Conflicts in the organization and methods of managing them

A significant part of the causes of conflict in organizations relates to interactions between people. A general characteristic of such reasons is a personal response to existing contradictions in the organization. Psychological analysis of such conflicts shows that many of them arise as a result of fairly typical mistakes. Let's consider the main psychological contradictions in the organization that lead to interpersonal, intergroup and other conflicts in it.

There are many reasons why conflicts arise in organizations. Quite a few of them are truly objective in nature and are associated with macroeconomic, legal and organizational phenomena. At the same time, a significant part concerns interactions between people.

A general characteristic of such reasons is a personal response to existing contradictions in the organization. Let's consider the main psychological contradictions in the organization that lead to interpersonal, intergroup and other conflicts in it.

Types and main causes of conflicts

Labor conflict is a type of social conflict, the object of which is labor relations and the conditions for their provision. A labor dispute is different from an industrial dispute.

Labor disputes are disputes between an employee (group of employees) and an employer about working conditions.

Industrial conflict is a broader term. In addition to a clash in industrial relations, it often involves a conflict of interests. For example, strikes or demonstrations may be accompanied not only by demands for higher wages, but also for improved food supplies and sometimes political demands. Thus, a labor conflict can be regulated both by labor law norms and by other legal and non-legal means.

Depending on which parties are involved in the struggle, interpersonal and intergroup labor conflicts can be distinguished. The former are mainly “vertical” conflicts.

Depending on the characteristics of the parties, the following types of labor disputes are distinguished:

between staff and administration;
between staff and the trade union committee;
between the administration and the trade union committee;
between labor and industrial management;
between work collectives of different organizations;
between labor collectives and government bodies.

Depending on the area of interaction in which the conflict occurs, three conflict topics are distinguished:

Working conditions (technology; regulation; modes; safety, etc.);
Resource distribution system (payment of wages; expenditure of funds; distribution of profits; participation of employees in capital management; privatization rules, etc.);
Implementation of previously concluded agreements (mutual deliveries, settlements, debt repayment, etc.).

Labor disputes perform the following functions:

Labor conflict affects the balance of individual, group and collective interests and contributes to the social integration of the enterprise. The conflict between workers and management increases their confrontation, on the one hand, and the unity of workers, on the other;
Labor conflicts perform a signaling function, revealing the most acute contradictions in the life of the team;
there is an innovative, creative function of labor conflict. It can be used to overcome obstacles to the economic, social or spiritual development of the team;
The socio-psychological function of labor conflicts is that they lead to changes in the socio-psychological climate, cohesion, authority, and mutual respect.

Conflict in an organization is a clash between subjects of joint action (individuals, groups, structures) within an organization or in an interorganizational space.

The organization is the basic unit in the structure of modern society; everyone (or almost everyone - marginalized people don't count) is part of some organization - industry, finance, commerce, government, science, education, media and many others.

The basis of any organization is the collective, that is, the people, and without them the functioning of the organization is impossible.

As you know, an organization is created to achieve a specific goal. Purpose is the factor that unites people in an organization. However, it is not necessary that the goals of the organization and its members be the same. Achieving a common goal somehow contributes to achieving an individual goal.

The causes of conflicts in work collectives (organizations) are divided into objective and subjective.

Objective reasons are based on the objective shortcomings of the organization - poor organization of work, weak material and technical base, lack of funding, etc., and subjective reasons are based on the subjective characteristics and conditions of the organization's members.

The variety of types of conflicts and their causes is also due to the fact that, for example, in the organization of work several systems (subsystems) of relations function in parallel:

organizational and technical;
Socio-economic;
Administrative and management tasks;
Unofficially;
socio-psychological;
Sociocultural.

Consequently, group members operate in several systems of relationships simultaneously, so that conflicts that arise in an organization can also be classified as functional systems.

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Organizational and technological conflicts

Such conflicts arise, on the one hand, due to inconsistency of formal organizational principles, for example, when the leadership of an organization violates the rules and norms previously adopted and agreed upon with the work team:

Change operating mode;
Changes in production technology;
poor condition of workplaces).

