Why conflict

Behaviour can be passive aggressive with one or more party talking to others about the issue but not the person they are in conflict with. Conflict is usually the result of misunderstandings between the parties involved. It can be resolved once those misunderstandings are discussed and understood. Values shape our sense of identity acting like a compass that guides our behaviour. The key to resolving conflict is identifying true rather than perceived threats and then finding strategies to solve them.

Conflict can be very healthy. Hence, a small disagreement can very quickly get blown up into a major issue. Status Inconsistencies. A second factor is status inconsistencies among the parties involved. For example, managers in many organizations have the prerogative to take personal time off during workdays to run errands, and so forth, whereas nonmanagerial personnel do not.

Jurisdictional Ambiguities. Conflict can also emerge from jurisdictional ambiguities —situations where it is unclear exactly where responsibility for something lies. For example, many organizations use an employee selection procedure in which applicants are evaluated both by the personnel department and by the department in which the applicant would actually work. Because both departments are involved in the hiring process, what happens when one department wants to hire an individual, but the other department does not?

Communication Problems. Suffice it to say that the various communication problems or ambiguities in the communication process can facilitate conflict. When one person misunderstands a message or when information is withheld, the person often responds with frustration and anger. Dependence on Common Resource Pool. Another previously discussed factor that contributes to conflict is dependence on common resource pools.

Whenever several departments must compete for scarce resources, conflict is almost inevitable. When resources are limited, a zero-sum game exists in which someone wins and, invariably, someone loses. Lack of Common Performance Standards. Differences in performance criteria and reward systems provide more potential for organizational conflict. This often occurs because of a lack of common performance standards among differing groups within the same organization.

For example, production personnel are often rewarded for their efficiency, and this efficiency is facilitated by the long-term production of a few products. Sales departments, on the other hand, are rewarded for their short-term response to market changes—often at the expense of long-term production efficiency.

In such situations, conflict arises as each unit attempts to meet its own performance criteria. Individual Differences. Finally, a variety of individual differences , such as personal abilities, traits, and skills, can influence in no small way the nature of interpersonal relations. Individual dominance, aggressiveness, authoritarianism, and tolerance for ambiguity all seem to influence how an individual deals with potential conflict. Indeed, such characteristics may determine whether or not conflict is created at all.

Having examined specific factors that are known to facilitate conflict, we can ask how conflict comes about in organizations.

The most commonly accepted model of the conflict process was developed by Kenneth Thomas. This model, shown in Figure , consists of four stages: 1 frustration, 2 conceptualization, 3 behavior, and 4 outcome. Stage 1: Frustration. As we have seen, conflict situations originate when an individual or group feels frustration in the pursuit of important goals.

This frustration may be caused by a wide variety of factors, including disagreement over performance goals, failure to get a promotion or pay raise, a fight over scarce economic resources, new rules or policies, and so forth. Find out more and get involved in the CMI community today. Article: The five main causes of conflict in distributed teams — and how to manage them Written by Gihan Perera Friday 22 May In a distributed, virtual team, your team members could be working in different locations, sometimes even different time zones, but what causes conflict and what steps should managers take to lead their teams effectively?

What causes conflict? Broadly, there are five causes of conflict: Information — Something was missing, incomplete or ambiguous. Environment — Something in the environment leads to the conflict. Skills — People lack the appropriate skills for doing their work.

Values — A clash of personal values leads to conflict. Identity — The participants' sense of identity puts them at odds with each other.