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"Conflict management" and "conflict resolution" are not synonymous terms.
California Management Review
|December 8, 1978
Summary
Functional conflict is essential for organizational survival and adaptation, driving change and productivity. However, its impact on objectives determines if conflict is beneficial or detrimental.
Area of Science:
- Organizational Behavior
- Management Science
Background:
- Organizations require adaptation to survive environmental changes.
- Adaptation is driven by change, which is stimulated by conflict.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the necessity and role of functional conflict in organizations.
- To identify factors necessitating conflict stimulation and methods for its induction.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and theoretical analysis of organizational conflict.
- Identification of conditions favoring conflict and techniques for its stimulation.
Main Results:
- Functional conflict can enhance productivity and decision-making.
- Dysfunctional conflict negatively impacts organizational objectives.
- Factors like "yes men" and fear of admitting ignorance necessitate conflict stimulation.
Conclusions:
- Conflict is a vital tool for organizational adaptation and survival.
- Stimulating conflict requires situational appropriateness in methods like communication manipulation or structural changes.