[MUSIC] Today, we will be talking about the nature and courses of conflict in organizations. We'll start with good conflict versus bad conflict. We'll look at the causes of conflict, different levels of conflict, and defense mechanisms in interpersonal conflict. The term conflict might evoke negative connotations. However, not all conflict is bad, and some types of conflict can actually be constructive. The organizational behavior literature distinguishes between functional, or good, and dysfunctional, or bad, conflict. Functional conflict is healthy, constructive disagreement between individuals. It can produce alternative perspectives, new ideas, learning, increased productivity, and development. It can lead to resolution of old conflicts as parties work through old differences. >> Hi Rupert, thanks for coming in to see me. I understand that you and Gary were having a few work related issues? >> Yes, yeah, we were, it was just this tension that's been building for a while. We were having differences on a couple of things. But I think it's actually good that we had a discussion about it, and things are fine now. >> Okay, so you two have ironed everything out? It hasn't become a big thing? >> No, no. As I said, I think it's good that we actually had this conflict happen, and we've worked it out, and I think things should be fine now. >> Okay, that's good. >> Dysfunctional conflict, on the other hand, is unhealthy, destructive disagreement between individuals. It is often emotional or behavioral in origin. It involves resentment or anger directed towards individuals, rather than ideas or concepts. It can manifest as verbal threats, deception, and abuse. >> Do you like working here? [LAUGH] because I don't really see why you come in at all. Because every time you do, it's like there's a huge [CROSSTALK] rain cloud over your head. >> I like working with most- >> I was actually speaking. >> I like working with most people here. I have a problem with you because you, I'm sorry to say this, but you are a bit of a bully. You're a bit of a nasty piece of work. And I sometimes feel that you bully me, I don't know what your problem is. I really don't. >> You think I'm a bully? Like I'm joking, I joke with everybody at work. Why can't you take a joke? >> I'm not the only one who feels this way. >> Really? Well, nobody else has said anything to me. You're the only one who's come crying to me about it. >> I'm not coming to you crying, so don't you dare speak to me like that. >> [LAUGH] >> And nobody comes crying to work. That's a terrible thing to say to any human being. Never mind. >> [LAUGH] You look like you're about to cry. Do you want to go and have a moment? >> I've had enough. >> Do you want to go and have a moment, yeah? >> Shut up. >> [LAUGH] >> It is sometimes difficult to distinguish functional from dysfunctional conflict. We can ask whether the interaction is hostile, going to lead to negative outcomes, going to lead to more losses than gains or sapping energy from goal directed behavior. The management of conflict is reliant on fostering and understanding of cause of the factors. The causes of conflict can result from structural factors, which are at the organizational level, or personal factors, which are at the individual level. With regard to structural factors at the organizational level, there are a large number of organizational level factors that can cause or exacerbate conflict. Specialization is one such factor if tasks are specialized. People often have little awareness about tasks that others perform. Also interdependence, when the completion of one task depends on the completion of another, conflict can occur when deadlines are not met. Common resources can be another factor that can lead to conflict at the organizational level. Sharing of resources can create scarcity. Also goal differences, it might be that goals are incompatible. For example, sales versus production targets. >> We need to stop pushing product. Have you got the online facility ready yet? >> Look, it takes time to get things ready. We have to test it, make sure the mechanism is working. You just can't put things into the market like that. >> Seriously, what is wrong with you science types? We have to get the thing ready, so we can roll it out. I've got clients waiting for this. Do you realize how many calls I get from clients everyday? >> What is wrong with you sales types? You always want to create something and just push it into the market, you can't do that. You have to test it, it's bad for the reputation. >> You can't keep holding out on this, if it is slow to go to market, then it's going to kill our reputation. I mean not to mention the fact that it's going to be on a date. >> Well you know what, if it doesn't work, you're not going to have a reputation. >> Authority might be another factor involved. Some people just don't like being told what to do by others. And also, status inconsistency, some people might be considered more privileged than others, and that might lead to conflict. There could also be