Chapter Eleven – Organizational Conflict

Understand a definition of conflict. Know the major types of conflict in organizations. Define intraorganizational conflict. Know the types of intraorganizational conflict. Define interorganizational conflict. Describe the stages of a conflict episode. Know conflict behaviors. Define conflict management. Describe process interventions and structural interventions. Understand the limits to conflict management and its application

to criminal justice organizations. Understand the role of conflict in organizations.

A dynamic process in which two or more individuals in an organization interact in such as way as to produce “conflict episodes” that may or may not lead to hostile behaviors (Pondy, 1985).

Pondy (1983) suggests four ways of understanding conflict in organizations.o Antecedent conditions – resource scarcity, policy

differences, disagreement over outcomes.o Producing affective states in workers – stress, hostility, or

anxiety.o Individual employee’s cognitive states – the employee’s

awareness of the conflict.o The conflict behavior itself – passive resistance, outright

confrontation, or aggressive behavior.

There are four general types of conflict within organizations.oPersonaloGroupo Intraorganizational (within the organization)

o Interorganizational (outside the organization)

Exists within the individual. Usually caused by some form of cognitive

conflict. Typically the result of failed expectations. Cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957)oOccurs when an employee cannot

reconcile his own expectations with those of his superiors.

Occurs when individuals disagree or compete for resources. Resolution is essential to the survival of the group. May even enhance the group’s effectiveness in the long run. Group conflict can be defined by its nature and scope.

o Task conflict – conflict among group members about the content of the tasks being performed.

o Relationship conflict – conflict caused by interpersonal incompatibility among members of the group.

Task and relationship conflict may affect group cohesion, but the effects may vary.

Caused by the structural makeup and delegation of authority in an organization.

Four major typeso Vertical conflict – exists between workers at different levels

in an organizational hierarchy.o Horizontal conflict – exhibited by units that are at the same

hierarchical level in an organization.o Line-Staff conflict – apparent in public organizations, when

staff personnel are used to augment and supplement the work of line managers.

o Role conflict – occurs when an individual is not able to comprehend or accomplish assigned tasks.

Role conflict should not be confused with role ambiguity.o Role ambiguity occurs when a subordinate perceives

that information about the required tasks of the job is unclear and inconsistent.

o Role conflict occurs when a subordinate perceives incompatible expectations about how the tasks should be performed.

Role conflict appears to be widespread and potentially problematic in criminal justice agencies.

Occurs when different organizations share a common purpose but disagree about how that purpose will be achieved.o Common form of conflict between components of the

criminal justice system.o Best solved through improved communications

between agencies.o Even when solved it can exist among individual actors

within separate agencies.

Five stages of a dynamic conflict episode.o Latent conflict - occurs when the conditions that are

the underlying sources of the conflict are present. o Perceived conflict – occurs when at least one of the

two parties recognizes that a conflict situation exists.o Felt conflict – occurs when a party personalizes the

conflict situation.o Manifest conflict – characterized by overt or covert

behavior to bring out the conflict.o Conflict aftermath – may occur when the antecedent

conditions of the conflict are not resolved satisfactorily.

Awareness of conflict behaviors helps us understand the role conflict plays in criminal justice organizations.

Thomas (1985) proposed a two dimensional model each representing an individual’s intention in a conflict situation.o Cooperativenesso Assertiveness

Different combinations of cooperativeness and assertiveness produce five distinct conflict behaviors.o Competing (assertive, uncooperative) –when one person

places his or her concerns above those of the other person.o Accommodating (unassertive, cooperative) – satisfies the

concerns of the other individual rather than one’s own.o Avoiding (unassertive, uncooperative) – neglects both

concerns.o Collaborating (assertive, cooperative) - attempts to satisfy

the concerns of both parties.o Compromising (intermediate in both assertiveness and

cooperativeness) - seeks the middle ground.

Thomas (1985) identifies two ways of dealing with conflict situations.o Process interventions – attempts to become directly

involved in the ongoing sequence of events that resolve the conflict. Two types.

o Structural interventions – attempts to alter the conditions in a organization that influence the direction of the conflict episodes. Two types.

Each approach attempts to resolve conflict. Equally effective in intraorganizational and

interorganizational conflict.

Consciousness-raising interventions – direct attempts (by supervisors) to change experiences that shape the parties’ behaviors. Occurs in six stages.o Confrontation – each party assumes ill intent.o Truce – confrontation ended by a third party.o Collaboration – ill intent remains but work goes on.o Cooperation – common activities are completed.o Interdependence – both work to resolve conflict.o Integration – support for common good and growth.

Interaction management – when supervisors intervene directly in the conflict and suggest resolution and avoidance of future conflict.

The organizational conditions that can be altered, by supervisors, during process interventions include.o Personal characteristics – personality conflicts.o Informal rules – used when necessary for resolution.o Constituent pressure – pressure from other groups.o Conflict of interest – incompatibility between parties.o Power and status – affects intensity of conflict.o Organizational policy – can resolve or initiate conflict.

Designed to reduce conflict by examining and altering the organizational preexisting conditions that promote conflict.o Selection and training interventions. (people)• Screening procedures to find qualified people.• Training to insure employees understand objectives.

o Contextual-modification interventions. (situations)• Change the context in which the parties interact.• Aggressive leadership in policy development

process.

Conflict resolution may be beyond the scope of the organizations involved.o Agencies may not have the authority to intervene in the

conflict.o Agencies may not have the resources to resolve the

conflict in the long term. Administrators must accept that sometimes they will not

be able to handle a conflict situation. They might even make it worse.

This does not, however, absolve the administrator from the responsibility to at least attempt a resolution.

Because compromise is not always possible, resolving conflict through goal attainment may not be likely in criminal justice organizations.

Administrators must be aware of the consequences (e.g. loss of productivity) of unresolved conflict between competing groups.

Conflict management must be economical of time and effort.

Conflict can be both beneficial and harmful. Beneficial conflict;

o Improves system responsiveness,o Promotes change, oro Improves relationships.

Harmful conflict;o Jeopardizes the functioning of the unit, oro Escalates to the point of violent confrontation.

Conflict is a dynamic process that affects workers differently.

The major types of conflict are personal, group, intra-organizational and inter-organizational.

The types of intra-organizational conflict are vertical, horizontal, line-staff and role.

Inter-organizational conflict occurs when differing organizations sharing a common purpose but disagree on how that purpose will be achieved.

The stages of a conflict episode are latent, perceived, felt, manifest and aftermath.

The types of conflict behaviors are competing, accommodating, avoiding, collaborating and compromising.

There are two types of interventions in conflict management – process and structural.

Conflict management in criminal justice agencies may be limited by competition, consequences and economics.

Conflict within criminal justice organizations can be both beneficial and harmful.

The Chief of Police and District Attorney at are at odds with each other.

The Chief of Police believes that the District Attorney is too quick to offer plea bargains to driving while intoxicated defendants, thereby reducing their sentences and the potential for increased penalties for subsequent offenses.

The District Attorney argues that plea deals improve her efficiency, especially when dealing with “borderline” cases.

Both parties have publically expressed their conflict in the local media.

What type of conflict is this? From the perspectives of both the Chief of Police and the

District Attorney, what stage is this conflict in? Using Thomas’ (1985) model, how would you classify these

individuals’ conflict behaviors? Which strategy (process or structural) would most likely

resolve this conflict? What limitations exist (within the criminal justice system)

that would impede a resolution of this conflict?