MANAGING CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATION - Job Satisfaction

Aceones Started The Discussion:

MANAGING CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATION
• What is group conflict
• The consequences of group conflict
• The causes of group conflict
• The solutions to group conflict
• Cultural dimensions in managing group conflict
1. The Ubiquity of Conflict

Conflict is a disagreement between two or more parties who perceive
that they have incompatible concerns
o Intrapersonal Conflicts
o Interpersonal Conflicts
o Intra-group Conflicts
o Intergroup Conflicts
o Inter-organization Conflicts
o Intra-racial Conflicts
o Inter-racial Conflicts
o Inter-gender Conflicts
o Inter-class Conflicts
o Inter-regional Conflicts
o Inter-cultural Conflicts
o International Conflicts

2. Two Views of Conflict
(1). Traditional View
Conflict is bad and should be avoided
(2). Contemporary View:
Conflict is neither inherently bad nor good but is inevitable
and structurally induced
3. Two Consequences of Intergroup Conflict

(1). Functional Conflict: Intergroup conflict that enhances
organizational performance

 Increased problem awareness
 Increased self- and other awareness
 Increased exchange of information and knowledge
 Improved decision processes
 Increased innovativeness and creativity
 Enhanced motivation and morale
 Decreased tensions
 Enhanced psychological maturity
(2). Dysfunctional Conflict: Intergroup conflict that leads to the
decline of organizational performance
General Organizational Consequences
 Increased stress and burnout
 Reduced organizational performance
 Reduced morale and job satisfaction
 Reduced loyalty to organization
 Waste of resources and time
Dysfunctional Changes between Groups
 Increased hostility and distrust
 Distorted perception
 Negative stereotyping
 Decreased communication
Changes within Groups
• Increased group cohesiveness
• Increased loyalty to the group rather than to the
organization
• Rise in autocratic leadership
• More task-oriented

4. Why Intergroup Conflict Occurs
Goal Incompatibility
• Mutually exclusive goals
• Limited resources
• Reward structures
• Different values
Structural Interdependence
• Task interdependence
• Lack of substitution
• Power differentials
Different Perceptions
• Different goals
• Different time horizon
• Different role expectations
• Different information environment
• Different knowledge base
• Difference in information processing
Different organizing principles
• Autonomy v.s. Interdependence
• Analyzing v.s. Synthesizing

5. Cultural Dimensions of Group Conflict
(1) Locational Dimension
• National
• Professional
• Organizational
• Governance
(2) Value Dimension
• Power distance
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Individualism
• Masculinity
• Long-term
6. Managing Intergroup Conflict Through Conflict Resolution
(1). Five Strategies

• Dominating
• Avoiding
• Obliging
• Compromising
• Integrating

(2). Two dimensions
 Distributive Dimension: win-lose
 Integrative Dimension: win-win
(3). Differences in strategic choice:
o U.S: competitive conflict resolution
o Japan: cooperative conflict resolution


6. Managing Intergroup Conflict Through Organizational Coordination

The U.S. Japan
Explicit rules Implicit norms
Hierarchical Horizontal
Planning Relation-building
Command Consensus
Liaison Job rotation
Task forces Cross-functional teams
Specialization Integration

7. Managing Intergroup Conflict Through Elimination of its Causes
(1). Overcoming goal incompatibility
Commonly used methods
• Eliminate win-lose situation
• Reward organizational effectiveness
• Create a common enemy
• Expansion of resources
American focus: dividing values and goals
• Explicit division and clarification of responsibilities: job
descriptions
• Formal hierarchical control
• Intrapreneurship: interfirm competition
Japanese focus: integrating values and goals
• Shared values
• Superordinate goals
• Norms of loyalty and identification
• Informal consensus building
(2) Overcoming structural interdependence

American focus: breaking interdependence
• Maintaining inventories and buffers
• Creating alternative suppliers
• Creating independent control units
• Partitioning tasks into autonomous units
Japanese focus: deepening interdependence
• Eliminating inventories and buffers
• Creating multiple interlinkages
• Eliminating independent control units
• Integrating tasks into interdependent units
(3). Overcoming differences in perceptions
Commonly used methods
• Seek and maintain common knowledge
• Increased communication
• Problem solving meetings
American focus: objective measurement
• Systematic collection of objective data
• Systematic and objective measurement of group and individual
performance
• Independence of the above functions
Japanese focus: inter-subjective understanding
• Socialization
• Job-rotation
• Quality circle and consensus building
• Eliminating independent control and measurement units
8. Managing Intergroup Conflict through Stimulation: the building of
conflict-positive organization.
(1). Structural strategies
• Bringing outsiders into group
• Altering organizing structure
• Stimulating competition
• Making use of programmed conflict: devil's advocacy
(2). Process and cultural strategies
• Value diversity
• Seek mutual benefit
• Empower employees
• Build teamwork and trust
• Integrating for creative solution

9. Third party mediation
10. Negotiation
11. The Competitiveness Consequences of Different Ways of Managing
Intergroup Conflict
12. Conclusion
• Group conflict is neither good nor bad but is inevitable and
structural induced
• Group conflict has functional and dysfunctional consequences
depending on the amount of conflict and the way conflict is managed
• The most important causes of group conflict include
structural interdependence, differences in values, goals,
perceptions, and organizing principles
• Common conflict resolution strategies include dominating,
avoiding, obliging, compromising, and integrating.
• Americans tend to use dominating, obliging, and compromising
strategies, while Japanese tend to use avoiding, obliging, and
integrating strategies
• The American way of managing conflict includes: division of
responsibility, reduction of interdependence, and formal information
and control system.
• The Japanese way of managing conflict includes: shared
values, multiple interlinkages, integration, teamwork, and
empowerment