1. What is Conflict?

Conflict is both something in which we all have extensive experience, and also something of
which we are generally afraid and have few skills. Normally we think of conflict as
something that should be removed as quickly as possible. This lesson will introduce positive
aspects to conflict, and help us to begin thinking about how conflict can be used
constructively to bring growth, awareness and change to our lives, or the situations we have
been tasked to manage.

Conflict Definitions

 Conflict is a state of human interaction where there is disharmony or a perceived

divergence of interests, needs or goals.
 Conflict is a form of competitive behavior between people or groups. It occurs when
two or more people compete over perceived or actual incompatible goals or limited
resources.
 A social conflict exists when two or more persons or groups manifest the belief that
they have incompatible objectives.
 Conflict is an outgrowth of the diversity that characterizes our thoughts, our attitudes,
our beliefs, our perceptions, and our social systems and structures. It is as much a part
of our existence as is evolution.

Types and Levels of Conflict

We encounter different levels of conflict – from interpersonal through to intergroup and

interstate conflict. How does this play out in a peacekeeping environment? Here are some
levels of conflict that you may experience on a typical peacekeeping mission.

 Inner Conflict

Internal conflict is something that we continue to face on an ongoing basis around difficult
decisions, for example, having to do things because of our jobs that we do not like or with
which we do not necessarily agree; having to get along with people we find difficult; or
dealing with the isolation and separation from loved ones while on a mission.

 Interpersonal Conflict

Life on a peacekeeping mission mirrors what you experience in normal social life, and the
same type of intra-office conflicts can occur as one would expect in any normal work
situation. In fact, the peacekeeping context can be especially susceptible to intra-office
conflict, because it is a highly dynamic environment. The situation is typically quite tense,
often dangerous, mostly multicultural and multilingual. There is a high turnover of personnel
and everything is temporary (your office location may change, your boss may change, the
name of your unit and its location within the larger structure may change, everybody is on
short-term contracts, etc.).

 Conflict over Management

The head of office (P4) is going on leave, and one of the three P3s in the office (Rogers,
Nkuhlu and Ndiri) will be appointed Officer-in-Charge (OIC) in her absence. The one P3
(Rogers) has acted as OIC in the past when the P4 has been away, and expects to be
appointed as OIC. Rogers is disappointed and furious, and decides not to cooperate with
Ndiri. In fact, Rogers actively undermines Ndiri and complains to everyone that is willing to
listen that Ndiri has only been appointed as OIC because the P4 and the OIC are of the same
gender/race/religion or language group.

 Conflict over Opportunity

An office head informs her staff that there is an opportunity for one person to attend an
ACCORD Civilian Peacekeeping and Peace building Course in Durban, South Africa, in two
months’ time. This results in fierce competition among some of the staff, who would like to
be chosen for this training opportunity and the foreign travel.
When Sanchez is selected, the other staff who thought they had a chance are very
disappointed, and one of them tells everybody that Sanchez has only been selected because
she has used a friend in the office of the SRSG, who is from the same country as she is, to
put pressure on her boss to select her for the position. The other staff in the office believes
this story, and everyone shuns Sanchez before her departure and for months after her return.

 Intergroup Conflict

This is the level of conflict between interpersonal conflict and conflict that occurs on a
national or international level. It can include any kind of conflict, such as conflict between
the military, police and civilian components of a mission, or between aid organizations
working in the peace mission. Conflict within a community, or between factions in one
geographical area that doesn’t necessarily impact on the national conflict, would also fall
under this level.
  Civil-Military Conflict

One of the factors that complicates peace operations is the large number of different
organizations and institutions that work alongside one another. These organizations have
different mandates and operating cultures, and this often creates tension among them. For
example, an NGO based in Goma (DRC) is driving three trucks from Goma to Bukavu to
deliver shelter items to an IDP camp. On the way they come under attack by unknown
gunmen, but two trucks manage to escape and reach Bukavu. In Bukavu they report the
incident to the UN. The UN peacekeeping force sends a platoon to investigate the incident
and to search for the missing truck, but the commander of the peacekeepers in Bukavu is
furious with the head of the NGO. He argues that they should have informed the UN before
they left Goma, so that the UN peacekeepers could have provided them with an escort. The
NGO argues that they are an independent humanitarian actor and that they prefer not to make
use of military escorts. The commander argues that the NGO only wants to cooperate with
the military when they are in trouble.

