A Discourse on Functional and Dysfunctional Conflicts, Essay Example

Arguably, it is a well known fact accepted in the sphere of academia and policy makers of all persuasions that conflicts are an inevitable constant in the human existence process. In other words, the understanding is that conflicts are a regular part of human relations inasmuch as people are subject to different opinions on the daily occurrences of life (Jen, 1994). But the real contention is that beyond the real fact that conflicts are a regular feature of human relationships and thus are unavoidable, deeper questions about the most absolute dissection of conflicts need to be asked.

Credibly so, then comes the issue of a functional and a dysfunctional conflict. Both forms of conflicts represent a form of disagreement in expressed individual and group opinions. Meanwhile, whilst functional conflict is most often than not geared towards the betterment of an organization dysfunctional conflict are more inclined to trigger apathy, discontent and consequent retrogression in organizational development. Suffice to cite a couple of illustrations to buttress the explanations given above. In a functional conflict situation, members of an organization engage in a brainstorming exercise to arrive at a consensus as part of a quest to address an issue within an organization. It involves the expression of frank, objective varied opinions to arrive at conclusions based on merit. At the end of the day the organization becomes better off. Dysfunctional conflict on the other hand is characterized by arbitrary rivalry and wrangling devoid of meritorious discussions. Internal strife and power struggle within national governments can be a case of dysfunctional conflict if left unmanaged can result in open hostility.

In the most absolute sense the main antecedents of conflicts tend to have repercussions on all parts to a conflict and none is clearly insulated from it thus making it imperative to put any conflict situation in its proper perspective (Fisher et al 1991). First of all, conflicts can be a source of needless drain to the resources of the organization consequently impeding the ability to realize the stated objectives of the organization. Secondly, the reason for the drain in resources is largely because instead of using organizational resources to promote the collective objectives of the organization, conflicting parties will rather divert resources to vindicate themselves and the positions they stand for in the impasse. It then leads to the third fact that the consequence of the ravaging conflict is that distortions and lack of objectivity takes precedence over candidness. When an organization is allowed to crumble under the weight of a ravaging conflict then ultimately a party spirit tendency emerges to pitch members against each other. When matters degenerate to this level then cooperation will be sacrificed. Finally, when all these happen either in sequence or by-products of each of the individual cases here, an inevitable side effect will be a general sense of apathy and a drop in morale levels which in the long run does not auger well for any organization (Walton, 1987).

Notwithstanding the forgoing, conflicts can trigger desirable impacts within the framework of sound management. Among the potential desirable impacts of conflicts includes the fact that it provides an opportunity to identify and eliminate monotonous aspects of work from a diagnostic perspective. Secondly, should a conflict be properly managed it can engender unity and a sense of togetherness amongst workers after the grey areas have been identified and straightened up. Last but not the least it provides a unique learning and growth opportunity for all parties.

Reference

Fisher, R., W. Ury and B. Patton. (1991). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Penguin Books, New York. What am I supposed to check? I don’t have this book.

Jehn, K.A., (1994), Enhancing effectiveness: an investigation of advantages and disadvantages of value-based inter-group conflict, International Journal of Conflict Management, 5 (1), pp. 223-38.

Walton, R. E. (1987). Managing conflict: Interpersonal dialogue and third-party roles. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA