Impact of Conflict Management At Workplace: A Methodological and Thematic Review

 

Alok Mishra¹, Ashish Chaudhary¹, Hiren Sharma¹, Smita Mehendale²

¹MBA Student, Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, Maharashtra, India,

²Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune Maharashtra, India,

 

ABSTRACT:

Conflicts are a routine phenomenon in every organizations. With the current workforce coming from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds along with demanding performance parameters necessitating cross functional teams, conflicts are an integral part of our work life and hence a critical area for ongoing research. A systematic review of literature methodology has been adopted in this article to identify the methodologies used and thrust areas on which substantial research in conflict management has been conducted in the past. In all 30 articles were reviewed and resulted in four major themes emerging namely -impact of conflict management on performance, achieving goals, styles of conflict management, effective management of conflicts. Methodological review brought to light the predominant qualitative research in this area along with other fragmented approaches. For contemporary understanding of conflict management, quantitative research and theory based approach are needed for expanding our knowledge and resolutions of conflict in our evolving workplaces.

 

 

1. INTRODUCTION

Conflict can be described as specific kind of social interaction process between two parties who have mutually exclusive or incompatible values (Mack and Snyder, 1957). It can be defined as struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power, and resources (Boulding, 1962). If there are no agreed rules in allocating these resources, the efforts to obtain those become more intense or sometimes the norm might exist, but they do not keep pace with the expectations of the people, which change with the environment.

 

Some of the other aspects include conflict is a natural outcome of human interactions, which begins when one individual perceives that his or her goals, attitudes, values or beliefs are incongruent with those of other individual (Rahim, 2000). The conflict can arise within an individual or between two individuals or groups. The effectiveness of individuals, teams and entire organizations depend on how they manage interpersonal conflict at work (Tjosvold, 1998). Managers spend an average of 20 percent of their time managing conflict (Thomas, 1992) and evidence suggests conflict and conflict management at work substantially influences individual, group and organizational effectiveness, as well as wellbeing, as indicated by health companies and doctor visits. (Dreuetal, 1999) (Spector and Jex, 1998). Since conflict management at work is very important, it is necessary to develop and have instruments which are valid and reliable. These instruments are of use to the researchers in collecting data from individuals and from groups to diagnose the study of conflict management at work. To analyze conflict, it is important to understand its origin and development. Evolution of conflict can be studied under different era starting from 1930s till modern times. These timelines are also known as perspectives of traditional views, human relation view and interactionist view. Traditional view dates back to 1930s-1940s where conflict was seen as a negative factor. It was synonymously viewed with violence, destruction and irrationality. It was not socially accepted and people thought of avoiding it at any cost. Human relations view was the time when conflict management concept was considered. A problem-solving approach was introduced at political and social level. After Second World War in 1945, world understood conflict is inevitable and this motivated to solve conflict rationally by mutual understanding or common path resolution. After 1970s, world was developing at a faster pace when conflict was a part of daily lives especially politically. This gave birth to Interactionist view where conflicts are understood as positive encouragement force. They are considered as positive force and necessity for all. This led to alliances of power a major example, end of cold war between USA and USSR. Collaboration led to establishments of universities, courses and research was conducted in the field. It led to a study of sociology and roles of personal and emotional factors in conflict which resulted in better handling of conflict. In this paper, we discuss types of conflicts, several styles of conflict management, the effect of conflict on the performance of the group and the organization, the effect of conflict on personal goals as well as several styles of conflict management so as to manage conflict at work level as well as personal level in order to increase the effectiveness of the individual and the team, which results in increase in the productivity and effectiveness of the organization.

 

 

Figure 1: Number of yearly academic articles published in English on the topic of Conflict Management in the Scopus Database

2. SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW METHODOLOGY:

Generally, literature review in management is considered as boring, one dimensional, biased and impractical. In medical field various methodologies has been adopted including more logical and systematic methods resulting in accurate and transparent results. In this paper, following are the guidelines for the systematic literature review methods. We confer subsections of the scope, relevant literature and review papers are included in this section.

 

1.             

2.             

2.1.            Scope of the review:

The scope in current review is defined by two sets of criteria form and content. In terms of form, this review contains academic journals which are ‘certified knowledge’ as they have gone through various critics. It excludes non-academic articles, book chapters and editorials. Magazines and interviews are also considered. In terms of content, we used modes of expression. Emotions are expressed in written or oral way which is non-measurable value. Literature review on the methods is excluded from this review. Different moods and their relationship are also excluded.

 

2.2.  Identification of relevant Literature:

The process of conducting literature review is in two phases, July 2017 and August 2017. In first phase, we searched extensively on history, background and views related to conflict management. We used the key words like ‘conflict’, ‘organizational conflict’, ‘response to conflict’, ‘expression of conflict’ and ‘personal conflict management’. Databases like Emerald, Scopus, Ebsco, JSTOR and Web of knowledge were looked into. These databases are chosen because they provide quality and varied scrutinized content with pertinent to management and research.

