All conflicts have several causes. The main causes of conflict are limited resources to be shared, interdependence of tasks, differences in goals, differences in ideas and values, differences in behavior, level of education, and poor communication.
Resource distribution.
Even in the largest organizations, resources are always limited. Management must decide how to allocate materials, human resources, and finances among various groups to most effectively achieve the organization's goals. Allocating a large share of resources to any one manager, subordinate, or group means that others will receive a smaller share of the total. It doesn’t matter what the decision concerns: which of the four secretaries will be assigned a computer with an editor program, which university department will be given the opportunity to increase the number of teachers, which manager will receive additional funds to expand his production, or which department will receive priority in data processing - people are always they want to get more, not less. Thus, the need to share resources almost inevitably leads to various types of conflict.
Interrelation of tasks.
The potential for conflict exists whenever one person or group is dependent on another person or group to complete a task. For example, a manager of a manufacturing department may attribute the low productivity of his subordinates to the inability of the repair department to repair equipment quickly enough. The head of the repair service, in turn, may blame the personnel department for not hiring the new workers that the repairmen needed. Likewise, if one of the six engineers working on a new product does not perform well, the others may feel that this is affecting their ability to perform their own task. This can lead to conflict between the group and the engineer they feel is performing poorly. Since all organizations are systems consisting of interconnected elements, if one department or person performs inadequately, the interconnection of tasks can cause conflict.
Differences in goals.
The potential for conflict increases as organizations become more specialized and divided into departments. This happens because specialized units formulate their own goals and can pay more attention to achieving them than the goals of the entire organization. For example, the sales department may insist on producing as many different products and variations as possible because this increases their competitiveness and increases sales volumes. However, production unit goals expressed in cost-efficiency terms are easier to achieve if the product mix is less diverse. Similarly, the purchasing department may want to purchase large quantities of raw materials and supplies to reduce its average unit cost. On the other hand, the finance department may want to take the money borrowed from inventory and invest it to increase the overall return on invested capital.
Differences in ideas and values.
The idea of a certain situation depends on the desire to achieve a certain goal. Instead of assessing a situation objectively, people may consider only those views that they believe are favorable to their group and personal needs.
Differences in values are a very common cause of conflict. For example, a subordinate may believe that he always has the right to express his opinion, while a manager may believe that a subordinate has the right to express his opinion only when asked. Highly educated staff value freedom and independence, but if their boss closely monitors their work, differences in values are likely to cause conflict.
Differences in behavior and life experiences.
These differences can also cause conflict. People with aggressive and hostile characters create an atmosphere around themselves that is fraught with conflict. Differences in life experiences, values, education, experience and age reduce the degree of mutual understanding.
Poor communications.
Poor communication of information is both a cause and a consequence of conflicts - ambiguous quality criteria, the inability to accurately define the job responsibilities and functions of all employees, as well as the presentation of mutually exclusive job requirements.
Conflicts are, unfortunately or fortunately (depending on their outcome), an almost integral part of our lives.
In this article we will look at its causes, functions, actors and ways to resolve it.
What is conflict
Conflict is a disagreement or clash between people or groups of people that is caused by differences in goals, behavior or attitudes. The interests of the parties to the conflict do not coincide, while each side tries to ensure that its point of view is accepted, and the enemy insists on his position. Conflict, as a rule, is accompanied by negative emotions and is the most acute form of clarification of relationships.
It often happens that the result of conflict is actions that go beyond generally accepted rules and social norms. There is a whole science that studies conflicts. It's called conflictology.
Not only people are capable of this. In nature, collisions also occur between individuals and groups of animals. This indicates that conflicts play an important role in the interaction of all living creatures on the planet.
Causes of the conflict
Among the main causes of conflict, the following are usually identified:
Resource distribution. As a rule, in any environment the number of resources is limited. At the same time, each individual tends to want to take possession of as many valuable assets as possible. On this basis, clashes arise, since both sides of the conflict want to increase their share of resources at the expense of each other.
Task interdependence. In any organization there are interdependent elements - people, groups of people or departments. They are all united by one task, but to achieve it, each has their own roles. When someone does their role poorly, disagreements arise that can lead to conflict. In this case, the parties to the conflict are those people or groups of people who, on the way to accomplishing their task, encounter any obstacles caused by the actions of other elements.
Differences in goals. It often happens that the goals that people or a group of people set for themselves differ from the goals of another department or the organization as a whole. In this case, during the practical implementation of the overall goal of the organization, conflict situations may arise.
