**3. Organizational conflicts**

One of the most traditional definitions of conflicts is the interaction of interdependent people who perceive opposition of goals, aims and values and who see the other party as potentially interfering with the realization of these goals [34]. No doubt that conflict is an evitable part of human existence, either in organizational life or in one's personal life. The conflict is a part of relationships within the organization, between two or more individuals and groups. Whenever people work collectively, conflict is likely to occur. Cooperation is one side of all human endeavors, and conflict is the other. Conflict has to be analyzed from both the micro and the macro perspectives, because conflict may occur at many levels, between two or more person, groups or even nations [35].

Based on a comprehensive review of the conflict literature [36], conflict can be defined as the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. Thomas' definition supports this, whether he defines conflict as the process, which begins when one party perceives that another has frustrated, or is about to frustrate, some concern of his [37].

During the dealing with conflict, individual values affect everyone's expectations, interactions and outcomes. Conflict as a research tool can be an informative phenomenon for revealing an organization's general status real values. A conflict is the result of a closer leading to a contact stimulus and a reciprocal stimulus, which is perceived as a threat to the respective security or identity [38].

The ways in which social conflict has been theoretically conceptualized and operationally defined in psychological research have been different. Follett defined conflict simply as "difference" [39]. Lewin had a wider view of conflict and he defined it as "a situation in which oppositely directed forces of about equal strength play upon a person simultaneously" [40]. Deutsch characterized conflict as existing whenever incompatible activities (opposing goals, claims, beliefs, values, wishes, actions, feelings, etc.) occur [41]. Psychologists and conflict scholars Pruitt and Kim developed the existing theories and described the conflict as arising from the perceived divergence of interest [42] (see also [43–46] for similar definitions). Coleman bases his views on the work of Follett, Lewin, Deutsch, and others [47]. He sees conflict not as a single event or situation occurring at a specific moment in time, but rather as a process unfolding in relationships over time [48, 49]. Accordingly, he defines the social conflict as a relational process influenced by the presence of incompatible activities [47].

job in shaping and enhancing values [26]; stronger internal culture and values create stronger company brand [20]; mismatch of personal and organizational values can be one of the key risk factors for the development of occupational burnout [27] and discrepancy between personal and organizational values can cause insecurity and disengagement, which may lead to job burnout with cynicism about the working environment as its core component [28]. A mismatch between organizational and individual values may lead an employee to leave an organization [29, 23].

Very often, the organizational values are defined by organizational culture and oppositely. One of the most influential researchers of organizational culture, Edgar Schein, brings out that organizational values are one of the key elements of organizational culture; according to them, we can understand and appreciate the culture of the organization itself, its specificity [30]. Organizational values determine organizational behaviour and culture [31]. Values are important in the organization because the resemblance in the perception of the same organizational values makes organizational culture effective and functioning [32]. Some researchers argue that only human can have values and organizations as such have no values, but because they are composed of people, their cultures are shaped by values that are shared in varying degrees [33]. Despite the wording, none doubts that values play an important role in the organizations. Bourne and Jenkins [9] conclude that "values have a long reach and a wide span of

One of the most traditional definitions of conflicts is the interaction of interdependent people who perceive opposition of goals, aims and values and who see the other party as potentially interfering with the realization of these goals [34]. No doubt that conflict is an evitable part of human existence, either in organizational life or in one's personal life. The conflict is a part of relationships within the organization, between two or more individuals and groups. Whenever people work collectively, conflict is likely to occur. Cooperation is one side of all human endeavors, and conflict is the other. Conflict has to be analyzed from both the micro and the macro perspectives, because conflict may occur at many levels, between two or more

Based on a comprehensive review of the conflict literature [36], conflict can be defined as the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. Thomas' definition supports this, whether he defines conflict as the process, which begins when one party perceives that another has frustrated, or is about to

During the dealing with conflict, individual values affect everyone's expectations, interactions and outcomes. Conflict as a research tool can be an informative phenomenon for revealing an organization's general status real values. A conflict is the result of a closer leading to a contact stimulus and a reciprocal stimulus, which is perceived as a threat to the respective

The ways in which social conflict has been theoretically conceptualized and operationally defined in psychological research have been different. Follett defined conflict simply as

influence on critical processes and characteristics in organizations."

**3. Organizational conflicts**

22 Organizational Conflict

person, groups or even nations [35].

frustrate, some concern of his [37].

security or identity [38].

