General MBA Program

Course Title: Organizational Behavior and

Cross-cultural Management
Course No. MBA-5121

Individual Assignment Four

Assignment on Chapter 4: Organizational Conflict

Prepared by: Abebayehu Belete: ID. Number: ILI/MBA/15/003/19 (Section C)

Submitted to: Dr. Kassu Jilcha (PhD)

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

30 July, 2020

Assignment on Chapter 4: Organizational Conflict

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Discussion Types

1. Define conflict in organizations. Discuss the functions and dysfunctions of conflict.

Do you view conflict as mainly functional or dysfunctional?

i) Conflict can be defined as a difference that exists between needs, values, and interests of
individuals or groups in an organization. Conflict is any situation in which two or more parties
feel themselves in opposition. It is an interpersonal process that arises from disagreements over
the goals or the methods to accomplish those goals. Therefore, conflict may be defined as an
expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals,
scarce resources, and interference from the other party in achieving their goals (Shila, R.).
Based on the definition of conflict, we can define organizational conflict as disagreement by
individuals or groups within the organization, which can center on factors ranging from resource
allocation and divisions of responsibility to the overall direction of the organization.
Organization conflict entails negative and positive outcomes. In one hand, it can produce
negative outcomes. Conflicts cause stress, which reduces worker satisfaction. This diminished
satisfaction can lead to increases in absenteeism and turnover. Conflict can also diminish trust in
supervisors and fellow employees, which can slow or stop progress on projects. The pileup of
internal negative consequences, such as lost trust and slowed progress, can generate a negative
impact on customer satisfaction due to missed deadlines and reduced work quality. On the other
hand organizational conflict represents an opportunity for productive change. The use of
effective communication lies at the heart of this view. Organizational conflicts develop for a
reason. By acknowledging the existence of the conflict and divining the source of it, the business
leadership opens the door for creative solutions. The simple act of acknowledging and seeking
solutions to organizational conflicts can defuse them and draw employees into a stronger
relationship with the business. It can also encourage an adaptable organization that copes
efficiently with the rapid changes faced by modern businesses.
ii) There are two types of conflict that can occur within an organization: functional and
dysfunctional. Functional conflict is healthy, constructive disagreement between groups or
individuals. Functional conflict is people in a firm or group may have their performance which
they can increase and advantages in issues. Practical conflict can result in enhances awareness of
issues which people ready to solving the challenge and willing to listen to others impression.

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While dysfunctional conflict is unhealthy disagreement that occurs between groups or
individuals. Dysfunctional conflict is conflict that leads to a decline in communication or the
performance of a group. Dysfunctional conflict can be an overabundance of conflict or a lack of
sufficient motivating conflict. Dysfunctional conflict within an organization is motivated by egos
of employees with competing ambitions. It often leads to higher stress and a likelihood that
employees will burn out. Employees will also likely feel less satisfaction and less loyalty to the
organization (Lena, F. 2019).

iii) Conflict can be constructive, and it can be destructive to an organization. If it is managed

well, it is healthy and spark creativity as parties try to come to consensus. Benefits such as high
energy, task focus, cohesiveness within the group and discussion of issues. However, if it is not
well managed, it can cause disadvantages such as west of resources, loss of focus on common
goals, lack of cooperation etc. The distinction is based on how the conflict is managed. Conflict
cannot always be avoided. Many positive outcomes can result from working through conflict.
Properly managed conflict can help in bringing constructive change. Thus, I view conflict as
mainly functionality to personal and organizational holistic development and success.