 Community Conflict

Two neighboring villages near the town of Rumbeck in Sudan have been in conflict over
their allegiance to the local chief. One of the villages wants to break away and create their
own chieftaincy. They argue that they originate from another clan that was forced to move
into their present location two generations ago, and that they are therefore not part of the
same clan system as their neighboring village. They should thus have the right to have their
own chief. The existing chief in the neighboring village claims that his ancestors allowed the
people from the neighboring village to settle on their land, on the condition that they accept
the authority of their chief.

 Fear of Conflict

Most people are terrified of conflict, and would rather avoid it – they deal with it only as a
last resort. To be an effective mediator or conflict intervener in a peace mission, you will
have to learn to accept conflict and deal with your own internal apprehension around conflict.
A first step is to learn to deal with conflicts in your own life. This will help you to be neutral
when assisting other people with their conflicts.
  Intra-/Interstate Conflict

The main focus of the peacekeeping mission is to manage conflict between the warring
parties within the state (intrastate) or between states (interstate). You may not be at a senior
level of command on the mission, and may feel that you personally have no direct impact on
the outcome of the conflict, beyond fulfilling your role in the mission. Sometimes, however,
a local or regional issue can impact the course of the conflict nationally, as the following
example shows.

 Post-Conflict Elections

The first post-conflict election in Sedonia is critical for the future stability of the country.
There was no clear winner in the first round of the presidential elections, and there is now
going to be a run-off between the two frontrunners. Both candidates have booked the same
stadium in one of the provincial towns for a major political rally this coming Saturday.
Apparently the person responsible for the bookings accepted a booking from the Freedom-
All Party on Monday. He was sick on Tuesday and a colleague of his, unaware of the
Freedom-All Party booking, accepted a booking from the National Congress Party. The error
was discovered on Wednesday when both parties paid deposits for the hiring of the stadium.
The double booking has snowballed into a major stand-off between the two parties, and the
national police and AU mission are concerned that it may lead to violent clashes between the
supporters of the two sides, if it is not resolved soon. You are the electoral advisor in the AU
Mission in Sedonia, and you have been asked to meet with the two parties to try and resolve
the situation.

 Conflict Can be Positive

Conflict is often seen as negative. But conflict can:

 create an opportunity for balancing the power within a relationship or the wider
society, and the reconciliation of people’s legitimate interests;
 lead to greater self-awareness and understanding, and awareness of diversity and
differences between people, organizations and societies;
 lead to personal, organizational and even systemic growth and development;
 act as a useful medium for airing and solving problems;
 allow for different interests to be reconciled; and
 foster unity within groups.
Why See the Positive Aspects of Conflict?

We should see the positive sides of conflict so that we do not:

 avoid dealing with conflict;

 see conflict only as a battle between incompatible self-interests and desires; and
 see the conflict in terms of absolute differences. This colours the whole relationship
and ignores the healthy, more positive aspects of the relationship.

Conflict is not good or bad – it simply ‘is’. It is a facet of everyday human experience.
The natural systems of nature also involve conflict at many different levels – whether it be
one animal eating another for survival, or competing for leadership of the herd, which leads
to selection of the strongest genes for future generations.

How Can We Respond to Conflict?

Resolving conflict through the use of force is always a last resort. Parties to a conflict will
generally try to use less ‘costly’ methods to achieve their aims. The Conflict Management
Continuum shows a range of options for resolving conflict.

Decisions by the Parties

 Informal Discussion

An unstructured process, where parties attempt to resolve their problems on their own (also
useful to prepare for formal negotiations).

 Negotiation

An informal or formal process, where parties actively talk about their conflict for the purpose
of reaching agreement and bringing resolution to their problems.

 Mediation

A ‘facilitated negotiation’, where an independent third party helps parties to come to the
resolution of their problems, but does not decide on their behalf.
Decision by External Party

 Arbitration

Parties jointly commit to a third party making a decision about how to resolve the conflict,
which will be binding on all parties. This is often used in industrial or business conflicts.

 Adjudication

A legal process, backed up by the power of institution – e.g. a medical board governing
doctors, or a court governing society. The ‘adjudicator’ makes a decision for the parties,
which is binding on the parties.

Decision by Force

 Force

A last resort, and often the most destructive, costly way of resolving conflicts. Use of force
can lead to loss of life; destruction of property and the social order; massive financial costs
associated with the financing of a war and a peacekeeping intervention; and the loss of trade,
resources and functioning economic systems.

How do you manage conflicts?

