■ CONFLICT MANAGeMENT

■ CFUNS

■ Background
■ Health care delivery occurs within a complex system
of institutional environments, multidisciplinary
professionals, technology, financial reimbursement,
legal and regulatory requirements, patient, family
and community based needs.
■ Work environments within hospitals may be more
susceptible to conflict due to stressful environments,
constant changes, challenging and difficult work,
large number of staff, and diversity of interactions.
■ Conflict occurs in almost all of the working
environments. It is unavoidable in any work
environment due to differences among individuals’
perceptions, ideas, needs, and desires (Almost,
2010).
■ Conflict is the leading problem in job dissatisfaction
in many of the nursing settings. Personal values held
by individual nurses are often subsumed by the need
to be professional at all times as a nurse.
■ This is a source of conflict for nurses who may have
conscientious objections based on their professional
beliefs about care, treatment, dignity or the behavior
of patients.

■ Tendencies to conflict?
■ Conflict is…

■ Conflict is defined as a situation in which two or more

parties become aware of the fact that each party
wants is incompatible with the wishes of the other;
or incompatibility of goals or values between two or
more parties in a relationship, combined with
attempts to control each other and antagonistic
feelings toward each other (Fisher, 1990).
■ Conflict means expression of hostility, negative
attitudes, antagonism, aggression, rivalry, and
misunderstanding.
■ It can be defined as a disagreement between two or
more individuals or groups with each individual or
group trying to gain acceptance of its view over
others (Thakore, 2013).

■ Conflict
(Cooper, 2003)
■ Conflict is a collision of opposing interests
(contradictory interest).
■ The opposite of conflict is the avoidance of
collision, that each party’s interest in its
own orbit runs.
■ Conflict occurs when the interests of one
party come by accident or design into
 engagement with those of another or
others.
■ It is also associated with situations that
involve contradictory interest between two
opposing groups.
■ Conflict develops when something is
propelled into the space already occupied
by something else that cannot readily
accommodate this new presence
■ CONFLICT HAPPENS

Conflict is…
• A normal, inescapable
part of life. It is an integral
part of human life.
• A periodic occurrence in
any relationship.
Whenever there is
 interaction there is
conflict (Thakore, 2013).
• Conflict occurs between
people in all kinds of
human relationships and
in all social settings.
• Because of the wide
range of potential
differences among
people, the absence of
conflict usually signals
the absence of
meaningful interaction.
• An opportunity to
understand opposing
preferences and values
Energy
• Conflict has been
perceived differently by
different people,
indicating that the single
phenomena of conflict
can be given different
subjective interpretations
(Chaudhry &. Asif, 2015).
■ Transition in views of Conflict
(Thakore, 2013)
■ Views of Conflict
Traditional view
■ This views conflicts as bad for
organizations because it is
disruptive, unnatural and represents
a form of deviant behaviour
■ Should be controlled and changed if
the objectives of the organization is
to be achieved.
Human Relation view
■ conflict is avoidable by creating an
environment of goodwill and trust.
■ Management has always been
concerned with avoiding conflict if
possible and resolving it soon if it
occurs.
■ Views of Conflict
The Inter actionist view of Conflict:
 Robins (1998) believes that conflict
is a positive force and necessary for
effective performance.
 Townsend (1985) sees conflict as a
sign of a healthy organization up to a
point
Integrationist view of Conflict
■ This is the most recent perspective
and explicitly argues that some
conflict should not only be seen as
good or bad but rather that some
conflict is absolutely necessary for a
group to perform effectively (De Dreu
& Van de Vliert, 1997).
■ Cause of conflict
■ Specialization
■ Multitask roles
■ Role interdependence
■ Task blurring
■ Differentiation
■ Scarcity of resources
■ Change
■ Unequal rewards
■ Communication problems
■ Source of conflict
■ Katz
■ Structural conflict (conflict arising out of the need to
manage the interdependence between different
organizational sub-units),
■ Role conflict (conflict arising from sets of prescribed
behaviour) and
■ Resources conflict (conflict stemming from interest
groups competing for organizational resources).
■ Robbins
■ The main factors which serve as sources of conflict
are identified as
• communicational (conflicts arising from
misunderstandings etc.),
• structural (conflicts related to organizational roles),
and
• personal (conflicts stemming from individual
differences).
■ Conflict Process
■ The conflict process can be categorized into five stages