2. Discuss examples of functional and dysfunctional conflict you have experienced.

Dysfunctional outcomes are generally better known and understood. Uncontrolled opposition
breeds discontent, which acts to sever ties and eventually leads to the dissolution of the group.
Organizations meet their ultimate demise more often than you’d think as a result of dysfunctional
conflict. People who hate each other and don’t get along can’t make decisions to run a company
well (Lumenlearning.com).
Example of dysfunctional conflict based on my experience: there has been an incident
whereby I experienced both functional and dysfunctional conflict in my organization. The issue
was between the finance officer and school directors. There has always been a problem related to
on how to regulate the school annual budget. The issue entailed many related problems and
affected the teaching-learning process. The conflict aroused between the two leaders remained
unsolved and caused lots of problem to the institution. The school director has been transferred
before even reconciling with the financial director. They could not solve misunderstandings and
on-going conflicts because they did not realize the functionality of conflict to the development of
the organization. They rather regarded conflict as computing and personalized every issue.

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Functional outcomes occur when conflict is constructive. It may be hard to think of times when
people disagree and argue, and the outcome is somehow good. But think of conflict, for a
moment, as the antidote to groupthink. If group members want consensus, they’re bound to all
agree before all the viable alternatives have been reviewed. Conflict keeps that from happening.
The group may be close to agreeing on something, and a member will speak up, arguing for
another point of view. The conflict that results could yield a positive result
(Lumenlearning.com).
Example of functional conflict based on my experience: the issue remained unsolved with the
new director because the system of financial operation of the school did not change. However,
the outcome is really different now. Although the two leaders together with their co-managing
staffs remained arguing and opposing each other’s financial operation, the tiresome negotiations
and dialogues bared fruit and enhanced the growth and effectiveness of the educational institute.
This happened because the general manager of the organization and both leaders believed in the
functionality of conflict in the organization and focus on collaborating conflict management.

3. Describe the parts of a conflict episode and the relationships among them. Discuss
the role of perceived and felt conflict on the results of a conflict episode.
Conflict processes in organizations occur as a series of conflict episodes that rise, fall, and vary
in duration. The episodes have common elements and are antecedents to conflict (latent conflict)
that lead to conflict behavior. An episode ends with an aftermath that links it to a later episode.
There are five major episodes of conflict in organizations, i.e, (i) Latent Conflict, (ii) Perceived
Conflict, (iii) Felt Conflict, (iv) Manifest Conflict, and (v) Conflict Aftermath.
i) Latent Conflict: Latent conflict is the stage in which factors exist in the situation which
could become potential conflict inducing forces. Four basic types of latent conflict are:
Competition for scarce resources, Drive for autonomy, Divergence of goals and Role conflict
(Sinha, K.).

ii) Perceived Conflict: Conflicts may sometimes arise even if no conditions of latent
conflict exist. This is the stage when one party perceives the other to be likely to thwart or
frustrate his or her goals. The case, in which conflict is perceived when no latent conflict arises,
is said to result from the parties misunderstanding each other’s true position. Such conflict can be
resolved by improving communication between the groups (Sinha, K.).

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iii) Felt Conflict: Felt conflict is the stage when the conflict is not only perceived but
actually felt and recognised. For example, A may be aware that he is in serious argument with B
over some policy. But this may not make A tense or anxious and it may have no effect,
whatsoever, on A’s affection towards B. The personalization of conflict is the mechanism which
causes many people to be concerned with dysfunctions of conflict. In other words, it makes them
feel the conflict (Sinha, K.).
iv) Manifest Conflict: Manifest conflict is the stage when the two parties engage in
behaviours which evoke responses from each other. The most obvious of these responses are
open aggression, apathy, sabotage, withdrawal and perfect obedience to rules. Except for prison
riots, political revolutions and extreme labour unrest, violence as a form of manifest conflict is
rare. The motives towards violence may remain but they tend to be expressed in less violent
forms (Sinha, K.).
v) Conflict Aftermath: The aftermath of a conflict may have positive or negative
repercussions for the organisation depending upon how the conflict is resolved. If the conflict is
genuinely resolved to the satisfaction of all participants, the basis for a more cooperative
relationship may be laid; or the participants in their drive for a more ordered relationship may
focus on latent conflicts not previously perceived and dealt with. On the other hand, if the
conflict is merely suppressed but not resolved, the latent conditions of conflict may be
aggravated and explode in a more serious form until they are rectified (Sinha, K.).