Tips for Managing Conflict

1. Accept conflict. Remember that conflict is natural and happens in every ongoing
relationship.
2. Be a calming agent.
3. Listen actively.
4. Analyze the conflict.
5. Model neutral language.
6. Separate the person from the problem.
7. Work together.
8. Agree to disagree.
2. Function Vs Dysfunction Conflict.

Conflict

Conflict is defined as a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has
negatively affected of is about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about.
“The absence of conflict is not harmony, it’s apathy.” (cited in Huczynski and Buchanan,
2001 p.793)
Conflict enhances understanding of choices, allowing better options thus enhancing decision-
making.

Functional conflicts and dysfunctional conflicts are the two dimensions or the outcomes of
the conflicts. Functional conflict has positive effects on the conflicts whereas dysfunctional
conflict has negative effects. Both can be discussed with the help of following points:

A. Functional Conflict: Positive Effects

Functional conflict is also known as constructive conflict. Such conflict will have positive
effects on individuals, groups and organizations. Such conflict is useful in order to solve
problems related to individuals and groups. Functional conflict is important for
effective performance due to the following reasons:
 It ventilates tension from the organization.
 It increases individual's efforts at work.
 It helps thinking analytically.
 It provides foundation for organizational change and development.
 It provides an individual a chance to think again, undertake self introspection and have a
second look at the existing things, like procedures, policies, equipment, behaviors etc.
 It leads to innovation and at times to new direction. It is, therefore, even necessary for the
survival and growth organizations.
 It helps to seek classification and generate search behavior.
 When conflict is developed, attention is immediately drawn to the malfunctioning parts
of a system. It is an indication that the situation calls for improvement. Conflict is, therefore,
an essential portion of a cybernetic system.
 At times, it is also used as a means to certain ends and to create confusion or set
subordinates against each other in order to maintain the interested parties own position. It
may not be a positive outcome in the strict sense of the term from the organizational point of
view, but it is certainly a management strategy toward of problems temporarily. It may be
viewed as an unavoidable cost of the pursuit of one's aspirations.
 Long standing problems, which continue to agitate people's mind in surface, they are able
to release their tensions and unburden themselves. They display creativity in identifying
solutions and dealing with problems.
 It serves as a cementing force in a group and incredible unity is witnessed even in a
heterogeneous group at times of tension.
 It energizes people, leads to mild stimulation and one is at one's best in times of crisis. It
helps them test their capacities.

Example of Functional Conflict

Bowling party planning is a joint project between two departments at work. When we first
started to book these parties, there were a lot of booking errors. Parties were overbooked and
booked at times when they should not have been booked. It was frustrating for everyone
involved. It resulted in upset customers, a loss in revenue and a diminished reputation.
Departments, bowling and Boston Pizza worked together to create a shared excel file to
accommodate bookings. The sheet includes both the number of seats available and the
number of lanes available for every hour, every day. For any request outside of these
numbers has to be run past the department manager before any booking is turned down.
There are still some issues with group bookings but when they arise, everyone is much more
relaxed about the issue and everyone works together to find a solution.

2. Dysfunctional Conflict: Negative Effects

Dysfunctional conflict is also known as destructive conflict. Many times conflict may be
detrimental and disastrous. Such conflict has negative effect on individuals, groups and the
organizational levels. The effects might be diverting energies, hurting group cohesion,
promoting interpersonal hostilities and creating negative working environment. Due to the
dysfunctional conflict and its negative effects, employees become dissatisfied with the
working environment and as a result, absenteeism will increase and productivity will decline.
A few dysfunctional effects of rising conflict include:
 Increasing conflict will result in delays in meeting schedules, decrease in the quality of
goods and services and finally will increase customer complaints.
 It is undesirable if it creates a climate of distrust and suspicion among people, if some
people feel are defeated and demanded and it develops antagonism instead of spirit of
cooperation.
 In the absence of smooth communication at the workplace, there will be problems in
coordinating activities.
 With the increasing conflict in the organization, people start to divert themselves from the
real work schedule and keep less interest and show less energy, and this will ultimately affect
the achievement of organizational goals.
 The increasing negative emotions at the workplace can be quite stressful.
 When conflict does not lead to solution of a problem, it is unproductive and investment of
time and effort goes waste.
 As a consequence of conflict, there may be intensification of internalization of sub-unit
goals which may result in the neglect of overall organizational goals.
 It is seriously harmful if it distracts attention from basic organizational objectives and
makes people work for their defeat.
 When management loses objectivity and treats disagreement as equivalent to disloyalty
and rebellion, an opportunity for creativity should be deemed to have been lost. It may even
pour oil over troubled waters, exploit differences to strengthen itself and weakens others, and
accept resolutions capable of different interpretation.

