Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Organisational Conflict Literature:A Review


Affiliations
1 Shivaji College, University of Delhi, India
2 Shivaji College in the University of Delhi, India
 

The present research involves a review of organisational conflict literature in an integrated framework. In addition to exploring such basic issues related to organisational conflict as conceptual meaning and definitions of conflict, antecedent conditions or determinants of conflict, desirability of conflict, etc., the paper specifically focuses upon the internal dynamics of a conflict episode. More significantly, the paper highlights the fact that conflict can have either functional or pathological effects depending upon its management. The findings of various research studies analysed point to the fact that the levels of conflict as well as the styles of handling conflict can be suitably varied in different organisational situations with a view to enhancing organisational effectiveness.

Keywords

Conflict, Dynamics, Antecedents, Effects, Management.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Alper, S., Tjosvold, D., & Law, K. S. (2000). Conflict management, efficacy, and performance in organizational teams. Personnel Psychology 53(3), 625-642.
  • Amason, A. C. (1996). Distinguishing the effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict on strategic decision making: Resolving a paradox for top management teams. Academy of management journal, 39(1), 123-148.
  • Applefield, J. M., Huber, R., & Moallem, M. (2000). Constructivism in theory and practice: Toward a better understanding. The High School Journal, 84(2), 35–53.
  • Aram, J. D., Morgan, C. P., & Esbeck, E. B. (1971). Relation of collaborative interpersonal relationships to individual satisfaction and organizational performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 16, 289-296.
  • Argyris, C. (1957). The individual and organization: Some problems of mutual adjustment. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1-24.
  • Argyris, C. (1964). Integrating the Individual and the Organization. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Baron, R. (1997). Positive effects of conflict: Insights from social cognition. In C. De Dreu, & E. Van de Vliert, Using conflict in organizations (pp. 178-192). London: SAGE Publications.
  • Blake, R. R., & Mouton, J. S. (1961). Reactions to intergroup competition under win-lose conditions. Management Science 7(4), 420-435.
  • Blake, R. R., & Mouton, J. S. (1964). The Managerial Grid. Houston: Gulf Publishing.
  • Boulding, K. E. (1962). Conflict and defense: A general theory. Oxford, England: Harper.
  • Bourgeois, L. J. (1985). Strategic goals, environmental uncertainty, and economic performance in volatile environments. Academy of Management Journal, 28, 548-573.
  • Brown, L. D. (1983). Managing conflict at organizational interfaces. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
  • Burke, R. J. (1969). Methods of resolving interpersonal conflict. Personnel Administration, 32(4), 48-55.
  • Burke, R. J. (1970). Methods of resolving superior-subordinate conflict: The constructive use of subordinate differences and disagreements. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 5(4), 393-411.
  • Chung, K. H., & Megginson, L. C. (1981). Organizational behavior: Developing managerial skills. New York: Harper & Row.
  • Coser, L. A. (1956). The functions of social conflict. Vol. 9. New York: Routledge.
  • Coser, L. A. (1967). Continuities in the study of social conflict. New York, US: Free Press.
  • Cosier, R., & Rose, G. (1977). Cognitive conflict and goal conflict effects on task performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 19, 378-391.
  • Coy, P. G., & Woehrle, L. M. (2000). Social conflicts and collective identities. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Dalton, M. (1950). Conflicts between staff and line managerial officers. American sociological review, 342-351.
  • Dalton, M. (1959). Men who Manage. Fusions of feeling and theory in administration. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
  • De Dreu, C. K., Harinck, F., & Van Vianen, A. E. (1999). Conflict and performance in groups and organizations. In C. L. Cooper, & I. T. Robertson, International review of industrial and organizational psychology (p. 14). Chichester: Wiley.
