ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT
DEFINITION OF ORGANISATIONAL
CONFLICT:-
In simple words organizational conflicts may be defined as “a
situations in which there is a breakdown in decision making, just because of
irrational and incompatible stand taken by one or all concerning parties to decision
making.”
According to S. R. Robbins defines conflict as “a process in which
an effort is purposefully made by a person or unit to block another that result
in frustrating the attainment of others goals or furthering of his or her
interests.”
CONCEPT OF ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT:-
Organisational conflict is a disagreement between two or more
organisation members or groups arising from the fact that they must share
scarce resources or work activities and/or from the fact that they have
different statuses, goals, values or perceptions.
Organisation members or sub- units in disagreement, attempt to
have their own cause or point of view prevail over that of others. Conflicts
may be at individual level, group level and at organisational level. Conflicts
affect the work efficiency of the individual and of the group; as a result
productivity is reduced.
TYPES
OF ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT
1.
Task Conflict:
Task conflict relates to the
content and goal of the work. According to Graves, task conflict arises among
members of team and affects the goals and tasks they are striving to achieve.
It can be based on differences in vision, intention, and quality expectation.
It is essential to focus and channel any task conflict so that these
differences become collaborative and lead to improvements in the way and go
about accomplishing current and future task. Converting conflict to friendly
competition might be one way of taking the best from both sides.
2. Role Conflict:
Conflict surrounding roles and responsibilities are especially
common during or immediately following organisational change, particularly
restructurings. People may be unclear on who is responsible for which decisions
and outputs.
For example, after an international strategic
business consulting firm restructured its managerial staff, an individual who
formerly managed two key customer segments was unwilling to relinquish all the
responsibility to the new manager. He continued to question staff and issue
orders while his replacement was trying to set a new direction. With two
managers giving input, employees were stuck in the middle, which created
conflict among them as well as between the managers.
3. Process Conflict:
This is related to how the work gets done. This form of conflict centres
around, the process, procedures, steps or methods used to reach goal. One
person might like to plan many steps ahead while others might like to dive in
headfirst. These differences in approaches or processes can lead to
communication break downs and ultimately conflict. Healthy differences in
approaches to process will often lead to improved way of doing job.
Process conflict commonly arises when two departments, teams, or
groups interact on a process. They may view the process differently and disagree
on how it should be accomplished or point fingers rather than communicating
effectively when problems arise.
4. Directional Conflict:
Directional conflict arises when organisations are forced to
rethink their strategies and focus on shorter-term activities, as many did
during the economic downturn. Employees may not know how to prioritise
long-term versus short-term needs, or one department may work tactically while
another remains strategic.
5. External Conflict:
External conflict arises when pressures from customers or other
stakeholders impact internal decisions. Recent economic challenges compelled
organisations to adjust and adapt, for example, by lowering prices while
providing enhanced customer service. Sales or customer service personnel
advocating for customers’ needs may have come into conflict with operations
trying to meet internal goals.
6. Relationship Conflict:
It focuses on interpersonal relationship. They are directly
between people and may be over roles style, resources or even personalities.
This conflict can penetrate and damage all aspect of an organisation.
Relationship conflict can quickly demand all the attention and energy.
FIVE MAJOR
STAGES OF CONFLICT IN ORGANISATION
1. Latent Conflict:
Latent
conflict is the stage in which factors exist in the situation which could
become potential conflict inducing forces.
Four basic types of latent conflict are:
(i)
Competition for scarce resources
(ii) Drive
for autonomy
(iii)
Divergence of goals
(iv) Role
conflict
2. Perceived Conflict:
Conflicts
may sometimes arise even if no conditions of latent conflict exist. This is the
stage when one party perceives the other to be likely to thwart or frustrate
his or her goals. The case, in which conflict is perceived when no latent
conflict arises, is said to result from the parties misunderstanding each
other’s true position. Such conflict can be resolved by improving communication
between the groups.
