The Nature of Conflict: Friend, Foe and Process

Organisational behaviour rehabilitated conflict decades ago: the interactionist view holds that some conflict is necessary for performance, and the manager's job is regulation, not elimination. The foundational distinctions — types, views, process stages — organise everything that follows.

Key Concepts

• Conflict defined: a process beginning when one party perceives another has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about (Robbins)
• Three views historically: traditional (all conflict harmful), human relations (natural, accept it), interactionist (optimal level needed — too little breeds stagnation)
• Type trilogy: task conflict (about the work — can help), process conflict (how work is done — small doses only), relationship conflict (personal — almost always destructive)
• The performance curve: an inverted U — too little conflict yields groupthink and apathy; too much yields chaos; the middle yields scrutiny and innovation
• Conflict process stages: potential opposition → cognition and personalisation → intentions → behaviour → outcomes
• Perception is the ignition: conflict exists when perceived, whatever the facts
• Functional outcomes: better decisions, surfaced assumptions, creativity; dysfunctional: politics, turnover, sabotage

In Practice

The exam's favourite discrimination: task versus relationship conflict, and the interactionist inverted-U. When a scenario shows a silent, agreeing team missing obvious flaws — that is TOO LITTLE conflict, and the prescription is structured dissent.

Try It Yourself

Recall two real conflicts you witnessed: classify each (task/process/relationship), place the group on the inverted-U before and after, and judge the outcome functional or dysfunctional with one line of evidence each.