Journal Review
Organizational Conflict: Causes,
Effects, and Remedies
Summary
The authors suggest that conflict is something that is inevitable in our day to day life, in
organizations or within and among nations. We normally see conflict as something that is
negative. However the authors argue that in some cases conflict may lead to positive outcomes.
Conflict occurs when there is a fight for power, incompatible/differences in leadership style or
when there are competitions for limited and scarce resources. We can mitigate conflict from
occurring if we have a better understanding of the root causes and address them as early as
possible. However, in many cases, conflicts are caused by real differences, hence there is not
much we can do to stop it. When conflicts do arise, the best outcome that most people wish is
to resolve them. However, in some cases, conflict can’t be resolved because of the fundamental
differences between parties in conflict. In such cases, we need to “manage” the conflict so that
the negative impact is minimal. Conflict may lead to low morale, a decrease in productivity and
poor team performance.
Classification of conflict
There are 3 classifications of conflict:
Relationship of conflict - this is due to interpersonal differences, personality clashes,
tensions, animosity and annoyance. This leads to anxiety, mistrust, resentment,
frustration, tension and feature being rejected by other team members.
Task conflict. The group members have differences in the contents and objectives of the
tasks. This includes differences in viewpoints, ideas and opinions, and may coincide
with animated discussion and personal excitement. The authors argue that this form of
conflict can lead to positive results.
Process conflict. Group members disagree with “how” the task should be carried out
and or the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved.
Types of conflict:
Functional or constructive conflict: Some conflicts support the goals of the group and improve
their performance. Dysfunctional/ destructive conflict: a conflict that hinders group performance;
conflict is inevitable and desirable in an organization, but when not effectively handled, conflict
can tear a relationship apart and, thus, interfere with the exchange of ideas, information and
resources in groups and between departments.
The conflict of process
Conflict is a process in which one party suggests that its interest is being opposed by another
party. As a role, people see only the observable party of conflict – angry words and actions of
the opposing sides. The authors submit that conflict is a process that involves the following five
stages:
1. Potential opposition
2. Cognition and personalization
3. Intentions
4. Behavior and
5. Outcome
Source and cause of conflict
The authors argue the importance of differentiating the source and cause of conflict. Source
explains the place and nature of the conflict. Conflict at its source may not necessarily become
an issue of controversy, confrontation and concern of all but conflict which is caused (either
intentionally or not) will no doubt bring about controversies and confrontations which may not
necessarily surface in conflict at its source. Causes explain the conditions that lead to the
conflict.
Sources of conflict
Internal source (inherent within the framework of an organization)
External source (outside the four walls of an organization. (third party intervention to
industrial dispute).
Causes of conflict:
Specialization: because they have little knowledge of each other job responsibilities.
Common resources. Limited resources can create conflict (resource scarcity).
Goal differences. Have different or incompatible goals.
Interdependence: increase the level of task interdependence.
Authority relationship: Managers often have conflicts with their employees.
Roles and expectations: manager – subordinates conflict
Jurisdictional ambiguities: Ambiguous goals, jurisdictions, or performance criteria can
lead to conflict.
Effects of conflict
Conflict tends to have negative consequences for both the individual and the
organization. These include a lack of interest in work, job dissatisfaction, work anxiety,
frustration. (psychological response) and excessive smoking, alcoholism, (behavior
response), hypertension, headaches (physiological responses).
Benefit of conflict
It motivates individuals to do better and work harder. One’s talents and abilities come to
the forefront in a conflict situation.
Provides creative and innovative ideas
Facilitates an understanding of the problems, people have with one another and leads to
better coordination among individuals and departments.
Dysfunctional affect individual and organizational performance.
Conflict Resolution and Management
Step in managing conflict : identify , transform and solution
Conflict resolution (respect, participation and empowerment, respect for diversity in
views and perspective, nonviolence, a transformation of individuals and their
communities) : conflict resolution perspective, conflicts can and must be resolved by
taking into account the needs of the people affected by the conflict.
There is a difference between resolving conflict and managing conflict. Resolving a
conflict ends the dispute by satisfying the interests of both parties. Managing a conflict
attends to personal issues so as to allow for a constructive relationship, even though the
objective issues may not resolvable. Conflict resolution requires great managerial skills.
When this is the case, we must manage the conflict to ensure that the relationship is
constructive and that open communication is maintained.
Successful conflict resolution depends on the ability to regulate stress and emotions.
Resolve conflict
Manage stress quickly by staying calm
Control emotions and behavior
Pay attention to the feeling and work of other
Be aware of and respectful of differences by avoiding disrespectful words.
Mistakes to avoid in conflict resolution
Avoiding conflict altogether
Being defensive
Overgeneralizing
Being right
Psyho analyzing
Forgetting to listen
Playing the blame game
Trying to win an argument
Conflict Management
The positives
Central concepts are okay, and all the major points are covered by the authors.
The point that I find interesting is in the narrative that conflict is not necessarily all bad.
Conflict can even lead to organizational performance improvement.
The points on conflict management and resolution are good. However, I would rather
discuss resolution first rather than later because most people expect all conflicts to be
resolved which is unrealistic in some cases.
Areas for Improvements
The objective of the study is to examine causes, effects and remedies of organizational
conflict. This leads to questions on how to find a resolution to these conflicts whether it’s
about cultural differences or human supremacy. The methods that were used are valid and
appropriate and it varies through past experiences and experiments based on the
conceptual framework. However, of the resources provided were invalid, i.e. some of the
websites provided were incomplete (www.csupomona.edu).
The content of the illustrations in conflict process is accurately described by title, but some
points of the are repeating and the position of the discussed subject is confusing. The points
on conflicts are inevitable and sometimes overemphasized and repeated in several
contexts. Another example is on the positive aspects of conflicts. They are dispersed in
various paragraphs. Some of the words used by the author were too complicated to
understand by first hand readers, thus, it can be approved in a simpler way, not to mention
the paragraph indention can be improved as a minor issue.
There should be more case studies to validate the theories presented in the article rather
than a pure literature research work. A lot of bullet points were defined in the journal and
was too broad to relate each of the definitions. One sample is Section 2.3, 2.7 and section
2.2.2.2, these points can be merged as they have the same idea, plus, Section 2.2.2.3 has
contradicting points.
Conclusion
The authors have done a reasonable job in performing literature research and they cover most
of the key topics related to this subject. However, there are several improvements that would
make the paper more relevant for practical applications. There are a number of mistakes in the
formatting and confusing explanations in some paragraphs but the overall points can still be
understood. The lack of or simply the nonexistence reference to any real-life case studies
makes this article very theoretical and lack of real-life practical applications.