■ Stage 1
(Potential opposition or incompatibility)
■ The present condition that creates opportunity for
conflicts to arise.
■ The major sources of conflict can be further
categorized as communication, structure and
personal variables.
■ Communication: It is reported that word
connotations, jargon, insufficient exchange of
information and noise in the communication
channel are all barriers to communication and
potential antecedent conditions to conflict.
■ Structure: It is reported that the size and
specialization act as forces to stimulate conflict.
The larger the group size and the more specialized
its activities, the greater of conflict. The potential for
conflict tend to be greatest when group members
are younger and when turnover is high.
■ Personal variables: The evidence indicates that
certain personality types such as highly
authoritarian and dogmatic people who
demonstrate low self-esteem lead to potential
conflicts

■ Stage 2
Cognition and personalization
■ Perception or sense making plays a major role in
the resolving conflict.
■ Conflict may either be perceived or felt in nature.
■ Perceived conflict is defined as awareness by one
or more parties of the existence of conditions that
create opportunities for conflict to arise.
■ Felt conflict is defined as emotional involvement in
a conflict creating anxiety, tenseness, frustrations
or hostility.
■ Stage 3
Intentions
■ Using two dimensions – cooperativeness (the
degree to which one party attempts to satisfy the
other party’s concerns) and assertiveness (the
degree to which one party attempts to satisfy his or
her own concerns) –
■ five conflict handling intentions can be identified.
i) competing (assertive and uncooperative),
ii) collaborating (assertive and cooperative),
iii) avoiding (unassertive and uncooperative),
iv) accommodating (unassertive and cooperative)
and
v) compromising (mid-range on both assertiveness
and cooperativeness).
■ Stage 4
Behavior
■ All conflicts manifest in behavior
somewhere along with continuum
ranging from no conflict or minor
conflict
■ such as minor disagreements or
misunderstanding, overt questioning
or challenging of others, to
annihilatory conflict such as threats
and ultimatum, aggressive physical
attacks or overt efforts to destroy the
other party.
■ Stage 5
Outcomes
■ The outcomes of conflict may be functional or
dysfunctional.
■ Conflict is constructive when it improves the quality
of decision, stimulates creativity and innovation,
encourages interest and curiosity among group
members, provides the medium through which
problems can be aired and tensions released and
fosters an environment of self-evaluation and
change.
■ the more undesirable consequences are retarding
of communication, reduction in group cohesiveness
 and subordination of group goals to the primacy of
infighting between members. At the extreme,
conflict can bring group functioning to a halt and
potentially threaten the group’s survival.
■ Functional and
Dysfunctional Conflict
■ Conflict can be seen as functional or
dysfunctional, this difference depending on
how each person perceives it, manages it
and resolves it (Vivar, 2006).
■ Functional conflict: works toward the goals
of an organization or group
■ Dysfunctional conflict: blocks an
organization or group from reaching its
goals
– Dysfunctionally high conflict: what you
typically think about conflict
– Dysfunctionally low conflict: an a
typical view
– Levels vary among groups
■ Conflict and Unit Performance
■ Levels and Types
of Conflict
■ Forms of Conflict in Organizations
■ Interpersonal Conflict
(Thakore, 2013)
■ Interpersonal conflict emphasizes the interaction of
human factors in an organization.
■ Conflict between people can arise from many
individual differences, including personalities,
attitude, values, perceptions and other differences.
■ It may be substantive or emotional or both. Two
persons debating each other aggressively on the
merits of hiring a job applicant is an example of a
substantive interpersonal conflict.
■ two classes of factors as conflict sources. These
are:
■ Personal. Interaction between individuals with
different attitudes, values and needs can produce
conflict behavior and affect organizational
performance.
■ Individuals are not identical, constant or consistent.
When two individuals are brought together and kept
together, each with his own qualities, needs and
skills, a conflict may ensue if their attributes are not
meshed together in a coordinated way.
■ Functional: Individuals in organizations have roles
which are expected sets of behaviour associated
with their position.
■ Intrapersonal Conflict
■ Intrapersonal conflict is internal to the individual
(though its effects can profoundly influence
 organizational functioning) and is perhaps the most
difficult form of conflict to analyze and manage.
■ Intrapersonal conflict is basically a conflict between
two incompatible tendencies.
■ It arises when a stimulus evokes two different and
incompatible tendencies and the individual is
required to discriminate between these tendencies.
■ is predicated upon an incongruity between
individual needs and organizational requirements.
Inter-group conflict
■ Intergroup conflict occurs among members of
different teams or groups can also have substantive
and/or emotional underpinnings.
■ Intergroup conflict is quite common in
organizations, and it can make the coordination
and integration of task activities very difficult.