jurisdictional ambiguities. Unclear lines of responsiblity can also create conflict. Let's now look at personal factors at the individual level. Factors relating to individuals can also cause conflict. One such factor is values and ethics. Diverse values can be a source of conflict. For example, older workers favoring company loyalty, whereas younger workers might not favor company loyalties so much. Emotions are often at the very heart of conflict. And if you've ever since someone having a fight, you probably know this already. Communication barriers can distort messages and can lead to conflict. For example, nuances are sometimes lost in emails. Also, cultural differences, we live in an increasingly globalized world and diversity can be enriching. However, culturally driven misunderstandings can be a source of conflict. Hofstetter, the famous cross cultural researcher, has developed a framework, which includes such factors as power distance, which is really about hierarchy, uncertainty avoidance, which is about feeling comfortable with ambiguity, and masculinity versus femininity. And these are cultural dimensions that differ across different countries. >> I just came out of a terrible performance review. The boss is really angry. >> I'm sorry to hear that. >> No, you're not. You're like the golden boy. Everything you touch turns to gold. >> Why would you say that? >> Because, I see it all the time, it's like Prender's done this, Prender's done that. It's ridiculous. >> We might raise the question, can conflict occur at different levels? Conflict can occur between organizations, between groups, individuals, and even within the individual. Let's investigate different levels of conflict. First, let's look at inter-organizational conflict. This is conflict that occurs between organizations and can be heightened by competitions. So you might think of the example, Apple versus Samsung, or Coke versus Pepsi. This is sometimes functional, so it can lead to improvements in technology. However, sometimes it's dysfunctional, and it could lead to sabotage. Inter-group conflict is when groups within an organization are in conflict. This can be positive, could be regarded as healthy competition. However, it can create a very hostile environment, if not managed properly. In fact, it could lead to an us and them type mentality. Intra-group conflict is conflict that occurs between members of a group or team. A common example is the dissenter in a staff meeting. Now this can help to alleviate groupthink, which is where the desire for conformity results in poor decision making. When we talk about conflict, we are often referring to interpersonal conflict, which is conflict that arises between two or more people. Interpersonal conflict can arise because of personality, attitude, value, perceptual, or other differences. Intra-personal conflict is conflict that occurs within the individual, and this includes inter-role conflict, which is not being able to manage one's different roles in one's life. Intra-role conflict, which is conflict within a particular role, for example, being caused by conflicting messages, and also, person role conflict, where work might clash with your values. For example, if you're being asked to hard sell, and that doesn't really fit with your values, that could create some dissonance. Let's close by talking about defense mechanisms in inter-personal conflict. Defensiveness is a very common reaction to conflict. When individuals are criticized or frustrated, they often respond with a defense mechanism, which is a response designed to protect the self. Let's check out some of these defense mechanisms. First of all, aggressive defense mechanisms, fixation is where a person refuses to adjust their behavior, despite that being non-adaptive. Displacement is where negative emotion is redirected towards people, ideas, or objects, not focal towards the actual source of the problem. This is sometimes called projection. Negativism, which is active, ie, violent, or passive, non-violent, resistance. There are also compromised defense mechanisms, firstly, compensation, which is over devotion to a pursuit in order to make up for feelings of inadequacy in another area. Identification, which is mirroring the behavior of another person to enhance one's self esteem. Rationalization, which is justification of undesirable behaviors by finding ways to explain them. There are also withdrawal mechanisms, flight or withdrawal is departure, albeit physical or psychological, from the conflict situation. Conversion is where emotional conflicts are expressed in physical symptoms, for example, pain. And fantasy, which is the use of escapism to withdraw from conflict, for example, daydreaming. In summary, conflict is a complex construct and includes different types, causes, levels, and responses. While some types of conflict can be positive and helpful, other conflict types can be negative and lead to extreme consequences, for example, work place violence. Conflict is inevitable, but should be managed appropriately. [MUSIC]