 

This round yielded more results than expected. Total results found were 2350 sample of articles. This search results are included from article titles, keywords in abstract, journal and year of publication. From this, duplicates were removed, resulting in initial sample size of 970. On the basis of year, last ten years of literature is reviewed leading to reduction in sample to 340. On further using filtration parameters like language, affiliations, document type and subject area 30 articles were shortlisted for extensive review (Fig 1). These articles were extracted and full texts were examined on the basis of our form and content criteria. Relevance and compliance were also examined by the authors and issues were settled with jointreview.In the second phase, same keywords are used again to search for articles in academic databases and results were verified. Authors worked on the articles on the basis of criteria like objective, methodology used, sampling technique, conclusion, limitations, implications, theme and model. All the results were analyzed to find out the knowledge gap and variables required under the scope of this paper. Variables are correlated theoretically (dependency) to work on models.(Table-1)

 

3.      METHODOLOGICAL REVIEW:

In this review, we primarily focus on methods used in different articles, to find different strategies used to analyze the best outcome.

 

 

Table 1: Database search protocol in the first and second rounds

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2: Methodologies identified in the searched literature

Database	Scope and search criteria	First round		Second round
		Date of search Number of items		Date of search Number of items
Emerald	Search: journal, research paper Subject: HR & organizational behaviour, Literature review Search: Abstract or scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals	07-12-2017	111	31/7/2017	129
Ebsco Discovery Science	Source types: Academic Journals, Language:English, Subject: Organizational Behavior Search: Academic journals	07-12-2017	87	31/7/2017	87
Scopus	Subject Area: Business, Management and accounting Document Type: article Serach:journals,	07-12-2017	46	31/7/2017	50
JSTOR	Subject area: Management & Organizational Behavior Document type: Article	07-12-2017	171	31/7/2017	171
Total			415		437

 

In an organization due to different demographic, emotional, physical and environmental factors approach toward conflict management is different (Zikic, Aneta and Igor, 2012).We have analyzed each publication and their method of research in these articles. All these articles are majorly based on qualitative and non-empirical based.

 

 

Figure 2: Flow chart of the second phase of the systematic literature review process of literature on the topic of Conflict Management.

 

Some articles have used surveys and their results are elaborately analyzed by choosing a particular geographic region (M. Afzalur Rahim, 2016). Other methods less used were case studies, content analysis, focus group and community study. Qualitative analysis was used in 63.33% (n=19) of the articles we reviewed. Themes in each paper are different relating to different constructs. Most of these constructs are not measurable directly thus direct quantitative analysis or empirical study is not possible.

 

Articles were analyzed on particular sample size due to constraints of sampling and reducing extraneous factors. External validity other than statistical validity is required(Shin, 2008). In the recent years statistical tools are used more frequently to support the thesis. Of all the reviewed articles conflict management strategy is generalized into Thomas-Kilmann Model of conflict handling styles.

 

4.      THEMATIC REVIEW:

The main themes of this reviewed literature were identified by all the three authors. Each author went through all the key words in the ten articles each as well as their abstracts before coming to a conclusion about the recurring themes after going through all the articles. The result was the main themes noted were performance with 11 articles, achieving goals with 8 articles, effective management with 6 articles and conflict management with 5 articles.

 

These themes combine to form an effective conflict study in the organization, the effects of the conflicts in the organization, the reasons behind the conflicts and how they the conflicts can be in a controlled manner to bring out the best in the employees in various fields of the organization and the positive effects of conflicts which lead to a better working environment where the goals are achieved including organizational goals as well as personal goals(Starters, 2016). The reason behind various themes in the articles can be due to varying level of interests of the authors, but an evident reason can be the current practices being followed in the organizations in today’s world.

 

 

Chart 1: Major themes identified during the review process

 

4.1.  Performance:

Performance was at the top of the themes for conflict management as 11 out of 30 papers talked about the effect of conflict on the performance of the team. Teams are used to improve the quality, reduce the cost and help develop new products to help organization survive the competition in the market. These teams however face many issues and sometimes result into conflicts in regards of ideas or opinions and they must know how to control these conflicts in order to be successful. Teams which are confident about themselves succeed in their tasks and productivity whereas teams which are not confident about their conflict management skills lag behind, they become demoralized and their effectiveness drops to a low level(Moreno, 2015).