3. Felt Conflict:
Felt
conflict is the stage when the conflict is not only perceived but actually felt
and recognised. For example, A may be aware that he is in serious argument with
B over some policy. But this may not make A tense or anxious and it may have no
effect, whatsoever, on A’s affection towards B. The personalization of conflict
is the mechanism which causes many people to be concerned with dysfunctions of
conflict. In other words, it makes them feel the conflict.
4. Manifest Conflict:
Manifest
conflict is the stage when the two parties engage in behaviours which evoke
responses from each other. The most obvious of these responses are open
aggression, apathy, sabotage, withdrawal and perfect obedience to rules. Except
for prison riots, political revolutions and extreme labour unrest, violence as
a form of manifest conflict is rare. The motives towards violence may remain
but they tend to be expressed in less violent forms.
5. Conflict Aftermath:
The
aftermath of a conflict may have positive or negative repercussions for the
organisation depending upon how the conflict is resolved. If the conflict is
genuinely resolved to the satisfaction of all participants, the basis for a
more cooperative relationship may be laid; or the participants in their drive
for a more ordered relationship may focus on latent conflicts not previously
perceived and dealt with.
ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT :-
1. Provide chance for self-determination through analysing the
situation.
2. Helps to seek clarification.
3. Generates challenging spirit among individuals/managers.
4. Develops spirit of unity even among heterogeneous group when
sources of conflicts are common.
5. Indicates the situation calls for improvement.
6. Long-standing problems can be dealt through creativity of
people in resolving situation.
7. Sometimes conflicting situations are created to divert the
attention from many other problems in the organisation.
8. Leads to personal growth and change.
9. Acts as major stimulant for change.
DISADVANTAGES OF ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT:-
1. Wastage of time and efforts, affects productivity of
individuals.
2. People work for their own defects/interests rather than
organisational objective.
3. Creates suspicion in the mind against individual, organisation
or management.
4. Increase employee’s turnover.
5. Creates disloyalty and rebellious attitude and loses
creativity.
6. Unresolved anger among people.
7. Increased personality clashes.
8. Less self-esteem among people.
9. Psychological well-being is threatened.
10. Creates negative climate.
11. Group cohesion is disrupted.
12. Create stress and frustration in people.
IMPORTANT FEATURES OF ORGANISATIONAL
CONFLICT:-
1. It Helps in Analytical Thinking:
Conflict may induce challenge to views, opinions, rules, policies,
goals, plans etc., which would require critical analysis in order to justify
these as they are or make changes as required. As H. M. Carlisle has put it –
“No situation is more detrimental to an organisation than letting poor
decisions go unchallenged”.
2. It Helps in Increased Cohesion:
Conflict between different organisations develops loyalty and
cohesion within an organisation and a greater sense of group identify in order
to compete with outsiders. It helps in dedication and commitement to
organizational goals.
3. Conflict Promotes Competition and Hence it Results in Increased
Efforts:
It has been observed that some individuals are highly motivated by
conflict and severe competition. For instance, a professor who has been denied
promotion due to conflict within the department may work harder to prove that
he is more capable and deserves a promotion. Thus, it may lead to high level of
effort and output.
4. It Serves as a Foundation for Organisational Development:
Conflict with the status quo is a pre-requisite to change.
Creative and innovative people are always looking for grounds to challenge the
status quo. These challenges lead to search for alternatives to existing
patterns which leads to organizational change and development.
5. It Reduces Tensions:
Some disagreements if unexpressed can lead to imaginative
distortions of truth, sense of frustration and tension, high mental
exaggerations and biased opinions resulting in fear and distrust.
There are five different ways in which conflict is resolved:
1. The Competing Style:
The competing style is used when a person has to take quick
action, make unpopular decisions, handle vital issues, or when one needs
protection in a situation where non-competitive behaviour can be exploited. To
develop this style, one must develop the ability to argue and debate, use his
rank or position, assert his opinions and feelings, and learn to state his
position and stand his ground.
Overuse of this style can lead to lack of feedback, reduced
learning, and low empowerment. This can result in being surrounded by
“Yes-Men”. People who overuse the competing style often use inflammatory
statements due to lack of training on interpersonal skills.