Tjosvold emphasizes that conflict is a window to the drama of organisational life [50]. Organizational conflicts are always embedded in the prevailing organisational culture and depend on behavioral patterns and values that have been accepted and shared within the organization. For positive conflict culture, we need constructive communication patterns. Flink explored how various conflicts influence organizational performance and identified different dimensions of conflict—task versus relational, subjective versus objective and horizontal versus vertical [51].

According to the generally accepted opinion, conflict means misunderstanding and tension between parties. The terms "conflict management" and "conflict resolution" may have a negative undertone [52] and create an idea that conflict should be "wrestled into compliance or gotten rid of altogether." Interpretation of the term "conflict" affects the way a problem is solved [53] despite recognition that "the best time to handle people problems is before they become people problems" [54]. Usually, people do not believe that conflict might be a good thing. According to Lencioni, arguing and discussing issues (solving a conflict) tend to form stronger and healthier teams [55]. The conflict management is a major function of every organization [56]. Conflict solving style is directly linked to the microclimate of an organization [57].

From conflict theory, we know that according to their outcome, conflict can be constructive (where the solution of the conflict stimulates positive changes in the organization) or destructive (which have a detrimental effect, hindering organizational development and frequently resulting in a loss of control) [58, 59]. Similarly, conflicts can be divided into functional and dysfunctional conflicts [60].

In addition to the main characteristics of a conflict, three important aspects can be identified: conflict is always related to relationships, there are several parties in a conflict and there is a problem or main question that has caused the conflict [58, 61, 62].

Empirical evidence shows that conflict is connected with emotions [63, 64], and these emotions define an individual's interpretation and reaction to the conflict situation [65]. Therefore, conflict leads to an emotional reaction, which, in turn, drives an individual's perceptions, attitude and behaviour, particularly the individual's perception of trust.

The essential aspect is that each conflict, like most culturally based things, must be recognized, acknowledged and be managed. Resolving conflicts is beneficial to the company and makes a major contribution to a more positive environment at work, which significantly improves the employees' motivation and loyalty and the company's market position [58]. In addition, a conflict can provide an opportunity to form and express people' needs, opinions and positions and expectation as well as to create trust between people [66].

involved for minimizing the dysfunctions of conflict and improving the constructive functions of conflict for the purpose of enhancing learning and effectiveness within an organization [69]. In addition to the main characteristics of a conflict, three important aspects can be brought out: conflict is always related to relationships, there are several parties in a conflict and there is a problem or main question that has caused the conflict [58, 61, 62]. Conflicts are a way of confronting reality and create new solutions through the problem solving; a conflict is necessary for true involvement, empowerment and democracy. Discussing different perspectives people voice their concerns and create solutions addressing several points of view. A conflict provides an opportunity to form and express our needs, opinions and positions. A well-directed and solved conflict is an investment for the future. People trust each other more, feel more efficient and believe that their joint efforts will pay off. The sensitivity to people's ability and coherence is higher, and people are more willing to commit to their teams and organizations [66]. If the people feel that they or their team have succeeded, then this success

Conflict in Organization: Indicator for Organizational Values

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75496

25

The ability to use the crisis as a productive conflict and relying on true ideological business values in finding the solution would enable the organization to make the right changes as well as to be sustainable. To understand productive conflict, it is essential to consider conflict management strategies because they strongly influence subsequent interactions and outcomes and conflict issues since they impact on conflicts management strategies through thoughts and feelings [67]. Organizational learning can also happen during conflict management when both parties' arguments are being heard; each other's needs and limitations that arise during work are understood. According to researchers, a well-managed conflict provides a forum for

One of the important parts to be successful in managing people is the ability to use a mission and values in everyday activity, evaluate thinking and not being oriented to hierarchy and unchangeable processes. The environment is changing fast and traditional organizational behaviour to not help to survive in our very competitive world. Consequently, organizations need to invest in managers and standards that strengthen the expected behaviour and perfor-

As the organization cannot exist without people and every person has individual values, it is easy to conclude that a basis of all the organizational values is a set of individual values of employees. Targeting, choice of alternatives and value of individual behavioral expressions are based on values, as they form the specific behavioral norms and direct employees for the general purposes [71, 72]. At the same time, the solving of the conflicts based also on individual beliefs, experiences and values. As the Mayer defines the conflict—it can be a feeling, a disagreement, a real or perceived incompatibility of interests, inconsistent worldviews or a set of behaviors [73]. Therefore, those two constructs, values and conflicts, are closely tied both to individual and organizational level. If we want to understand the ethology of conflict

experience supports team relations and individuals.