  • DeChurch, L. A., Hamilton, K. L., & Haas, C. (2007). Effects of Conflict Management Strategies on Perceptions of Intragroup Conflict. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 11(1), 66–78.
  • Demmers, J. (2006). Conflict research: Lacunas, mantras and pitfalls. ISYP Journal on Science and World Affairs, 2(2), 99–102.
  • Derr, C. B. (1978). Managing organizational conflict: Collaboration, bargaining, and power approaches. California Management Review (pre- 1986), 21(2), 76.
  • Deutsch, M. (1971). Toward an understanding of conflict. International Journal of Group Tensions.
  • Dutton, J., & Walton, R. (1966). Interdepartmental Conflict and Cooperation: Two Contrasting Studies. Human Organization 25(3), 207-220.
  • Dyer, B., & Song, X. M. (1998). Innovation strategy and sanctioned conflict: a new edge in innovation? Journal of Product Innovation Management, 15(6), 505-519.
  • Eisenhardt, K. M., & Schoonhoven, C. B. (1990). Organizational growth: Linking founding team, strategy, environment, and growth among US semiconductor ventures, 1978-1988. Administrative science quarterly, 504- 529.
  • Evan, W. M. (1965). Superiorsubordinate conflict in research organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52-64.
  • Fink, C. F. (1968). Some conceptual difficulties in the theory of social conflict. Journal of conflict resolution, 412-460.
  • Fiol, C. M. (1994). Consensus, diversity, and learning in organizations. Organization Science, 5(3), 403-420.
  • Follett, M. P. (1941). Dynamic Administration: The Collected Papers of Mary Parker Follett, ed. Metcalfe, H. C. and Urwick, L. Bath: Management Publications Trust.
  • Gero, A. (1985). Conflict avoidance in consensual decision processes. Small Group Research, 16(4), 487-499.
  • Guetzkow, H., & Gyr, J. (1954). An analysis of conflict in decision-making groups. Human relations.
  • Hall, J. (1971). Decisions, decisions, decisions. Psychology Today, 51-54.
  • Hellreigel, D., Slocum, J. W., & Woodman, R. W. (1992). Organisational Behaviour, St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company.
  • Hoffman, L. R. (1959). Homogeneity of member personality and its effect on group problem-solving. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 58(1), 27.
  • Hoffman, L. R., & Maier, N. R. (1961). Quality and acceptance of problem solutions by members of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 62(2), 401.
  • Hoffman, L. R., Harburg, E., & Maier, N. R. (1962). Differences and disagreement as factors in creative group problem solving. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 64(3), 206.
  • Jehn, K. A. (1994). Enhancing effectiveness: An investigation of advantages and disadvantages of valuebased intragroup conflict. International journal of conflict management 5(3), 223-238.
  • Jehn, K. A. (1995). A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Administrative Sciences Quarterly (40), 256–282.
  • Jehn, K. A. (1997). A qualitative analysis of conflict types and dimensions in organizational groups. Administrative science quarterly, 530-557.
  • Jehn, K. A., & Chatman, J. A. (2000). The influence of proportional and perceptual conflict composition on team performance. International Journal of Conflict Management, 11, 56–73.
  • Jehn, K. A., Northcraft, G. B., & Neale, M. A. (1999). Why differences make a difference: A field study of diversity, conflict and performance in workgroups. Administrative science quarterly, 44(4), 741-763.
  • Kabanoff, B. (1986). Type of Power, Affect and Preferences for Different Conflict Modes. Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales.
  • Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R. P., Snoek, J. D., & Rosenthal, R. A. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York: Wiley.
  • Katz, D., & Kahn, R. L. (1978). The social psychology of organizations. New York: Wiley.
  • Kelly, J. (1970). Make conflict work for you. Harvard Business Review 48(4), 103.
  • Lawrence, P. R., & Lorsch, J. W. (1967). Differentiation and integration in complex organisations. Administrative Science Quarterly (12), 1-47.
  • Lax, D. A., & Sebenius, J. K. (1986). Interests: The measure of negotiation. Negotiation Journal 2(1), 73-92.
  • Lederach, J. P. (2000). The cultural dimension. Akron: Mennonite Conciliation Service.
