This document discusses organizational conflict and its causes. It defines conflict as occurring between two groups that perceive some incompatibility and interact in a way that one group feels negatively affected by the other. Common causes of conflict in organizations include misunderstandings, personality clashes, competition over resources, disagreements over authority or methods. The document also describes functional conflict as furthering organizational goals, while dysfunctional conflict blocks goals. It outlines different levels and types of conflict within and between individuals, groups, and organizations. Finally, it discusses five approaches to managing conflict: avoidance, competition, accommodation, compromise, and collaboration.

1. Slide 1
Organizational Conflict

2. Slide 2
Conflict
• Conflicts: there are at least two independent groups, the groups
perceive some incompatibility between themselves, and the groups
interact with each other in some way. Two example definitions are,
"process in which one party perceives that its interests are being
opposed or negatively affected by another party"

3. Slide 3
3

4. Slide 4
Causes of Conflict in Organizations
• Misunderstanding
• Personality clashes
• Competition for resources
• Authority issues
• Lack of cooperation
• Differences over methods or style
• Low performance
• Value or goal differences

5. Slide 5
FUNCTIONAL & DYSFUNCTIONAL CONFLICT
• Functional conflict: work works toward the goals
of an organization or group.
• Dysfunctional conflict: blocks an organization or
group from reaching its goals.

6. Level of conflict Types of conflict
Organization
Group
Individual
Within & between
organization
Within & between group
Within & between individual

7. Group Conflict
Intragroup conflict:
• conflict among members of a group
• early stages of group development
• ways of doing tasks or reaching
group’s goals
Intergroup conflict:
• between two or more groups

8. Individual Conflict
Interpersonal conflict:
• between two or more people a differences in views
about what should be done
• differences in orientation to work and time in
different parts of an organization
Intrapersonal conflict:
• occurs within an individual
• threat to a person’s values
• feeding of unfair treatment
• multiple and contradictory sources of socialization

9. 5 ways to manage conflict
•Avoidance
•Competition (A)
•Accommodation (B)
•Compromise (C)
•Collaboration (D)

10. Conflict Continuum
I win, you lose (competition—A)
I lose or give in (accommodate—B)
We both get something (compromise—C)
We both “win”(collaborate—D)

11. Competition
Plus
•The winner is clear
•Winners usually experience gains
Minus
•Establishes the battleground for the next
conflict
•May cause worthy competitors to
withdraw or leave the organization

12. Accommodation
Plus
•Curtails conflict situation
•Enhances ego of the other
Minus
•Sometimes establishes a precedence
•Does not fully engage participants

13. Compromise
Plus
•Shows good will
•Establishes friendship
Minus
•No one gets what they want
•May feel like a dead end

14. Collaboration
Plus
•Everyone “wins”
•Creates good feelings
Minus
•Hard to achieve since no one knows how
•Often confusing since players can “win”
something they didn’t know they wanted