**4. Conflicts and values in organisation**

integrating ideas that originally are thought incompatible [67, 69].

mance, support the mission and values and enable values to implement.

The conflict as a research tool allows us to see the status of organisations in general, as well as the problems, which occur as a result of rapid development and variance between the people. According to a widespread opinion, all conflicts are bad and people dislike them because of their negative consequences. But avoiding and suppressing conflict is sometimes a mistake and not always in the best interests of the individuals and groups concerned [36].

The main activity for each organization and governmental authority is conflict management [56], which enables to reach the acceptance of common values. Management is faced with an enormous responsibility of ensuring optimum levels of growth and productivity in an environment that is full of conflicting situations [62]. The conflict has always been widespread in society, but it is only recently that it has generated a lot of interest and has been a focus of research and studies.

In order to change organizational culture and values, organizational learning involving conflict management and knowledge management can be used [36]. The analysis of conflict management reveals the real values in an organization. During a study, 2200 conflicts were researched (1997–2001) and the following questions were asked [1]: What are the reasons causing conflicts? How have conflicts been solved? How many conflicts are vertical? What are ethical principles violated most often? As a result of the research, it was found out that in all cases power was more important for managers than solving the conflict, and the win-win result was almost never achieved. No clear ethical principles seemed to exist. The analysis of all the conflict cases indicated that Estonian business leaders, as well as employees, lack emotional intelligence; especially, they seem to lack the competence to handle conflicts and empathy [1].

In order to be productive, conflict management should be constructive and lie in problem solving rather than contending. Conflict management is contingent upon the type of conflict issue. Cognitive conflict involving disputes over scarce resources, over procedures or policies or over opinions enhances problem solving and reduces contending behaviors, whereas affective conflict involving one's personal or group identity, norms and values does the reverse [67].

Previous research into conflicts in Estonia [58, 61] and abroad [35, 51, 68] has identified organizational issues (limited resources and their distribution, interdependence, differences in goals and in viewpoints, managerial mistakes, unclear status and communication problems) to be the most common causes of conflicts. While analyzing conflicts, it is important to determine whether the conflict is solved or unsolved and then we can discover which values were used during the conflict resolution and decision-making process. Additionally, organizational learning can also happen during conflict management when both parties' arguments are being heard. According to researchers [67, 69], a well-managed conflict provides a forum for integrating ideas that originally are thought incompatible [36].

Lumineau and Handley have demonstrated that essential distinctions exist between interorganizational conflicts and inter-personal conflict as well as many opportunities for crossfertilization between micro (individual level) and macro (organizational level) research on conflict management [70]. Rahim emphasized that designing effective macro-level strategies is involved for minimizing the dysfunctions of conflict and improving the constructive functions of conflict for the purpose of enhancing learning and effectiveness within an organization [69].

In addition to the main characteristics of a conflict, three important aspects can be brought out: conflict is always related to relationships, there are several parties in a conflict and there is a problem or main question that has caused the conflict [58, 61, 62]. Conflicts are a way of confronting reality and create new solutions through the problem solving; a conflict is necessary for true involvement, empowerment and democracy. Discussing different perspectives people voice their concerns and create solutions addressing several points of view. A conflict provides an opportunity to form and express our needs, opinions and positions. A well-directed and solved conflict is an investment for the future. People trust each other more, feel more efficient and believe that their joint efforts will pay off. The sensitivity to people's ability and coherence is higher, and people are more willing to commit to their teams and organizations [66]. If the people feel that they or their team have succeeded, then this success experience supports team relations and individuals.

The ability to use the crisis as a productive conflict and relying on true ideological business values in finding the solution would enable the organization to make the right changes as well as to be sustainable. To understand productive conflict, it is essential to consider conflict management strategies because they strongly influence subsequent interactions and outcomes and conflict issues since they impact on conflicts management strategies through thoughts and feelings [67]. Organizational learning can also happen during conflict management when both parties' arguments are being heard; each other's needs and limitations that arise during work are understood. According to researchers, a well-managed conflict provides a forum for integrating ideas that originally are thought incompatible [67, 69].

One of the important parts to be successful in managing people is the ability to use a mission and values in everyday activity, evaluate thinking and not being oriented to hierarchy and unchangeable processes. The environment is changing fast and traditional organizational behaviour to not help to survive in our very competitive world. Consequently, organizations need to invest in managers and standards that strengthen the expected behaviour and performance, support the mission and values and enable values to implement.