4. Discuss conflict frames and orientations. Which orientation best characterizes you?
What do you tend to do when entering a conflict episode?
Conflict frames are the perceptual sets that people bring to conflict episodes. They act as
perceptual filters, removing some information from the episode and emphasizing other
information. There are conflict frames identified that vary along three dimensions.
i) Relationship-Task: A relationship emphasis focuses on the parties' interpersonal relationship.
A task emphasis focuses on the material aspects of a conflict episode, such as a budget.
ii) Emotional-Intellectual: An emotional emphasis focuses on feelings in the episode (felt
conflict). An intellectual emphasis focuses on observed behavior (manifest conflict).

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iii) Cooperate-Win: A cooperation focus emphasizes the role of all parties to the conflict. A
party with a winning focus wants to maximize personal gain (Talya, B. & Berrin, E.
(2012)).
Conflict orientations are different behavioral patterns that people bring to a conflict episode.
Understanding your orientation and the possible orientations of others can help you understand
behavior in the episode. Some conflict orientations overlap with some conflict frames. There are
five conflict orientations:
- Dominance: person wants to win the conflict episode and overwhelm the other party; views
conflict episodes as battles to fight and win.
- Collaborative: Person wants to satisfy the desires of all parties to the conflict and sincerely
wants to find a solution that satisfies everyone.
- Compromise: Person splits the different so each party gets parts of what it wants.
- Avoidance: Person backs away from a conflict episode, possibly because of low tolerance
for conflict.
- Accommodative: Person focuses on the other party’s needs and desires, ignoring his own
needs and desires (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).

5. Discuss the methods of reducing conflict that are most likely and least likely to leave
a conflict aftermath. Why do the different methods leave or not leave an aftermath?
There are three types of reducing conflict methods in organizations: Lose-lose methods: parties
to the conflict episode do not get what they want; Win-lose methods: one party a clear winner;
other party a clear loser; Win-win methods: each party to the conflict episode gets what he or
she wants (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).
Lose-lose methods of conflict reduction do not try to deal directly with the conflict. None of the
parties to the conflict episode get what they want. These methods of conflict reduction leave a
conflict aftermath that can start a new conflict episode about the same issues. Lose-lose methods
include avoidance, compromise, and third-party intervention.
Avoidance reduces conflict in the short run, but it does not permanently reduce the conflict.
Compromise uses bargaining and negotiation to reduce conflict. Each party to the conflict gives
up something to get something he values. Third-party intervention often asks a neutral person for
a solution to a conflict episode (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).

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Win-lose conflict reduction methods make one party to the conflict a clear winner and the other
party a clear loser. Such techniques leave a conflict aftermath that can result in a new conflict
episode. The method includes dominance, authoritative command, and majority rule.
- Dominance happens when one party to a conflict overwhelms the other due to higher
organizational status or more power. It can also happen when one party to the conflict has a low
tolerance for conflict. Dominance is as the other side of avoidance. It leaves a conflict aftermath
because it does not try to discover why the conflict occurred.
- Organizations widely use authoritative command for conflict reduction, partly because of
the formal authority relationships found there.
- Decision-making groups face with conflict over issues can use majority rule to reduce the
conflict.
With win-win conflict reduction methods, parties to the conflict episode get what they want.
These methods include problem solving, integration, and a superordinate goal. Win-win
approaches do not leave a conflict aftermath because they directly address the causes of the
conflict and try to remove them.
Problem solving tries to find the true basis of a conflict episode. This method tries to fully
expose all differences among the parties. All parties to the conflict encourage and support
minority views to ensure they get full expression. The parties view differences as important
source of information leading to creative solutions to the conflict (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).

