Conflict in Organisational Behaviour

CONFLICT
ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
INTRODUCTION
• According to Robbins, Conflict is a process that begins when one party perceives
that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affects,
something that the 1st party cares about.
• Similarly, Greenberg and Baron define conflict as a process in which one party
perceives that another party has taken or will take actions that are incompatible with
one's own interests.
• Conflict is, in general, perceived as something negative and detrimental to any

organization. This is true to a large extent but is not the absolute truth. To understand
conflict in organizational behavior, first of all we need to understand various
approaches or point of views towards conflict.
FACTORS INFLUENCING CONFLICT
• 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.
• 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.
• Scarcity of Resources: One of the main reason for occurence 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.
• 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.
FORMS OF
CONFLLICT
• FUNCTIONAL CONFLICT: This is also
called constructive form of conflict as
it supports the goals and objectives of
the group.
• DSYFUNCTIONAL CONFLICT: It is
also called destructive form of
conflict as this kind of conflict
negatively affects a group's
performance, which in turn impacts
the organization in a direct or indirect
way.
TYPES OF 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.
LOCI OF CONFLICT
• Another way to understand conflict is to consider its locus,

or where the conflict occurs.
• There are three basic types:
• Dyadic conflict is conflict between two people.
• Intragroup conflict occurs within a group or team.
• Intergroup conflict is conflict between groups or teams.
CONFLICT PROCESS
STAGE - I
POTENTIAL OPPOSITION OR INCOMPATIBILITY
• First Stage of conflict is the appearance of causes or sources that can lead to
a potential opposition or incompatibility. These conditions can be divided
into :
Personal
Communication Structure
Variables
STAGE II
COGNITION AND PERSONALIZATION :

• Perceived Conflict: Awareness by one or more parties of existence of
conditions that create opportunities for conflicts to arise .
• Felt Conflict : Emotional involvement in a conflict that creates anxiety,

tenseness ,frustration or hostility.
STAGE III
INTENTIONS:
STAGE IV
BEHAVIOUR:
• This is the visible part of the conflict .
• It includes statements, actions, and reactions made by conflicting parties ,in
attempts to implement their decisions.
STAGE V
OUTCOMES:
FUNCTIONAL OUTCOME DYSFUNCTIONAL OUTCOME

• Leads to new ideas • Leads to energy wastage
• Stimulates creativity • Harms psychology of members
• Motivates change • Wastage of Resources
• Promotes organizational vitality • Creation of negative atmosphere
• Establishment of group and • Harms group cohesion
individual identity
• Indicative of potential problems • Increase in Hostility and
aggressive behaviour .
• Positive Synergy • Negative Synergy
IKEA CASE STUDY
IKEA has a strong focus on corporate social responsibility, and the company
requires its suppliers To sign a Code of Conduct document forbidding the use
of child labor. Despite precautions, IKEA ran into conflict with its suppliers
concerning this issue. In 1994, a Swedish documentary showed children
working on weaving looms in Pakistan and mentioned IKEA as an importer of
these carpets. Later, Dutch media alleged that two of IKEA's rug suppliers
exploited child labor. The emergence of the allegations in news stories clearly
indicated that simply using a Code of Conduct was not sufficient and IKEA
leaders also realized that this conflict with suppliers was extremely complex.
REASONS FOR CONFLICT
• The suppliers argued that children were better suited for this type of labour than
adults because their fingers were smaller and more dexterous. Furthermore, they
argued that if the children weren't working abject poverty would make life
unbearable. Although there is little credibility for the first argument, there was some
truth to the second. Often, children are put to work in India and Pakistan because
their parents are in debt. Loan sharks, who also own the loom, loan money to these
parents at exorbitant interest rates. When they aren't paid back, the loan sharks
suggest that the children go to work. To further complicate the issue, attempts at
boycotting those using child labor have had negative consequences. When U.S. trade
sanctions ordered Bangladeshi garment manufacturers to stop employing children,
many of these children ended up with no alternative Hunger and desperation drove
them to demonstrate to get their jobs back. Furthermore, when foreign companies
have tried to set up schools for these children, they find that most schools end up
empty because the children go to work somewhere else. IKEA found itself in a very
difficult position and sought to do the right thing regarding child labor. Read about
how IKEA handled this conflict in the Looking Back feature at the end of this chapter.
FOCUS ON CAUSE OF CONFLICT
• When faced with a child exploitation allegation, IKEA was quick to respond by sending
top executives to India to investigate. They considered an option to join a foundation
made up of similar organizations that buy rugs and carpets from this region. This
foundation stamps each carpet to guarantee no child labour was used and supervises the
use of the label. IKEA however, were very concerned about what would happen to the
children if this approach was taken and decided to address what they determined to be
the root cause of the problem a lack of viable alternatives for the children and adults in
the region.
• They developed an on-going initiative aimed at helping India's "carpet belt" where 85 %
rugs exported from India are made. They worked with UNICEF and the World Health
Organization To provide learning centres to ease children back into school. In fact, IKEA
has made corporate commitments totalling more than $180 million from 2000 to 2015.
They helped develop women's that encourage women to put aside small sums of money
so that they can get loans from bursa reasonable interest rates. IKEA acknowledges that
this will not solve the problem entirely and they do not guarantee that their rugs and
carpets are made entirely without child labour, but many organizations like Save the
Children and UNICEF agree that it's a big step in the right direction.
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
TECHNIQUES
• Conflict management techniques implies that

