Conflict as the positve factor in the workplace
Posted: Tuesday, February 22, 2005
by Jing Zheng
1. Abstract Interpersonal conflicts in the workplace are very common because they inevitably arise when groups or teams perform. This essay critically discusses the view that these conflicts can in certain circumstances be a positive factor in improving the individual performance. The approach used to address this issue is a combination of literature review and interviews of employees working at the chosen business, which is the PTA GmbH.
Conflict in the workplace
1.1. Levels of conflict Conflict in the workplace occurs when two or more people disagree over issues of organisational substance and / or experience some emotional antagonism with one another (Wood et al., 2003, p. 597). In general, it can be explained as perceived incompatible differences regarding interests or ideas that result in interference or opposition (Esquivel & Kleiner, 1996). Four levels of conflict can be identified (Wood et al., 2003, pp. 598-599):
§ Interorganisational conflict is conflict that occurs between organisations.
§ Intergroup conflict is conflict that occurs between groups in an organisation.
§ Intrapersonal conflict is conflict that occurs within the individual as a result of actual or perceived pressures from incompatible goals or expectations.
§ Interpersonal conflict is conflict that occurs between two or more individuals that work together in groups or teams (Wood et al., 2003, p. 598). Here a link can be made to the organisational behaviour theme ‘groups and teams’. As a group performs its assigned tasks, conflicts inevitably arise (Robbins et al., 2003, p. 421). Groups and teams must contend, among other issues, with conflicts over effective and fair distribution of work and rewards, social loafing, and the best ways to accomplish their goals (Alper et al., 2000).
Interpersonal conflicts are natural and can actually spur creativity and performance of the participating individuals. This level of conflict will be the focus of the entire essay because it is the most frequently found kind of conflict in the workplace. Among the common reasons for this level of conflict are differences in personal beliefs and values (Wood et al., 2003, p. 596). Figure 1 summarises the major reasons for its occurrence.
Sources of
Interpersonal
Conflict
Communication Problems
Ambiguous
Rules
Scarce
Resources
Task
Interdependence
Different Values
and Beliefs
Incompatible
Goals
Figure 1 : Sources of interpersonal conflict in the workplace (McShane & Von Glinow, 2003, p. 390)
1.2. The recent perspective of interpersonal conflict Three different views regarding interpersonal conflict can be found in the literature (Robbins et al., 2003, pp. 421 - 422 Tjosvold et al., 2003):
§ The traditional view argues that conflict must be avoided because it indicates problems.
§ The behavioural view sees conflict as a natural and inevitable outcome when people work together in groups and teams and need not be negative. Rather it has the potential to be a positive force in contributing to the performance of the individuals.
§ The interactionist view proposes not only that conflict is a positive force but also that some conflict is necessary for an individual to perform effectively. Resolving conflicts means challenging normal processes and procedures in an effort to improve individual productivity or introduce innovative systems. This represents the most recent perspective of conflict and will be the underlying assumption of this essay (Robbins et al., 2003, pp. 421 – 422).
However, the interactionist view is not suggesting that all interpersonal conflicts are good. In terms of the intensity of the conflict, it distinguishes between functional and dysfunctional conflicts (Wood et al., 2003, pp. 599-600):
§ Functional conflicts are of a constructive nature. They, for instance, support the goals of a work group and thus improve the performance of its individuals.
§ Dysfunctional conflicts are destructive and can decrease work productivity and job satisfaction and contribute to absenteeism and job turnover.
Figure 2 illustrates the conflict intensity’s impact on the individual performance.
