**1. Introduction**

It has been extensively documented that managers need conflict resolution skills in order to secure sound organizational performance [1–5]. Managers need to understand how

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productive conflicts are healthy for their organization and how destructive conflicts have negative consequences [6–9].

conflict, 'the negative effects of the conflict must be reduced, and positive effects must be

Management and Conflict Resolution: Conceptual Tools for Securing Cooperation and Organizational Performance

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.72132

5

The importance of recognizing productive conflicts should not be underestimated [16, 17]. At the same time, it is not difficult to understand why destructive conflicts have received most attention in the literature on social interaction in organizations. It is when cooperation breaks down, when poor interaction undermines organizational performance, that the importance of conflict resolution as a management responsibility really becomes crucial [17]. Further on in this chapter, this will be a key point. Although many of the analyses developed in this chapter can be used to understand all social conflicts, I focus particularly on destruc-

Conflict resolution is of general significance in social relations, but of special importance in areas of discourse in which poor communication can have substantial negative consequences. Organizations are such areas, and this explain why conflicts have received so much attention

Many theorists have, in fact, argued that managers' conflict resolution skills are of crucial importance in organizations. In recent years, it has been extensively documented how conflicts undermine organizational performance [2, 5, 6, 12]. Many analyses have focused on negative consequences of conflicts when they occur, and concepts such as work engagement and job motivation have been used to explain why managers' preventive conflict work is

The significance of reactive and proactive conflict resolution is often associated with the conflict ladder [23]. This metaphor has been used to explain how an initial situation involving a minor dispute can accelerate and turn into a brutal conflict with severe negative conse-

The conflict ladder can be applied in a variety of analyses of conflict escalation, but it is widely recognized that it is of special importance in heterogeneous social relations. This is primarily because the probability of escalation increases in social networks where people with different backgrounds, ideas and values work together [20, 23, 24]. Organizations typically have these characteristics, and it is therefore not difficult to understand why many theorists have been concerned with how tensions between personal and professional perspectives in organizations determine how conflicts arise and develop in accordance with the

The importance of bridging opposing interests in order to prevent conflict escalation has received particular attention in the management of organizational reforms—when managers lead processes of change. As shown by Kotter in his influential *Leading Change* [25], in processes of reorganization it is crucial that managers secure good communication and

enhanced' ([8], p. 7).

tive conflicts.

**3. Conflicts in organizations**

in management theory [1–4, 6, 7].

quences, as illustrated in **Figure 1**.

important [18–22].

conflict ladder.

In the literature on conflict management, managers' conflict resolution skills have often been understood as their handling styles, communication competence and ability to convey appropriate values and attitudes [10–15]. What has received less attention is that choices of conflict resolution strategies should depend on the types of conflicts managers face.

In this chapter, I argue that knowledge of conflict types is important for managers and use conflict theory to distinguish between six types that are especially important from an organizational perspective. *Interpretation conflicts* occur when fundamental disagreement is caused by different interpretations of verbal or non-verbal communicative acts. *Argumentation conflicts* are conflicts in which the disagreeing parties endorse incompatible arguments or weigh the strength of arguments differently. *Value conflicts* are conflicts in which the parties strive for incompatible ideals of what they consider to be valuable. *Interest conflicts* occur when the parties seek to realize inconsistent aims at personal or group level. *Role conflicts* are conflicts in which there is lack of clarity or disagreement about formal or informal roles. The final category, *personal conflicts,* involves disagreement that is grounded in perceptions of unacceptable personality traits or attitudes.

After explaining how these conflict types are relevant in organizational contexts, I clarify how knowledge of the conflict types can be used in conflict resolution at management levels. The fundamental idea is that the conflict types are logically related to each other, and that there is, for each conflict type, a core methodological principle for concept resolution that managers should focus on. In the last part of the chapter, I categorize these principles in an overall model for practical conflict resolution in organizations.
