OBAT WORK212 Part 3Interacting Effectively
All Conflicts Are
Dysfunctional!
It may be true that conflict is an inherent part of any group or
organization. It may not be possible to eliminate it com-
pletely. However, just because conflicts exist is no reason to
worship them. All conflicts are dysfunctional, and it is one of
management’s major responsibilities to keep conflict intensity
as low as humanly possible. A few points support this case:- The negative consequences from conflict can be devas-
tating.The list of negatives associated with conflict is
impressive. Obvious negatives include increased
turnover, decreased employee satisfaction, labour
grievances and strikes, sabotage, physical aggression,
and inefficiencies between work units. - Effective managers build teamwork.A good manager
builds a coordinated team. Conflict works against such
an objective. A successful work group is like a success-
ful sports team: Each member knows his or her role and
supports his or her teammates. When a team works
well, the whole becomes greater than the sum of the
parts. Management creates teamwork by minimizing
internal conflicts and facilitating internal coordination. - Competition is good for an organization, but not conflict.
Competition and conflict should not be confused with
each other. Conflict is behaviour directed against another
party, whereas competition is behaviour aimed at obtain-
ing a goal without interference from another party.
Competition is healthy; it is the source of organizational
vitality. Conflict, on the other hand, is destructive. - Managers who accept and stimulate conflict don’t sur-
vive in organizations.The whole argument over the
value of conflict may be open to question as long as
most senior executives in organizations view conflict tra-
ditionally. In the traditional view, any conflict is seen as
bad. Since the evaluation of a manager’s performance is
made by higher-level executives, those managers who
do not succeed in eliminating conflicts are likely to be
appraised negatively. This in turn will reduce opportuni-
ties for advancement. Any manager who aspires to
move up in such an environment would be wise to fol-
low the traditional view and eliminate any outward signs
of conflict. Failure to follow this advice might result in
the premature departure of the manager.
Conflict Is Good for an
Organization
We have made considerable progress in the last 25 years
toward overcoming the negative stereotype given to conflict.
Most behavioural scientists and an increasing number of prac-
tising managers now accept that the goal of effective man-
agement is not to eliminate conflict. Rather, it is to create the
right intensity of conflict so as to reap its functional benefits.
Let’s briefly review how stimulating conflict can provide
benefits to the organization.^68- Conflict is a means by which to bring about radical
change.It is an effective device by which management
can drastically change the existing power structure,
current interaction patterns, and entrenched attitudes. - Conflict facilitates group cohesiveness.While conflict
increases hostility between groups, external threats tend
to cause a group to pull together as a unit. Intergroup
conflicts raise the extent to which members identify with
their own group and increase feelings of solidarity, while,
at the same time, internal differences and irritations
dissolve. - Conflict improves group and organizational effectiveness.
The stimulation of conflict sparks the search for new
means and goals and clears the way for innovation. The
successful resolution of a conflict leads to greater effec-
tiveness, to more trust and openness, to greater attraction
of members for on another, and to the depersonalization
of future conflicts. In fact, it has been found that as the
number of minor disagreements increases, the number
of major clashes decreases. - Conflict brings about a slightly higher, more construc-
tive level of tension.Constructive levels of tension
improve the chances of solving the conflicts in a way
satisfactory to all parties concerned. When the level of
tension is very low, the parties are not sufficiently moti-
vated to do something about a conflict.
These points are clearly not comprehensive. As noted in this
chapter, conflict provides a number of benefits to an organi-
zation. However, groups or organizations that lack conflict are
likely to suffer from apathy, stagnation, groupthink, and other
debilitating problems. In fact, more organizations probably fail
because they have too little conflict rather than too much.
POINT COUNTERPOINT