Leadership and Change Management

1
 MANAGEMENT OF
ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT

2
Definitions:
 Conflict can be defined (Thomas K.A.) as the “process that
begins when one party perceives that another party has
negatively affected something that the first party cares
about .”
 Austin defines conflict “as a disagreement between two or
more individuals or groups, with each individual or group
trying to gain acceptance of its views or objective over
others.”

3
 Nature and scope of conflict
 Conflict must be perceived by either of the parties. Stiff

opposition due to incompatibility of organizational goals

characterizes it.

 Conflict can also be caused due to difference about

interpretation of facts or issues involved. Conflict takes an ugly

turn and take a form of violence due to disagreement based on

behavioral expectations.

 It could be covert or overt and can be seen when one observes

violent acts of individual in organizations.

4
 Cont…
Every organization has its objective. It is further
broken down as departmental objectives, group goals
and lastly individual goals.
When individual interacts with another individual
there is perceptual and communication problems that
causes misunderstanding and leads to individual
conflict situation. It is also true of groups.
Conflict can be considered as expression of hostility,
negative attitude, aggression and gross
misunderstanding. It is caused due to varying interest
of individual or groups.
 Pondy has described that the term ‘conflict’ is used in
four ways to indicate:
5
 Cont…
 Antecedent conditions of conflictual behavior, such as scarcity

of resources.

 Affective states of individuals involved such as stress, tension,

hostility, anxiety, etc.

 Cognitive state of individuals, that is their perception or

awareness or conflictual situations.

 Conflictual behavior, ranging from passive resistance to overt

aggression.

6
 Functional and Dysfunctional
Conflict
 Not all conflict is bad. In fact, some types of conflict encourage new

solutions to problems and enhance the creativity in the organization, in

these cases, managers will want to encourage the conflicts.

 Therefore, managers should stimulate functional conflict and prevent

or resolve dysfunctional conflict. This is the key to conflict

management.

 However, the difficulty lies in trying to tell the difference between

dysfunctional and functional conflicts. The consequences of conflict

can be positive or negative, as shown below.
7
 Cont…
Functional conflict: is a healthy, constructive
disagreement between two or more people.

Dysfunctional conflict: is an unhealthy, destructive

disagreement between two or more people. Its danger is
that it takes the focus away from the work to be done and
places the focus on the conflict itself and the parties
involved.

8
 Cont….
 Functional Conflict:
 Conflict develops cohesiveness within the group members. A group
goal therefore becomes a priority. Individual goals are then relegated to
secondary position.

 Conflict leads to innovation and creativity, as there is competing sprit

among various groups.

 Conflict provides challenging work environment and enhances

opportunities for self-development of group that leads to formation of
group norms.

 Enhance work culture leads to up gradation of various systems within

the organization and therefore growth is achieved.

9
 Cont….
Dysfunctional conflict :
 When conflict does not lead to solution. When basic goals of
the organization are neglected.
 People should be treated with due respect. If it is violated and a
climate of distrust and suspicion is created people feel defeated
and demeaned which develops antagonism and leads to
conflict.
 Conflict may lead to absenteeism and subsequently to
increased turn over if not controlled in time.
 Dual management style may create hatred and lead to
dysfunctional conflict.
 Disagreement with management may be considered as
disloyalty, if this environment prevails, an opportunity for
creativity would be lost and employees would loose interest in
their job. This would lead to increased conflicting situations.
10
 Consequences of Conflict
POSITIVECONSEQUENCES NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES

Leads to new ideas Diverts energy from work

Stimulates creativity Threatens psychological well-

being
 Motivates change Wastes resources

Promotes organizational Creates a negative climate

vitality

Helps individuals and groups Breaks down group cohesion

establish identities
 Serves as a safety value to Can increase hostility and
indicate problems aggressive behaviors
11
 Causes of Conflict in Organizations
 Conflict is pervasive in organizations. To manage it effectively,
managers should understand the many sources of conflict. They
can be classified into two broad categories:
 Structural factors: which stem from the nature of the
organization and the way in which work is organized and
 Personal factors: which arise from differences among
individuals.
Structural Factors
 The causes of conflict related to the organization's structure
include:
 Specialization,
 Interdependence,
 Common resources
 Goal differences,
 Authority relationships,
 Status inconsistencies, and
 Jurisdictional ambiguities. 12
 Cont…
 Specialization:
 When jobs are highly specialized, employees become experts
at certain tasks. A classic conflict of specialization is one
between salespeople and engineers. Engineers are technical
specialists responsible for product design and quality.
Salespeople are marketing experts and liaisons with customers.
 Salespeople are often accused of making delivery promises to
customers that engineers cannot keep because the sales force
lacks the technical knowledge necessary to develop realistic
delivery deadlines.
 Interdependence:
 Work that is interdependent requires groups or individuals to
depend on one another to accomplish goals. Depending on
other people to get work done is fine when the process works
smoothly.
13
 Cont…
 Common Resources:
 Any time multiple parties must share resources, there is
potential for conflict. This potential is enhanced when the
shared resources become scarce. One resource often shared by
managers is secretarial support. It is not uncommon for a
secretary to support ten or more managers, each of whom
believes his or her work is most important.
 Goal differences :
 When work groups have different goals, these goals may be
incompatible. For example, in one cable television Company,
the salesperson's goal was to sell as many new installations as
possible. This created problems for the service department,
because its goal was timely installations.

14
 Cont….
 Authority relationships:
 The nature of a traditional boss-employee relationship brings
to mind a vision of a hierarchy of a boss who is superior to the
employee. For many employees, this relationship is not a
comfortable one, because another individual has the right to
tell them what to do. Some people resent authority more than
others, and obviously this creates conflicts.
 Status inconsistencies :
 Some organizations have a strong status difference between
management and no management workers. Managers may
enjoy privileges such as flexible schedules, personal telephone
calls at work, and longer lunch hours that are not available to no
management employees. This may result in resentment and
conflict.

15
 Cont….
 Jurisdictional ambiguities:
 Have you ever telephoned a company with a problem and had
your call transferred through several different people and
departments? This situation illustrates jurisdictional
ambiguity that is, unclear lines of responsibility within an
organization. When a problem occurs for which there is no
definite source of responsibility, workers tend to "pass the
back," or avoid dealing with the problem. Conflicts emerge
over responsibility for the problem.
Personal Factors
 The causes of conflict that arise from individual differences
include:
 skills and abilities,
 personalities,
 perceptions,
 values and ethics,
 emotions and
16
 Poor communication
 cont….
Skills and abilities :
 The work force is composed of individuals with varying levels of
skills and ability. Diversity in skills and abilities may be positive
for the organization, but it also holds potential for conflict,
especially when jobs are interdependent.

 Experienced, competent workers may find it difficult to work

alongside with new and unskilled recruits. Workers can become
resentful when their new boss, fresh from college, knows a lot
about managing people but is unfamiliar with the technology
with which they are working.

17
 Cont…
 Personalities:
 Individuals do not leave their personalities at the doorstep
when they enter the workplace. Personality conflicts are
realities in organizations.
 To expect that you will like all of your coworkers may be a naive
expectation, as would be the expectation that they will all like
you.
Perceptions:
 Differences in perception can also lead to conflict. One area in
which perceptions can differ is the perception of what
motivates employees.
 If managers and workers do not have a shared perception of
what motivates people, the reward system can create conflicts.
Managers usually provide what they think employees want
rather than what employees really want.
18
 Cont…
 Values and ethics:

 Differences in values and ethics can be sources of disagreement.

