Define Conflict | Forms AND Categories of Conflict

Conflict is defined as the process in which one group comprehends that its sakes are negatively affected or opposed by another group.

• Comprehend by the groups
• Groups are in opposition to one another
• At least one group hindering the objective attainment of other groups
• Objectives can be physiological or tangible

Types of Conflict

Following are the three types of conflict.

1. Task Conflict: Conflict over objectives and content of the work.
2. Relationship Conflict: Conflict on the basis of interpersonal relationships.
3. Process Conflict: Conflict over how job gets performed.

Forms of Conflict in Organizations

1. Interorganizational Conflict: Conflict that happens between two or more organizations.
2. Intergroup Conflict: Conflict that happens between teams or groups in an organization.
3. Interpersonal Conflict: Conflict that occurs between two or more persons.
4. Interrole Conflict: An individual’s experience of conflict among many roles in her/his life.
5. Intrarole Conflict: Conflict that happens within single role, like when an individual gets conflicting messages from role transmitter about how to do particular role.
6. Person-role Conflict: Conflict happens when a person is required to do behaviors in a particular role that conflict with her/his personal values.

Different Categories of Conflict

Above are the existence of conditions that make opportunities for conflict to originate. Following are the three general categories

Communication

1. Those opposing forces are represented as a source of conflict by the communication that emerge from misunderstandings, semantic difficulties and “noise” in the communication channels.
2. Insufficient exchange of information, differing word connotations, noise in the communication channels and jargon are all obstacles to communication and powerful antecedents to conflict.
3. Semantic difficulties are a consequence of selective perception, differences in training and inadequate information.
4. When either too much or too little communication takes place, the potential for conflict enhances.
5. Stimulating opposition can be influenced by the channel selected for communication.

Structure

1. Conflict is stimulated by the forces of size and specialization. The greater the likelihood of conflict, when the group is larger and its activities are more specialized.
2. Where turnover is high and group members are younger, the potential for conflict is greatest.
3. The greater the potential for conflict, the greater the ambiguity in responsibility for action lies.
4. A major source of conflict is the diversity of goals among groups.
5. The conflict potential is increased by a close style of leadership.
6. Conflict may also be stimulated by too much reliance on participation.
7. Conflict is also generated by the reward systems when one individual’s gain is at another’s expense.
8. Finally, opposing forces are stimulated if a group is dependent on another group.

Personal Variables

1. Contains individual personality characteristics and value systems. Potential conflict is leaded by particular personality types.
2. Differing value system is most important. For differences of opinion on various matters, value differences are the best explanation.

Stage II: Cognition & Personalization

1. Conflict is only led by antecedent conditions when the groups are aware of and affected by it.
2. When conflict is felt and when persons become emotionally involved, conflict is personalized.
3. This is stage where conflict problems try to be specified and this specification delineates the possible settlements.
4. Second, in shaping perceptions, emotions play a major role.
5. Negative emotions generate reductions in trust, oversimplification of problems and negative interpretations of other group’s behavior.
6. Positive feelings enhance the tendency to take wider view of the situation, to see potential relationships among the components of an issue and to develop more innovative solutions.

Stage III: Intentions

1. Intentions are decisions to behave in a provided manner.
2. As a distinct stage, why are intensions differentiated out? A lot of conflicts are escalated when simply one group attributing the bad intensions to the other.
3. One author’s struggle to recognize the basic conflict-handling intentions is represented.

Stage IV: Behavior

1. Conflicts become visible at stage IV. The behavior stage contains actions, statements and responses made by the conflicting groups. In order to implement each group’s intentions, these conflict behaviors are usually open attempts.
2. A dynamic process of interactions is at the stage IV because along a continuum, conflicts exist somewhere.
3. Conflicts are characterized by indirect, subtle and highly controlled forms of tension at the lower part of continuum.
4. As conflict moves upward along the continuum, its intensities escalate until it become highly destructive.
5. To the lower range of continuum, functional conflicts are typically confined.

Stage V: Outcomes

1. How group performance might be increased by the force of conflict?
2. Conflict is constructive when it

Stimulates innovation & creativity

Improves the quality of decisions

Encourages interest and curiosity

Foster an environment of change and self-evaluation

Gives the medium through which tensions released and issues can be aired

See Also: Team Effectiveness Factors in Business Organization

1. The quality of decision making can be improved by the conflict as suggested by the evidence.
2. For groupthink, conflict is an antidote.
3. Conflict promotes reassessments of group objectives & activities, challenges the status quo, furthers the creation of new ideas and increases the probability that the group will respond to change.
4. The functionality of conflict is confirmed by the research studies in diverse settings.