ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

PROJECT

INTER- GROUP CONFLICT

SUBMITTED TO:
Ms Manal Talat

SUBMITTED BY:

Michelle Jacob
S. Kalsoom Zahra Rizvi
Maira Ikram
Sadaf Muzammil
Zara Imran

GROUP NAME:

“Energy Savers”

B.B.A.
Semester 4
Section 2

DATE OF SUBMISSION:

12 May, 2009.

1
 INTER- GROUP CONLICT

Webster's Dictionary defines a group as: "a number of persons near, placed, or classified
together." Others define a group as a "social unit that consists of a number of individuals
(1) who, at a given time, have role and status relationships with one another, stabilized in
some degree and (2) who possess a set of values or norms regulating the attitude and
behavior of individual members, at least in matters of consequence to them.” A conflict
can be defined as a “disparity of attitudes, beliefs, beliefs and goals.” Conflict can be
classified as either task-oriented (cognitive conflict) or emotion-oriented (affective
conflict). Task-oriented conflict could be beneficial to overall team effectiveness, while
emotion-oriented conflict is often dysfunctional to team cooperation as well as
effectiveness. Emotion-oriented conflict is a conflict that results from personal
incompatibilities, resentment, or disputes rather than specific ideas or job-related issues.

Conflict between groups in organizations is an undeniable aspect of organizational life.

With the progression of team-based organizations, it is imperative to know the effects of
conflict between groups on inter-group relations, especially in terms of behavior. Inter-
group relations between two or more groups and their respective members are often
necessary to complete the work required to operate a business. Many times, groups inter-
relate to accomplish the organization's goals and objectives, and conflict can occur.
Sometimes conflict, called functional conflict, is considered positive, because it enhances
performance and identifies weaknesses. Dysfunctional conflict, however, is confrontation
or interaction between groups that harms the organization or hinders attainment of goals
or objectives. Conflicts will inevitably occur if there is a workplace with several people
working in it. There might be employees that do not get along with each other, workers
that always tend to contradict or even defy the management and so on. It is estimated that
over 30% of the time of the management is spent in trying to making employees in
conflict work with each other and more than 45% of their time is spent on inter-group
conflict resolution. Conflict can take many forms: namely, disagreements between parties
that occur due to different individual departmental objectives: any problems created due
to personal or emotional dissatisfaction: improper delegation of one's authority:
disagreements that take place because of different expectations of task performance
between parties: and disagreements resulting from to time, budget, and resource
constraints.

In today's world, conflicts in the workplace have become complex. Businesses no longer
work in a black and white world where the extremes are obvious for everyone to see.
There are a lot of gray areas in every conflict and the management is always pushed to
see who is in the right and who is in the wrong. Also, since people of all ages, genders
and even ethnicities are part of most workplaces in the world today, it is not quite easy to
put the blame on one element. There are several correlated things that might have a
influence on conflict resolution and avoidance.

2
 CAUSES OF INTER- GROUP CONFLICT

Some theorists ascribe conflict to structural phenomena while others say they are
inevitable and ingrained in human elemental behavior. Still others see conflict as
contrived by specific individuals who seek power and control. While it is impossible to
attribute most conflicts to a single factor, there are many elements that clearly contribute
to the initiation and escalation of conflict.

One of the most prominent causes for inter-group conflict is the nature of the group itself.
Other reasons may be work interdependence, goal variances, and differences in
perceptions, and group/organizational diversity.

Lack of communication/ information:

Even with emails, newsletters, reports, and staff and company meetings, conflict arises
from lack of information, communication, or knowledge about how to use the
information effectively. It is often seen that the lack of communication between the
management and the employees is often a cause of causing most conflicts. Some
employees begrudge each other when they find out that they were the last to be informed
about new decisions, programs, etc. When employees do not understand reasons for
decisions, or they are not involved in the decision making process, employees trust the
"rumor mill" or organizational grapevine more than management.

Insufficient alignment or amount of resources:

There is a disagreement about "who does what". There is also stress from working with
inadequate resources. Limited resources and reward structures can promote inter-group
conflict by highlighting the differences in group goals. Time, money, space, materials,
supplies, and equipment are all valuable resources. Competition for any of these
resources will inevitably lead to interpersonal and interdepartmental conflict.

Personal chemistry:

This includes conflicting values or actions among managers and employees, for example:
strong personal natures may not match: or we might not like the traits in others what we
do not like in ourselves. Individual members of a group may also play a role initiating an
inter-group conflict. Any group represents various qualities, values, or unique traits.
When these individual characteristics come into contradiction with each other, inter-
group conflict may occur. Relationships between group members reflect the opinions
they have of each other's characteristics. When group members share some interests and

3
their directions and ultimate goals are parallel, each member may view the other
positively; however, if the activities and goals diverge, they may view each other in a
negative manner.

Conflict of interest:

Individuals may fight for their personal goals and lose sight of organizational goals. Each
individual needs to know how his or her personal goals and efforts fit within the
organizational goals and efforts. Differences in perceptions among groups regarding time
and status, when coupled with different group goals, can also create conflict.

Leadership problems:

This source of conflict includes inconsistent, missing, too-strong or uninformed

leadership (at any level of the organization). It is characterized by:
a. Conflict avoidance: Many managers employ the ostrich technique in dealing with
conflict. They bury their heads in the sand and try to ignore it, with little follow-through
on decisions. Also, problems can occur when supervisors do not understand the jobs of
their subordinates.

Skill deficits:

Poor relational skills, especially those associated with effective negotiation, interpersonal
communication, and collaborative problem solving reduces employees’ ability to
navigate conflict before it becomes destructive.

