Conflict in Organization: A Re-Examination.

Increasing Advisor Effectiveness by Understanding Conflict and Conflict Resolution

“…For many, the word conflict connotes a negative encounter that arises from a disagreement between individuals or a person's dissatisfaction with others or the environment (Costantino & Merchant, 1996;Kreitner & Kinicki, 2001;Litterer, 1966;Schein, 1992;Smith, 1966). However, definitions that focus on the negative aspects of conflict are rarely useful because they create a perception that conflict should be avoided.…”

The conflict management style of staff nurses and nurse managers

“…Conflicts are considered to be nomial and inevitable consequences of sociai and orgamzahonal life (Coser 1956) Dahrendorf (1959) and Mosca (1939) claim further that no human soaety or soaal group exists that does not possess some conflict between the wishes or mtent of individuals, while Kahn ei al (1964) state that one might well make a case for mterpretmg some conflict as essentiai for the conhnued development of mature and competent human beings Conflict can occur m any aspect of human interachon Ccmflict in perspective Conflict typically has been viewed as an mdicahon of orgamzahonal and mterpersonal dysfunchon Mayo (1945) contends that organizahons should attempt to avoid conflict wherever possible Tiie human relations movement, that emphasizes the potentiai p>ersonal and orgaruzahonal costs of conflict, also believes conflict must be purged from the orgamzahonal sethng (Kelly 1970, Litterer 1966 There are conflict theonsts, however, who believe that some degree of interpersonal and organizational conflict can serve useful funchons (Lewis 1976, O'Connor 1978, Schmidt & Tannenbaum 1960) Deutsch (1971 states that conflict IS often part of the process of testing and assessing one's self and, as such, may be highly enjoyable as one expenences the pleasure of full and active use of one's capaahes Kielinen (1978) and Schallenberger (1981) contend that conflict provides the opportunity to bnng about change while avoiding stagnahon and boredom…”

When Change Agents Manage Change

“…Also, employee participation creates a climate that gives change agents the opportunity to clarify and further legitimize the change process, while give employees the opportunity to create understandings that contribute to their subsequent acceptance of the change (Barrett, Thomas & Hocevar, 1995 [19] show that employee resistance can act as an alarm system that alerts change agents and top management about issues and systems that require further attention and review because they may be unsuitable or not properly planned, therefore they adjust the pace, scope of change and its implementation in order to avoid negative outcomes and help the organization sustain high levels of performance. In this case resistance becomes a critical source of innovation (Bovey & Hede, 2001) [12], energy (Thomas & Bennis, 1972) [38], creativity (Litterer, 1973) [30], and partnership (Kim & Mauborgne, 2003[28]; Kotter, 1995) [29]. On the other hand, when employees react to the change with prompt unthoughtful acceptance and support to the change process, they risk eroding this acceptance and support as change progresses, thus undermining its long-term viability (Duck, 2001) [18].…”