Example of Dysfunctional Functional Conflict

In general interdepartmental overlap causes the majority of dysfunctional conflict at my
work. The example that I have chosen is one that remains unresolved. The conflict doesn’t
result in a stand still as we still have to operate. What the conflict does is it creates a barrier
of distrust and resentment which makes all subsequent dealings strained.
The Marketing department where I work is difficult to deal with. They drop promotions with
coupons without letting operations know. Since I am the one that has to program the point of
sale system, this becomes an issue when customers start arriving with the coupons. It
provides poor customer service as customers are delayed while operations sort out a way to
deal with the new coupon. After I have resolved the situation for the guest, I have to contact
marketing and get the details of the promotion so I can program it into the system. From
there I have to get the information out to cashiers at eleven operations. From the perspective
of the company, it creates a customer service issue that could result in a loss of business and
effect the company’s reputation The Marketing department feels that by including operations
in advance, operations will perceive that they have a say in the promotions. Marketing
doesn’t want this. In addition, marketing has been told in the past that certain things are
impossible to be done based on technological limitations and control issues. By dropping
these coupons and promotions without consulting Operations, Marketing “gets what they
want.” However they don’t actually end up with what they want because the technology and
control issues still exist. It’s Operation though that has to figure out how to deal with the new
programs. Generally resulting in more work for Operations, potential loss for the company,
and a lack of the reporting that Marketing will ask for to track the promotion.
Functional and dysfunctional conflicts differ on the basis of following
grounds:

Basis of
Functional Conflict Dysfunctional Conflict
Difference
When a disagreement among
When a disagreement among individuals is
individuals is destructive and
Meaning constructive and healthy in nature it is called as
unhealthy in nature it is called
functional conflict.
as dysfunctional conflict.
Impact on It helps the individuals develop new ideas and It drains the productive energy
individuals get an opportunity to learn and grow. of the individuals.
Such conflicts have a negative
Impact on the Such conflicts have a positive impact in the
impact on the working of the
organization working of the organizations.
organizations.
Managers can assess such conflict by identifying
that individuals are challenging to old ideas and
Signs for It arises out of various emotions
policies. Besides this, finding new solutions to a
recognition including anger and resentment.
problem by the individuals is also a sign of
functional conflict.

Is conflict always dysfunctional in the workplace?

Some level of organizational conflict is actually desirable — it's not always dysfunctional.
This type of conflict is necessary. Without it, an organization will stagnate!
When conflict does occur, the results may be positive or negative, depending upon how those
involved choose to approach it.

Why is functional conflict encouraged?

In fact, conflict can be good for organizations because it encourages open-mindedness and
helps avoid the tendency toward group think that many organizations fall prey to. The key is
learning how to manage conflict effectively so that it can serve as a catalyst, rather than a
hindrance, to organizational improvement.

What are the functional and dysfunctional outcomes of conflict?

Functional conflict is people in an organization or group may have their performance which
they can increase and advantages in issues. Dysfunctional conflict is people who in an
organization or group may have decreases or disadvantages in result of outcome they gain
which they negotiate in the process.
3. Nature of Conflict in an organization
Definition: Organizational Conflict or otherwise known as workplace conflict, is described
as the state of disagreement or misunderstanding, resulting from the actual or perceived
dissent of needs, beliefs, resources and relationship between the members of the
organization. At the workplace, whenever, two or more persons interact, conflict occurs
when opinions with respect to any task or decision are in contradiction.

Conflict in the organization can be constructive or destructive for an organization. Conflict

may be defined as breakdown in the standard of decision making and it occurs when an
individual or group experience difficulty in selecting an alternative.

In simple terms, organizational conflict alludes to the result of human interaction, that starts
when one member of the organization discerns that his/her goals, values or attitude are
incompatible, with those of other members of the organization. The incompatibility in
opinions can come into being, within a member, between two members, or between groups
of the organization.

Conflict affecting organizations can occur in individuals, between individual and between
groups. Conflicts within work groups are often caused by struggles over control, status,
and scarce resources. Conflicts between groups in organizations have similar origins.

what is the nature of conflict?