Older workers, for example, value company loyalty and probably
would not take a sick day when they were not really ill. Younger
workers, valuing mobility, like the concept of "mental health
days," or calling in sick to get away from work. This may not be
true for all workers, but it illustrates that differences in values
can lead to conflict.
 Emotions :
 The moods of others can be a source of conflict in the workplace.
Problems at home often spill over into the work area, and the
related moods can be hard for others to deal with.
19
 Cont…
 Communication barriers:
 Poor communication, passing of an incomplete information to
a department may cause conflict because this may have far
reaching consequences in attainment of organizational goals.
 Some of the reasons for poor communication are as under:
 Inadequate communication: where too much or too little
information is passed from one department to the other.
 Filtration effect: where end receiver receives very scant
information having little or no value.
 When information is not received on time: it must be noted
that delayed information has no value as the decision might
have already been taken without the information.
 Barriers of culture, language.
 Inadequate training of sender and receiver.
 Noise problems.
20
 Types of Conflict
Intra-personal Conflict: Intra personal
conflict is also called the conflict within the
individual. This type of conflict can be of
two types:
 Value conflict: Every individual has to
play certain roles, which conforms to his
value system. However, there are certain
situations when an individual may have to
compromise on value system and beliefs.

21
 Cont….
 For example, finance manager of an organization, while
submitting tax returns to the government may conceal some
facts, which may go against his belief and value system. This
situation may cause tension and conflict within the individual
 Decision-making: Problem solving is one of the important
jobs every individual has to undertake in work environment.
Every problem has various courses open.
 At times it is difficult for a person to select an appropriate
course of action. This situation causes conflict within the
individual. He therefore will have to take decisions based on
the past experience and the knowledge.
Inter-personal Conflict: This relates to conflict between two or
more individuals and is probably the most common and
recognized form of conflict. Interpersonal conflict is caused due
to disagreement over goals and objectives of the organization.
22
 Cont….
 These are heightened due to difference of opinion of individuals
and when issues are not based on facts. Every organization is full
of unresolved issues, problems and differing situations that leads
to conflict. Conflict can also take place between one person of a
group with another person of the same group or another group on
issues relating to decision-making
 Intra-Group Conflict: this relates to values, status and roles
played by an individual in the group and the group norms.
Individual may want to remain in the group for social needs but
may disagree with the methods and procedures followed by the
group.
• The conflict may arise when social changes are incorporated in
the group. When group faces new problems and when values are
changed due to change in social environment.
• Intra-group conflict is like inter-personal conflict except that the
people involved in the conflict episode belong to a common group. 23
 Cont…
 Inter-Group Conflict: Conflicts between different groups, sections
and departments are called inter-group conflict.
 For example, conflict between production and sales departments over
the quality being produced and the customer requirements. Inter-
group conflict causes due to factors inherent to the organizational
structure like independence, inconsistency in various policy matter,
variance on promotion criteria, reward system and different standards
being adopted for different sub-units and departments.
 Inter-Organizational Conflict: this conflict takes place between
two dependent organizations. Conflict can take place between
government organization, unions and the operating industry.
 Government organizations function to ensure that minimum
standards are followed by the organizations. Managers must try and
reduce inter-organizational conflicts by adopting positive approach
and by following strictly, the rules and regulations laid down by the
government agencies. Conflict can also take place between seller and
buyer organizations.
 Intra-Organizational Conflicts: this conflict encompasses horizontal,
vertical, line–staff and role based conflicts . 24
 CONFLICT PROCESS
 Pondy developed a conflict process model, which is useful

to understand how a conflict starts. He has delineated five

steps that he calls as ‘conflict episode’ These are:

