**5. Types of conflicts**

have the ability to create shared understanding despite a diversity of interests and professional perspectives. A key aim is to create an inspiring organizational culture, give employees the same knowledge of aims and processes and make sure that teams function well. In fact, most models of organizational change are based on the idea that agreement is the goal and that conflicts can have substantial negative consequences in social relations [26]. In general, good communication in organizations involves much more than information exchange. Securing organizational communication also has a relational element. Dialog, both centrally at top management levels and throughout the organizational structure, is crucial for creating well-functioning teams and a shared sense of commitment

The importance of managers' conflicts resolution skills has received much attention in organization theory. It is not difficult to understand why this is the case: managers not only have crucial relational roles, which are sometimes described as the glue that holds organizations together [28]. They are also driving forces in strategic work. Managers have a special responsibility for achieving overall goals through dedicated and motivated employees [6, 12, 22]. These goals can only be achieved if managers have both a proactive and a reactive focus on conflict resolution. Having such a focus is so important that it is often formally specified as a requirement for managers, and it always falls informally under their

In analyses of this responsibility, managers' ability to resolve conflicts has often been understood as their use of handling style. Five different handling styles have received particular attention in conflict resolution theory: integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding and

[2, 13, 27].

**4. Resolution skills**

**Figure 1.** The conflict ladder (Glasl, 1982).

6 Organizational Conflict

responsibility and role as managers.

Further on in this chapter, I will distinguish between six conflict types. I will then argue that there is a logical connection between them that it is especially important for managers to have knowledge of.
