflict
Major management responsibility
INTRODUCTION (CONT.)

(“It’s dumb if we all agree.”)

FUNCTIONAL AND
DYSFUNCTIONAL CONFLICT
Functional conflict: works toward the goals of an organization or group
Dysfunctional conflict: blocks an organi-zation or group from reaching its goals
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
LEVELS AND TYPES
OF CONFLICT

Level of conflict Type of conflict

Organization Within and between organizations

Group Within and between groups

Individual 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 person’s values
 Feeling of unfair treatment
 Multiple and contradictory sources of socialization
LEVELS AND TYPES
OF CONFLICT (CONT.)
Interorganization conflict
 Between two or more organizations
 Not competition
 Examples: suppliers and distributors
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 Residue of a

Manifest conflict conflict episode

Example:
compromise in
allocating scarce
resources leaves both
Conflict aftermath parties with less than
they wanted
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 person’s position on an issue
 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 (CONT.)
Conflict orientations
 Dominance: wants to win; conflict is a battle
 Collaborative: wants to find a solution that satisfies the other party
 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

Avoidance
Collaborative Compromise Accommodative
Dominance

No residue High residue

Conflict aftermath
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
 THE SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATIONS
(CONT.)

 Scarce resources: money, equipment, facilities

 Organizational differentiation: different orientations in different parts of organization
 Rules, procedures, policies: behavioral guides that can cause clashes
LATENT CONFLICT: THE SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN
ORGANIZATIONS (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
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT MODEL
Maintain conflict at functional levels
 Not complete elimination
 Reducing to functional levels
 Choose desired level of conflict based on perceived conflict requirements
 Varies in different parts of an organization
 Manager’s tolerance for conflict plays a role
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT MODEL
(CONT.)
Symptoms of dysfunctionally high conflict
 Low trust
 Information distortion
 Tension/antagonism
 Stress
 Sabotage of organization’s 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
 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
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