Differences in life experiences and values. People who differ in level of education, age, ideas about life and their habits may periodically conflict with each other.
Classification of conflicts
If you take the main ones and combine them, you can get a classification of the disagreements that arise. For example, if we consider conflicts of interest from the perspective of the party to the conflict, this assumes the following classification:
Conflicts between individuals;
Between a certain individual and a group of persons;
Among the groups;
Between social communities;
Between ethnic groups;
Interstate conflicts.
Social conflicts based on motivation can also be distinguished. There are three blocks in total:
Conflicts related to the distribution of positions of power and authority;
Conflicts of interests based on the distribution of material resources;
Disagreements related to differences in basic life attitudes.
Classification of conflicts is a method for determining them, which consists in establishing a common characteristic by which conflicts can be grouped. At the same time, the parties to a social conflict interact with each other in a certain direction, characteristic of one or another form of opposition, which is determined by the reasons for the disagreement.
Social functions of conflict
Social ones can be both positive and negative. The impact of conflict depends largely on the social system. In those groups that are freely structured, where conflict is the norm, and at the same time effective mechanisms for its resolution have been developed, contradictions contribute to increased resilience, dynamics and progress. If it has a totalitarian organization, where conflict is not allowed and is suppressed only by one method - force, then the conflict leads to disintegration and dysfunction. When unresolved differences accumulate, they lead to serious social problems.
Positive aspects of the conflict
Confrontation is an integral source of the development of society and the changes occurring in it. When developed correctly, conflict has positive results. These include:
Progressive changes. Any new beginning involves the negation of the old. This is a kind of conflict between established foundations and new trends. Since there is a human factor behind any action, confrontation between adherents of the old and the new is inevitable.
Mobilization of resources and attention. The positive aspects of the conflict in this case are manifested in the fact that it provokes people to take actions that are necessary to resolve any uncomfortable situation. It is possible for a long time, due to mutual respect, reluctance to provoke scandals, and other things, to avoid difficult issues. But when a conflict arises, problems have to be solved, mobilizing all the necessary resources and means for this.
Involving the population in pressing issues. Conflict attracts society's attention to complex issues, and this, in turn, provokes people to take actions that help resolve the negative situation.
Development of free thinking. Conflict, as a rule, aggravates the situation and helps eliminate the “submission syndrome.” The positions of the parties to the conflict are defended by its participants with great zeal, awakening in a person all his hidden resources.
Negative sides of the conflict
The negative sides of the conflict are dysfunctional phenomena that lead to a decrease in the efficiency of the organization. If we consider in more detail the negative aspects of the contradictions, among them we can highlight the following:
Distracting people from real problems and goals. It often happens that the goal of defeating the enemy overshadows reasonable arguments, and selfish interests begin to prevail. In this case, the conflict does not solve pressing problems, but only distracts attention from them.
Increased dissatisfaction, depression, distrust of others and management. These phenomena reduce labor efficiency and do not contribute to unlocking people's potential.
A fruitless waste of strength, energy and resources on internal struggle. In conflict situations, people spend certain resources, and when these costs do not help improve the unfavorable situation, this causes unjustified losses of resources that could be used in a more necessary direction.
Characters of the conflict
In any conflict, the following actors are distinguished:
A conflict participant is a person or group of people who are involved in a conflict situation. The participant may not even be aware of the true goals and objectives of the confrontation.
The direct participant in the conflict is the instigator. It is he who initiates the showdown.
The subject of the conflict is a person or group of people who creates an opposing situation. The subject is able to sufficiently influence the course of the conflict, focusing on his interests. The subject also influences the behavior and position of the participants in the conflict, involves new subjects in it and is capable of causing changes in social relations.
The parties to the conflict are new unities that are capable of acting as an independent whole. The parties to the conflict include only those social entities that take active actions towards each other. The parties to the conflict are unities that are formed around newly emerging issues from the remnants of old, disintegrated groups.
Indirect participants in the conflict
Indirect participants on the side of the conflict are subjects who play an episodic role in the confrontation. For example, an instigator. He pushes the subjects of the conflict to take active action, while he himself may then not take part in this confrontation. Allies or accomplices are persons who are not directly involved in a conflict situation, but at the same time provide moral or material support to one or another side of the conflict.