LATENT
CONFLICT
CONFLICT
AFTERMATH

PERCEIVED FELT MANIFEST CONFLICT

CONFLICT CONFLICT CONFLICT RESOLUTION

25
 Cont….
 Latent Conflict:
 It is a first stage of conflict when conflict-promoting situations
appear on the scene between individuals and groups. In this
stage potential conflict inducing forces exist.
 For example demand for various resources by departments
when some may get and be satisfied and others may not get
and be dissatisfied. Hence there may exist a situation between
two groups. At this stage the seeds of dissatisfaction has been
sown.
 Perceived Conflict:
 When one party frustrate the design of the other party, people
perceive that a confluctual conditions exist.
 For example sales manager may need additional budget for
promotional activities which financial manager may not
release.
26
 Cont…
 Felt Conflict:
 At this stage, the conflict is actually felt and recognized. As
stated earlier, the funds are not released by the finance manager
and the problem is being surfaced and there is a likelihood of
confrontation.
 Manifest Conflict:
 In this stage, there is not only recognition or acknowledgement
of conflict but also manifestation of conflict by covert or overt
behavior. It is a stage of open dispute. Both parties devise their
strategies to face each other.
 In the above example sales manager may make his point for
additional funds for promotional activities especially during
festival season. Finance manager may openly turn down the
request since he might have allotted additional funds for
procurement of better raw material for production department
27
 Cont…
 Conflict Aftermath:
 Once the conflict is resolved between the two parties, there is
always a party, which is looser because the resolution is the
outcome of win – lose or the compromise strategy, a stage is set
for subsequent conflict episodes.
 A party, which feels defeated, may start preparations and be on
the look out for the assault to take the revenge.
 Conflict resolution:
 This has been added as an additional box in the figure to
elucidate that conflict aftermath is a direct function of the
results of the conflict resolution style adopted and exercised in
any given situation.

28
 Conflict Management Strategies and
Techniques
 Several strategies can be used to manage conflict in organizations. We
examine both effective and ineffective ways of managing conflict.
Ineffective Techniques
 There are many techniques for dealing with conflict. Before turning to
techniques that work, it should be recognized that some actions
commonly taken in organizations to deal with conflict are not
effective.
 Non action is doing nothing in hopes that the conflict will disappear.
This is not generally a good technique, because most conflicts do not
go away, and the individuals involved in the conflict react with
frustration.
 Secrecy:
• trying to keep a conflict out of view of most people, only creates
suspicion. An example is an organizational policy of pay secrecy. In
some organizations, discussion of salary is grounds for dismissal.
When this is the case, employees suspect that the company has
something to hide. 29
 Cont…
 Administrative or biting:
• This is delaying action on a conflict by buying time, usually by
telling the individuals involved that the problem is being
worked on or that the boss is still thinking about the issue. Like
non action, this technique leads to frustration and resentment.
 Due process non action:
• is a procedure set up to address conflicts that is so costly, time-
consuming, or personally risky that no one will use it. Some
companies' sexual harassment policies are examples of this technique.
To file a sexual harassment complaint, detailed paperwork is required,
the accuser must go through appropriate channels, and the accuser
risks being branded a troublemaker. Thus, the company has a
procedure for handling complaints (due process), but no one uses it
(non action).
 Character assassination:
• is an attempt to label or discredit an opponent. Character
assassination can backfire and make the individual who uses it
30
appear dishonest and cruel.
 Effective Techniques
 Fortunately, there are effective conflict management techniques.
These include appealing to :
• super ordinate goals,
• expanding resources,
• changing personnel,
• changing strummer, and
• confronting and negotiating.
 SUPERORDINATE GOALS:
• An organizational goal that is more important to both parties in
a conflict than their individual or group goals is a super ordinate
goal. Super ordinate goals cannot be achieved by an individual or
by one group alone. The achievement of these goals requires
cooperation by both parties. One effective technique for
resolving conflict is to appeal to a super ordinate goal ,in effect,
to focus the parties on a larger issue on which they both agree.
This helps them realize their similarities rather than their
31
differences.
 Cont….
 EXPANDING RESOURCES:
• One conflict resolution technique is so simple that it may be
overlooked. If the conflict's source is common or scarce
resources, providing more resources may be a solution. Of
course, managers working with tight budgets may not have the
luxury of obtaining additional resources. Nevertheless, it is a
technique to be considered.
 CHANGING PERSONNEL:
• Sometimes a conflict is prolonged and severe, and efforts at
resolution fail. In such cases, it may be appropriate to change
personnel. Transferring or firing an individual may be the best
solution, but only after due process.