  • Levinger, G. (1957). Kurt Lewin’s approach to conflict and its resolution: A review with some extensions. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 329-339.
  • Litterer, J. A. (1966). Conflict in organization: A re-examination. Academy of Management Journal 9(3), 178-186.
  • Litwak, E. (1961). Models of Bureaucracy Which Permit Conflict. American Journal of Sociology, 177- 184.
  • March, J. G., & Simon, H. A. (1958). Organizations. New. York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
  • Mayer, B. (2000). The dynamics of conflict management: A practitioner’s guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Mayer, C. H., & Louw, L. (2009). Organisational conflict: Reflections on managing conflict, identities and values in a selected South African organisation. SA Journal of Human Resource Management 7(1), 36-48.
  • McGregor, D. (1957). The human side of enterprise. Management Review, 41-49.
  • Menon, A., Bharadwaj, S. G., & Howell, R. (1996). The quality and effectiveness of marketing strategy: Effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict in intraorganizational relationships. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 24(4), 299-313.
  • Olekalns, M. (1997). Conflict at Work: Defining and Resolving Organisational Conflicts. Australian Psychologist (32), 56–61.
  • Ongori, H. (2010). Organisational conflict and its effects on organisational performance. Research Journal of Business Management 4(2), 136-144.
  • Pareek, U. N. (1982). Managing conflict and collaboration. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH Publishing Company.
  • Pelz, C. (1956). Some social factors related to performance in a research organization. Administrative Science Quarterly , 310-325.
  • Pinkley, R. L. (1990). Dimensions of conflict frame: Disputant interpretations of conflict. Journal of applied psychology, 75(2), 117.
  • Pondy, L. R. (1967). Organisational Conflict: Concepts and models. Administrative Science Quarterly (12), 296-320.
  • Pruitt, D. G. (1981). Negotiation Behavior. New York: Academic.
  • Putnam, L. L. (1994). Productive conflict: Negotiation as implicit coordination. International Journal of Conflict Management, 5(3), 284-298.
  • Rahim, A. M., Antonioni, D., & Psenicka, C. (2001). A Structural Equations Model of Leader Power, Subordinates’ Styles of Handling Conflict, and Job Performance. International journal of conflict management, 12(3), 191-211.
  • Rahim, A., & Bonoma, T. V. (1979). Managing organizational conflict: A model for diagnosis and intervention. Psychological reports, 44(3), 1323- 1344.
  • Rahim, M. A. (1985). A strategy for managing conflict in complex organizations. Human Relations, 38(1), 81-89.
  • Rahim, M. A. (2002). Toward a theory of managing organizational conflict. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 13(3), 206–235.
  • Renwick, P. A. (1975). Perception and management of superior-subordinate conflict. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 13(3), 444-456.
  • Robbins, S. P. (1974). Managing organizational conflict: A nontraditional approach. NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  • Roloff, M. E. (1987). Communication and conflict. In C. R. Berger, M. E. Roloff, & D. R. Ewoldsen, Handbook of communication science (pp. 484-534). Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications.
  • Ross , R. (1989). Conflict. In R. Ross, & J. Ross, Small Groups in Organizational Settings (pp. 139–178). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  • Schweiger, D. M., Sandberg, W. R., & Raga, J. W. (1986). Group approaches for improving strategic decision making: a comparative analysis of dialectical enquiry, devil’s advocacy and consensus. Academy of Management Journal, 29(1), 51 71.
  • Seiler, J. A. (1963). Diagnosing interdepartmental conflict. Harvard Business Review 41(5), 121-132.
  • Sharma, R. A., & Samantara, R. (1994). Conflict management in an Indian firm: A case study. Decision, 21(4), 235.
  • Simon, H. A. (1964). On the Concept of Organizational Goal. Administrative Science Quarterly 9(1), 1-22.
  • Song, M., Dyer, B., & Thieme, R. J. (2006). Conflict management and innovation performance: An integrated contingency perspective. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34(3), 341-356.