Conflict resolution
Any conflict situation is sooner or later resolved or frozen. In order to eliminate contradictions and constructively resolve the issue, it is necessary to recognize the existence of the conflict and identify its main participants. Then it is worth organizing a negotiation procedure, discussing pressing issues, searching for compromise solutions and putting the adopted resolutions into practice.
If it is possible to achieve such results, the conflict can be considered a positive phenomenon that has positive consequences.
Causes of the conflict
All conflicts have several reasons, the main ones being limited resources that need to be shared, differences in goals, differences in ideas and values, differences in behavior, level of education, etc.
Resource distribution.
Even in the largest organizations, resources are always limited. Management can decide how to allocate materials, people, and finances in order to most effectively achieve the organization's goals. No matter what the decision is about, people always want more, not less. Thus, the need to share resources almost inevitably leads to various types of conflict.
Task interdependence.
The potential for conflict exists whenever one person or group is dependent on another person or group to complete tasks. Certain types of organizational structures increase the potential for conflict. This possibility increases, for example, with a matrix structure of an organization, where the principle of unity of command is deliberately violated.
Differences in goals.
The potential for conflict increases as organizations become more specialized and divided into departments. This happens because departments can formulate their own goals and pay more attention to achieving them than achieving the goals of the organization. For example, the sales department may insist on producing as many different products and variations as possible because this improves competitiveness and increases sales. However, production unit goals expressed in cost-effectiveness terms are easier to achieve if the product mix is less diverse.
Differences in ideas and values.
The idea of a certain situation depends on the desire to achieve a certain goal. Instead of assessing a situation objectively, people may consider only those views, alternatives, and aspects of the situation that they believe are favorable to the group or personal needs. Differences in values are a very common cause of conflict. For example, a subordinate may believe that he always has the right to express his opinion, while a manager may believe that a subordinate can only express his opinion when asked and do what he is told without question.
Differences in behavior and life experiences.
These differences can also increase the potential for conflict to arise. It is not uncommon to encounter people who are constantly aggressive and hostile and who are ready to challenge every word. Such individuals often create an atmosphere around themselves that is fraught with conflict.
Poor communications.
Poor communication can be both a cause and a consequence of conflict. It can act as a catalyst for conflict, preventing individuals or groups from understanding the situation or the points of view of others. For example, if management fails to communicate to workers that a new performance-related pay scheme is not intended to squeeze workers out of work but to increase the company's profits and position among competitors, subordinates may react by slowing down the pace of work. Other common communication problems include ambiguous quality criteria that cause conflict, the inability to accurately define the job responsibilities and functions of all employees and departments, and the presentation of mutually exclusive job requirements. These problems may arise or be exacerbated by the failure of managers to develop and communicate accurate job descriptions to subordinates.
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Causes of conflicts:
limited resources; task interdependence; differences in goals; differences in beliefs and values; differences in behavior and life experiences; poor communications.
Limited resources. Material, labor and financial resources are always limited. The task of management is the optimal distribution of limited resources between various structural divisions of the enterprise. However, this is quite difficult to do, since the distribution criteria are usually quite arbitrary. In this situation, allocating more resources to some manager, group or ordinary employee means depriving others. Thus, limited resources and the need to distribute them inevitably lead to various kinds of conflicts.
Task interdependence. All organizational systems consist of interdependent elements, i.e. the work of one employee or team depends on the work of another employee or team. If one department or individual performs inappropriately, task interdependence can cause conflict. The matrix and functional structures of enterprise management, due to the specifics of their organization, increase the likelihood of conflicts, since on the one hand in this case the fundamental principle of unity of command is violated, and on the other, the functional service primarily seeks to solve its own problems.
Differences in goals. Usually, in organizational structures, as they grow and develop, a process of specialization is observed, i.e. activities in any narrow field. As a result, the former structural divisions are divided into smaller specialized units. This increases the likelihood of conflicts that occur because such structures formulate their own goals and may pay more attention to achieving them than to achieving the goals of the entire organization.
Differences in ideas and values. In reality, a person first of all strives to take into account those circumstances that are favorable for his personal needs or for the team in which he works. Therefore, there are numerous examples where differences in ideas and values have caused conflicts. The rule here is simple: having the right does not mean doing it. It is necessary to take into account the surrounding circumstances.
Differences in behavior and life experiences. People differ significantly from each other. There are people who are overly aggressive, authoritarian, and indifferent to others. These are the people who most often provoke conflict. Differences in life experiences, education, work experience, and age increase the potential for conflict.
