Dealing with Conflict by Mark Gillan © Skoosh Media Ltd1

Conflict in the Workplace Let’s consider two types of conflict:  Interpersonal – relationship between individuals, personality clashes, disagreements, dislike  Structural – conflict arising from particular ways in which organisations are structured and the roles individuals might have within these structures. Not necessarily personality clashes but differences that can arise from different roles or departments © Skoosh Media Ltd2

Definition  Possibly a number of definitions of conflict.  Hyzinski & Buchanan (2001) provide the following definition: “Conflict is a process which begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about.”  A major part of this definition is the parties involved in a conflict need to perceive their interests are threatened or upset in some way  Can be differences between individuals and groups  If one party does not perceive that there is an issue then no conflict will exist Andrzej Huczuynski and David Buchanan, 2001, p 770. © Skoosh Media Ltd3

Exercise: own workplace conflict Consider a workplace you are familiar or might know  What instances of conflict have taken place?  Who were the parties involved and what appeared to be the details of conflict?  Why do you think the conflict took place? © Skoosh Media Ltd4

Frames of Reference for Conflict Number of different ways to analyse conflict situations. Fox identified the following:  Unitarist – This perspective sees conflict within an organisation as bad. Tend to believe all parties should share overall organisational goals. Conflict is due to poor co-ordination or abnormal behaviour of individuals.  Pluralists – People taking this frame of reference tend to see organisations made up of individuals and groups that have separate aims and objectives, some of which may overlap. This viewpoint sees conflict as being inevitable and should be managed by mechanisms to balance aims between differing parties to continue organisation functionality. Mechanisms could be joint consultation committees, collective bargaining and negotiation framework.  Interactionist – This viewpoint, conflict is necessary. It brings about positive results. It is argued, there is an optimum level of conflict that helps prevent organisational stagnation and avoids departmental dysfunction, for example, it avoids strikes or other forms of non-cooperation. It is thought that no disagreement might lead to ‘group thinking’ where new ideas are non existent or not considered. Conflict can provide an exploration of new ideas with suitable supporting structure, ultimately making better decisions and building better long term relationships formed from mutual understanding.  Radical – Derives from ideas of the likes of Karl Marx with conflict being inevitable. Marx believed opposing differences in aims of the capitalist owner seeking greedy profits and employees seeking fair pay. Only resolved through radical means such as a totally different structure in the wider society. The radical perspective seeks to explain behaviour such as harassment / bullying by managers or sabotage / pilferage by employees. The managers are agents of capitalism seeking control and the other side of employees reacting to what is perceived as exploitation. A Fox, ‘Industrial Relations: A Social Critique of Pluralist Ideology’, in J Child (Ed.), Man and Organisation (Allen & Unwin, 1973), pp © Skoosh Media Ltd5

Cultures  The frames of reference for conflict – the differing frameworks have seen different countries and cultures adopt different approaches to conflict management.  Over time, the USA and UK have tended to engage more with the Unitarist framework with implementation of anti-trade union laws and the reduction in the power of trade union bodies.  Germany and the Scandinavian countries demonstrate more of a ‘partnership’ mechanism between trade unions, employers and government. © Skoosh Media Ltd6

Exercise: management behaviour  What implications do the different frameworks have for the behaviour of individual managers?  What behaviours might managers demonstrate if they adopt a particular perspective?  What impact upon the organisation, employees, trade unions, government? © Skoosh Media Ltd7

Organisational Structure and Conflict When people are organised into groups and roles within organisations, various sources of potential conflict can arise:  Departments or groups might have their own goals/targets against which they will be measured. For example, budget management systems or Management by Objectives type systems. Potentially leading to conflict with others due to measurement systems meaning differing priorities.  Priority differences may also be a result of differing time frames for departments or individuals.  Strong bonds can form between departments or individuals as they get to know each other over time. Social bonds. Other groups or individuals could become ‘stereotyped’ as the ‘bad guys’ to be blamed when things go wrong or not quite to plan.  Specialisms between departments or individuals might mean a dependency upon others for information or other input. Complex tasks and non-routine decisions could mean it more likely to rely upon others to achieve their own goals. The greater the need to depend upon others, the greater the possibility of conflict.  Times of change are particularly conflict lifting, especially if it is unclear who has authority. Individuals can experience ‘role stress’ as interaction causes more conflict. The conflicts could be over resources or control over particular activities due to roles being unclear during change.  Limited resources is common across many organisations. Departments and individuals may seek to maximise what they have, particularly if they see their own function as being more important over others. © Skoosh Media Ltd8

Co-ordinating and Conflict Mechanisms are needed to pull together specialist areas, subdivisions. The mechanisms need to organise subdivides can include:  Establishment of rules, policies and procedures  Defined hierarchy where more senior managers oversee the activities of several areas  Systems to ensure goals are clearly defined and communicated  Team working such as Matrix Management where sets of teams, with representatives of their functions are overlaid onto the more traditional structure of functional departments  Liaison and integration roles where specialists staff are used to link between departments / different groups / individuals Careful organisational design and management can help eliminate many sources of conflict © Skoosh Media Ltd9

Conflict Resolution  Careful consideration of how people are organised and how their activities need to be carefully co-ordinated  If conflict does arise, the management may adopt a number of approaches in an attempt to deal with the situation  Preferably prior to organisational structure changes or any alterations to co-ordination mechanisms  Parties involved in a conflict situation could adopt one of a number of approaches – the approaches may change over the time of the conflict © Skoosh Media Ltd10