 

In traditional hierarchy, a person having some problem should report to its manager and the manager comes to a solution to the problem whereas if teams are used, which are self-managing, employees are supposed to come to a solution themselves and resolve the conflict so as to maintain the performance of the team at a high level. The employees are trained in quality management and they are in charge to slow down or pace up the production, their inclusion in the solution of the conflicts increase their ownership in the problem and they must be more committed to implement their solutions and in turn increase the performance and productivity. In some organization, there is a culture of people managers, where their role is concerned with employee welfare but more than that their role is to contribute to the organization’sperformance(Moreno, 2015). This has become a part of the HRM function and seeing to this HRM has come up with many new policies to manage employees such as: performance related pay systems.

 

4.2.  Achieving Goals:

Achieving goals is the second most considered theme for conflict management with 8 papers mentioning it. The employee or the team in an organization is given some specific goals and the team is supposed to achieve the goals without any delays or being low in productivity due to the conflicts in the organization. The goals are organization provided and there are some goals set up for personal benefit also. The conflicts can make the team or individual divert from the primary goals and this is not good for the organization and the team or individual employee as well(Jessica, 2011). We can see in IT companies, for developing a program there are many teams who are responsible for developing of different parts for the program. There are program goals as well as project level goals. Both of these are interdependent and failing of anyone of these goals lead to failure of overall goal of the program(Moreno, 2015). A program requires that each team of having project gaol considers program gaol as high priority to push the completion of the program.

 

There can be conflict due to the independent goals and perspectives in the IT program, here the solution proposed is that the members of the groups should come together and they should examine the various dimensions of the issue and come to a common solution such as that there should be no individual winner or individual loser. The feeling of commitment and positivity that a person gets after arriving at a solution is shared by all the team members. Unless all key members of a program are committed to IT program goals, they may pursue their own personal goals and interests instead of the goals created for the higher purpose. Conflicts lead to less interaction and decrease in trust, which leads to more conflict and it has a negative effect on the development of the software, which in turn leads to reduction in client satisfaction. Therefore, it is important to resolve conflict between project teams and deciding the ways to accomplish the collective goal is a must issue in successfully managing the programs.

 

4.3.  Effective Management:

Effective management is taken as the third important theme in conflict management with 6 articles talking about it from the thirty articles. Managing the conflict in the organization is the most crucial step in the resolving of conflicts but it is very important to effectively manage the conflicts as if not managed effectively it can have a negative effect and the conflicts can increase instead of decreasing and it can lead to loss in productivity, performance of the team and the team goals can be overtaken by individual goals(Chaterjee, 2006). For this purpose HRM employ people managers who along with achieving the goals set up by the company also see to it that if any conflict arises in the team or group, it is managed effectively and they are trained for such effective managing. Effective management of the conflicts make sure that the conflicts do not get negative and how conflict can be beneficial to a company. One form of interpersonal conflict in the work place is bullying. Workplace bullying is the interpersonal hostility and imbalance of power between the members of the organization involved. There are 2 conflicting parties here, they can be individual, groups or subgroups with obstruction being faced one sided or two sided and also the irritation. The bullying is the escalated form of interpersonal conflicts which were managed badly. A climate needs to be created for conflicts management so that employees believe that inter personal conflicts are managed well and also that the distribution of burdens and benefits are fair in the organization(Moreno, 2015). This can also be in the case of sexual harassment where the men are seen as more prone to harass women in the office where the management is seen as tolerant towards such kind of incidents.

 

A strong climate for conflict management indicates that the employees believe and perceive the management as very motivated and also obliged to intervene in the conflicts arising in the organization and the employees see the decision of the management as fair and this leads to more control of the management over the employees.

 

4.4.  Styles of Conflict Management:

Conflict management styles is one of the most important theme of conflict management as every conflict has to be resolved in a specific style as the conflict can lead to negative growth of the organization instead of growing positively. The key to conflict management is the application of the appropriate management style to an appropriate situation.

 

Rahim (2011) outlines five styles for management of conflict based on a five factor model first introduced by Rahim and Bonoma in 1979. The first style is the Integrating style which is about open exchange of the information through which some innovative solution might come out. The second style is about obliging where the concern of other party is accommodated over own concerns. The third style is dominating style where the party is hell bent on winning at any cost. The fourth style is avoiding where the party in conflict tend to have a passive approach and does not face the other party and eventually there is no solution or resolution and the conflict is evaded. The fifth style is compromising; here both the parties are ready to forget the conflict and move ahead so as to benefit both of them and both mutually agree to a solution.

 

A conflict is seen as beneficial as it generates debates and discussions which lead to higher levels of performance but the conflict must be task related and not personal else it leads to limiting the cognitive thinking of the group, leading to reduction in work loyalty and satisfaction. Another intelligence seen as a requisite for conflict management is emotional intelligence. A positive relation is seen between emotional intelligence and conflict management styles also with the performance of the team which is on a task of solving a problem(Zikic, 2012).

