Organization Sources of Conflict and Resolution

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1. What are key sources of conflict within an organizational setting?

Conflicts within an organization setting can be grouped under three categories, interpersonal, organizational, change related, and external factors.

Interpersonal: Since in an organization, no two people are alike, hence conflict cannot be completely avoided. There could be conflicts due to differences in personality, language, thoughts, and practices. There could be racial sources and ethno-cultural sources of conflict. There could be gender conflict, where charges of harassment and discrimination may pop up.
Organizational: There are number of reasons for conflict in an organization. Conflict could be due to different supervisory styles of management, due to different working styles, due to employee/subordinate relationship, and due to compensation. Conflict can also occur due to sharing of duties, resource allocation, different levels of risk taking, and different treatment of

employees.
Change: Organizations typically go for reorganization every once in a while; this can be a cause of conflict among workforce. Technology change can cause change in the working styles, which can again lead to conflict.

External factors: External factors like economic downturn, recession, changing markets, and foreign competition can lead to conflict. Conflict can also take place over negotiation with suppliers or by customer feedback.

2. What are the key impediments to efficiently resolving conflict in a negotiation?

Key impediments to resolving a conflict in a negotiation are:

Absence of decision-maker: Sometimes, in a negotiation, the authority for resolution or reaching a conclusion lies with someone else who might not be present during the negotiation process.

Lack of information: It might be difficult to reach a conclusion in negotiation process if the information related to either party is missing.

Different communication styles: During a negotiation people send messages through eye contact, hand movements, vocal tone, and word content. Different ...