UNIT FIVE: CONFLICT AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Contents of the unit:

5.1 Introduction
5.2 Meaning and nature of conflict
5.3 Sources of conflict
5.4 Conflict outcomes
5.5.Level of conflict
5.6.Conflict stimulation
5.7.Conflict management
5.8.Summary

Objectives of the unit

UNIT FIVE: CONFLICT AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Contents of the unit:

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Meaning and nature of conflict

5.3 Sources of conflict

5.4 Conflict outcomes

5.5.Level of conflict

5.6.Conflict stimulation

5.7.Conflict management

5.8.Summary

Objectives of the unit

Dear learners, after the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

 Identify the sources of conflict

 Know conflict management styles

 Identify the outcomes of conflict

 Explain levels of conflict

 Explain conflicting techniques

5.1. INTRODUCTION

Dear Learner, Conflict is being taken as an inevitable aspect of modern life. For any

organizations to perform effectively, interdependent individuals and groups must establish

working relationships across organizational boundaries, between individuals and among groups.

Individuals or groups may depend on one another for information, assistance or

coordinated

action. Such interdependence may foster cooperation or conflict. It is worth repeating here that

the conflict-free company has never existed and never will exist. Antagonisms, tensions,

aggressions, stereotypes, negative attitudes and the frustrations of perceived conflicting

needs

will always be present wherever men are forced to live and work together. Therefore, this unit
gives you highlights about nature of conflict, its sources, and its management/resolution styles

and so on.

MEANING AND NATURE OF CONFLICT

Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interest are being opposed or

negatively affected by another party.

In organizations, a conflict exits whenever two or more parties are in disagreement. Conflict is

inherent in an organization system, and as the work force becomes more diverse, conflict
can increase. Conflict is defined as an incompatibility of goals or values between two or
more parties in a
relationship, combined with attempts to control each other and antagonistic feelings toward each

other. The incompatibility or difference may exist in reality or may only be perceived by
the

parties involved. Nonetheless, the opposing actions and the hostile emotions are very real

hallmarks of human conflict

Conflict has the potential for either a great deal of destruction or much creativity and positive
social change (Kriesberg, 1998). Therefore, it is essential to understand the basic processes
of
conflict so that we can work to maximize productive outcomes and minimize destructive ones.
Conflict occurs between people in all kinds of human relationships and in all social
settings.
Because of the wide range of potential differences among people, the absence of conflict usually
signals the absence of meaningful interaction. Conflict by itself is neither good nor bad.
However, the manner in which conflict is handled determines whether it is constructive
or
destructive (Deutsch & Coleman, 2000).
Conflict has the potential for either a great deal of destruction or much creativity and positive
social change. However, people often think of conflict as fighting and view it as
disruptive.
Conflict, however, can be beneficial. A balance of conflict is essential to all organizations. Too
little or too much conflict is usually a sign of management‟s unwillingness or inability to adapt
to
a diversified environment.
Conflict has the potential for either a great deal of destruction or much creativity and positive

social change (Kriesberg, 1998). Therefore, it is essential to understand the basic processes
of

conflict so that we can work to maximize productive outcomes and minimize destructive ones.
Conflict occurs between people in all kinds of human relationships and in all social
settings.

Because of the wide range of potential differences among people, the absence of conflict usually

signals the absence of meaningful interaction. Conflict by itself is neither good nor bad.

However, the manner in which conflict is handled determines whether it is constructive

or

destructive (Deutsch & Coleman, 2000).

Conflict has the potential for either a great deal of destruction or much creativity and positive

social change. However, people often think of conflict as fighting and view it as
disruptive.

Conflict, however, can be beneficial. A balance of conflict is essential to all organizations. Too

little or too much conflict is usually a sign of management‟s unwillingness or inability to adapt
to

a diversified environment.

The question today is not whether conflict is good or bad rather, how to manage
conflict to benefit the organization. Therefore, it is essential to understand the basic processes
of conflict so that we can work to maximize productive outcomes and minimize destructive ones

SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATION

Some of the conditions that cause conflict in organizational setting are:

A. Incompatible Goals: a common source of conflict is goal incompatibility. Goal

incompatibility occurs when personal or work goals seem to interfere with another person‟s

or department‟s goals.

B. Different Values And Beliefs: incompatibility in any of life, ideologies-the preferences,

principles and practices which people believe. Cultural diversity, and different backgrounds
and experiences makes indifferent to understand or accept the beliefs and values that other

people hold toward organizational decisions and events.

C. Power conflict occurs when each party wishes to maintain or maximize the amount of

influence that it exerts in the relationship and the social setting. It is impossible for one party

to be stronger without the other being weaker, at least in terms of direct influence over each

other. Thus, a power struggle ensues which usually ends in a victory and defeat, or in a

“stand-off” with a continuing state of tension.

