1. ABSTRACT
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. Various issues relating to organizational conflict, techniques, systems and practices for conflict resolution will also be discussed in this paper.
Keywords: Organizational Conflict.
2. INTRODUCTION
Conflicts are part of human consciousness in all aspects of life. Conflict has become part and parcel of our lives, we experience conflict as we experience joy or sorrow in our day to day life. One cannot avoid Conflict, whether at home, at the office, or when working environment. The consequences of organizational conflict reach further today than ever before as the interface between work and home blurs and organizations experiment with flatter and more decentralized structures. In addition, the complexity of conflict increases as organizations become more open and diverse. To work in an organization is to be in conflict. To take advantage of joint work requires conflict management.
Traditionally, conflicts have been viewed as impediments to organizational functioning. From a negative force, and this is so because human beings are incapable of engaging in either social interaction or conflict without destructive consequences.
3. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Conflict management involves designing effective macro-level strategies to minimize the dysfunctions of conflict and enhancing the constructive functions of conflict in order to enhance learning and effectiveness in an organization.
References: 1. Conflict in organizations: Byond effectiveness and performance – Carsten K.W De Dreu amd Biance Beersma, University of Ambrester, Netherlands 2. http://www.ehow.com/list_5973700_advantages-disadvantages-conflictorganizations.html 3. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/organizational_conflict_management 4. Organisational Conflict Perceived by Marketing Executives, Aa Akemi Lkeda, Tania Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira and Marcos Cortez Campomar 5. Organizational Communication and Conflict Management Systems - A Social Complexity Approach, Pekka Aula1 & Kalle Siira 6. Toward A Theory Of Manageing Organizational Conflict, M.Afzalur Rahim – Center for Advanced Studies in Management