Views of Conflict

There exists three contrasting views regarding

conflict.
Traditional view.
It is a belief that all conflict is harmful or bad and must
be avoided.
Conflict is viewed negatively.
Conflict is seen as dysfunctional outcome resulting
from poor communication, a lack of openness and
trust between people and failure of manage to be
responsive to the need sand aspirations of their
employees.
Identify the causes of conflict and correct
these malfunctioning in order to improve
group and organizational performance.
But in reality it is not always possible to avoid
or ignore all conflicts.
Human relations View.
It is a belief that conflict is a natural and
inevitable outcome in any group.
Since conflict is inevitable, it is wise to accept it.
It cannot be eliminated.
Conflict benefit a groups performance.
Interactionsit view.
It is a belief that conflict is a positive force in a
group. It is absolutely necessary for a group to
perform effectively.
This approach encourages conflict on the ground
that a harmonious, peaceful and tranquil and
cooperative group is prone to static, apathetic and
non-responsive to the needs for change and
innovation.
Encourage group leaders to maintain an ongoing
minimum level of conflict- enough to keep the
group viable, self-critical and creative.

Functional Versus Dysfunctional
conflict.
It is a conflict that supports the goals
of the group and improves its
performance.
It is constructive form of conflict.
Dysfunctional conflict, on the other
hand, hinders group performance.
It is destructive from of conflict.

Task conflict.
It is a conflict over content and goals of the work.
Relationship conflict. It focuses son interpersonal
relationships.
Process conflict. It relates to how the works get
done.
Relationship conflicts are almost always
dysfunctional.
Friction and interpersonal hostility inherent in
relationship conflict increase personality clashes
ad decreases mutual understanding which hinder
the competition of organizational tasks.
Low level of process conflict and low level of task
conflict are functional.
Levels of conflict
Conflicts may occur within a person, between
persons, or groups and across organizations as they
compete.
Intrapersonal conflict. It is also called intrapsychic
conflict. It may occur within a person when he plays
two roles which are inconsistent.
It occurs when an organizational member is required
to do certain tasks and roles that do not match his
expertise, interest, goals and values.
Example: you may be a manager of a team
responsible for protecting and enlarging its resources
and as a member of a the executive staff charged with
the task of reducing operating costs.
Interpersonal conflict or dyadic conflict.
This may occur at different levels-vertical and
horizontal.
Interpersonal conflicts are a serious problem to many
people because they deeply affect a persons emotion.
There is a need to protect ones self image and self-
esteem from damage by others.
When self concept is threatened, serious upset occurs
and relationships deteriorate. There are many reasons
responsible for interpersonal conflict.
Temperaments of two persons may be incompatible.
Personalities clash.
Failure of communication, differences in perception.
Intragroup conflict
This is also known as intradepartmnetal
conflict.
It refers to conflict among members of a
group or between two or more sub-groups
within a group in connection with its goals,
tasks, procedures and so on.

Intergroup conflict or intraorganizational conflict.
Inter-group conflicts between different departments also
cause problems.
Each group tries to undermine the other, gain power and
improve its image.
Main causes are:
Different viewpoints,
Group loyalties, competition for resources.
Limited resources.
Example: product department may want new and more
efficient machinery, while at the same time, sales department
wants to expand its sale force, but there are only enough
resources to supply the needs of one group.



Conclusion.
Some conflict can be constructive and this is
certainly true at the intergroup level.
Conflicts may provide a clue that a critical
problem between two departments needs to
be resolved.
People are stimulated to search for improved
approaches that lead to better results.
It energizes them to be more creative a d to
experiment with new ideas.
Unless issues are brought into the open, they
cannot be fully understood or explored.
Once the conflict is resolved, the individuals
may be more committed to the outcome
through their involvement in solving it.
Managerial challenge is to keep conflict at a
moderate level, where it is most likely to
stimulate creative thoughts but not interfere
with performance.
Conflict should not become so intense that
individual parties either hide it or escalate it
to destructive levels.
Conflict behavior
Conflict becomes visible through behaviors.
Behaviors includes statements, actins, and
reactions made by the conflicting parties.
Behaviors are overt.
Through behaviors people implement their
intentions.


- Conflict behaviors are:
Overt efforts to destroy the other party.
Aggressive physical attacks.
Threats and ultimatums,
Assertive verbal attacks.
Overt questioning or challenging others,
Minor agreement or misunderstandings.
Strikes, riots and war are the examples of
extreme behavior.
Outcomes of conflict
Conflict may produce four distinct outcomes,
depending on the approaches taken by the
people involved.
Lose-lose outcome. It is a situation in which a
conflict deteriorates to the point at both parties
are worse off than they were before.
As a manager, you fire a person who only knows
the secret formula for the organizations most
successful product.
Lose-win. It is a situation in which one person is
defeated while the other person is victorious.
Win-lose situation. It is a reverse situation. I win
and you lose.
Win-win outcome. It is a situation in which both
parties to conflict perceive tat they are in a
better position than they were before the
conflict began. This is the preferred outcome to
try to achieve in ongoing relationships such as
with suppliers, customers, and employees.
Win-win outcome. It is a situation in which
both parties to conflict perceive tat they are
in a better position than they were before the
conflict began. This is the preferred outcome
to try to achieve in ongoing relationships such
as with suppliers, customers, and employees.