Intragroup Conflict:
■ Conflict that occurs within groups or teams is called
intragroup conflict. There are two types of
■ intragroup conflict: Task conflict and Relationship
conflict. Task conflict is a perception of
disagreement group
■ members or individuals about the content of their
decisions and involves differences in viewpoints,
ideas and opinions.
Inter organisational Conflict:
■ Conflict that occurs between two or more
organisation is called interorganisational conflict.
■ Competition can heighten interorganisational
conflict

■ Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict

■ Conflict is a process that consists of five sequential
stages
■ Stage 1: Latent conflict: no outright conflict exists,
but there is a potential for conflict because of
several latent factors
– Sources of conflict include:
■ Interdependence
■ Difference in goals and priorities
■ Bureaucratic factors
■ Incompatible performance criteria
■ Competition for scarce resources

■ Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict

■ Stage 2: Perceived conflict: subunits become
aware of conflict and begin to analyze it
– Conflict escalates as groups battle over the
cause of conflict
■ Stage 3: Felt conflict: subunits respond
emotionally to each other, and attitudes polarize
into “us-versus-them”
– Cooperation between units decreases
 – What began as a small problem escalates into
huge conflict
■ Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict (cont.)
■ Stage 4: Manifest conflict: subunits try to get
back at each other
– Fighting and open aggression
– Passive aggression – doing nothing
– Organizational effectiveness suffers
■ Stage 5: Conflict aftermath: conflict is resolved in
some way
– If sources of conflict are not resolved, the
dispute will arise again
– Conflict aftermath
■ Types of Conflict
■ Five common approaches or strategies to conflict
resolution
■ Competition, avoidance, accommodation,
compromise and collaboration (Blake & Mouton
1968, Thomas 1976; Rahim & Magner 1995).
However, there is no single way of managing a
conflict. That is, there is no appropriate or
inappropriate strategy to deal with conflict (Vivar,
2006).
■ Competition or forcing is a win–lose orientation. It
designates a situation in which one person or group
attempts to acquire complete dominance. This
strategy is appropriate when quick decisions are vital
 and there is no time for discussion, such as in an
emergency. However, it leads to winners and losers.
■ Avoidance is employed to deny the person, issue or
the situation. People or groups using this approach
ignore that a problem exists. Therefore, there is no
active resolution of the conflict.
■ This conflict behaviour is described in the literature
as a generally disapproved strategy (Smyth 1985).
However, avoiding a situation until more information
is available and an analysis of the problem has been
made could be an adequate approach of handling
conflict.
■ Approaches to conflict resolution
(Vivar, 2006).
■ Accommodation, also called giving in, is the
antithesis of competition where cooperation is high
and assertiveness low. It refers to the conciliation
that occurs when one person or group is willing to
yield to the other. Accommodation, at times, can
appear relevant, as it encourages people to express
themselves. This results in an agreeable
relationship between both parties (Skjorshammer
2001).
■ Compromise, emerges when there is negotiation
and swapping between both parties. Bargain &
negotiate method. Each loses something valued.
Each person gets something but gives something
else up in the process.
■ Collaboration where there is a win–win orientation.
Each person or group meets the problem with equal
concern. This approach encourages identification of
areas of agreement and disagreement, and
selection of a solution to the problem that
incorporates both parties perspectives. This
approach is certainly the one that will require the
most time to resolve the conflict, but it is the most
meaningful to deal with problem.

