Introduction to conflict
The term conflict referred to perceived incompatible differenced resulting in some form of
interference or opposition. Conflict is a natural part of organizational life because the goals
between mangers and workers are often incompatible. If people perceive that differences
exist then conflict state exists. Conflict is not exists between individual only, it also can
exist between departments and divisions that compete for resources or even because of
overlapped authority.
However, conflict is a force that needed to be managed or to be resolved but can not be
eliminated. Unless is fully resolved, it may remain latent in the situation as a lingering
basis for future conflicts over or related to a same matter. Therefore, true conflict
resolution is to eliminate the underlying causes of conflict and reduces the potential for
similar conflicts in the future.
Moreover, the conflict management was rated as being more important than decisions
making, leadership, or communication skills, since the ability to handle conflict was
positively related to managerial success. Therefore, the conflict management skills are the
most important interpersonal skills a manager needs.
Managers struggle daily to effectively manage or resolve conflict. Understanding how the
types and sources of conflict differ could how managers in dealing with conflict.
The types of the Conflict
It is divided into several types sources of the conflict, , they are interpersonal, intargroup
and interorganization. Interpersonal conflict is conflict between individual members of an
organization, it occurs due to their different goals or values; Intragroup conflict is conflict
that arises between a group, team or department, it arises mainly on the policy of resources
allocation; Interorganization conflict is conflict that arises across organizations, it occurs
because of poor behavior on ethic or one organization feel that they are threatened by the
other organization.
The sources of Conflict
The sources of conflict can be basically separated into three categories which are
communication differences, structural differences and personal differences.
Communication differences mean the failure of two individuals to share fully the meaning
of a communicative attempt. It is arises from semantic difficulties, misunderstandings, and
noise in communication channels. There maybe disagreements caused by different role
requirement, unit goals, personalities, value systems or other factors.
Since in an organization, people and tasks are divided into departments to accomplish an
organization*ƒ*…½*ƒ‚¦s goals, departments may only concern on their own department
efficiency and cost controlling. Therefore, they have incompatible goals and time horizons,
as a result there can be conflict. For example, a production department may have there own
