Organizational Conflict-The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

In my work, the issue that generates the most emotion and frustrated comments is conflict within the organization. We generally do not look at conflict as opportunity-we tend to think about conflict as unpleasant, counterproductive, and time consuming. Conflict that occurs in organizations need not be destructive, provided the energy associated with conflict is harnessed and directed toward problem solving and organizational improvement; however, managing conflict effectively requires that all parties understand the nature of …

…bad view of conflict is associated with a vision of organizational effectiveness that is no longer valid (and perhaps never was). You can direct conflict and manage it so that it causes both people and organizations to grow, innovate, and improve; however, this requires that conflict is not repressed because attempts to repress it are likely to generate very ugly situations. Common repression strategies to avoid are nonaction, administrative orbiting, secrecy, and law and order.