Prethodno priopćenje
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: CONTEMPLATION OF THEORIC PARADIGM AND A MACROSTRATEGIC APPROACH
Marli Gonan Božac
Iva Angeleski
Sažetak
Understanding organizational conflicts has made its way from a purely negative comprehension of conflicts as a serious threat to management that reduces its authority and reveals the management weaknesses, to a radical change in theoretical attitudes, conditioned by significant social, economic, cultural and communication changes in the society. Today, conflict is accepted as an unavoidable organizational phenomenon and it is considered that functional conflicts with its positive effects increase inventiveness, creativity and, finally, company competitiveness. Considering this role of conflict in organizational dynamics, it does not come as a surprise that Pondy's self-critical view points out that it is impossible to understand an organization as a cooperative system in which cooperation is occasionally interrupted by conflict processes, but it is more realistic to represent phases of cooperation episodes in a permanently conflicting environment, than the phases of conflict processes. However, despite the published self-criticism, Pondy's understanding of conflict processes, the development of which happens through several phases, still remains omnipresent in literature.
Following Pondy's criticism, the most appropriate alternative seems to be M.A. Rahim's approach to conflict processes. He finds that conflict management directed toward individual conflict processes and mostly inter-personal or inter-group conflicts in a company, within the modern organizational dynamics, cannot be successful. The basis of a successful conflict process management is a macro-organizational strategy which: reduces affective conflicts within an organization to a minimum, stimulates and maintains a moderate quantity of cognitive conflicts as well as enables the selection and use of appropriate approaches to conflict management. Such strategy will contribute to organizational learning and the overall organizational effectiveness. Although Rahim points out the organizational learning as the key process for effective conflict management and organizational effectiveness, there are studies which assign some negative attributes to organizational learning. Therefore, as a recommendation for further research, it would be advisable to examine empirically the influence of organizational learning on conflict management, as well as the presented manner of conflict process management of A.M. Rahim
Ključne riječi
conflict process; conflict management; macro-strategic approach; organizational learning
Hrčak ID:
38188
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.2008.
Posjeta: 14.449 *