Conflict Management and Organizational Development

Abstract

Conflict is often seen as a group impediment, consistently viewed as undesirable. The literature has focused on interpersonal and intra-group conflict, seeking to distinguish between substantive and affective conflicts, task and relationship conflicts, and cognitive and affective conflicts (Andrade et al., 2008). Some researchers (J. Jr. Campbell, 1986) argue that task conflict can stimulate creativity and enhance team effectiveness, and in strategic decision-making teams, conflict can in fact improve decision quality. Yet conflict can also be dysfunctional, especially when accompanied by negative emotions and unresolved issues. The organizational conflict literature moreover draws from decision-making research, promoting approaches like dialectical inquiry and devil’s advocacy, under the belief that surfacing conflict leads to better decisions and reduces groupthink.