Prepared

Dolon Champa Das

SYLLABUS
 Conflicts in Human Relations –
 Reasons
 Case Studies
 Approaches to conflict resolution
WHAT ARE CONFLICTS?
 Conflicts are the disagreement between two or more
individuals or groups over an issue of mutual
interest.

 Conflicts may arise between two parties when one

party feels that the actions of the other party will
either affect its interest adversely or obstruct the
achievement of its goals.

 Conflicts can range from small disagreements to

violent acts.
FACTORS OF CONFLICTS
Organizational
Change

Differences in Perceptual
Value Sets Differences

Threats to Personality
Status Clashes
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
 Organizations undergo changes due to new technological, political
and social developments that affect them or due to changes in the
competitive forces.
 As people may hold different views about the change and the
future direction of an organization, conflicts may arise.
PERCEPTUAL DIFFERENCES
 People perceive different issues, things and
environments differently. During the course of their act,
they treat that their perception is the only reality, without
attempting to understand or accept other person’s views,
and therefore conflict arises.
PERSONALITY CLASHES

 Levels of maturity, emotional stability, behavior pattern

etc. are some of the factors on which individual’s
personalities differ.
 When people do not recognize or appreciate these
differences, conflicts occur.
THREATS TO STATUS
 Most individual associate their identity with their status
in society or organization. Conflict is likely to arise,
when an individual feels that another person’s acts may
harm or damage his image, which may in turn affect his
status adversely.
DIFFERENCES IN VALUE SETS
 Values, opinions and beliefs differ from person to
person. When people with contradicting values and
beliefs interact with each other, conflicts are likely to
occur. Such types of conflicts are often irrational and
difficult to be resolved.
COMMON CAUSES OF CONFLICT
Common causes of conflict are:
 Scarcity of resources (finance, equipment, facilities etc.)
 Different attitudes, values or perceptions
 Disagreement about needs, goals, priorities and interests
 Poor communication
 Poor or inadequate organizational structure
 Lack of team work
 Lack of clarity in roles & responsibilities
TYPES OF CONFLICT & RESOLUTION STRATEGIES

Relationsh
ip conflict

Value Data
Conflicts Conflict

Structural Interest
Conflicts Conflict
 RELATIONSHIP CONFLICTS
 Relationship conflicts occur because of the presence of
strong negative emotions, misperceptions or stereotypes,
poor communication or miscommunication, or repetitive
negative behaviours.
 Relationship problems often fuel disputes and lead to an
unnecessary escalating spiral of destructive conflict.

Resolution Strategies:
 Supporting the safe and balanced expression of

perspectives and emotions for acknowledgement is one

effective approach to managing relationship conflicts.
 DATA CONFLICTS
 Data conflicts occur when people lack information
necessary to make wise decisions, are misinformed,
disagree on which data is relevant, interpret information
differently or have competing assessment procedures.

 Some data conflicts may be unnecessary since they are

caused by poor communication between the people in
the conflict.

 Most data conflicts will have “data solution”.

 INTEREST CONFLICTS
 Interest conflicts are caused by competition over
perceived incompatible needs. Conflicts of interest results
in when one or more party believe that in order to satisfy
his/her needs, the needs and interests of an opponent must
be sacrificed.

 To resolve this conflict, parties must be assisted to define

and express their individual interests so that all of these
interests may be jointly addressed.

 Interest-based conflict is best resolved through the

maximizing integration of the parties respective interests,
positive intentions and desired experiential outcomes.
 STRUCTURAL CONFLICTS
 Structural conflicts are caused by forces external to the
people in dispute. Limited physical resources or
authority, geographic constraints (distance or proximity),
time, organizational changes etc are the reasons for
structural conflicts.

 Structural conflicts can have structural solutions too if

the parties jointly address their problems.
 VALUE CONFLICTS
 Value conflicts are caused by perceived or actual
incompatible belief systems. Values are beliefs that
people use to give meaning to their lives. Values explain
what is “good” or “bad”, “right” or “wrong”.

 Value disputes arise only when people attempt to force

one set of values on others or lay claim to exclusive
value systems that do not allow for divergent beliefs.

 To solve this problem, it would be better to support each

others values & beliefs.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
 APPROACHES TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION
 Conflict resolution is a way for two or more parties to find a
peaceful solution to a disagreement among them. The
disagreement may be personal, financial, political, or emotional.
When a dispute arises, often the best course of action is
negotiation to resolve the disagreement.
 The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument lists five modes
of conflict responses: competing, accommodating, avoiding,
collaborating and compromising.
 THE COMPETING APPROACH
 People who take the competing approach
are resolute (determined, purposeful) in what they
believe and want. Operating from a position of
power, expertise or strength, this approach is useful
in an emergency situation when an immediate
decision needs to be made or to resolve an unpopular
issue.

 However, misuse of this style can squelch feedback,

dis-empower staff and thwart( prevent) learning,
demonstrating assertiveness but offering no
cooperativeness.
 THE ACCOMMODATING APPROACH
 Low on assertiveness, but high on cooperation an
accommodating approach is used by managers who want
to appear reasonable in their decision-making.

 Managers using this style demonstrate that they are

peacemakers, willing to yield where possible and want to
create goodwill with all. But too much accommodation
and managers risk appearing weak, indecisive and not
willing to embrace change.

 Embracing flexibility once issues have been clearly and

concisely defined can strengthen a manager's position.
 THE AVOIDING APPROACH
 Managers who don't want to handle conflict are likely to avoid it
altogether. This approach dismisses the manager's own concerns
and those of the other individual, leaving the conflict unresolved.
 Sometimes this approach is useful when a problem should be
addressed at another time or if a threatening situation surfaces.
Overuse of this approach and problems will continue to intensify,
perhaps erupting or at least thwarting honest communication.
 According to the University of California Berkeley, there are
three reasons why the avoidance approach is taken: "(1) exposing
oneself to ridicule or rejection,
 (2) recognizing that we may have contributed to the problem
 (3) willingness to change."
 COLLABORATING APPROACH
 In a spirit of demonstrating unity, managers may choose
to collaborate by showing a high degree of
assertiveness and cooperation.

 This win-win approach is favored when both sides have

important differences, but to get the job done everyone
agrees to work together.

 Considered time consuming, a collaborating approach

can mean that one party is being taken advantage of
while insignificant matters are given considerable
attention and personal responsibilities are ignored.
 THE COMPROMISING APPROACH
 Moderately cooperative and assertive, a compromising
approach to conflict resolution finds a mutually
acceptable solution.

 A middle ground has been found, where both parties

can stake a claim to victory.

 Too much compromise and may come across as

someone who has no firm values; too little compromise
leads to further power struggles and confrontations.
Thank You