Crisis And Conflict Management

Conflict in Organizations

Lecture 18

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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

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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

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lecture 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

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lecture Overview (Cont.)

• Conflict Management• Reducing Conflict• Increasing Conflict• International Aspects of Conflict in

Organizations• Ethical Issues in Conflict in Organizations

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Introduction

Conflict Conflicto

Conflit Conflito

Conflict: What does the word mean to you?

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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–8

Introduction (Cont.)

• Key elements– Interdependence with another party– Perception of incompatible goals

• Conflict events– Disagreements– Debates– Disputes– Preventing someone from reaching valued goals

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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

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Introduction (Cont.)

Toda unanimidade é burra.

(“It’s dumb if we all agree.”)

Brazilian Saying(Ditado popular, Portuguese)

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Functional andDysfunctional Conflict

• Functional conflict: works toward the goals of an organization or group

• Dysfunctional conflict: blocks an organi-zation 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

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Functional andDysfunctional Conflict (Cont.)

• Functional conflict– “Constructive Conflict”--Mary Parker Follett (1925)– Increases information and ideas– Encourages innovative thinking– Unshackles different points of view– Reduces stagnation

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Functional andDysfunctional 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

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Functional andDysfunctional Conflict (Cont.)

• Dysfunctionally low conflict– Few new ideas– Poor decisions from lack of innovation and

information– Stagnation– Business as usual

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Levels and Typesof Conflict

Individual

Group

Organization

Type of conflictLevel of conflict

Within and between organizations

Within and between groups

Within and between individuals

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Levels and Typesof 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

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Levels and Typesof 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

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Levels and Typesof 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

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Levels and Typesof Conflict (Cont.)

• Intrapersonal conflict– Occurs within an individual• Threat to a person’s 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)

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Levels and Typesof Conflict (Cont.)

• Interorganization conflict– Between two or more organizations– Not competition– Examples: suppliers and distributors, especially

with the close links now possible

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Conflict Episodes

Latent conflict

Conflict aftermath

Manifest conflict

Simple conflict episode

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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

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Conflict Episodes

Latent conflict

Conflict aftermath

Manifest conflict

Conflict reduction

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Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

The antecedents of conflict

Example: scarce resources

Latent conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

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

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Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

Observable conflict behavior

Example: disagreement, discussion

Latent conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

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Conflict Episodes (Cont.)

Manifest conflict

Latent conflict

Conflict aftermath

Residue of aconflict episode

Example:compromise inallocating scarceresources leaves bothparties with less thanthey wanted

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Conflict Episodes

Latent conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict aftermath

Perceived conflict Felt conflict

Conflict reductionText book Figure 11.1

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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

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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

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Relationships AmongConflict 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

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Relationships AmongConflict Episodes (Cont.)

Latent conflict Manifest conflict Conflict aftermath

Latent conflict Manifest conflict Conflict aftermath

Latent conflict Manifest conflict Conflict aftermath

Conflict reduction

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Summary

• Learning goals• Functional & dysfunctional conflict• Level and types Conflict • Conflict Episodes

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Thank you

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