Conflict , Why Conflict Occur And Conflict Management

Introduction

Conflict may be defined as a contest or struggle between people with opposing ideas, values, needs, beliefs, or goals. Conflict can be beneficially resolved leading to quality final products or might escalate and lead to nonproductive results (Algert, 1996). Several types of conflict exist; value conflict, relationship conflict, and interest conflict. Relationship conflict arises when an in individual behaves in a negative manner due to personal perspective resulting from things like rumors and stereotypes. Value conflict results when two groups or individuals have dissenting views on moral values on the basis of their basic understanding of what is wrong or right. Interest conflict on the other hand results when one individual’s desired outcome is in collision with another individual or group’s interests(Hellreigel, Slocum, & Woodman, 2001)

Conflict management involves acquiring skills related to self-awareness about conflict modes, conflict resolution, establishing a structure for management of conflict in your management, and conflict resolution (Algert, 1996). The principle applied by conflict management is that all conflicts cannot be necessarily be resolved, but the knowledge on how to manage conflicts can minimize the odds of reproductive escalation.

Ethical conflict in the work place may occur when an individual’s personal behavior conflicts with the organization’s ethics, such as public use of drugs or indulgence of alcohol. Personal behavior inside and outside the organization is very important for individuals safety and competency in the organization (Morrison, 2006).

 Why conflict occurs

Conflict may arise when needs, wants, and beliefs between two or more parties struggle to agree (Laue,1990).The factors of organizational conflict  is classified in to personal factors, relating to organizational  members ‘differences ,and structural factors relating to the way work is organized and the nature of the organization. Structural aspects of an organization likely to cause conflict include; common resources, specialization, goal differences, authority relationships, interdependence, status differences, expectations, roles,  and jurisdictional ambiguities (De Janasz, Dowd, & Schneider, 2006).

Personal factors associated with the organizational conflict include; personality conflicts, diversity, skills and abilities, personal problems, and perceptions (Rahim, 2001).conflicts may occur at various levels of either interpersonal, individual, organizational or group levels (Luthan, 1998).

The following are the various causes of the conflict that may arise anytime under certain circumstances within the organization;Organizational structures that are vulnerable and individuals may feellonely, or estranged, thus the fortitude of non- cooperation and competitiveness can be strong; weak communication where lines of communication are vulnerable and individuals are not able to gain the opportunity to illustrate how they feel or to resolve causes of conflicts which may arise; personal conflicts which occur when people collide with each other because of different styles of interaction or different beliefs of values;when there is a lot of inappropriately managed change within the organization leading to people feeling threatened and insecure with tension consequently causing anger and frustration which as a result influences how people deal with each other during work tasks; poor work performance or lack of teamwork may result in to conflict if some team members believe other colleagues are not pulling their weight or are incompetent in the job they perform.

 Conflict management

Before contacting the parties, good conflict managers size up possible clashes. Alternative actions are then worked on to resolve potential problems(Sieved, 1986). Conflict management strategies can be formulated to resolve and to keep conflicts under control through anticipating conflict and its impact. Managers must establish good understanding , rapport and trust with all stake holders to minimize the probability of conflict (Dinsmore, 1990).

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