On the other hand, the actual behavior of members of the labor force:

Absenteeism;
delays;
Violation of work schedule, etc.

Positional conflicts are most typical for organizational and technological systems. Their appearance is caused by the contrast in role, functional, professional positions, for example, some employees are interested in innovative changes, while others, on the contrary, would prefer the current order.

The cause of conflicts in the organizational and technological system can also be unbalanced work cases. This occurs when the tasks, functions and responsibilities assigned to individual employees or entire departments are not supported by appropriate means, rights and authorities.

Thus, we can conclude that one of the most important reasons for organizational and technological conflicts is the low level of organization and management of work, which can have both objective and subjective reasons.

The objective foundations of the conflict can be laid down in the functional structure of the organization itself and in its management system, and the subjective ones can be “introduced” by members of the organization (both managed and managers).

Peculiarities

The following points are highlighted in conflicts:

volume of the social system . The work group is more closed and local compared to society. There are rules, structure, regulators, management system,
role structure. In the organization, each member of the group performs a specific task, in the foreground, the professional qualities and abilities of the employees, their contribution to the common cause. The employer expects certain behavior from employees. The problem often arises due to the division of responsibilities,
organizational structure , management methods, ideas, goals.

Conflicts in the socio-economic system of the organization

The economic system of labor organization is the main mechanism for linking organizational goals with the goals of each member, which contributes to the achievement of the goals of the organization; a person primarily pursues his personal goals, primarily socio-economic ones. The most conflicting is the distribution of resources and finances between departments and individual members of the organization.

The following are the main reasons for conflicts in this area:

Late and non-payment of wages for work performed;
raising production standards or reducing tariff rates;
Low income that does not meet the vital needs of organization members and their families;
imperfection of the incentive system, unfair distribution of material goods and wages;
Obvious violations or miscalculations on the part of management in financial and economic activities, leading to a deterioration in the socio-economic situation of members of the workforce;
Imbalance in the distribution of resources and finances between departments;
Inconsistency in the distribution of resources and finances between the Development Fund and the Salary Fund (conflict over the use of work results).

The last reason is critical to understanding the main contradiction between organizational managers and employees. Employers are interested in increasing the accumulation fund (their own profits, if necessary), and employees are interested in ensuring that the profits received in the course of work are used, as far as possible, for the purposes of distribution and consumption.

Conflicts in the administrative and management system.

There are two types of management that are most common in organizations - authoritarian and democratic.

The first type involves strict formalization of all production relations, the second leaves more space for self-organization and self-regulation (including conflicts) “on the ground.” The type of control largely depends on this:

the nature of the organization and its goals;
socio-cultural characteristics of both leaders and managers;
external conditions.

Managing social organizations is a very controversial process that can not only manage, but also generate conflicts. The following types of conflicts are directly related to the functioning of the administrative and management system:

Internal conflicts in the administrative and managerial apparatus;
Conflicts between the central administration and the heads of individual departments;
Conflicts between the administration and trade unions;
Conflicts between the administration and the mass of workers.

Such conflicts can be caused by the following reasons:

economic;
organizationally and technologically;
failure of management to fulfill its promises;
Hiding the true situation and plans for the future from employees;
Reconstruction of the organization without taking into account the interests of employees;
Dismissal of employees without reason and without taking into account their interests;
Violation of labor laws by management.

Conflicts related to the functioning of an informal organization

Informal organization is a form of self-organization. This is a specific system for regulating the behavior and activities of people in production organizations.

The peculiarity of an informal organization is that it contains attributes of both formal and informal organizations.

On the one hand, it arises from relations of production and thus fulfills or complements the functions of the formal organization; on the other hand, the spontaneity of its emergence and the relative voluntariness of membership in an informal organization brings it closer in several respects to an informal organization.

The role of the informal organization in relation to labor conflicts is quite ambiguous. On the one hand, informal connections and relationships help to avoid and resolve many conflicts, but on the other hand, they give rise to all kinds of conflicts, for example

Conflicts within the informal organization itself between its members;
Conflicts between an informal organization and individual members (groups) of a formal organization that are not part of the informal organization; conflicts between formal and informal methods of management and problem solving;
Conflicts of formal and informal interests;
Role conflict, which refers to a person’s performance of formal functions and his role in an informal organization.