Figure 2 : The two faces of conflict (Robbins et al., 2003 , p. 422 Wood et al., 2003 , p. 601 )
1.3. Two classifications of interpersonal conflict 1.3.1. Types of conflict - relationship and task conflict To be able to differentiate between functional and dysfunctional conflicts an additional factor has to be taken into consideration: the type of conflict. Two major conflict types can be identified: relationship and task. Relationship conflict, also called A-type or socio-emotional conflict, is a conflict based on interpersonal relationships (Esquivel & Kleiner, 1996). This type of conflict is usually dysfunctional and thus not preferable. It involves interpersonal difficulties that arise over feelings of anger, mistrust, dislike, fear, resentment and the like. Relationship conflicts can drain people’s energies and distract them from other important work priorities (Wood et al., 2003, p. 597). It appears that the friction and hostilities inherent in relationship conflicts increase personality clashes and decrease mutual understanding, thereby hindering the completion of organisational tasks (McShane & Von Glinow, 2003, p. 388).
Task conflict , also called C-type or substantive conflict, is a conflict over content and goals of work (Esquivel & Kleiner, 1996). Task-related conflicts occur when people disagree about task issues, such as key decision areas, procedures, processes and the appropriate choice for action. This conflict is potentially healthy and valuable because it makes people rethink their perspectives and reality. As long as the conflict remains focused on the issue, new ideas may emerge and the conflict remains controlled (McShane & Von Glinow, 2003, p. 386). It can force participants to address some of their assumptions and override their attempts to achieve premature unanimity, thus leading to better performance (Wood et al., 2003, p. 597). Low to moderate levels of task conflict are functional and consistently demonstrate a positive effect on the individual performance (Robbins et al., 2003, p. 423 Tjosvold et al., 2003). Successful organisations encourage mild forms of task conflict without having the situation escalate into an emotional battle between employees or work units. The key is to create task conflicts and to prevent them from escalating into relationship conflicts (McShane & Von Glinow, 2003, p. 386).
1.3.2. Cooperative versus competitive conflict Another way to classify conflicts is to distinguish between cooperative and competitive conflicts. Competitive conflicts are based on a principle of competition between participants and are seen as dysfunctional. The main characteristic of competitive conflicts is that the participants have a win-lose orientation. This is the belief that the conflicting parties are drawing from a fixed pie, the more one party receives, the less the other party receives ( McShane & Von Glinow, 2003, p. 394 ). In contrast, cooperative conflict are seen as functional and experiences of this kind of conflict are important antecedents for individual and team effectiveness. In a team setting, knowing that group members tend to manage conflict cooperatively can strengthen the team and individual productivity (Alper et al., 2000). The win-win orientation of the participants is an integral part of cooperative conflicts. The parties believe that they will find a mutually beneficial solution to their disagreement. In addition, the parties discuss concerns quickly and openly, seek their partner’s opinions, and explain their course of action fully. It works best when the parties do not have perfectly opposing interests and when they have enough trust and openness to share information (McShane & Von Glinow, 2003, pp. 394-396).
1.4. Conflict circumstances that improve individual performance This chapter will identify and explain circumstances in which conflict can be a positive factor in the workplace. To illustrate these circumstances, examples from the company PTA GmbH, which is located in Mannheim / Germany , will be used. This consultancy firm with 240 employees has been serving its clients through the planning and implementation of projects in strategic organisation and information technology for over 30 years (PTA, 2004).
1.4.1. Circumstance # 1: Daily project meetings in cooperative environment When the PTA GmbH implements information systems for clients, the project team follows a strict project approach. One integral part of this approach is a daily meeting of all project members at the end of the day. The purpose of these meetings is twofold: First, the project manager can address all issues that he / she sees as important and make sure that everybody understands what the tasks are for the next day. Second, all project members are encouraged to express any concerns or discuss any issues they might feel uncomfortable with. The inevitable conflicts that occur during these discussions can be categorised as both task and cooperative conflicts. As can be derived from the previous chapters, these are the ideal kinds of conflict. Mr Fricke, software engineer at PTA GmbH, states that very strong discussions come up during these meetings. However, they hardly ever reach an emotional level and stay focused on the actual task. He also feels that these conflicts help him to reassess the work-related situations and tasks. The result of these conflicts is often a new solution, which is more efficient than the former one. Team members that are actively involved in the conflict also feel a higher commitment and motivation to achieve the devised new solution (Fricke, 2004). Mr Gredel, project manager at PTA GmbH, argues that during the first stages of a project many participants think that the frequent meetings are a waste of time, but when the project ends, everybody realises that the daily discussions prevented a lot of trouble und misunderstandings (Gredel, 2004). Consequently, it can be said that these conflicts at the PTA GmbH increase the individual performance due to improved solutions, enhanced task structure, higher commitment and stronger motivation. At this point, a relation can be seen to the organisational behaviour theme ‘motivation’.