Poor communications. Communications, being a means of transmitting information, can cause conflict. This is observed, for example, with semantic barriers, when the same words can have different meanings for different people.
Information overload, poor feedback, and distortion of messages contribute to the emergence of conflict. The conflict can become especially acute if gossip appears in the team. Gossip is always negative and denigrating, and therefore a favorable environment for serious conflict. They can act as a catalyst for conflict, preventing individual workers or the team as a whole from understanding the real situation. Other common problems in the transfer of information that cause conflict include insufficiently clear product quality criteria, the absence or low level of development of employee job responsibilities and functions assigned to departments, as well as the presentation by a manager of mutually exclusive work requirements to an employee.
conflict leader manager
Main types and options for resolving conflict situations
There are different interpretations of the concept conflict. In social psychology, conflict is usually defined as a clash of opposing goals, motives, and interests. In a team, conflict reflects a clash of group norms, role positions, and values of group members.
Types of conflicts
In social psychology, there are different typologies of conflict depending on the criteria that are taken as a basis. Below is a classification according to the nature of the participants:
Intrapersonal conflict- does not quite correspond to the generally accepted definition of conflict. At the same time, its potential dysfunctional consequences are similar to those of other types of conflict. One of its most common forms is role conflict. The latter occurs when conflicting demands are placed on a person regarding the results of his activities. An intrapersonal conflict may arise for an employee of an organization as a result of a discrepancy between production requirements and his personal needs or value guidelines. Research shows that this type of conflict is usually associated with low employee job satisfaction, low self-confidence and organizational confidence, as well as stress.
Interpersonal conflict- the most common type of conflict that can arise between co-workers, neighbors, family members, etc. In organizations, it can manifest itself as a confrontation between the heads of various departments, a confrontation between a subordinate and a manager, or a confrontation between two ordinary team members. The phenomenon often has objective reasons (distribution of resources, struggle for power, etc.). At the same time, such conflicts can also arise on subjective grounds, when people with different character traits and value systems are unable to get along with each other.
In all cases of interpersonal conflicts, two interrelated aspects take place:
- substantive (subject of disagreement);
- psychological (personal characteristics of opponents, characteristics of their relationships).
Conflict between individual and group- a fairly common phenomenon; in teams it can arise in various forms: opposition of the team to the leader, opposition of the team to the ordinary member. These types of conflicts arise when the expectations of the group are in conflict with the expectations of the individual. Conflict between an individual and a group can arise when an individual takes a position different from that of the group.
A similar confrontation can occur on the basis of the official responsibilities of a manager who is forced to take administrative measures that are unpopular among his subordinates. In this case, the group, as a response, can reduce the level of discipline and productivity.
Intergroup conflict- conflict between small social groups. Such conflicts can arise either between groups within the same collective (community) or between groups of different communities. Examples of conflicts between small social groups are very diverse: clashes between fans of different football clubs, confrontation between line managers and administrative staff at an enterprise, etc.
The object of intergroup conflicts can be:
- lack of resources (economic, information, etc.);
- dissatisfaction with the social status of one of the parties to the conflict;
- differences in sociocultural values (religious, moral, ethnic, etc.).
Interstate conflict- a struggle between two states or their coalitions, which is based on a clash of national-state interests of the warring parties. Confrontation may also arise between a state and a group of states. In modern conflictology there is no generally accepted typology of interstate conflicts; their classification can be based on: the number of participants, their strategic goals, the scale of the conflict, the means used, the nature of the conflict.
In some sources you can also find a conflict of the “group-society” type. In this article we will try to consider the causes of the most common types of conflicts in everyday life - interpersonal, intergroup, as well as confrontation between an individual and a group.
It is also possible to classify conflicts based on the needs of the subjects of interaction according to A. I. Shipilov, represented by the following diagram:
According to the famous Russian sociologist, founder of the Leningrad sociological school V.A. Yadov, “in all conflicts we are talking about two things or even one: about resources and about control over them. Power from this point of view is a variant of control over resources, and property is the resource itself.” The scientist believes that all resources can be divided into two groups: material and spiritual, and the latter, in turn, can be differentiated into components. Similar thoughts are expressed by other experts. To put it more abstractly: the universal source of conflict lies in the incompatibility of the parties’ expectations due to the limited possibilities of satisfying them.