■ Conflict Management Styles

■ Types of Conflict
(Amason & Schweiger,
1994; Jehn, 1995; Pinkley,
1990).
■ Task conflict
■ Task conflicts are disagreements about the content
of a task and work goals, such as distribution of
resources, procedures, and interpretation of facts
(Jehn, 1995, 1997).
■ Task conflicts include differences in viewpoints,
ideas, and opinions, and may coincide with
animated discussions and personal excitement.
■ Task conflict has been associated with several
beneficial effects, such as improving the use of
debate within a team (Jehn, et al., 1999), which
results in quality ideas and innovation (Amason,
1996; West & Anderson, 1996) and leads to better
service delivery (Tjosvold, Dann, & Wong, 1992).
■ In addition, studies have shown that task conflict
can also be associated with several harmful effects,
such as, job dissatisfaction, lack of teamwork
(Kabanoff, 1991; Jehn, et al., 1997), increased
anxiety (Jehn, 1997), and turnover (Jehn, 1995).

■ Task conflict (2)

■ Task conflict can be manifested in
scenarios when team members get
different directions from different
department. The employees may have to
face instructions from their supervisor and
other departmental heads which may are
incompatible.
■ From a constructive perspective, task
conflict enhances creativity, members get
alternate ideas for the task at hand, it
 stimulates discussion and constructive
feedback from the group members is likely
to flow in, so as a result the group performs
better.
■ However, it should also be considered that
a high level of task conflict can create
barriers in the effective functioning of the
team.
■ Relationship conflict
■ Affective or Relationship conflict is an intricate
phenomenon as various factors can trigger or
inhibit its presence in a work team.
■ task conflict can turn into relationship conflict if the
responses generated by the differences of opinion
shift towards negative emotionality.
■ Process conflicts
■ Process conflicts refer to
disagreements about how a task
should be accomplished, individual’s
responsibilities, and delegation
(Jehn & Mannix, 2001).
■ For example, when group members
disagree about whose responsibility
it is to complete a specific duty.
■ Process conflict has been associated
with lower morale, decreased
productivity (Jehn, 1997), and poor
team performance (Jehn, et al.,
1999).
■ Jehn (1997) also noted that process
conflict might interfere with the
quality of task content and change
the focus of a group to irrelevant
discussions of member ability.
■ Process conflicts (2)
■ Procedural or process conflict, which entails the
differences of opinion pertaining to the distribution
of work responsibilities.
■ Within the context of procedural conflict, the group
members may debate over which task should be
performed by whom, putting forward different
perspectives (Jehn, 1997).
■ Conflict Table
■ Methods to deal with conflicts

■ Competition (win-lose
situation)
■ Accommodation (win-win
situation)
■ Avoidance (lose-lose
situation)
■ Compromise (lose-lose
situation)
■ Collaboration (win-win
situation)
■ Conflict resolution strategies

■ Withdrawal: Withdrawal is an attempt to manage

interpersonal conflict by avoidance
■ Smoothing: involves emphasis of common,
organizational interests and yielding by one or both
parties
■ Compromise: is an attempt to manage conflict by
expecting each person to give up something
■ Forcing: occurs when interpersonal conflict is
managed in a fashion which compels one person to
acquiesce
■ Problem-solving: is an attempt to achieve close
collaboration and integrative decision-making
between individuals

Blake and Mouton

■ Which Conflict Style Is Best?
■ Use compromise
– When goals are important but not
worth the effort/disruption of more
assertive approach
■ Use collaboration
– When concerns are too important to
be compromised
– When objective is to merge insights,
gain commitment
– When have the time
■ Use avoidance
– When an issue is trivial/insignificant
– To temporarily delay, allow emotions to
cool
■ Use accommodation
– When you find you
are wrong
– As a favor, build relationship
■ Use competition
– When quick, decisive action vital
– When don’t trust opponent
■ Analyzing a Conflict Situation
■ Conflict was between________
■ It centered around_________
■ I wanted___________
■ and felt frustrated because __________
■ In my view, the key issue was _______
■ The other person probably thought the key issue
was ___________
■ Analyzing a Conflict Situation
■ Predominant conflict style I used_____
■ Escalation behaviors I used________
■ De-escalation behaviors I used______
■ Major outcomes_____________
■ Differences over: facts, goals, methods, values,
history___________
■ What would I do differently next time?