When overuse is taken to an extreme, the person will create errors
in the implementation of the task by withholding needed information, talking
behind another person’s back (or “back-stabbing”), using eye motions and
gestures designed to express disapproval, and creating distractions by fiddling
or interrupting. Overuse of this style can be exhibited through constant
tension or anger and occasional outbursts of violent temper.
Under use of the competing style leads to a lowered level of
influence, indecisiveness, slow action, and withheld contributions.
2. The Avoiding Style:
This style is used when you do not satisfy your concerns or the
concerns of the other person. This style is low assertiveness and low
co-operativeness. The goal is to delay. It is appropriate to use this style
when there are issues of low importance, to reduce tensions, or to buy time.
Avoidance is also appropriate when you are in a low power position and have
little control over the situation, when you need to allow others to deal with
the conflict, or when the problem is symptomatic of a much larger issue and you
need to work on the core issue.
Overuse of the avoidance style can result in a low level of input,
decision-making by default, and allowing issues to fester, which can produce a
breakdown in communication between team members. This can inhibit brainstorming
sessions from being productive and can prevent the team from functioning.
People who overuse avoidance, feel they cannot speak frankly without fear of
repercussions. The overuse of conflict avoidance can often be a result of
childhood experiences, past work-related incidents, and negative experiences
with conflict resolution.
Behaviours associated with the overuse of avoidance include being
silent, gloomy, and untruthful. A milder form of avoidance behaviour is when
the team member procrastinates about getting work done and deliberately takes
an opposing point of view inappropriately during a decision-making situation,
or is timid, withdrawn, or shy. Extreme behaviours can occur when avoidance is
overused. A person begins to be negative, critical and sarcastic.
3. The Compromising Style:
This style is moderately assertive and moderately co-operative.
The compromising style is used with issues of moderate importance, when both
parties are equally powerful and equally committed to opposing views. This
style produces temporary solutions and is appropriate when time is a concern,
and as a backup for the competing and collaborating styles when they are
unsuccessful in resolving the situation.
Compromising skills include the ability to communicate and keep
the dialogue open, the ability to find an answer that is fair to both parties,
the ability to give up part of what you want, and the ability to assign value
to all aspects of the issue.
Overuse of the compromising style leads to loss of long-term
goals, lack of trust, creation of a cynical environment, and being viewed as
having no firm values. Overuse of compromise can result in making concessions
to keep people happy without resolving the original conflict.
Underuse leads to unnecessary confrontations, frequent power
struggles, and ineffective negotiation.
4. The Collaborating Style:
The Collaborating Style is when the concern is to satisfy both
sides. It is highly assertive and highly co-operative. The goal is to find a
“win/win” solution. Appropriate uses of the collaborating style include
integrating solutions, learning, merging perspectives, gaining commitment, and
improving relationships. Using this style can support open discussion of
issues, task proficiency, equal distribution of work amongst the team members,
better brainstorming, and development of creative problem-solving.
This style is appropriate to use frequently in a team environment.
Collaborating skills include the ability to use active or effective listening,
confront situations in a non-threatening way, analyse input, and identify
underlying concerns.
Overuse of the collaborating style can lead to spending too much
time on minor matters, diffusion of responsibility, being taken advantage of,
and being overloaded with work.
Underuse can result in using quick fix solutions, lack of
commitment by other team members, disempowerment, and loss of innovation.
5. The Accommodating Style:
The Accommodating Style is foregoing your concerns in order to
satisfy the concerns of others. This style is low assertiveness and high
co-operativeness. The goal is to yield. The accommodating style is appropriate
to use in situations when you want to show that you are reasonable, develop
performance, create goodwill, keep peace, retreat, or for issues of low
importance. Accommodating skills include the ability to sacrifice, the ability
to be selfless, the ability to obey orders, and the ability to yield.
Overuse of the accommodating style results in ideas getting little
attention, restricted influence, loss of contribution, and chaos. People who
overuse the accommodating style exhibit a lack of desire to change and usually
demonstrate anxiety over future uncertainties.
Underuse of the accommodating style can result in lack of rapport,
low morale, and an inability to yield. When the accommodating style is
underused, a person may display indifference as a way of not addressing the
anger or hurt.
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