**3. Social capital (SC)**

their positive consequences such as promoting subjects and finding solutions [2]. De Dreu and Gelfand [1] divided conflict management in organizations into three levels such as the individual level, the group level, and the organizational level. They claimed that each level of conflict can result in either harming or improving the quality of performance and satisfaction in organizations. The outcome (positive or negative) depends on the context of the conflict. The argument of this chapter is that an important contextual variable is SC. In this chapter, the author introduces the effect of social capital (SC) in various organizational levels and dis-

SC has many definitions and segmentations; it is considered a "positive psychology" variable [3] because it refers to the benefits derived from social interactions [4, 5]. The interface between organizational conflicts and SC is interesting because of their contrasting nature. Moreover, SC can lead to conflicts, and conflicts can lead to SC in every organizational level.

In order to make the discussion about conflicts simpler and clearer, the author prefers to use the segmentation of "A-type" and "C-type" conflicts, according to Amason et al. [6] and tries to examine their compound relationship with different levels of SC in organizations, that is,

The debate whether the organizational conflict is positive or negative is an old one, scholars agree that conflicts are a natural part of the organizational life, and that the context and the management of the conflict will determine whether the conflict will be beneficial or harmful. In their classical paper, Amason et al. [6] distinguished between two types of conflicts among

"C-type conflict" is a cognitive conflict that reflects disagreements among members of a team. This kind of conflict focuses on substantive, issue-related differences of opinion. The researchers claim that "C-type" conflict leads to better decisions and increased commitment, cohesive-

"A-type conflict" is an affective conflict that contains disagreements over personalized, individually oriented matters that are largely detrimental to team performance. The roots of this type of conflict are very often tacit; therefore, it is difficult to manage or to solve it. According to Amason et al. [6], this type of conflict often provokes animosity among team members and may lead to poor decision quality, reduced progress and decreased commitment, cohesive-

Amason et al.'s [6] conflict type resembles Jehn's [2] conflict dimensions: relationship conflict and task conflict. Relationship conflicts are disagreements regarding personal issues that are not related to the group's task such as personality clashes and annoying behavior of other group members. Task conflicts are disagreements among group members about opinions, ideas, and suggestions regarding the group's task [16]. The sum of these two dimensions is an

cusses its possible influence on organizational conflicts.

personal, intraorganizational, and external SC.

teams in organizations: "C-type" and "A-type."

ness, and empathy among the team members.

ness, empathy, and understanding among the team members.

**2. Conflicts in organizations**

54 Organizational Conflict

Social capital (SC) is a comprehensive concept, which refers to the benefits derived from interactions between people. The concept of SC became widespread following Jane Jacobs' study in 1961. In her book: "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," Jacobs [10] argued that interpersonal relations that are based on trust, cooperation, common goals, and common activities can lead to better quality of life in urban neighborhoods, and eventually will raise the property values.

Leaning toward this observation, Coleman [11] looked at the concept of "SC" as a bridge between sociology [12, 13] and economics [14], that is, social connections that lead to a measurable intangible asset.

There are many definitions of SC, Putnam [4], for example, claimed that SC refers to features of social organization such as trust, norms, and networks. SC is a relational resource [11], and its function appears to be related to enabling some societal good within the boundary of a specific social level. Because SC is a broad concept, researchers tried to make it more accurate and refine it by distinguishing between its different levels [15].

Halpern [16] distinguished between three levels of SC in the upbringing and educational research: SC at the microlevel—the family level, SC at the macrolevel—state level, and a level that is in-between—the community level. Similar to Halpern's [16] typology, the SC in organizations is also divided into three levels such as personal SC, intraorganizational SC, and the macro level—external SC [15].