Power conflicts can occur between individuals, between groups or between nations,
whenever

one or both parties choose to take a power approach to the relationship. Power also enters into all

conflict since the parties are attempting to control each other.

D. Task Interdependence: conflict tends to increase with the level of task interdependence.

Task interdependence exists when team members must share common inputs to their

individual tasks, need to interact in the process of executing their work, or receive outcomes

(such as rewards) that are partly de3termined by the performance of others. The higher the

level of task interdependence, the greater the risk of conflict, because there is a greater

chance that each side will disrupt or interfere with the other side‟s goals.

E. Unclear job boundaries: unclear line of responsibility within an organization can be a

source for conflict

F. Scarce resources/economic conflict: scarce resources generate conflict because scarcity

motivates people to compete with others who also need those resources to achieve their

objectives.

G. Communication problem: conflicts often occur due to lack of opportunity, ability, or

motivation to communicate effectively. When two parties lack the opportunity to

communicate, they tend to use stereotypes to explain past behaviors and anticipate future

actions. Some people lack the necessary skills to communicate in a diplomatic, non

confrontational manner

5.4 .CONFLICT OUTCOMES

Positive Outcomes of Conflict

 Increased motivation and creativity.

 Healthy interactions/involvement stimulated.

 Number of identified alternatives increased.

 Increased understanding of others.

 People forced to clarify ideas more effectively.

 Feelings aired out.

 Opportunity to change bothers some things.

Negative Outcomes of Conflict

 Decreased productivity.

 Relevant information not being shared.

 Unpleasant emotional experiences.

 Environmental stress.

 Excessive consumption of time.

 Decision-making process disrupted.

 Poor work relationships.

 Misallocation of resources.
 Impaired organizational commitments

5.5 LEVELS OF CONFLICT

t is possible to identify four types of conflict that might occur in organizations. Conflict
can

occur on several levels in an organization. These are:

1st: Intrapersonal Conflict: conflict between an individual‟s values, goals, and needs are

intrapersonal conflicts. Intrapersonal conflicts arise when acting in accordance with one value,

goal, or need makes it impossible to fulfill some other value, goal, or need.

Types of intrapersonal conflicts are:

- Approach-approach conflict occurs when a person has to make a choice between two

equally attractive alternatives. For example, employed parents routinely experienced

approach-approach conflicts between their dual roles of parent and employee.

- Avoidance –avoidance conflict occurs when a person has to make a choice between two

equally unattractive alternatives. For example, chief executive officer may decide

between to decrease employees‟ salary or to fire few employees to stay in the market.

- Approach-avoidance conflict occurs when a person has to make a choice among a set of

options that have good and bad outcomes. For example, many employees face this

conflict between the desire for career success and the desire for more personal time.

2nd Interpersonal Conflict: occurs when two people have incompatible needs, goals, or

approaches in their relationship. Interpersonal conflict is likely occurring when individuals are

competing for the same resources, such as promotions, work facilities, or work
assignments.
Interpersonal conflict is also likely in groups that are heterogeneous. Heterogeneous could
be

either diversity of the work force or people representing different functions (for example cross

functional team).

3rd Inter Group Conflicts: are conflicts between two or more groups in the same organization.

Intergroup conflict occurs when there are differences in values, goals, or needs between two or

more groups in the organization. Competition for scarce resources is a common source
of

intergroup conflict.

Intergroup conflicts in organizations also often arise between line employees and staff

employees. Line and staff conflict is conflict arising from the role and perceptual
differences

between the two groups.

Intergroup conflicts occur for four reasons:

- The groups are interdependent;

- The groups have different goals;

- The groups perceptions are different;

- The groups share the common resources; and

- The organization increasingly needs specialists.

In general intergroup conflicts are common in organizations.

4th Inter-Organizational Conflicts: are conflicts between two or more organizations. An

example of inter-organizational conflict is corporate takeover attempt whereby one organization

tries to take control over another organization. Such conflict may also arise because of
competition and controlling resources among organizations.

5.6 CONFLICT STIMULATION

The current view is that in certain circumstances there can be benefits in stimulating a degree of

conflict within an organization. Conflict is important especially if the conflict in the organization

is too low.

The following are the some of the conflict techniques:

Stimulating competition: it is probably the list risky strategy to stimulate conflict. Many

organizations may have measures of this type in place. A fairly common one is the use of

incentives, such as awards, and bonuses for outstanding performance.

Communication: this is the more risky way of stimulating competition. The tactics here

is using ambiguous or threatening messages to increase conflict levels.