6. Discuss the methods of increasing conflict. When should a manager increase

conflict? What cautions should a manager observe when increasing conflict?
Conflict management includes increasing conflict when it is dysfunctionally low. The goal of
increasing conflict is to get the functional qualities of conflict described earlier, such as more
information for decisions and creative solutions to problems. Increasing conflict must be done
skillfully and cautiously so conflict levels do not become dysfunctionally high. The manager’s
role is to structure situations as described in this section and not express opinions or take
positions on issues. This role is especially important, because it can encourage subordinates to
express their views (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).
Groups with members of different social backgrounds, education, expertise, organization
positions, and opinions have high conflict potential. By deliberately forming heterogeneous

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groups to find creative solutions to problems, a manager tries to use the functional qualities of
conflict. Organizations with a diverse workforce have an especially rich resource for forming
groups with high conflict potential.
A manager of a decision-making group can ask one group member to play the devil’s advocate
role. This person deliberately criticizes a position that has emerged as dominant within the group.
Alternatively, the manager can ask each person in the group to critique the alternatives under
consideration. Each approach recognizes the information-generating function of conflict.
Dialectical inquiry is a structured debate of opposing views about solutions to a decision
problem. Two people or groups prepare arguments and debate the question in the presence of the
person who makes the final decision. One argument presents the prevailing opinion about a
decision. The other argument presents a believable and plausible alternative. The decision maker
forms a final decision by drawing upon information presented by both sides.
Managers can also try to develop an organizational culture with a set of values and norms that
support openness about debate and opinions. They must devote time to building this type of
culture. Searching for quick solutions to problems can lead to pressure to reduce differences and
emphasize similarities (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).

7. What is latent conflict? What are some organizational features that can be latent
conflict? What is the relationship between latent conflict and conflict aftermath?
Give examples from your work experiences.
i) Latent conflict is the antecedent to a conflict episode. It exists whenever individuals,
groups, organizations have differences that bother one or the other, but those differences are not
great enough to cause one side to act to alter the situation. Such latencies lurk in the background
and trigger conflict when the right conditions occur. The presence of latent conflict does not
always lead to manifest conflict, although the latencies create high conflict potential.
Understanding latent conflict provides clues about how to reduce dysfunctionally high conflict.
Any specific conflict episode in an organization can have variations in latent conflict (Talya, B.
& Berrin, E. (2012)).
ii) Dependence on scarce resources is a common latent conflict in organizations. The
scarce resources can be tangible or intangible. Individuals or groups often find themselves
dependent on the same facility to do their work. Since the resource is finite, the dependence on

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the single facility can bring individuals into conflict. A single computer, printer or copying
machine within a department can cause conflict between the users.
Organizational differentiation produces groups and work units with different goals, time
horizons, views of the world, and languages. For example, research and development people
typically think in the long term and have their own scientific jargon. Production people want to
get tasks done now according to a specific schedule. The various orientations produced by this
differentiation form a latency that can lead to a conflict episode when members of the different
units must interact (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).
Organizations have many rules, procedures, and policies to guide decision making about
recurring events. These can act as a latent conflict. For instance, the policy of a university allows
60 students to be enrolled in a class. However, during the registration the professor prefers that
his classes not exceed 40 students and stop accepting more students. Following complains form
unregistered students the administrator and the professor begin a conflict episode, the latency for
which was a previously existing policy.
Cohesive groups develop a culture of their own. The members of such groups strongly identify
with the group and care about what it represents. Groups also can differ in what they value.
Conflict can start when members of such groups interact with each other.
High interdependence among people at work is another source of conflict in organizations.
Interdependence can come from job design, with jobs linked to each other. It also can be found
where work is designed around groups and not individuals. The required interaction among the
interdependence in organizations increases the potential for conflict within the organization.
Communication barriers are another source of latent conflict in organizations. Since
individuals or groups interact with each other, misunderstandings can develop between them.
Ambiguous jurisdictions occur when the organization has not clearly defined areas of decision
authority. Conflict erupts when two people believe they have responsibility for the same activity.
Such latent conflict occurs in a matrix organization. Employees can be in conflict when they
receive conflicting orders from their multiple bosses.
Reward systems that encourage different and incompatible behaviour are a significant source of
latent conflict. A good example is the design of reward systems for sales and manufacturing
people (commission for the former and rewards for keeping costs down for the latter).
Salespeople can make more sales by offering early delivery dates, but those dates might not fit

