As same as physics in which two pieces of matter cannot occupy the same space at the same time, two divergent or even different interests cannot occupy the same decision and therefore conflict arises.
In the Organisational level, these interests could also be needs and values that come to a state of discord. In class we saw a definition that could be valuable to understand conflict.
When one encounters “any situation in which incompatible goals, attitudes, emotions or behaviours lead to disagreement or opposition for two or more parties”1; then one comes to see conflict.
[1] Available at http://ir.polytechnic.edu.na/bitstream/10628/200/1/Wambui.%20Conflict%20management.pdf
The biggest conflict ever seen by mankind, apart from the war of the sexes, of course, is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which two groups of people see as holy a land which they are reluctant to share. This goes so deep that nobody has been able to bring about a solution which will grant effective and satisfactory decision making and solution to the conflict. This is due the fact of being a win-lose situation anyway.
Conflict could be divided into:
- Functional: when it is a constructive disagreement, which could bring a better solution.
- Dysfunctional: when it is a destructive disagreement, which aggravates everything.
There are also 5 forms of Conflict, which deal with the individual and the group:
1. Inter-Organisational: Two or more organisations could argue about mergers and acquisition or takeovers. Inter means from one to another.
2. Inter-Group: There could be a raise a conflict of interests when they are not dealt properly between teams or groups.
3. Intra-Group: It happens when within the group itself a conflict is formed.
4. Inter-personal: Between two or more people.
5. Intra-personal: Within the individual himself.
Luckily not all is lost, for that there is the field of Conflict resolution, which is a variety of ways of managing conflict before resorting to attacking which include several forms, such as:
- Negotiation: “is a problem-solving process in which two or more people voluntarily discuss their differences and attempt to reach a joint decision on their common concerns. Negotiation requires participants to identify issues about which they differ, educate each other about their needs and interests, generate possible settlement options and bargain over the terms of the final agreement. Successful negotiations generally result in some kind of exchange or promise being made by the negotiators to each other.”2
- Mediation: “is an informal and confidential way for people to resolve disputes with the help of a neutral mediator who is trained to help people discuss their differences. The mediator does not decide who is right or wrong or issue a decision. Instead, the mediator helps the parties work out their own solutions to problems.”3
- Arbitration: “Arbitration is a dispute resolution process in which the disputing parties present their case to a third party intermediary (or a panel of arbitrators) who examine all the evidence and then make a decision for the parties. This decision is usually binding. Like court-based adjudication, arbitration is adversarial. The presentations are made to prove one side right, the other wrong. Thus the parties assume they are working against each other, not cooperatively. Arbitration is generally not as formal as court adjudication, however, and the rules can be altered to some extent to meet the parties’ needs.”4
Finally, one must remember that men by nature are territorial and would fight among each other if resources are scarce, therefore one should implement a proper way of Conflict resolution to achieve a better status-quo for everybody.
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