1.4.2. Circumstance # 2: The ‘devil’s advocate’ approach Another conflict situation that can improve individual performance during a group discussion is the involvement of a ‘devil’s advocate’ as a member of the group (Esquivel & Kleiner, 1996). Mr Ludwig, business analyst at PTA GmbH, regularly uses this approach during the requirement analysis phase of projects to examine the client’s needs. During the discussions with the client group members, he challenges their conclusions, forcing them to examine critically their assumptions and the logic of their arguments. By using this approach, the individuals of the group perform significantly better on the assigned tasks. They generate more alternatives and their proposals can be judged as superior compared to the outcome when not including a ‘devil’s advocate’ (Ludwig, 2004). However, one has to be careful when using this approach because the members of the group feel personally very uncomfortably when their ideas are continuously being attacked. The person that is the ‘devil’s advocate’ must know when he has to stop challenging the group and must not overdo it (Esquivel & Kleiner, 1996).
1.4.3. Circumstance # 3: Win-win orientation As part of the cooperative environment at the PTA GmbH, the employees are strongly encouraged to deal with conflicts on a basis of a win-win orientation (Gredel, 2004). This is the perception that the parties will find a mutually beneficial solution to their disagreement. They believe that the resources at stake are expandable rather than fixed if the parties work together to find a creative solution (McShane & Von Glinow, 2003, p. 394). Employees are encouraged to find solutions that are acceptable for all conflict parties. The advantage concerning the individual’s performance is that they are inspired to be creative and work together with the counterparts instead of competing with them. To find creative solutions, brainstorming and creativity technics are regularly utilised. The following example illustrates this: During a recent information technology project, a problem came up concerning software performance versus hardware costs. Normally very expensive hardware would have been bought to solve the performance problems but at the cost of extremely high expenditure. However, the responsible project manager discussed this issue with his software engineers. Eventually an alternative solution was found by a engineer that only required the purchase of one additional small hardware component (Gredel, 2004). It can be assumed that without the conflict that was brought up by the project manager, this solution would not have been found by this engineer.
1.4.4. Circumstance # 4: Condition of openness and informality As mentioned above, the key to create efficient conflicts in the workplace is to promote task conflicts. One way of doing this is to encourage conditions of openness, informality and constructive communication (Esquivel & Kleiner, 1996). Such an environment reinforces open debate, rapid and effective communication, loyalty and trust (Thompson & McHugh, 2002, p. 261). However, inadequate communication also has the potential to worsen conflict situations when either too little or too much communication takes place (Robbins, 1983, p. 146). In general, how members of a team communicate with each other in order to manage their conflicts very much influences their outcome (Tjosvold et al., 2003). The employees at the PTA GmbH work in a very informal environment. Regular team events after work or on the weekend ensure that everybody knows each other, which helps to decrease communication barriers. When new employees start at the company, they are sent to a three-day communication workshop. During projects, employees are expected to communicate all relevant information to their project managers. The project managers judge this information and very often they find some incompatible data that leads to conflicts between them and their team. These conflicts are often resolved by open discussions and they frequently result in better mutual understanding or even enhanced solutions. Mr Gredel states that without such an open communication environment these effective conflicts would never come up (Gredel, 2004). Here a link can be made to the organisational behaviour theme ‘communication’.