conflicts can be resolved-finished, completed ,
overcome, or permanently settled through
these techniques.
TECHNIQUES USED:
• EXPANSION OF RESOURCES : Expanding the supply of

scarce resources (for example, money promotion ,
opportunities , office space).
• AVOIDANCE : Withdrawing from or suppressing the conflict.

• EXPANSION OF RESOURCES : Expanding the
supply of scarce resources (for example, money
promotion , opportunities , office space).
• AVOIDANCE : Withdrawing from or suppressing the

conflict.
• SMOOTHING : Playing down differences while
emphasizing common interests between the
conflicting parties.
• COMPROMISE : Having each party to the conflict

give up something of value.
• AUTORITATIVE COMMAND : Letting management use its
formal authority to resolve the conflict and then
communicating its desires to the parties involved.
• ALTERING THE HUMAN VARIABLES : Using behavioral

change techniques such as human relations training to
alter attitudes and behaviors that cause conflict.
CONFLICT STIMULATION TECHNIQUES
• COMMUNICATION : Using ambiguous or threatening

messages to increase conflict levels.
• BRINGING IN OUTSIDERS : Adding employees to a group

whose backgrounds, values, attitudes, or managerial styles
differ from those of present members.
• RESTRUCTURING THE ORGANISATION : Realining work
groups , altering rules and regulations , increasing
interdependence, and making similar structural changes to
disrupt the status quo.
• APPOINTING A DEVIL’S ADVOCATE : Designating a critic to

purposely argue against the majority positions held by the
group.
THE END

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CONFLICT

• Conflict is, in general, perceived as something negative and detrimental to any

• Task Conflict: When there is a discord, among

• Process Conflict: Clashes among the team members

• Another way to understand conflict is to consider its locus,

COGNITION AND PERSONALIZATION :

• Felt Conflict : Emotional involvement in a conflict that creates anxiety,

FUNCTIONAL OUTCOME DYSFUNCTIONAL OUTCOME

• Conflict management techniques implies that

• EXPANSION OF RESOURCES : Expanding the supply of

• AVOIDANCE : Withdrawing from or suppressing the conflict.

• AVOIDANCE : Withdrawing from or suppressing the

• COMPROMISE : Having each party to the conflict

• ALTERING THE HUMAN VARIABLES : Using behavioral

• COMMUNICATION : Using ambiguous or threatening

• BRINGING IN OUTSIDERS : Adding employees to a group

• APPOINTING A DEVIL’S ADVOCATE : Designating a critic to

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