Organizational conflict
What is conflict? Explain causes, effects and strategies of managing conflicts in an organisation
What is conflict?
Conflict can arise when two or more people or individuals in an organisation have different interests and they pursue these interests intensely. It can also occur when people in a group have different opinions about something even though they both are working to attain the same goal; they just cannot agree on how to go about it. Therefore, conflict can be defined as a process that starts when one individual or group believes that another is negatively affecting their progress in something.
Conflict is also an interactive process manifested in incompatibility, disagreement, dissonance between two social entities, e.g. individuals, groups or organisations.
Causes of conflict in an organisation
Some of the causes of conflict in an organisation include;
1. Poor communication – some individuals in organisations can be rude, or messages can be misinterpreted due to bad communication etiquette or poor communication. This therefore leads to conflict between individuals.
2. Scarce resources or time – when the resources are scarce, people tend to fight over the ones available, for instance, if there is only one photocopier in an organisation of about 20 people and most people want to make copies at the same time, then they will tend to argue over it, others might want to make copies before others maybe because of deadline issues.
3. Poor performance and its associated pressures – if an employee is performing poorly, the supervisors or those above him/her would be very harsh and pressurize them to complete tasks in time, or improve the quality. This can cause conflict between the two. The employee can even get fired for such.
4. Ambiguity in tasks or goals for a team and its members – some team leaders or supervisors, set goals that cannot be achieved or give out tasks to their juniors. This can cause hatred and conflict, causing them not to
What is conflict?
Conflict can arise when two or more people or individuals in an organisation have different interests and they pursue these interests intensely. It can also occur when people in a group have different opinions about something even though they both are working to attain the same goal; they just cannot agree on how to go about it. Therefore, conflict can be defined as a process that starts when one individual or group believes that another is negatively affecting their progress in something.
Conflict is also an interactive process manifested in incompatibility, disagreement, dissonance between two social entities, e.g. individuals, groups or organisations.
Causes of conflict in an organisation
Some of the causes of conflict in an organisation include;
1. Poor communication – some individuals in organisations can be rude, or messages can be misinterpreted due to bad communication etiquette or poor communication. This therefore leads to conflict between individuals.
2. Scarce resources or time – when the resources are scarce, people tend to fight over the ones available, for instance, if there is only one photocopier in an organisation of about 20 people and most people want to make copies at the same time, then they will tend to argue over it, others might want to make copies before others maybe because of deadline issues.
3. Poor performance and its associated pressures – if an employee is performing poorly, the supervisors or those above him/her would be very harsh and pressurize them to complete tasks in time, or improve the quality. This can cause conflict between the two. The employee can even get fired for such.
4. Ambiguity in tasks or goals for a team and its members – some team leaders or supervisors, set goals that cannot be achieved or give out tasks to their juniors. This can cause hatred and conflict, causing them not to