1.4.5. Circumstance # 5: Task conflicts in the decision-making process Conflict in the workplace can either enhance or reduce the decision-making process (Esquivel & Kleiner, 1996). Task conflicts, undertaken in a positive and constructive manner, can be beneficial for the individual decision-making. They can reduce groupthink as well as enhance the individual’s creativity (McFadzean, 2002). Groupthink is a type of conformity in which group members withhold different unpopular views in order to give the appearance of agreement. It undermines critical thinking in the group and eventually harms the quality of the final decision (Robbins et al., 2003, p. 424). Consequently, groupthink should be prevented because it negatively influencing the effectiveness of the individuals. Mr Fricke has often experienced this phenomenon during meetings at the PTA GmbH. As long as no conflict comes up, hardly any assumptions or proposals are challenged by the group members. However, when a conflict comes up, the entire atmosphere changes. Members start thinking very critically about what they are told (Fricke, 2004). Consequently, such a conflict triggers individuals to think thoroughly over solutions and their tasks. At this point, a relationship to the organisational behaviour theme ‘decision-making’ can be seen.
1.4.6. Circumstance # 6: Gender conflicts The PTA GmbH does not employ many female employees, with an average figure of one female employee out of ten (Fretz, 2004). This condition reinforces the gender conflict that female employees often experience. They often suffer from a lower social status than males in work organisations. However, this may also motivate them to perform better to gain credibility (Tjosvold et al., 2003). Ms Fretz, software engineer at the PTA GmbH, feels that kind of conflict quite often. Many male colleagues do not listen to her advice or consciously ignore her results. To improve the situation she works after hours and even at home on the weekends (Fretz, 2004). This resulting increase of her individual performance would not exist without the gender conflict. However, in the end this kind of conflict may be very exhaustive for the female part and often becomes dysfunctional.
1.4.7. Circumstance # 7: Employee empowerment Another way of improving the employees’ individual performance by means of conflict is employee empowerment, which links to the organisational behaviour theme ‘leadership’. Employee empowerment increases conflict with peers and decreases conflict with the line and project manager. Employees are supposed to resolve conflicts themselves. The employee’s participation in resolving conflict issues is expected to increase ‘ownership’ of problems and more commitment to implement their solutions that in turn results in improved productivity, product quality, and work life (Alper et al., 2000). The PTA GmbH leadership style strongly focuses on employee empowerment. Mr Fricke explains that when a problem comes up he first does not go to his manager but contacts the responsible colleague to resolve it. A good example for this is the following case: Two separate software modules, which have been developed by two different employees, do not work well together. Instead of involving the manager, the two engineers discuss the issue and find a solution together. This solution finding process is definitely not easy because both employees believe in their own work (Fricke, 2004). However, the conflict involved in this process is important to increase the outcome.
2. Conclusion This essay showed that interpersonal conflict in the workplace can in certain circumstances be a positive factor in improving the individual performance. The most recent view of conflict, the interactionist view, even proposes that conflict is necessary for an individual to perform effectively. Functional conflicts, which are of a constructive nature, are facilitated by two kinds of conflict: task and cooperative. Businesses should try to increase the occurrences of these kinds of conflict. Simultaneously, conditions that encourage destructive dysfunctional conflicts, such as relationship conflicts and competitive conflicts, should be minimised. The essay identified the following seven circumstances that encourage functional conflicts in the workplace, which may improve the individual performance:
§ daily project meetings in a cooperative environment,
§ the use of the ‘devil’s advocate’ approach,
§ win-win orientation of all conflict participants,
§ condition of openness and informality,
§ task conflicts in the decision-making process,
§ gender conflicts, and
§ employee empowerment.
By explaining these conditions, appropriate examples of the chosen business PTA GmbH have been provided.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)yes, it was excellent. helped alot in my understanding of conflict and finishing my assignment on time.Thanks so much.Adiza
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