  • Stagner, R. (1956). Psychology of industrial conflict. Oxford, England: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Stagner, R., & Rosen, H. (1965). Psychology of union-management relations. Oxford, England: Wadsworth Pub. Co., Inc.
  • Steers, M. R., & Black , J. S. (1994). Organizational behavior. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers.
  • Straus, M. A. (1964). Measuring Families. In H. T. Christenson, Handbook of Marriage and the Family. Chicago: Rand McNally.
  • Sullivan, P. J., & Feltz, D. L. (2001). The relationship between intrateam conflict and cohesion within hockey teams. Small Group Research, 32(3), 342-355.
  • Thibaut, J. W., & Kelley, H. H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. New York: Wiley.
  • Thomas, J. E. (1972). The English prison officer since 1850: A study in conflict. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  • Thomas, K. W. (1971). Conflicthandling modes in interdepartmental relations. Purdue University.
  • Thomas, K. W. (1976). Conflict and Conflict Management. In M. D. Dunettee, Handbook of Industrial and Organisational Psychology (pp. 889- 935). Chicago: Rand McNally.
  • Thompson, J. D. (1960). Organizational management of conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 389-409.
  • Tjosvold, D., & Chia, L. C. (1989). Conflict between managers and workers: The role of cooperation and competition. The Journal of social psychology, 129(2), 235-247.
  • Turner, M. E., & Pratkanis, A. R. (1997). Mitigating groupthink by stimulating constructive conflict. In C. K. De Dreu, & E. Van de Vliert, Using conflict in organizations (pp. 53–71). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Van de Vliert, E., Nauta, A., Giebels, E., & Janssen, O. (1999). Constructive conflict at work. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20(4), 475-491.
  • Wall, J. A., & Callister, R. R. (1995). Conflict and its management. Journal of management 21(3), 515-558.
  • Wall, V. D., & Nolan, L. L. (1986). Perceptions of inequity, satisfaction, and conflict in task-oriented groups. Human Relations, 39(11), 1033-1051.
  • Walton, R. E. (1965). Theory of conflict in lateral organisational relationships. In J. R. Lawrence, Operational research and the social science. London: Tavistock.
  • Walton, R. E. (1972). Inter- Organisational decision-making and identity conflict. In M. F. Tuite, R. Chisholm, & M. Radnor , Inter- Organisational Decision-making. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co.
  • Walton, R. E., & Dutton, J. M. (1969). The management of interdepartmental conflict: A model and review. Administrative Science Quarterly (14), 73-84.
  • Walton, R. E., & McKersie, R. B. (1965). A behavioral theory of labor relations. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Walton, R. E., & McKersie, R. B. (1966). Behavioral dilemmas in mixed motive decision making. Behavioral Science 11(5), 370-384.
  • Wheaton, B. (1974). Interpersonal conflict and cohesiveness in dyadic relationships. Sociometry, 37, 328–348.
  • Zald, M. N. (1962). Power balance and staff conflict in correctional institutions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22- 49.

Abstract Views: 665

PDF Views: 18




  • Organisational Conflict Literature:A Review

Abstract Views: 665  |  PDF Views: 18

Authors

Rabinarayan Samantara
Shivaji College, University of Delhi, India
Nidhi Sharma
Shivaji College in the University of Delhi, India

Abstract


The present research involves a review of organisational conflict literature in an integrated framework. In addition to exploring such basic issues related to organisational conflict as conceptual meaning and definitions of conflict, antecedent conditions or determinants of conflict, desirability of conflict, etc., the paper specifically focuses upon the internal dynamics of a conflict episode. More significantly, the paper highlights the fact that conflict can have either functional or pathological effects depending upon its management. The findings of various research studies analysed point to the fact that the levels of conflict as well as the styles of handling conflict can be suitably varied in different organisational situations with a view to enhancing organisational effectiveness.

Keywords


Conflict, Dynamics, Antecedents, Effects, Management.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.23862/kiit-parikalpana%2F2016%2Fv12%2Fi2%2F132971