 

As per the experiment done by Thingujam and Godse in 2010, they found that controlling all dimensions of personality, there was a correlation more than zero between understanding emotions externally and integrating conflict management style. There are many conflict styles used as per the situation and the conflict but the most commonly used ones are the five styles given by Rahim.

 

5.      LIMITATIONS:

Limitations of this review can be understood with the keywords selected for the review. Conflict Management in itself covers various aspects which can lead to study in different areas of study. Constructs selected for this review were limited with scope and timeline of the study.These constructs are vastly dependent on demographic and personal factors which are not part of this review. Also, while selecting and excluding review papers for literature review biases can’t be ignored. Even predefined criteria of research methodology was implemented these biases can’t be ignored.

 

6.      DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH:

Suggestions for future research itself comes from literature review of the articles. Methodologically, case studies on various geographical areas, work culture, organization culture and work structure can be studied. Statistical and quantitative analysis on this theme are less. More study in the relevant field can help in quantifying the value and hence references drawn will be much supported.

 

Themes selected for review can also be further investigated in relation with different constructs of response to conflict and individual’s style.

 

Performance can be studied along with integrated efforts of organization and policies of organization in handling conflict. Other less frequently explored themes like job satisfaction which constitute both organization and individual (Dreu, 2001).

 

Achieving Goals is majorly related with personal fulfillment and perception. Theme can be related with individual’s behavior in group and influence on personality (Bostrom, 1994).

 

Effective Management can be connected with theme of manager’s quotient or use of emotional intelligence in handling conflict. This theme can be of immense importance in today’s dynamic and multicultural group environment (Atteya, 2013).

 

Conflict Management Styles are generalized in Thomas Kilmann model. This model forms the base of conflict handling. Apart from using this model alonenew models can be developed using technology.

 

7.      CONCLUSION:

It is an arduous task to do literature review on such vast topic of conflict. Conflict can have positive or negative effect. Out of 30 identified reviews as persystematic review methodology we categorized four themes performance, achieving goals, effective management and conflict management styles.Also, we have identified that quantitative analysis are few as compared to qualitative. As theme deals with variables of distinct aspects which are not quantifiable it is seen that reviews are supported with seldom statistics. Case studies have improved details numerically but are limited with lack of qualitative factors.

 

In the end, it is right to say that conflict management can have practical benefits and implications at the same time. Conflict cannot be ignored but can be utilized as a tool to improve(Goel, 2012).

 

8. REFERENCES:

1.     Afzalur Rahim, M., Psenicka, C., Polychroniou, P., Zhao, J. H., Yu, C. S., Anita Chan, K., and Ferdausy, S. (2002). A model of emotional intelligence and conflict management strategies: A study in seven countries. The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 10(4), 302-326.

2.     Atteya, N. M. (2013). Examining the Effect of the Conflict Management Strategies on Job Performance. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 13(1/2), 83.

3.     Bizman, A., and Yinon, Y. (2004). Intergroup conflict management strategies as related to perceptions of dual identity and separate groups. The Journal of social psychology, 144(2), 115-126.

4.     De Dreu, C. K., Evers, A., Beersma, B., Kluwer, E. S., and Nauta, A. (2001). A theory‐based measure of conflict management strategies in the workplace. Journal of organizational behavior, 22(6), 645-668.

5.     Flynn, S. I. (2014). Managing conflict within organizations through negotiations. Great Neck Publishing. Management strategies: a study in seven countries. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 10(4), 302-326.

6.     Jameson, J. K. (2001). Employee perceptions of the availability and use of interest‐based, right‐based, and power‐based conflict management strategies. Conflict resolution quarterly, 19(2), 163-196.

7.     Martínez-Moreno, E., Zornoza, A., Orengo, V., and Thompson, L. F. (2015). The effects of team self-guided training on conflict management in virtual teams. Group Decision and Negotiation, 24(5), 905-923.

8.     Miranda, S. M., and Bostrom, R. P. (1993). The impact of group support systems on group conflict and conflict management. Journal of Management Information Systems, 10(3), 63-95.

9.     Rahim, M. A. (2017). Reducing job burnout through effective conflict management strategy. Intelligence, Sustainability, and Strategic Issues in Management: Current Topics in Management, 18, 201-212.

10.   Shin, J. H. (2009). Developing constructive and proactive conflict management strategies in healthcare. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 2(1), 78-94.

11.   Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update. Journal of organizational behavior, 13(3), 265-274.

12.   Žikić, S., Marinović, A., and Trandafilović, I. (2012). Promotion of Conflict Management Strategies in Terms of Modern Business Megatrend Review, 9(1).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Received on 20.11.2017                Modified on 30.12.2017

Accepted on 20.01.2018           ©A&V Publications All right reserved