Types of Conflicts

Types of conflicts are:

Conflict within the individual

• The conflict within the individual is usually value related, where role-playing expected of the individual does not conform to the values and beliefs possessed by the individual. For example, a secretary may have to lie on instructions that her boss is not in the office to avoid an unwanted visitor or an unwanted telephone call.
• This may cause a conflict within the mind of the secretary who may have developed a habit of telling the truth. Similarly, many Indians who are vegetarians and come to America and find it very hard to remain vegetarians may question the necessity of the vegetarian philosophy thus causing conflict in their minds.
• In addition to these value conflicts, a person may be faced with role conflict. For example, a telephone operator may be advised and required to be polite to the customers by her supervisor, who may also complain that she is spending too much time with her customers.

Interpersonal Conflict

• Interpersonal conflict involves conflict between two or more individuals and is probably the most frequent and most recognized conflict. This may involve conflict between two managers who are competing for limited capital and manpower resources. This conflict can become further serious when scarce resources cannot be shared and must be attained.
• Another type of interpersonal conflict can relate to disagreements over goals and objectives of the organization. For example, some members of a board of directors of a school may want to offer courses in sex education while others may find this proposal offensive, therefore causing interpersonal conflict among the members of the board. These interpersonal conflicts are often the results of personality clashes.

Conflict between the individual and the group

• All formal groups and informal groups have established certain norms of behaviour and operational standards that all members are expected to conform to.
• For example, if a group is going on strike for some reason, some members of the group may not agree with these reasons or simply may not be economically able to afford to go on strike, thus causing conflict with the group. This conflict may also be between the manager and a group of subordinates or between the leader and the followers. A manager may take disciplinary action against a member of the group causing conflict with the group and this may result in reduced productivity.

Intergroup conflict

• The intergroup conflicts are not so much personal in nature as they are due to factors intrinsic in the organizational structure. For example, One of the most common conflicts is between the line and the staff members of the organization. The line managers may bear a grudge on their dependence on staff for information and recommendations. The staff may feel bitter about their inability to implement directly their own decisions and recommendations. This interdependence causes intergroup conflict.

Inter-organizational conflict

This conflict may be between buyer organizations and supplier organizations about quantity, quality, and delivery times of raw materials and other policy issues. Such conflict could also be between unions and organizations employing their members, between government agencies that regulate certain organizations and the organizations that are affected by them.

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