By any standard of comparison, conflict in organizations represents an important topic for managers. Just how important it is can be seen in the results of a study of how managers spend their time. It was found that approximately 20 percent of top and middle managers’ time was spent dealing with some form of conflict.1 In another study, it was found that managerial skill in handling conflict was a major predictor of managerial success and effectiveness.2 Show
A good example of the magnitude of the problems that conflict can cause in an organization is the case of General Concrete, Inc., of Coventry, Rhode Island.3 Operations at this concrete plant came to a halt for more than three weeks because the plant’s one truck driver and sole member of the Teamsters Union began picketing after he was laid off by the company. The company intended to use other drivers from another of their plants. In response to the picketing, not a single employee of General Concrete crossed the picket line, thereby closing the plant and costing the company a considerable amount in lost production and profit. Could this problem have been handled better? We shall see. In the sections that follow, several aspects of conflict in organizations are considered. First, conflict is defined, and variations of conflict are considered by type and by level. Next, constructive and destructive aspects of conflict are discussed. A basic model of the conflict process is then examined, followed by a look at several of the more prominent antecedents of conflict. Finally, effective and ineffective strategies for conflict resolution are contrasted. Throughout, emphasis is placed on problem identification and problem resolution. There are many ways to determine conflict as it relates to the workplace. For our purposes here, we will define conflict as the process by which individuals or groups react to other entities that have frustrated, or are about to frustrate, their plans, goals, beliefs, or activities. In other words, conflict involves situations in which the expectations or actual goal-directed behaviors of one person or group are blocked—or about to be blocked—by another person or group. Hence, if a sales representative cannot secure enough funds to mount what she considers to be an effective sales campaign, conflict can ensue. Similarly, if A gets promoted and B doesn’t, conflict can emerge. Finally, if a company finds it necessary to lay off valued employees because of difficult financial conditions, conflict can occur. Many such examples can be identified; in each, a situation emerges in which someone or some group cannot do what it wants to do (for whatever reason) and responds by experiencing an inner frustration. Types of ConflictIf we are to try to understand the roots of conflict, we need to know what type of conflict is present. At least four types of conflict can be identified:
Each of these types of conflict is usually triggered by different factors, and each can lead to very different responses by the individual or group. Levels of ConflictIn addition to different types of conflict, there exist several different levels of conflict. Level refers to the number of individuals involved in the conflict. That is, is the conflict within just one person, between two people, between two or more groups, or between two or more organizations? Both the causes of a conflict and the most effective means to resolve it can be affected by level. Four such levels can be identified:
The Positive and Negative Sides of ConflictPeople often assume that all conflict is necessarily bad and should be eliminated. On the contrary, there are some circumstances in which a moderate amount of conflict can be helpful. For instance, conflict can lead to the search for new ideas and new mechanisms as solutions to organizational problems. Conflict can stimulate innovation and change. It can also facilitate employee motivation in cases where employees feel a need to excel and, as a result, push themselves in order to meet performance objectives. Conflict can at times help individuals and group members grow and develop self-identities. As noted by Coser: Conflict, which aims at a resolution of tension between antagonists, is likely to have stabilizing and integrative functions for the relationship. By permitting immediate and direct expression of rival claims, such social systems are able to readjust their structures by eliminating their sources of dissatisfaction. The multiple conflicts which they experience may serve to eliminate the causes for dissociation and to reestablish unity. These systems avail themselves, through the toleration and institutionalization of conflict, of an important stabilizing mechanism.4 Conflict can, on the other hand, have negative consequences for both individuals and organizations when people divert energies away from performance and goal attainment and direct them toward resolving the conflict. Continued conflict can take a heavy toll in terms of psychological well-being. As we will see in the next chapter, conflict has a major influence on stress and the psychophysical consequences of stress. Finally, continued conflict can also affect the social climate of the group and inhibit group cohesiveness. Thus, conflict can be either functional or dysfunctional in work situations depending upon the nature of the conflict, its intensity, and its duration. Indeed, both too much and too little conflict can lead to a variety of negative outcomes, as discussed above. This is shown in Exhibit 14.2. In such circumstances, a moderate amount of conflict may be the best course of action. The issue for management, therefore, is not how to eliminate conflict but rather how to manage and resolve it when it occurs. Exhibit 14.2 The Relationship Between Conflict Intensity and Outcomes Source: Adapted from L. David Brown, Managing Conflict at Organizational Interfaces, 1986 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., Reading, Massachusetts, Figure 1.1, p.8. (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
Managerial LeadershipExecutive Conflict Resolution StrategiesA good way to see how conflict can be functional or dysfunctional is to observe the behaviors of many of America’s CEOs. Classic examples include the cases of Jack Welch, former chairman of General Electric, and Fred Ackman, former chairman of Superior Oil. Welch enjoyed a good fight and took pleasure in the give-and-take of discussions and negotiations. On one occasion, he engaged a senior vice president in a prolonged and emotional shouting match over the merits of a certain proposal. Several managers who were present were embarrassed by the confrontation. Yet after the argument, Welch thanked the vice president for standing up to him and defending his views. This is what Welch calls “constructive conflict,” also termed constructive confrontation. On the other hand, according to one account, Fred Ackman approached conflict quite differently. Ackman has been accused of being autocratic—he often refused even to discuss suggestions or modifications to proposals he presented. Disagreement was seen as disloyalty and was often met with an abusive temper. As one former subordinate said, “He couldn’t stand it when someone disagreed with him, even in private. He’d eat you up alive, calling you a dumb S.O.B. . . . It happened all the time.” Many today will suggest that Jack Welch’s management approach and the conglomerate approach of GE has led to the company’s fiscal problems, while others fault the direction that Jack Welch’s successor Jeff Immelt. Others say that leaders at other companies, such as Apple’s Tim Cook, are making the same leadership errors as Jack Welch. Questions:
Sources: R. X. Cringely, “2019 prediction #1 -- Apple under Tim Cook emulates GE under Jack Welch, BetaNews, February 27, 2019, https://betanews.com/2019/02/28/2019-prediction-1-apple-under-tim-cook-emulates-ge-under-jack-welch/; M. A. Harris, “Can Jack Welsh Reinvent GE?” Business Week, June 30, 1986; S. Flax, “The Ten Toughest Bosses in America,” Fortune, August 6, 1984, p. 21; J. A. Byrne, “Jack Welch successor destroyed GE he inherited,” USA Today, July 15, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/07/15/ge-ceo-welch-oppose-editorials-debates/36895027/.
Concept Check
Which type of conflict occurs when a person must choose between two goals?Double approach–avoidance conflict - conflict in which the person must decide between two goals, with each goal possessing both positive and negative aspects.
Which of the following conflicts occurs when you are equally attracted to two or more possible activities or goals?The approach-approach conflict is when there's conflict within a person where her or she needs to decide between two goals that are both appealing.
What are the types of goal conflicts?Three types of goal conflicts have been identified. These are: Approach-approach conflict, Approach avoidance conflict, Avoidance-avoidance approach.
What type of conflict happens when there are two desirable but mutually exclusive goals?Approach-approach conflicts involve a choice between two desirable (but mutually exclusive) goals.
|