Conflicts in the organization in connection with the functioning of the socio-psychological system of relations

Let us briefly look at typical conflicts within an informal organization, which are mainly determined by the socio-psychological characteristics of people, their personal and group interests:

Conflicts of goals, values, interests (at all levels of the informal system);
Role conflicts associated with a violation of the established system of relationships within the group;
Leadership dominance and conflicts;
interpersonal socio-psychological (emotional) conflicts;
Conflicts between subgroups in the same group;
Intergroup conflict;
Conflicts between official and unofficial organizations at different levels.

Simply listing the conflicts that occur in an organization would not be important without considering the consequences of such conflicts.

Depending on the nature of the conflict situation, the behavioral strategy chosen by the parties to the conflict, and the methods of resolving it, the conflict can have both negative and positive consequences.

The negative consequences of conflict in an organization include:

Growing tension in relations between opponents, growing hostility, deterioration of social well-being;
Limiting interaction and communication between parties to the conflict;
Reduction of business contacts contrary to functional necessity, final formalization of communication, growth of group and individual egoism;
Decreased work motivation due to a negative attitude and uncertainty regarding a positive solution to emerging problems; decreased labor productivity and increased staff turnover;
Distraction from work, loss of time and resources to resolve the conflict and its consequences;
a pointless waste of energy and effort on confrontation, subjective experience and stress.

Excessive escalation of conflicting differences and protracted confrontation between the parties can lead to a general crisis and disintegration of the Organization.

Positive consequences of conflict in an organization may include the following:

Adaptation and socialization of organization members;
Reduce internal tension and stabilize the situation;
Defining and consolidating a new balance of power in the organization;
Identification of hidden defects and miscalculations;
radical solution of current organizational and technological problems, search for non-traditional relationships;
Activation of information processes;
Group cohesion to solve common problems, increase self-confidence, self-esteem and responsibility for the problems being solved.

Therefore, we see that the same conflicts, depending on their course and resolution, give completely opposite results.

Conflict can be vertical (between a superior and a subordinate) or horizontal (between equals), depending on the status of the parties involved.

Depending on the degree of manifestation, conflicts can be open or hidden. The former are on the surface, while the latter are hidden behind the screen of favorable relationships. Hidden conflicts can only be recognized as indirect manifestations.

An HR manager should be aware of the signs of conflict in the workplace.

In terms of intensity, they can be spoken or extinguished.

By duration - short-term and long-term.

All these conflicts, in turn, can be divided into material and intangible.

The purpose of substantive conflicts is to achieve a certain result, i.e. a certain material or intangible advantage or a more equitable distribution of certain benefits.

Groundless conflicts arise from the need to free ourselves from unconscious internal psychological tension, which is projected outward onto innocent opponents.

Considering the presence of conflicts in the organization, their positive and negative consequences do not mean a full disclosure of the issue related to organizational and labor conflicts - in our opinion, it is no less important to talk about ways to prevent such conflicts,

Consequences

Any conflict has consequences.

Functional . Have the following features:

the problem is solved in a way acceptable to both parties,
the parties are disposed to cooperate,
decrease in submission, when the conflicting parties are afraid and strive to express rational ideas,

Functional consequences improve the quality of applied solutions, eliminate difficulties, psychological differences and problems, and hostility.

If it is not possible to find a suitable solution and remove the hostility, then another type of consequences appears.

Dysfunctional . Have the following features:

staff dissatisfaction increases,
the number of dismissals and staff turnover increases,
competition arises between groups, loyalty to one's group,
their goals are perceived as positive, the goals of the other group are negative, the other side is perceived as the enemy,
rational interaction between the conflicting parties ceases,
victory in a conflict is given more importance than the ability to actually solve the problem that has arisen.

Management should not allow the conflict to escalate into a dysfunctional type, since this ultimately affects not only the dissatisfaction of the staff, but also the profit of the enterprise itself.