There are different typologies of causes of conflicts. One possible classification:
1. Objective causes of conflicts
Resource Allocation. The type of resources distributed is not of fundamental importance; people always strive to receive more, not less. They deeply experience their own problems, while they are aware of the problems of other groups or team members rather superficially. In this way, distorted ideas about justice are formed, as a result of which various kinds of conflicts almost inevitably arise.
Task Interdependence. The potential for conflict exists whenever the performance of one person or group's tasks depends on the actions of another person or group. Some types of organizational structures increase the likelihood of conflict. So, in particular, it increases with a matrix management structure, in which the principle of unity of command is deliberately violated.
Differences in Goals. The likelihood of conflict in an organization increases with its growth and structural differentiation. As a result of the deep division of labor, departments begin to formulate their own goals and focus on achieving them rather than achieving the goals of the organization. This situation usually arises in organizations whose members are poorly oriented in the strategy of its development and do not see their place in the long-term perspective of the organization’s functioning.
Differences in ways to achieve goals. Members of an organization (both rank and file and management) may have different views on how to achieve common goals. At the same time, everyone believes that his methods are the best, and this is often the basis for conflict.
Poor communications. Disturbed transmission of information can be both a cause and a consequence of a conflict. It can also act as a catalyst for conflict, preventing individuals or groups from understanding the situation or the points of view of others. A poorly prepared manager can provoke a conflict by his inability to accurately define the functions of department employees, ambiguous requirements for labor quality indicators, and presentation of mutually exclusive work requirements.
2. Social and psychological causes of conflicts
Unfavorable socio-psychological climate. Conflicts are more likely to arise in teams in which there is no value-orientation unity and low group cohesion is observed.
Difficulties of socio-psychological adaptation new team members. The difficulty is associated with the entry of a newcomer into an already formed team and, above all, into the primary contact group. Social and psychological adaptation of newcomers is a rather long and complex process. Difficulties in adaptation may be due to: individual characteristics of the newcomer’s behavior; level of team cohesion, etc.
Anomie of social norms. The inconsistency of accepted social norms leads to the emergence of double standards: management demands from employees a style of behavior that it itself does not adhere to; Some of the employees are forgiven everything, some are asked to do so, etc.
Generation Conflict associated with differences in value systems, behavior patterns and life experiences among representatives of different age groups.
Territoriality- a concept from environmental psychology. Territoriality implies the occupation by an individual or group of some space (working, living, etc.) and establishing control over it and the objects located in it.
Having a destructive leader in the informal structure of the organization. Such a leader, pursuing selfish goals, is able to organize a group that focuses exclusively on his instructions. Moreover, orders from the formal leadership are accepted only with the approval of the “shadow” leader.
Responsive aggression- indignation directed not at the source of suffering, but at others, close people, colleagues; more typical of weak personality types. The danger of this kind of aggression is additionally due to the fact that its victims are often defenseless people.
3. Personal causes of conflicts
According to the person-centered approach, the causes of conflicts are:
1. Features of the course of cognitive processes- information processing, decision making, etc. As a result of such features, people have incompatible assessments regarding the existing situation. The latter circumstance leads to the development by the parties of contradictory strategies that they apply when solving specific problems.
2. Personality features in general (conflict personalities). It is customary to identify the following character traits characteristic of a “conflict personality”:
- desire for dominance;
- excessive adherence to principles;
- excessive straightforwardness in statements;
- tendency to insufficiently reasoned criticism;
- tendency to irritability and depression;
- conservatism of beliefs, reluctance to abandon outdated traditions;
- unceremonious interference in personal life;
- unfair assessment of other people's actions;
- inappropriate initiative, etc.
In addition, the situation in which conflicts arise is important. In some cases, the situation can promote conflict, in others it can slow it down, restraining the initiative of the warring parties. Thus, the reason for conflict at work can be: events that occurred during non-working hours (for example, in the personal life of an employee), increased nervous excitement at the end of the working day, etc.
Literature:
- Conflictology: a short theoretical course: textbook / L. G. Ageeva. – Ulyanovsk: Ulyanovsk State Technical University, 2010. – 200 p.
- Social conflicts: examination, forecasting, resolution technologies. No. 1 / Ed. E.I. Stepanova. - M.: ISRAN, 1991. - 281 p.
- Conflictology in schemes and comments / Antsupov A.Ya., Baklanovsky S.V. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2009. - 304 p.: ill.
- Conflictology: educational and practical guide / Tsybulskaya, M.V. – M.: Publishing house. EAOI Center, 2009. – 312 p.