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into manufacturing’s production schedule. The conflict potential is high and can lead to a
conflict episode when sales and manufacturing interact (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).
iii) Latent conflict and conflict aftermath are related. It is so because as we discussed above,
latent conflict is a potential conflict or antecedent of conflict. This means there are situation or
factors which could cause conflict such as scares resources, job interdependency, polices etc.,
however, the parties do not realize yet. On the other hand conflict aftermath is the end of conflict
episodes. Thus, if the conflict episode is settled to the satisfaction of the parties involved, the
conflict aftermath will be clear of any potential latent conflict for a new episode. When the
conflict ends, but the basis of the conflict is still present, the aftermath holds the latent conflict
for a new conflict episode. For example, disputes over the allocation of scarce resources often
are settled by compromise. No one gets exactly what they want, so the aftermath contains the
latent desires for more resources. A new episode might start later because of the latent conflict
left in the aftermath of a previous episode. As you will see later, each method of reducing
conflict leaves a different conflict aftermath (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).
iv) My organization can be categorized among the matrix organization. It is a complex
institution which includes various sectors. It encompasses educational sector (primary school,
high school, TVET College, Printing Press department, feeding center, youth center etc).
Eventually, since it has got both centralized and decentralized administration system and most
employees work in the different sector, there is always latent conflicts such as ambiguity of
jurisdiction, communication barrier, dependence on scarce resource, reward system are the major
ones.

8. Conflict management includes both reducing and increasing conflict. What major
issues do you see for a manager trying to manage conflict in an organization?
Conflict management is the process of limiting the negative aspects of conflict while increasing
the positive aspects of conflict. The aim of conflict management is to enhance learning and group
outcomes, including effectiveness or performance in an organizational setting. Properly managed
conflict can improve group outcomes (Wikipedia). Conflict management refers to resolving
disagreements effectively. There are a number of different ways of managing organizational
conflict. Accordingly, a manager can try to manage conflict in an organization by using the
following major issues (Talya, B. & Berrin, E. (2012)).

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i) By Changing the Structure: When structure is a cause of dysfunctional conflict,
structural change can be the solution to resolving the conflict.
ii) By Changing the Composition of the Team: If the conflict is between team members,
the easiest solution may be to change the composition of the team, separating the personalities
that were at odds.
iii) By Creating a Common Opposing Force: Group conflict within an organization can be
mitigated by focusing attention on a common enemy such as the competition.
iv) Consider Majority Rule: Sometimes a group conflict can be resolved through majority
rule.
v) By Problem Solving: Problem solving is a common approach to resolving conflict. In
problem-solving mode, the individuals or groups in conflict are asked to focus on the problem,
not on each other, and to uncover the root cause of the problem.
Besides these elements a manager can implement various conflict-handling styles such as:
Avoidance, Accommodative, Dominance, Collaborative and Compromise (Talya, B. & Berrin,
E. (2012)).

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 Bibliography
Shila, R., Organizational Conflict. Retrieved July 12, 2020 from
https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/organization/conflict-management/organizational-conflict

Lena, F., What Is Dysfunctional Conflict? 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2020 from
https://bizfluent.com/list-5983023-factors-affect-employee-morale.html

Lumenlearning, Organizational Behavior / Human Relations. Retrieved July 12, 2020 from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-organizationalbehavior/chapter/conflict-
management

Sinha, K., Top 5 Stages of Organizational Conflict. Retrieved July 12, 2020 from
https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/organization/conflict-management/top-5-stages-of-
organizational-conflict/63973

Wikipedia, Conflict management. Retrieved July 12, 2020 from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_management

Talya, B. & Berrin, E., An Introduction to Organizational Behavior, (2012). Retrieved July 12,
2020 from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/an-introduction-to-organizational-behavior

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