PPM 315: CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN

PROJECTS

LECTURE: INTRODUCTION TO CONFLICT

 Learning Objectives
By the end of this lecture, the learner should be
able to:
 Define the term conflict
 Explain why conflict situations arise at both
individual and organizational levels
 Describe conflict structure and elements
 Explain the stages of conflict process
 Definition
Conflict is difficult to define, because it occurs in
many different settings.
The essence of conflict seems to be disagreement,
contradiction, or incompatibility.
Thus, CONFLICT refers to any situation in which there
are incompatible Goals, Cognitions, or Emotions
within or between individuals or groups that lead
to opposition or antagonistic interaction.
Conflict is a 'clash of interests, values, actions, views
or directions.'
 Definition cont’d…
 The definition recognizes three basic types of
conflict:
 Goal conflict is situation in which desired end
states or preferred outcomes appear to be
incompatible.
 Cognitive Conflict is a situation in which ideas or
thoughts are inconsistent.
 Affective Conflict is a situation in which feelings or
emotions are incompatible; that is, people literally
become angry with one another.
 Why conflicts arise?
 People differ, so they:
 see things differently
 want different things
 have different thinking styles, which prompts them to
disagree
 are predisposed to disagree
 have different personalities
 have different status
 have ideological and philosophical differences
 have different goals
 have different approaches
 are influenced by fear, force, fairness or funds
 Conflicts in Organizations
Conflict is very common in organizational
settings
This is not necessarily a negative feature - the
resolution of conflict often leads to constructive
problem solving.
Conflict exists in many forms other than the form
that can result from competition, and managers
should understand the different ways of conflict
resolution.
Thus examines conflict from a variety of view
points.
Conditions leading to conflict situations in
organizations
 Ambiguous jurisdictions
 Conflict of interest
 Communication barriers
 Dependence on one party
 Differentiation in organization
 Association of the parties
 Behaviour regulation
 Performance expectations
 Competition for limited resources
 Lack of cooperation
 Unresolved prior conflicts
 Effects of conflicts in organizations
The effects can be categorized into two:
a) Positive effects:
 Diffuses more serious conflicts - In organizations where
members participate in decision making, disputes are
usually minor which minimizes the likelihood of major
fights.
 Stimulates a search for new facts or resolutions -
conflict resolution process may help in clarifying the
facts and stimulating a search for mutually acceptable
solutions
 Increases group cohesion and performance
 Demonstrates measure of power or ability
Effects of conflicts in organizations
b) Negative effects:
 Hinders smooth working
 Hampers the decision making process
 Causes the formation of competing coalitions
 Reduces productivity
 The overall result of such negative effects is to
reduce employees' commitment to
organizational goals and organizational
efficiency (Kirchoff and Adams, 1982).
 Conflict as a process
Conflict is a dynamic process
In any organization a modest amount of conflict can
be useful in increasing organizational effectiveness.
Tosi, Rizzo and Carroll (1986) consider the stages
involved in the conflict process, namely:
 the conflict situation – perception that conflict exists
 awareness of the situation – increased information about
existence of conflict
 Realization - many potential conflict situations that never
matures, e.g. minimum wage for house servants, FGM
 manifestation of conflict – in form of actions, words, etc.
 Stages of a conflict
 resolution or suppression of conflict – a
permanent solution of the conflict is sought.
Different approaches can be used to deal with
conflicts.
 after-effects of a conflict situation – conflict has
been reduced considerably and the parties have
gone beyond the crisis (manifestation) stage
 Elements of a conflict
Organizational conflicts usually involve three elements:
 Power is the capacities and means that people have at
their disposal to get work done. Power includes
budgetary discretion, personal influence, information,
time, space, staff size and dependence on others.
 Organizational demands are the people's expectations
regarding a person's job performance. Usually such
expectations are high, and making them rather
unrealistic. When these expectations are not fulfilled,
people feel disheartened, angry, let down or cheated.
Consequently, conflict situations can arise.
 Elements of a conflict
 Worth refers to a person's self-esteem. People want
to prove their worth in the organization. Superiors
control employees' pay, performance rating,
performance and appraisal, etc. How much of these
are received by a person reflects their worth? An
individual may also feel loss of worth if some basic
needs are not fulfilled.

 Generally, conflicts arise from mismatches between

power, organizational demands and feelings of
personal worth.
 Conflict structure and Dynamics

Depicted by conflict triangle

Structures

Attitudes behaviors
 Conflict structure and Dynamics
 Structures refer to the political mechanisms, processes and
institutions that influence the satisfaction of security, welfare,
recognition and identity needs
 Attitudes include the parties’ perceptions and misperceptions of
each other and of themselves. These may be positive or negative,
but in violent conflict parties tend to be increasingly negative
stereotypes of the other and increasingly positive self-group
identity. Attitudes are often influenced by emotions such as fear,
anger, bitterness and hatred
 Behaviors are actions undertaken by one party in conflict aimed at
the opposing party with the intention of making that party
abandon or change its goals. It includes cooperation and coercion,
gestures signifying conciliation or hostility. Violent conflict
behavior is characterized by threats, coercion and destructive
attacks
Conflict structure and Dynamics
Conflict is dynamic process in which structures,
attitudes and behaviors are constantly changing
and influencing one another
Resolving conflicts must therefore involve a set
of dynamic, interdependent changes that involve
de-escalation (reduction) of conflict behavior,
change of attitudes and transformation of
relationships or structures
 Student Activity
Define conflicts (other than mentioned earlier
herein) and explain why it is difficult to get a
common definition for conflicts.

Explain five sources of conflicts using Kenyan

scenarios.