32
 CONFRONTING AND NEGOTIATING:
Cont….
• Some conflicts require confrontation and negotiation between
the parties. Both these strategies require skill on the part of the
negotiator and careful planning before engaging in
negotiations. The process of negotiating involves an open
discussion of problem solutions, and the outcome often is an
exchange in which both parties work toward a mutually
beneficial solution. Negotiation is a joint process of finding a
mutually acceptable solution to a complex conflict.
 Negotiating is a useful strategy under the following conditions:
 There are two or more parties. It is primarily an interpersonal or
inter group process.
 There is a conflict of interest between the parties such that what
one party wants is not what the other party wants.
 They prefer to work together than to fight openly, or take the
dispute to a higher authority.
33
 Cont…
 The parties are willing to negotiate because they believe they
can use their influence to obtain a better outcome than by
simply taking the side of the other party.
 There are two major negotiating approaches: distributive
bargaining and integrative negotiation.
 Distributive bargaining: is an approach in which the goals of
one party are in direct conflict with the goals of the other
party. Resources are limited, and each party wants to maximize
its share of the resources.
 It is a competitive or win-lose approach to negotiations.
Sometimes distributive bargaining causes negotiators to focus
so much on their differences that they ignore their common
ground. In these cases, distributive bargaining can become
counterproductive.

34
 Cont…
 Integrative negotiation: is an approach in which the parties'
goals are not seen as mutually exclusive and in which the focus
is on making it possible for both sides to achieve their
objectives.
 Integrative negotiation focuses on the merits of the issues and
is a win-win approach.
 There are preconditions for integrative negotiation to be
successful. These include:
 having a common goal,
 faith in one's own problem-solving abilities,
 a belief in the validity of the other party's position,
 motivation to work together,
 mutual trust, and
 clear communication.
35
 Conflict Management Styles
 Managers have their disposal on a variety of conflict
management styles:
 avoiding,
 accommodating,
 competing,
 compromising, and
 Collaborating
 One way of classifying styles of conic management is to
examine the styles' assertiveness (the extent to which you want
your goals met) and cooperativeness (the extent to which you
want to see the other party's concerns met).
 Avoiding:
 Avoiding is a style low on both assertiveness and cooperativeness.
Avoiding is a deliberate decision to take no action on a conflict or to
stay out of a conflict situation. There is a potential danger in using an
avoiding style too often, however. Research shows that overuse of this
style results in negative evaluations from others in the workplace. 36
 Accommodating:
Cont…
 A style in which you are concerned that the other party's goals
be met but relatively unconcerned with getting your own way is
called accommodating.
 It is cooperative but unassertive. Appropriate situations for
accommodating include times when you find you are wrong,
when you want to let the other party have his or her way in
order to remind the individual that he or she owes you similar
treatment later, or when the relationship is important.
 Competing:
 Competing is a style that is very assertive and uncooperative.
You want to satisfy your own interests and are willing to do so
at the other party's expense.
 In an emergency or in situations where you know you are right, it may
be appropriate to put your foot down. Relying solely on competing
strategies is dangerous. Managers who do so may become reluctant to
admit when they are wrong and may find themselves surrounded by
people who are afraid to disagree with them. 37
 Compromising:
Cont…
 The compromising style is intermediate in both assertiveness and
cooperativeness, because each party must give up something to
reach a solution to the conflict.
 Compromises are often made in the final hours of union-
management negotiations, when time is of the essence.
Compromise is also an effective backup style when efforts toward
collaboration are not successful.
 Collaborating:
 A win-win style that is high on both assertiveness and
cooperativeness is known as collaborating. Working toward
collaborating involves an open and thorough discussion of the
conflict and arriving at a solution that is satisfactory to both
parties.
 Situations where collaboration may be effective include times
when both parties need to be committed to a final solution or
when a combination of different perspectives can be formed into a
38
solution.
Finally,

Thank you!!

39