Changing organizational structure: this is another measure that contains pronounced

risks. The following changes can stimulate conflict in the organization: altering rules and

regulations, increasing interdependence, and making similar structural changes can

disrupt the status quo in the organization. A healthy degree of competition between

subunits can encourage innovation and improved performance.

Bringing in outside person: if someone with different background values and attitudes is

imported, that the person will be a source of inspiration to current employees and pull

them out of their contentment or complacency.

5.7. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES/CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Conflict situations are an important aspect of the workplace. A conflict is a situation

when the interests, needs, goals or values of involved parties interfere with one another.
A

conflict is a common phenomenon in the workplace. Different stakeholders may have different

priorities; conflicts may involve team members, departments, projects, organization and client,

boss and subordinate, organization needs vs. personal needs. Often, a conflict is a result
of

perception. Is conflict a bad thing? Not necessarily. Often, a conflict presents opportunities for

improvement. Therefore, it is important to understand (and apply) various conflict

resolution

techniques.

Some people enter a conflict with a win-win orientation while others have a win-lose orientation.

Win-win orientation: is the belief that the parties will find a mutually beneficial solution

to their disagreement. Win-win orientation is a systematic attempt to maximize the goals

of both parties.

Win-lose orientation: they adopt the belief that conflicting parties are drawing from a

fixed pie, so the more one party receives, the less the other party will receive. Conflict

tends to escalate when the parties develop win-loss orientation because they rely on more

assertive influence tactics to gain advantage. A win-loss orientation may occasionally be

appropriate when the conflict really is over a fixed resource, but few organizational

conflicts are due to perfectly opposing interests with fixed resources.

Lose-lose orientation: both parties loss due to the conflict.

Adopting a win-win or win-lose orientation influences our conflict management style, that
is,
how we act toward the other person. Researchers have recognized five interpersonal
styles of

approaching the other party in a conflict situation. The most recent variations of this
model

appear in the graph below

TIPS FOR MANAGING AND RESOLVING CONFLICT

Managing and resolving conflict requires emotional maturity, self control, and empathy. It can be

tricky, frustrating, and even frightening. You can ensure that the process is as positive as possible

by sticking to the following conflict resolution guidelines:

 Make the relationship your priority: Maintaining and strengthening the relationship,

rather than “winning” the argument, should always be your first priority. Be respectful of

the other person and his or her viewpoint.

 Focus on the present. If you‟re holding on to old hurts and resentments, your ability to

see the reality of the current situation will be impaired. Rather than looking to the past

and assigning blame, focus on what you can do in the here and now to solve the problem.

 Pick your battles. Conflicts can be draining, so it‟s important to consider whether the

issue is really worthy of your time and energy. Maybe you don't want to surrender a

parking space if you‟ve been circling for 15 minutes. But if there are dozens of spots,

arguing over a single space isn‟t worth it.

 Be willing to forgive. Resolving conflict is impossible if you‟re unwilling or unable to

forgive. Resolution lies in releasing the urge to punish, which can never compensate for

our losses and only adds to our injury by further depleting and draining our lives.

 Know when to let something go. If you can‟t come to an agreement, agree to disagree.
It takes two people to keep an argument going. If a conflict is going nowhere, you can

choose to disengage and move on.

 Fair fighting: Ground rules

 Remain calm: Try not to overreact to difficult situations. By remaining calm it will be

more likely that others will consider your viewpoint.

 Express feelings in words, not actions: Telling someone directly and honestly how you

feel can be a very powerful form of communication. If you start to feel so angry or upset

hat you feel you may lose control, take a "time out" and do something to help yourself

feel steadier.

 Be specific about what is bothering you: Vague complaints are hard to work on.

 Deal with only one issue at a time: Don't introduce other topics until each is fully

discussed. This avoids the "kitchen sink" effect where people throw in all their

complaints while not allowing anything to be resolved.

 No "hitting below the belt: Attacking areas of personal sensitivity creates an

atmosphere of distrust, anger, and vulnerability.

 Avoid accusations: Accusations will cause others to defend themselves. Instead, talk

about how someone's actions made you feel

 Don't generalize: Avoid words like "never" or "always." Such generalizations are

usually inaccurate and will heighten tensions.

 Avoid "make believe: Exaggerating or inventing a complaint or your feelings about it

will prevent the real issues from surfacing. Stick with the facts and your honest feelings.

 Don't stockpile: Storing up lots of grievances and hurt feelings over time is
Counter productive. It is almost impossible to deal with numerous old problems for which

Interpretations may differ. Try to deal with problems as they arise.

 Avoid clamming up: When one person becomes silent and stops responding to the

other, frustration and anger can result. Positive results can only be attained with two way

communication