CONFLICT

What is conflict?

Definition:

Smith (1996)

A situation in which conditions, practices, or goals of individuals are inherently incompatible.

Thomas (1995)

A struggle over values or claims to scarce resources, power, or status. In this struggle, opponents aim to neutralize, injure, or eliminate their rivals.

Armstrong, M. (1991)

It is a total range of behaviour and attitudes that express opposition and divergent opinions between managers on the one hand, and workers and their organisations on the other.

Conflict is the interaction of

interdependent people who

perceive opposition of goals, aims

and values, and who see the other

party as potentially interfering with

the realisation of these goals, i.e.,

when one party feels its concerns

are frustrated or about to be

frustrated.

Conflict occurs when there are

differences in:

Needs

Perceptions

Goals

Experience

Values

One must distinguish between issues of substance

and issues of emotion

Issues of substance

There are things such as disagreements over

organizational policies and practices or

competition for the same organizational

resources (i.e. people, money, office space,

vehicles, etc.)

Emotional issues

Generally these involve negative feelings

between parties and they range from anger,

distrust, resentment, fear or differences in

styles.

Types of conflict

Intrapersonal (within or inside ourselves)

Frustration

Interpersonal (between two or more individuals)

substantive; emotional

Intragroup / intra-departmental/ (within or inside a

group)

Intergroup/ inter-departmental/ (between two or

more groups)

Organizational – occurs when organizations are

antagonistic towards one another

Conflict at one level can impact on another. These

are interlinked.

Conflict cycle

The conflict cycle

Understanding of the conflict cycle helps

identify links between conflict causes,

tensions, outbursts and solutions and helps

determine effective responses.

Conflict is dynamic; it can either wreak havoc

or can lead to very positive results for an

organization or group.

As two or more parties try to have their own

way, things are done or said that threaten the

other’s territory.

This causes reactions intended to protect

that territory and to set things right.

This sets in motion a cycle of feelings and

behaviour.

As the conflict cycle progresses from one

stage to another, tension mounts and actions

become more destructive.

STAGES IN THE CONFLICT CYCLE

There are five distinct stages:

Tension development/Prelude to conflict

Role confusion stage/Triggering event

Injustice Collecting stage/Initiation stage

Confrontation stage/Differentiation stage

Adjustment stage/Integration or resolution

We need to understand that:

Once begun, conflict follows a five stage progression.

The length and time for any stage may be short or very long, but no stage is missed.

The conflict may be resolved at any stage.

The further a conflict progresses, the more difficult it will be to resolve in a positive way.

1. Tension development stage

All conflict begins at this level.

Tension develops before a conflict comes

out into the open.

Tension signals that someone is feeling

threatened or hurt, or is experiencing a

sense of loss in some way.

At this stage, the problem seems

insignificant but it is at this stage that

conflict can best be handled since there

is still a measure of trust and

communication, and no great harm has

been done to parties.

If the conflict is not handled at this

stage, it will move on to the next.

2. Role confusion stage

Here the parties are confused about

what is going on and are asking:

“Who and what is causing the

conflict?”

“Am I part of the problem?”

At this stage, it is extremely important

that opposing parties be talking to

one another, defining:

The issues involved

The changes or action that have

precipitated the conflict

The decisions or renegotiations that

need to be made to resolve the

conflict.

Unfortunately, communication often

breaks down at this stage because

now the issues seem very threatening

and the parties are uncertain about

how they should relate to one another

in the conflict.

While initially they were embarrassed

to say anything, now the opposing

parties feel threatened and avoid the

conflict by breaking off

communication with one another.

3. Injustice collecting stage This is the first really dangerous

stage as participants begin to feel

that matters can only get worse.

Now the opposing parties begin to

pull apart and prepare for battle.

Every injustice and bad report, past

or present, real or imagined, is

collected to become a part of each

one’s artillery.

It is also the name-calling stage as each

party criticizes the other as being

“stubborn”, “insensitive”, “unfair” etc.

Opposing parties now expend their

energies on attacking each other, rather

than on attacking the issues.

Positive communication has now broken

off between the opposing parties.

4. Confrontation stage

This is a very sensitive and potentially

volatile stage as opposing parties now

confront one another.

It may even turn into a “fight” stage if

reason is allowed to give way to anger,

insults and heated arguments.

If confrontation is well-managed at this

stage, it can become an opportunity for the

parties to see how damaging the conflict

has become and how important it is for

them to clarify and resolve their

differences.

5. Adjustment stage

Confrontation cannot continue forever

since it taxes those involved so heavily.

As a result the conflicting parties look

for ways to make adjustments to end

the confrontation, with some going to

the extreme of severing relationships

with the other party.

Conclusion

Major emphasis should be placed on

dealing with conflict before it comes to a

crisis point.

Conflict in the workplace

IN ORGANISATIONS WE CAN HAVE:

Role conflict

Goal conflict

Hierarchical conflict

Functional conflict

Line staff conflict

Formal–informal conflict

Conflict in the workplace can be a result of:

Bad management style

Bad employee morale

Differences in attitudes and opinions to

meeting the goals and objectives of the

organisation

If one or both parties refuse to participate in

bringing the cycle back down, there will be

further troubles.

This creates distress, distrust, divisiveness

and resentment within the group.

And although it is true of both parties

Expectations are that the manager/s can

resolve or manage such conflicts.

Liability of Conflict

An organisation can be negatively

affected by conflict because it can:

Can distract from goal achievement

Can cause defensiveness and rigidity

Brews unproductive stress

Workers slow down production

Groups do their best to under cut

each other

A ‘he who is not with me is against

me’ climate takes over

Mutual suspicion and distrust

becomes order of the day

Coordination of effort, job satisfaction

morale and productivity go down the

drain.

Expectations of a manager’s

role in conflict

If one or both refuse to participate in bringing

the cycle back down, there will be further

troubles. This fundamental lack of social skills

creates distress, distrust, divisiveness and

resentment within the group. And although it

is true of both parties, the higher expectations

reside with the manager.

While 'management' involves meeting the

goals of the organization, 'leadership' is about

-- among other things -- trust.

This includes those in the department trusting

that their 'leader' knows how to complete the

conflict cycle and ensure peace and

cooperation within the group.

If the conflict involves the leader, it is

especially not about showing the

individual the dangers of challenging one's

authority by publically humiliating that

person.

Such behaviour erodes any confidence

and trust employees have toward that

manager.

And yet, it is a common tactics of both

insecure and inefficient managers, who

lead using “fear tactics.

Conflict Resolution vs Conflict Transformation

Conflict resolution is a range of methods for

alleviating or eliminating sources of conflict

which involves external actors.

Processes of conflict resolution generally

include negotiation, arbitration, mediation,

and diplomacy.

* Conflict transformation is the process by

which conflicts, are transformed into peaceful

outcomes.

* It differs from conflict resolution in that it

recognises that conflicts require more than

the reframing of positions and the

identification of win-win outcomes.

* Conflict transformation is therefore a process

of engaging with and transforming the

relationships, interests, discourses of the

conflicting parties by the parties themselves.

Conflict Resolution is a problem-solving

approach to conflict. A "mediator" walks the

complainants through a discussion of the

conflict to help them solve their differences.

Conflict transformation is all about the

conflicting parties understanding each other,

trying to get something positive out of it.