Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Functional and Dysfunctional Conflicts
Functional and Dysfunctional Conflicts
Conflicts
S. Ebi Pearlin
MA.HRM(1st year)
Topics to be covered
1.
What id Conflict.?
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Conflict
Conflict Defined
Is a process that begins when one party perceives that
another party has negatively affected, or is about to
negatively affect, something that the first party cares
about.
o Is that point in an ongoing activity when an interaction crosses
over to become an interparty conflict.
Causes:
Poor communication
Lack of openness
Failure to respond to
employee needs
Dysfunctional Conflict
Conflict that hinders group
performance.
Dysfunctional Conflict
threatens organizations
interests
Wastes the organizations
resources and is
counterproductive
Types of Conflict
Task Conflict
Conflicts over content and goals
of the work.
Relationship Conflict
Stage I:
Potential Opposition or Incompatibility
Communication
Semantic difficulties, misunderstandings, and noise
Structure
Size and specialization of jobs
Jurisdictional clarity/ambiguity
Member/goal incompatibility
Leadership styles (close or participative)
Reward systems (win-lose)
Dependence/interdependence of groups
Personal Variables
Differing individual value systems
Personality types
Stage II:
Cognition and Personalization
Perceived Conflict
Awareness by one or more
parties of the existence of
conditions that create
opportunities for conflict
to arise.
Felt Conflict
Emotional involvement in a
conflict creating anxiety,
tenseness, frustration, or
hostility.
Conflict Definition
Negative Emotions
Positive Feelings
Cooperativeness:
Attempting to satisfy the other partys concerns.
Assertiveness:
Dimensions of Conflict
-Handling Intentions
Conflict-Intensity Continuum
Stage V: Outcomes
o Retarded communication
o Reduced group cohesiveness
o Infighting among group members overcomes group goals
Types of Conflict
Personality Conflict
Given the many possible combinations of personality traits, it is
clear why personality conflicts are inevitable
A personality conflict is an interpersonal opposition based on
personal dislike, disagreement, and/or different styles
Intergroup Conflict
Conflict among work groups, teams and departments is a common
threat to organizational competitiveness
Intergroup cohesiveness a we feeling binding group members
together can be a good or bad thing (smooth running team or
result in groupthink which limits critical thinking)
Recommended actions:
Managing Conflict
Stimulating Functional Conflict
Devils Advocacy
The Dialectic Method
Third-Party Interventions
Conflict Triangles
Alternative Dispute Resolution
3)
4)
5)
6)
5)
6)
High
Integrating
Obliging
Compromising
Low
Dominating
High
Avoiding
Low
Concern for Self
4. Avoiding
May involve either passive withdrawal from the problem or active
suppression of the issue
Is appropriate for trivial issues or when the costs of confrontation outweigh
the benefits of resolving the conflict
Is inappropriate for difficult and worsening problems
Its primary strength is that it buys time in ambiguous situations
However, it only provides a temporary fix that sidesteps the underlying
problem
5. Compromising
A give-and-take approach involving moderate concern for both self &others
Is appropriate when parties have opposite goals or possess equal power
Is inappropriate when overuse would lead to inconclusive or delayed action
Its primary strength is that the democratic process has no losers
However, it only provides a temporary fix that can stifle creative problem
solving
Third-Party Interventions
Conflict Triangles
When two people are having a problem and instead of
addressing the problem, one of them gets a third party
involved
Conciliation
A neutral third party informally acts as a communication conduit
between disputing parties
Peer review
A panel of trustworthy co-workers hears both sides of a dispute in an
informal and confidential meeting