Conflict takes many forms in organizations, for example in disagreements
over how resources should be divided, how work should be done, or in interpersonal rivalries
and misunderstandings. Conflicts can be grouped into substantive and affective conflicts.
Substantive and Affective Conflict
Substantive conflicts deal with aspects of performance or tasks and
often relate specifically to the project or goals of a team or organization.
Task conflicts can arise when members of a team or organization disagree on
issues that are relevant to meeting shared goals. Other substantive conflicts
can take the form of process conflicts,
disagreements over the strategies, policies, and procedures the group should
use in order to complete its tasks. These conflicts can also occur around
competition for resources, goal incompatibility,
and time incompatibility.
Affective conflict deals with interpersonal relationships
or incompatibilities. Affective conflicts, also known as personal conflicts,
personality conflicts, emotional conflicts, or relationship conflicts, are
conflicts that occur when group members express interpersonal dislike or negative
feelings. These tend to revolve around personal disagreements or dislikes
between individuals in a team and may relate to the actual project.
Intra and Interorganizational Conflict
Organizational conflict, substantive or
affective, can be divided also into intraorganizational and
interorganizational. Interorganizational conflict occurs between two or more
organizations, for example among competitors or collaborators with different
views on how to approach the collaboration. Intraorganizational conflict is
conflict within an organization, and can occur across departments, work teams,
groups of individuals, and individuals.
Individuals
and groups may have various conflict and conflict resolution styles, such as
avoiding conflicts, compromising, or cooperating Styles of conflict and
conflict resolution can also depend on cultural norms varying by the type of
organization or the country or region of operation. For example, in some
settings, direct communication is encouraged as a means of explicitly addressing the
issues at stake, while in other organizational or regional cultures, explicit
communication can be perceived as rude or disrespectful and delay opportunities
for resolution. There can also be different expectations about how conflict is
allowed to surface, for example, with employees who are at different
professional levels.
TYPES OF
CONFLICT
STRUCTURALLY BASED CONFLICTS
As an organization grows, or a single organization
becomes more complex , it become increasingly differentiated along horizontal
and vertical dimensions
VERTICAL CONFLICT
Transaction along the vertical dimensions are within the
framework of hierarchical authority,
between levels . Conflict arises among different levels and intensities of
roles , missions, objectives and activities at various levels .
The vertical conflict rises due to
inadequate-communication between echelons; that conflict system essentially
arise from differences of interests
between position holder occupying
different situations in the organization hierarchy and that
intra-organizational conflict arise from lack of shared perceptions and
attitudes among members at different echelons
HORIZONTAL CONFLICT
The transactions along the horizontal dimensions are very
important and this form of conflict
occurs between department or other unit such as division , sections and
branches.
The source of conflict between lateral units consists of
resources toward sub-optimization . The sud-units in the goal –oriented system
will have different sets of goals or different preferences –for the same goals
. If the two sub-units having differentiated goals are functionally
interdependent condition exist for
conflict.
LINE-STAFF CONFLICT
This is a form of
structurally based conflict , primarily-horizontal, between staff and
line manager at or near the same level . Line conflict is essentially a clash
of domains caused by dividing expertise authority and roles. The conflict is
between specialist and hierarchical role , through staff-line relationship.
Staff specialities have flourished in organizations,bringing about conflict
through differential role-expectations. New specialist is also threaten since
older ones attempt to crowd them out.
ROLE CONFLICT
Role conflict occurs when an individual assumes role for
different situations that are inconsistent with one or more other roles . For
example , the price of providing politicians with control over the professional
and technical work is a conflict between the two contacting parts, giving rise
to negative results
INSTITUTIONALISED CONFLICT
This is the conflict essential for the survival of the
unions . Lack of conflict , will weaken it , and its independence is asserted
by acts of criticism , contradictions, conflict competition . The strike in a
labour management organization is a good example.
MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS
Conflicts can be managed in different way , some focusing
on relationships and other on structural changes
Relationship changes
-Avoidance of the situation that causes the conflict is
an example of an interpersonal approach
-Another way of coping with conflict is emphasizing the
areas of agreement and common goals and de-emphasing disagreements
Structural change
Structural change solve conflict by modifying and
intergrating objectives of groups with different view points. Moreover , the
organization structrure. May have to be changed and authority-responsibility relationships
clarified. New way of co-ordinating activities may have to be found . Tasks and
work locations can also be re-arranged .In one workroom , for example, machines
were placed in a way that prevented conflicting parties from interactioning
with one another
Causes of Conflict in an Organization
The causes of conflict fall into
three distinct categories. Accordingly, these causes can be restructured and
placed into one of these categories.
These
categories deal with communicational, behavioral and structural aspects. Managers must understand the type of conflict situations so that they spend less time while dealing with them.
Communicational Aspects of Conflict
Poor communication, though not reflecting substantive differences, can have
powerful effect in causing conflict. Misunderstood or partial information
during the process of communication can make a difference between the success and the failure
of a task and such failure for which the responsibility becomes difficult to
trace can cause conflict between the sender of the communication and the
receiver of the communication.
Thus the problems in the communication process – whether
these problems relate to too much or too little communication, filtering of
communication, semantic problems or noise-act to retard collaboration and
stimulate misunderstanding. The filtering process occurs when information is
passed through many levels or when it passes through many members.
The amount of
information is functional up to a point, beyond which it become a source of
conflict. Semantic difficulties arise due to differences in backgrounds,
differences in training, selective perception and inadequate information about
others.
As an example, if a manager is going on an extended
vacation fails to communicate properly with his subordinates as to who would be
doing what, he will find these jobs only partially done with subordinates
blaming each other for not completing the tasks. Accordingly, adequate,
complete, and correctly understood communication is very important in orderly
completion of tasks, thus reducing the chances of of conflict
Today
organizations are characterized by complex relationships and a high degree of
task inter-dependence that can cause friction . Moreover , the goals of the
parties are often incompatible ,especially when the parties complete for
limited resource .People always have different values and different perceptions
of issues. A production managers, for example may take the position that
streamlining the product line and concentrating on a few product can make an
organization more productive , while a marketing manager may desire a broad
product line that will satisfy diverse consumer demand . An engineer may want
to design the best product regardless of
cost or market demand considerations . This will be in conflict with the
departments of purchasing , finance.
Conflict can arise from other sources as well . These may
be conflict between people in time and staff positions . A superior”s
autocratic leadership style may cause conflicts.
Differing educational backgrounds are potential sources
of conflict
CONCLUSION
In one view, organizational conflict
produces negative outcomes. Conflicts cause stress, which reduces worker
satisfaction. This diminished satisfaction can lead to increases in absenteeism
and turnover. Conflict can also diminish trust in supervisors and fellow
employees, which can slow or stop progress on projects. The pileup of internal
negative consequences, such as lost trust and slowed progress, can generate a
negative impact on customer satisfaction due to missed deadlines and reduced
work quality.
Cole,G.A.,(200) Management Theory
and Practice,BookPower, London
Gupta, R.,(1990), The Process of
Management , first Edition , Kaweri Printers(P) Ltd
H.Weihrich& H. Koontz,(1993).
Management;A global perspective. McGraw –Hill,Inc
Robins,S.T.,and
Coulter,M.,(Management,Pearson
Koontz, H.,(1988),Management,
McGraw Hill International
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