ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT Stojkovic/Kalinich/Klofas CRIMINAL JUSTICE Administration and Management Chapter Eleven ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT

Conflict Defined ● Conflict is a dynamic process in which two or more individuals in an organization interact in such a way as to produce conflict episodes that may or may not lead to hostile behaviors. ● Conflict in organizations can be understood: ○ by exploring the antecedent conditions of conflict; ○ as producing affective states in workers; ○ from individual employees’ cognitive states; or ○ by exploring the conflict behavior itself. 2

Types of Conflict The four types of organizational conflict are: ● Personal conflict within an individual ● Group conflict ● Intraorganizational conflict ○ Vertical conflict ○ Horizontal conflict ○ Line-staff conflict ○ Role conflict ● Interorganizational conflict 3

Types of Conflict A conflict episode consists of: ● the latent conflict stage (underlying conditions of conflict are present); ● the perceived conflict stage (one or more parties recognize conflict situation exists); ● the felt conflict stage (a party personalizes the conflict situation); ● the manifest conflict stage conflict (overt/covert behavior brings out the conflict); and ● the conflict aftermath stage (if antecedent conditions are resolved, conflict dissolves). 4

Types of Conflict Combinations of cooperativeness and assertiveness, conflict’s two dimensions, create conflict behaviors. ● Competing behavior (assertive, uncooperative) ● Accommodating behavior (unassertive, cooperative) ● Avoiding behavior (unassertive, uncooperative) ● Collaborating behavior (assertive, cooperative) ● Compromising behavior (intermediate in both assertiveness and cooperativeness) 5

Conflict Management ● Process interventions are categorized as consciousness-raising or interaction management. ● Process interventions from administrators and managers can alter organizational conditions. ● Administrators have to accept that sometimes they will not be able to handle a conflict situation. ● Conflict management deals with all dimensions of conflict outcomes: ○ goal attainment ○ awareness of conflict consequences ○ economy of effort 6

Conflict Roles in Organizations ● Conflict can be both beneficial and harmful. ● Conflict in criminal justice organizations is often good because it promotes change. ● Conflict in criminal justice organizations is normal; it is not only unrealistic, but also counterproductive to long-term organizational health to eliminate it. ● Conflict in criminal justice organizations seems inevitable. Managers must learn to live with, adapt to, and cope with it. ● Conflict management programs must train managers and administrators how to do so. 7