What are the consequences of conflict in organisations?
Organizational conflict is a state of discord caused
by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests between
people working together. Conflict takes many forms in organizations. There is
the inevitable clash between formal authority and power and those individuals
and groups affected. There are disputes over how revenues should be divided,
how the work should be done, and how long and hard people should work. There
are jurisdictional disagreements among individuals, departments, and between
unions and management. There are subtler forms of conflict involving rivalries,
jealousies, personality clashes, role definitions, and struggles for power and
favor. There is also conflict within individuals — between competing needs and
demands — to which individuals respond in different ways.
Conflict
sometimes has a destructive effect on the individuals and groups involved. At
other times, however, conflict can increase the capacity of those affected to
deal with problems, and therefore it can be used as a motivating force toward
innovation and change. Conflict is encountered in two general forms. Personal
conflict refers to an individual's inner workings and personality problems
Another
facet of personal conflict has to do with the multiple roles people play in
organizations. Behavioral scientists sometimes describe an organization as a
system of position roles. Each member of the organization belongs to a role
set, which is an association of individuals who share interdependent tasks and
thus perform formally defined roles, which are further influenced both by the
expectations of others in the role set and by one's own personality and
expectations. For example, in a common form of classroom organization, students
are expected to learn from the instructor by listening to them, following their
directions for study, taking exams, and maintaining appropriate standards of
conduct. The instructor is expected to bring students high-quality learning
materials, give lectures, write and conduct tests, and set a scholarly example.
Another in this role set would be the dean of the school, who sets standards,
hires and supervises faculty, maintains a service staff, readers and graders,
and so on. The system of roles to which an individual belongs extends outside
the organization as well, and influences their functioning within it. As an
example, a person's roles as partner, parent, descendant, and church member are
all intertwined with each other and with their set of organizational roles