CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATIONS STRUCTURE 8.0 Objectives8.1 Introduction8.2 Nature of conflict8.3 types of conflict8.

4 The role of conflict in todays organizations8.5 Types of conflict situation8.6 aspects of conflict8.7 Resolving conflict8.8 Negotiations8.9 Summary8.10 Keywords8.11 Self assessment questions8.12 References/suggested readings 8.0 OBJECTIVES After reading this lesson, you should be able to Describe nature, types and role of conflict in organisations. Understand the methods of conflict resolution and negotiations. Identify the levels of conflict in organisations. 8.1 INTRODUCTION An organisation is a collection of individuals and groups. As the situation andrequirements demand, the individuals from various groups. The success of theorganization as a whole depends upon the hormonal relations among all interdependentgroups, even though same intergroup conflicts in organizations is inevitable. The idea is 154to study intergroup behaviours within an organization so that any conflict can berecognized and dealt with by the management.To understand how groups interact with each other, such variables thatcharacterize and affect Inter-group behaviour must be identified. The extent of groupinteraction would depend upon the extent of interdependence as well as the extent of differentiation among these groups.Conflict is a part of everyday life of an individual or of an organization. Conflicthas considerable influence on employee behaviour, performance, and satisfaction. It alsoaffects an organizations effectiveness. 8.2 NATURE OF CONFLICT Conflict is defined as the struggle between incompatible or opposing needs,wishes, ideas, interests, or people. Conflict arises when individuals or groups encountergoals that both parties cannot obtain satisfactorily.The concept of conflict, being an outcome of behaviours, is an integral part of human life. Wherever there is interaction, there is conflict. Conflict can be defined inmany ways and can be considered as an expression of hostility, negative attitudes,antagonism, aggression, rivalry and misunderstanding. It is also associated with situationsthat involve contradictory or Irreconcilable interests between two opposing groups. It canbe defined as disagreement between two or more individuals or groups, with eachindividual or group trying to gain acceptance of its view or objectives over others.Conflict must be distinguished from competition, even though sometimes intensecompetition leads to conflict. Competition is directed towards obtaining a goal and onegroup does not itefere with the efforts of another group while conflict is directed againstanother group and actions are taken to frustrate the other groups actions towards goalachievement.TABLE 8.1: TRADITIONAL AND CURRENT VIEWS OF CONFLICTTraditional View Current View

1551 . C o n f l i c t i s a v o i d a b l e 1 . C o n f l i c t i s i n e v i t a b l e . 2. Conflict is caused bymanagement error indesigning organisations or bytrouble makers2 . C o n f l i c t a r i s e s f r o m

m a n y c a u s e s i n c l u d i n g organisational structure, unavoidable differencesin goals, differences in perceptions and values of specialised personnel, and so on.3. Conflict disrupts theorganisation and preventsoptimal performance.3 . C o n f l i c t c o n t r i b u t e s a n d d e t r a c t s f r o m organisational performance in varying degrees.4. The task of management is toeliminate conflict.4 . T h e t a s k o f m a n a g e m e n t i s t o m a n a ge t h e l e v e l of conflict and its resolution for optimalorganisational performance.5. Optimal organisationalperformance requires theremoval of conflict.5 . O p t i m a l o r ga n i s a t i o n a l p e r f o r m a n c e r e q u i r e s a Moderate level of conflict Source: Stoner, Management 8.3 TYPES OF CONFLICT8.3.1 Functional and Dysfunctional Conflict Functional conflict refers to confrontation between two ideas, goals and partiesthat improve employees and the organizations Performance. Well managed conflicthelps workers anticipate and solve problems, feel confident, strengthen their relationship,and be committed to the organization. Constructive conflict is crucial for effectivefunctioning of organisations. Speciality and potential benefits of conflict are thefollowing: Conflict increases awareness of what problems exist, who is involved, andhow to solve the problem. Conflict motivates organisational members to consider problems. They areenergised and psychologically focused on the problems and motivated toput plans into action.

156 Conflict promotes change. Persons are more aware of injustices,inefficiencies, and frustrations, and see the need to correct them. Conflict enhances morale and cohesion. Organisational members deal withand clear up their frustrations and resentments. They conclude that theirrelationships are strong enough to withstand stress and to handledifficulties. They also learn about each others needs, styles, and valuesthrough conflict. High quality decisions result when persons express their opposing viewsand perspectives. They share their information and check each othersreasoning to develop new decisions. Conflict stimulate interest and creativity. Being in conflict often sparkscuriosity and stimulates viewing problems from several perspectives andcombing the best of these positions to form a creative solution. Conflict isexciting as people learn about what makes them and others angry,frustrated, and willing to fight. Conflict adds to the fun of working with others when not taken seriously.Many people find conflict enjoyable to competitive sports, games, movies,plays, books, and in teasing.There is a close relationship between conflict and organisational performance(Fig. 1.1). Organisational performance is low when conflict is extremely high orextremely low, while moderate or optimum level conflict contributes to highorganisational performance. When the level of conflict

is low, such as at point A on thecurve, performance suffers because of a lack of arousal and stimulation. Employees findthe environment too comfortable and they become complacent. When they are notchallenged and confronted, they fail to search for environmental changes. On the otherhand, when the level of conflict is extremely high (Point C), performance suffers becauseof inadequate coordination and cooperation. The organisation is in a state of chaosbecause of disruption and interference to critical activities. Individuals spend more timedefending themselves or attaching others than accomplishing productive work. 157FIG. 1.1: RELATION BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE ANDCONFLICTMaximum organisational performance occurs somewhere between these twoextremes, where there is an optimal level of conflict. In this situation, at point B on thecurve, there is sufficient conflict to stimulate new ideas and a creative search forsolutions to problems.Dyfunctional Conflict: True, conflict is inevitable in organizations and alsodesirable. But without an effective means for handling it, conflict can tear relationshipsapart and interference with the exchange of ideas, information and resources in groupsand between departments. Dysfunctional conflict hinders and prevents organisationalgoals from being achieved. 8.3.2 Levels of Conflict There are three levels of conflict in organisational life:1. Intra-individual conflict2. Interindividual conflict3. Inter-group conflict.The causes for each level of conflict are analysed in the paragraphs as follow:

158 1. Intra Individual Conflict This refers to conflict within an individual. Intra-individual conet arises fromfrustration, numerous roles which demand equal attention but is not always possible todevote, and goals having both negative and positive aspects. Conflict from frustration

: Frustration occurs when a motivated give is blockedbefore a person reaches a desired goal. Fig. 8.2 illustrates the way frustration occurs.FIG. 1.2: FRUSTRATION MODEL Source: Fred Luthans, Organiastion Behaviour An individual driven by aninner state of deficiency engages himself some actionto fulfil the deficiency. But this attempts to reach the gal are checked by barriers whichmay be overt (external) or covert (internal). External barriers include floods, powerfailures, and break-down transportation. These are non-social in nature. There areexternal barriers which are social - they are placed by others in the way of reach onesgoals. Examples of social barriers are parents forcing a child sit on the toilet, making himrefrain from sex play, making him stay the room, or denying him the pleasure of watching television.Internal barriers are: personal limitations and disabilities which wart onesaspirations. Weakness, physical deformities, lack of skills, low intelleigene may stand inthe way of achievement. Internal barriers are more lasting than external ones.