CONFLICT IS INEVITABLE IN AN ORGANISATION
By Joseph Nkhata Junior
Causes, Impact and Solution
In every organisation people work together to achieve shared goals. However, this becomes a problem at some point since individuals have different backgrounds, values, personalities, and interests (Brookins & Media, 2008) as cited in Isa (2015, p. 55). These differences often lead to disagreement. For this reason, many scholars argue that conflict is inevitable in an organisation. Boateng (2014, p. 1), argues that conflict is part of social and business life hence, it is found everywhere, it is an inevitable part of living because it is related to situations of scarce resources, division of functions, power relations and role-differentiation. This essay discusses why conflict cannot be avoided, the types and causes of conflict, and how organisations can manage conflict effectively.
Isa (2015, p. 55) argues that poor communication is one of the main causes of conflict between employees in the workplace. This can result in a difference in communication styles or a failure to communicate. For example, a manager reassigned an employee’s task to the employee’s coworker but failed to communicate the reassignment to the employee. This may cause the employee to feel slighted, which can transform into animosity among the two employees and the manager. Failing to communicate in the workplace may cause employees to make incorrect assumptions and breeds workplace gossip (Isa, 2015, p. 55). Poor communication in the workplace not only causes conflict but also decreases productivity and employee morale.
The scarcity of resources in an organization provides greater chance for a conflict situation. Resource scarcity leads to a conflict because each person that needs the same resources necessarily undermines others who pursue their own goals. Limited resources may include money, opportunity, supplies, people or information (Omisore & Abiodun, 2014, p. 126)
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For example, when a company have few gadgets such as computers that may be allocates to employees on a need to have basis in the company. When a group of employees have access to such gadgets while others do not, conflict may arise among employees or between employees and management. Boateng (2018, p.1) argues that the principle of sharing is long recognized as being central to resolving the organizational conflict and improves management performance. Therefore, there should be an administrative policy on how to share the available resources more equitable and sustainably in order to avoid conflict in organization.
Conflict within an organization can cause members to become frustrated if they feel like there’s no solution in sight, or if they feel that their opinions go unrecognized by other group members. As a result, members become stressed, which adversely affects their professional and personal lives. Organization members may have problems sleeping, loss of appetite or Overeating, headaches and become unapproachable. In some instances, organization members may avoid meetings to prevent themselves from experiencing stress and stress related Symptoms (Kehinde, 2011, p. 45)
The accommodating strategy. According to Attah (2019, p. 662), this essentially entails giving the opposing side what it wants. The use of accommodation often occurs when one of the parties wishes to keep the peace or perceives the issue as minor. For example, a business that requires formal dress may institute a “casual Friday” policy as a low-stakes means of keeping the peace with the rank and file. Employer who uses accommodation and provision of good working condition as a primary conflict management strategy, however, may keep track and promote quality management performance.
Conflict is indeed inevitable in an organization since people have different personalities and backgrounds, making it challenging for them to work together without disagreements. If not handled properly, these conflicts can decrease the productivity of an organization. The best way to address this is to resolve conflicts in a way that satisfies all parties involved, for the benefit of the organization.
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