STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING CONFLICT IN AN ORGANISATION

Abstract

This present paper proffers some suggestions on how organisations can manage conflict so that it
does not disrupt their operations. Conflict, if not dealt with properly, can cause serious damage
to an organisation. A huge amount of energy can go into internal conflicts, petty disputes and
personal battles. Good managers spot conflicts as or even before they arise and deal with them
as effectively and efficiently as if they were dealing with fires in the building. Organisations are
living systems consisting of interacting units performing a task in a mutually dependant manner
within a structure of scarce resources. It seems common place to suggest that conflicts would be
present in such a setting. The parties in an organisation may have a conflict about the
distribution of resources, or they may have a more fundamental conflict about the very structure
of their organisation and the basic nature of their interaction. Once the parties are in a situation
of goal incompatibility, their conflict develops in a dynamic fashion, initiating valuable and
much-needed constructive changes or leading to escalating strategies and destructive
consequences. Managers must accept the need to influence the developmental dynamics of a
conflict so that the parties’ attitudes and actions will lead to better coordination and a more
appropriate interdependence. They must not seek to stifle or eliminate organisational conflict;
for that is hardly a realistic goal. The challenge managers face is to utilise such conflict
management techniques that would ensure that as a conflict passes from a latent to a manifest
phase, it proceeds towards its potential and realizes its constructive values.