Importance of Organizational Conflict

Organizational conflict is unavoidable. No enterprise is free from conflict. However, its impact depends upon the way in which it is managed. Conflict at an organizational level has both advantages as well as disadvantages. If conflict is not resolved, at initial stages, it gets manifested in an overt behavior aimed at deliberately blocking each other’s effort towards their respective goals.

Organizational conflict can have several useful benefits. In general organizational conflict causes alterations to the working style and culture (Pascale 1990; Rahim  2001). Determination of the reason behind an organizational and suggestion of a solution causes changes in the work environment. People are energized by organizational conflict. It makes people progress towards success by giving them monetary benefits and preventing boredom. Conflict when recognized at the right time paves way for opening up fresh and effective communication channels. A healthy organizational conflict stands as ventilation enabling employees drain their feeling and emotions. Organizational conflict educates people by helping employees learn a lot about themselves as well as others. The conflict aftermath can result in a stronger work place. Organizational conflict gives firms the ability to rearrange its internal culture and resolve the conflict such that it does not affect the values of vendors and customers. Organizational conflict enables managers to revisit their goals and roles. It enables healthy conversations between employees and help in improvement of the overall productivity and performance of an enterprise. Organizational conflict help people come out of their conventional thinking styles and innovate better ideas. Conflict induces creativity of the employees.

Conflict in organizations promotes unstructured thinking that is very much essential for dealing with uncertain conditions. Organizational conflict when occurs frequently helps employees think out of the box and handle it easily and in   a more productive way.

References

• Pascale R T (1990), Managing on the edge: How the smartest companies use conflict to stay ahead, Simon and Schuler, New York
• Rahim M A (2001), Managing conflict in organizations, Quorum Books, London.