The Nature of Conflict. A conflict is the moment of truth in a relationship-a test of its
health, a crisis that can weaken or strengthen it, a critical event that may bring lasting
resentment, smoldering hostility, psychological scars. Few persons accept the fact
that conflict is part of life and not necessarily bad.
what is meant by organizational conflict?

Organizational conflict, or workplace conflict, is a state of discord caused by the actual or

perceived opposition of needs, values and interests between people working together. There
is also conflict within individuals – between competing needs and demands – to which
individuals respond in different ways.

what are the common conflict in an Organization?

Conflict in organizations can be caused by task interdependencies, status inconsistencies,

jurisdictional ambiguities, communication problems, dependence on common resource
pools, lack of common performance standards, and individual differences.

Why is conflict good in an organization?

In fact, conflict can be good for organizations because it encourages open-mindedness and
helps avoid the tendency toward group think that many organizations fall prey to. The key is
 learning how to manage conflict effectively so that it can serve as a catalyst, rather than a
hindrance, to organizational improvement.

Factors Influencing Organizational Conflict

1. Unclear Responsibility: If there is lack of clarity, regarding who is responsible for which
section of a task or project, conflict takes place. And, to avoid this situation, the roles and
responsibility of the team members should be stated clearly and also agreed upon by all.
2. Interpersonal Relationship: Every member of an organization, possesses different
personality, which plays a crucial role in resolving conflict in an organization. Conflicts at
the workplace, are often caused by interpersonal issues between the members of the
organization.
3. Scarcity of Resources: One of the main reason for occurrence of conflict in an organization
is the inadequacy of resources like time, money, materials etc. due to which members of the
organization compete with each other, leading to conflict between them.
4. Conflict of Interest: When there is a disorientation between the personal goals of the
individual and the goals of the organization, conflict of interest arises, as the individual may
fight for his personal goals, which hinders the overall success of the project.
Conflicts alleviate at the workplace due to individual and inter-individual factors. Individual
related causes entails attitudes, beliefs, personality orientation and human-frailties. Inter-
individual conflicts arises when a manager breaches norms of the organization.

Types of Organizational Conflict

 Relationship Conflict: The conflict arising out of interpersonal tension among employees,
which is concerned with the relationship intrinsically, not the project at hand.
 Task Conflict: When there is a discord, among members regarding nature of work to be
performed is task conflict
 Process Conflict: Clashes among the team members due to the difference in opinions, on
how work should be completed, is called process conflict.
 Organizational conflict can also be personal conflict (one that exist between two people
because of mutual dislike), intra group conflict (one arising out of lack of liberty, resource,
etc. in a group) and intergroup conflict (one that exist between two groups).

Causes of Organizational Conflict

 Managerial Expectations: Every employee is expected to meet the targets, imposed by

his/her superior and when these expectations are misunderstood or not fulfilled within the
stipulated time, conflicts arises.
 Communication Disruption: One of the major cause of conflict at the workplace is
disruption in the communication, i.e. if one employee requires certain information from
another, who does not respond properly, conflict sparks in the organization.
 Misunderstanding: Misunderstanding of information, can also alleviate dispute in
organization, in the sense that if one person misinterpret some information, it can lead to
series of conflicts.
 Lack of accountability: If in a project, responsibilities are not clear and some mistake has
arisen, of which no member of the team wants to take responsibility can also become a cause
of conflict in the organization.
The causes of organizational conflict are to be known, to resolve them as early as possible,
because it hinders the efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of the employees and the
organization as well, which ultimately hampers its success.

Ways to Manage Conflicts in Organization

1. Handle the conflict positively.

2. Formation of official grievance procedure for all members.
3. Concentrate on the causes rather than their effect, to assess conflicts.
4. Parties to conflicts should be given an equal voice, irrespective of their position, term or
political influence.
5. Active participation of all the parties to conflict can also help to counter it.
In an organization, conflict is inevitable and so various means are to be discovered to resolve
them or use them in a way that can help the organization to increase its productivity.

Types 0f Organizational Conflict

Conflict is also prevalent in the workplace, where it is often the result of incompatible
goals or expectations. Organizational conflict can be classified into six categories:
intrapersonal, interpersonal, intra group, intergroup, intra organizational, and inter
organizational.

Intrapersonal Conflict

Intrapersonal conflict occurs when a person is confronted with several mutually

exclusive options and has difficulty making a decision. Many intrapersonal conflicts in
the workplace centre on the conflict between personal values and organizational values.

Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict occurs when two or more people perceive goals, attitudes, values,
and behavior differently. You may have experienced interpersonal conflict at school
when your teacher felt that you were not working as hard as you felt you were working;
the two of you had conflicting perceptions concerning your behavior. Interpersonal
conflicts are especially common in the workplace, since we are often forced to work with
people whose ideas and values differ from our own.

Intra group Conflict

Intra group conflict occurs when there is a clash between members of a group, perhaps
over how to accomplish a particular task. Intra group conflicts are common in family- run
businesses and in work groups whose members are highly diversified in terms of cultural
background, age, and amount of work experience. Nonetheless, diversity among group
members can have a positive effect on group performance if conflicts are managed
effectively.

Intergroup Conflict

Intergroup conflict refers to conflict between different groups or teams. Such conflicts
can have both positive and negative effects. For instance, group cohesiveness and loyalty
may increase as a result of intergroup conflict. On the other hand, groups may develop an
"us against them" mentality. In organizational settings, intergroup conflicts may result in
divided loyalties.

Intra organizational Conflict1

Intra organizational conflict occurs when there is disagreement in an organization,

either within or between levels. Conflict between these two groups usually stems from
the fact that the consultant's authority in the organization is not clearly defined. As a
result, line managers sometimes think that staff managers are trying to take away their
power as managers. Inter organizational Conflict

Inter organizational conflict, or conflict between organizations, may result from

competition or takeover attempts. This type of conflict can lead to increased
organizational loyalty and cohesiveness among employees.

Sources of Organizational Conflict

The sources of organizational conflict can be classified into two main

categories: structural factors, which relate to the nature of the organization and the way in
which work is organized; and personal factors, which relate to differences between
organizational members.

Structural Factors

There are eight structural aspects of an organization that are likely to cause conflicts. They
are specialization, common resources, goal differences, interdependence, authority
relationships, status differences, jurisdictional ambiguities, and roles and expectations. Let's
examine each of these in turn.

Specialization

Employees tend to become either experts at a particular job task or to obtain a general
knowledge of many tasks. When the majority of employees in an organization are
specialists, conflicts may arise because workers have little knowledge of one another's job
responsibilities. For example, a receptionist at a camera repair store may tell you that your
camera can be repaired in an hour.

Common Resources

In many work situations, we are obliged to share resources: The scarcer the resource the
greater the potential for conflict. For example, imagine that your class had an essay due
tomorrow and there was only one computer available. The chances of conflict among the
students would be high.

Goal Differences

Sometimes groups or departments in the organization have different and incompatible

goals, increasing the chances of employees experiencing conflict. For instance, a computer
salesperson may want to sell as many computers as possible and deliver them quickly; the
manufacturing facility, however, may be unable to assemble and inspect enough computers
to meet the sales promises.

Interdependence

Sometimes one employee must depend on another to complete a task. When workers are in
an interdependent situation, it is easy to blame a co-worker when something goes wrong.
For example, a manager may clash with a systems analyst who provides inaccurate data.

Authority Relationships

Often, there is underlying tension between managers and employees. This is because most
people do not like being told what to do. Managers who are overly strict are frequently in
conflict with their employees – hence, the growing popularity of team approaches and
empowerment strategies.

Status Differences
In many organizations, managers are granted privileges denied to other employees. For
instance, managers may enjoy flexible hours, free personal long-distance calls, and longer
breaks. In the words of one management consultant, "If you want to know who is really
important in the organization, just observe the signs in the parking lot and watch for the
distance between the parking and the office building; the bigger the sign and the closer to
the building, the higher the status of the incumbent." Some organizations are creating a
more egalitarian appearance to reduce conflicts that result from status differences.

Jurisdictional Ambiguities

Jurisdictional ambiguities occur when the lines of responsibility in an organization are

uncertain. When it is unclear who does what, employees have a tendency to pass unwanted
tasks onto the next person. Think of the times you have telephoned a company or
government agency and been transferred to several people and departments before being
served. Detailed job descriptions can help to eliminate jurisdictional ambiguities and the
conflicts arising from them.

Roles and Expectations

A role refers to the behaviors and activities expected of an employee. Every employee
plays one or more roles within the organization. These roles are usually defined through a
combination of such elements as job title, description of duties, and agreements between
the employee and the organization. Manager–subordinate conflict can result when the
subordinate's role is not clearly defined and each party has a different understanding of that
role.