Ineffective conflict management systems:

The informal system of organizational culture and formal intervention systems can have a
profound influence on whether or not conflict unfolds in a healthy or destructive way.
Poor conflict engagement skills in an organization’s leaders often mean poorly managed
conflict throughout the system.

4
 CONSEQUENCES OF INTER- GROUP CONFLICT

Inter-group conflict causes changes to occur, both within the groups in conflict and
between different groups. However, conflict is not necessarily detrimental and it
sometimes needed in the workplace. Conflict can be useful in the following ways:

• It helps to raise and address problems.

• It energizes work to be on the most appropriate issues.
• It helps people to be realistic and motivates them to participate.
• Conflict helps people learn how to recognize and benefit from their differences.

In situations of positive conflict, group members will usually overlook individual

differences in an effort to unite against the other side that they perceive as a threat, and
with this concerted effort the focus is on the task. The group can become more efficient
and effective at what they do, and members can become more loyal, closely following
group norms

Conflict poses a threat when it is not managed or resolved in a timely and appropriate
manner. Conflict is a problem when:

• It hampers productivity.
• It lowers morale.
• It causes more and continued conflicts.
• It causes inappropriate behaviors.

As a result of conflict the group might lose focus of the organization's goals and become
closed off from other groups. Haughtiness and isolation quickly lead to decreased
communication. Also, when conflict is taken personally, it can shut down
communication, cause intimidation, de-motivation, and the lack of interest to complete a
mission or common goal.

If clashes at work are not kept in check, vital parts of business are affected. Conflict
causes a distraction, which decreases productivity and is also a de-motivator. Conflict
also causes procrastination because the employees’ mind is not focused on the end goal.
If disagreements are taken personally, it causes resentment toward co-workers or the
company as a whole.

However, some conflicts can be healthy if the management properly deals with situations
to reach a proper and effective resolution, and stops the conflict from becoming
destructive or damaging to the organization.

5
 SOLUTIONS TO INTER-GROUP CONFLICT

A very commonly followed solution to conflict is simply avoiding it. Although this does
not resolve the problem, it can help get a group through a period of time, in which those
involved may become more objective, or a greater, more immediate goal would have
been met. Yet another popular solution is the authoritative command, where groups, who
cannot satisfactorily resolve their conflict, are commanded by management. The
elimination of conflict can begin with the removal of the perceived incompatibility
between the opposing parties through negotiation. Conflict can also be easily avoided if
the management employs an efficient and uniform method of communication. There are
some key actions that the management can take to resolve conflicts:

Regularly review job descriptions:

Getting employee input about their jobs is very important. The manager needs to ensure
that job roles do not conflict and that no tasks "fall in a crack".

Intentionally build relationships with all subordinates:

Meeting at least once a month is crucial to effective communication and avoiding

misunderstandings. The manager needs to ask about accomplishments, challenges and
issues faced by his subordinates, as well as to communicate new initiatives and status of
current programs.

Getting regular, written status reports:

These reports should include updates on the employees’ accomplishments, currents issues
and needs from management, as well as plans for the upcoming period.

Conduct basic training:

Regular training sessions should be conducted about improving interpersonal

communications, conflict management, and delegation.

Develop procedures for routine tasks and include the employees' input.

The manager should have employees write down procedures when possible and
appropriate. Also, getting the employees' review of the procedures is beneficial.

6
Furthermore, the written procedures should be communicated and distributed, and
employees trained about them.

Install an anonymous suggestion box:

Employees can provide suggestions and recommendations via the suggestion box.

Smoothing:
This is a technique that stresses the common interest of the conflicting parties. The point
is to emphasize a shared viewpoint on a certain issue and deemphasize the conflicting
parties' differences. It also serves to emphasize the strong points of a group or even
suppress any differences in viewpoint among conflicting parties.

Compromise:
This is a traditional method for resolving inter-group conflicts in which a compromise is
achieved and there is no distinct winner or loser, nor a party to blame completely. It
determines "acceptable" solutions in which conflicting parties have some degree of
satisfaction with a "give and-take" attitude.

However, there are some obstacles to resolving conflict that managers might have to
address before they can resolve conflicts. They are as follows:

• Fear of losing power;

• Unwillingness to negotiate;
• No perceived benefit;
• Corporate philosophy;
• Top leadership reluctance;

7
 CONCLUSION:

Resolving inter-group conflicts, or even avoiding them, are quite possible if all the
employees of an organization are given an equal footing right from the start. They should
all be given equal importance in the business and if there are differences between them, it
is best not to compare and make it public. Motivational sessions should be an important
part of the conflict resolution process. The focus of the management and employees
should be on chasing common business goals. The incentives for all employees
concerned should be made clear at the start. In that manner, even if there are conflicts
among employees, the lure of the incentives might keep them working in a constructive
manner

While conflict is generally viewed as a negative term, there are some types of conflict
that should be welcome within the workplace. Conflict is a natural reaction, especially in
work groups where there are differing personalities, but it is not always undesirable.
What is needed is timely and appropriate intervention on the part of the management. In
addition, it is imperative that the management have a thorough understanding of conflict
and it related issues to help bridge differences in the workplace. Workshops and
seminars, conflict resolution and mediation and arbitration techniques, revising
organizational policies, updating organizational practices, and leadership building are just
some of the many techniques that can be used to foster a healthy and productive
workplace.

8
REFERENCES:

www.mediate.com
www.mediate.com
www.managementhelp.com
www.questia.com

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Organizational Behavior
Robbins, Judge, Saanghi.

Managing Organizational Behavior

Ronald R.