UNIT 2
INTRODUCTION TO GROUP BEHAVIOUR
Definition of Group
1. According to Stephen Robbins a group can be defined as "Two or more individuals interacting and inter-dependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives."
2. According to K. Aswathappa "Group refers to a collection of two or more interacting individuals with a stable pattern of relationships between them, who share common goals, and who perceive themselves as being a group"
3. According to Marvin Shaw " a group is two or more persons who interact with one another such that each person influences and is influenced by the other person".
Types of Groups
(1) Formal Groups: A formal group is a group that is intentional. Created by organizations to perform a specific task. Organization create these groups to serve a specific purpose. Members of formal group are usually appointed by the organisations, but they may not always be appointed by the organisation.
A management team is an example of a formal group.
Other examples:
(a) The crew of an airline flight.
(b) A research and development laboratory.
(c) Work units.
(d) A small assembly line.
(e) A committee.
(f) A small department, etc.
A special feature of formal groups is that there is hierarchy (a system in which people are ranked one above the other according to status or authority) of authority, with specified rules and regulations.
There are two types of formal groups namely, Command group and Task group.
(a) Command Group: It is most frequent type of formal group. It is determined by the organization chart. It is made up of individuals who report directly to a given manager.
For e.g.:
(i) The foreman (a worker who supervises other workers) and his team of workers constitute a command group.
(ii) An elementary school Principal and his 10 teachers form a command group.
Command groups are generally permanent in nature and continue to exist until a decision is made to change them or restructure the organization.
(b) Task Groups: Task groups are also determined by the organization, represent those working together to complete a job task.
For.eg. When a problem involving many departments arises, a task force (group) made-up of representatives from each of the affected departments, might be formed to study the problem and find out solutions.
This group is made up of employees who work together to complete a particular task or project, but who do not necessarily report to the same supervisor. "All command groups are task groups, but all task groups are not command groups."
(2) Informal Groups: An informal group is an association of persons that is neither formally structured nor created by the organization. It exists in response to the need for social contact. These groups form naturally in the work environment due to social contact between persons.
They generally develop within groups out of certain values or concerns which some members find they share. They may also develop across or outside of formal groups. Informal groups do not possess formal structure of formation. Roles of members are loosely defined, based on member’s expectations and the needs of a group at any particular moment. A member's behaviour is guided by his own point of view of what is appropriate and allowed by the group. There are very few rules in informal groups.
For eg. Four employees from different departments who regularly eat lunch together are an example of an informal group.
(a) Friendship Groups: Friendship groups are groups which develop because the individual members have common characteristics.
For eg. - Social associations, which occur outside the work situations, can be based on similar age or ethnic groups, etc.
(b) Interest Groups: At work, people who may or may not be arranged into command or task groups may join together to achieve a specific objective with which each is concerned. This is an interest group.
Hence, interest groups are made up of persons who share common interests. They may be job related interests or non-work interests, like national politics, religion etc.
For. Eg. Employees who join together to have their vacation schedules changed, to support pay increase, to support exploitation at work, to seek improved working conditions, show the formation of a united body to further their common interest.
Because of interactions that develop from the closeness at work, we find workers often do things together - like taking lunch, chat during tea breaks, play games, commute (travel) to work together, etc. These kinds of Interactions, even though informal, deeply affect their behaviour and performance.
Informal groups provide a very important service by satisfying their members social needs.
There is no single reason why individuals join groups. Many people belong to a number of groups, different groups give different benefits to
Its members.
Group Behaviour Model
Work groups are not unorganized group of people. They have a structure that shapes the behaviour of members and makes it possible to explain and predict a large portion of individual behaviour within the groups as well as the performance of the group itself. Group structure variables, include formal leadership, roles, norms, status, size, composition and group cohesiveness.
Group Structure refers to the pattern of inter-relationships between the individuals constituting a group. Group structure shapes the behaviour of members and helps in smooth working of the group.
(1) Roles: "Roles are sets of behaviours that individuals occupying specific positions within a group are expected to perform."
Group members have to play different roles as the group works towards achieving its purpose. Different persons perform different tasks and are expected to achieve different roles.
For e.g. : Roles are assigned, a group may select different individuals to serve as it its leader, treasurer or secretary.
(a) Role conflict: Role conflict is a situation in which an individual is faced with role expectations that clash. This happens when fulfilling requirement of one role makes it difficult to comply with another.
For e.g.: An organization may expect manager to stay late at work, his wife and children want him to devote free hours with his family. This creates role conflicts.
If an employee perceives role-conflicts to be severe, he may experience stress.
(b) Role identity: Role identity refers to attitudes and behaviours consistent with a role. These create role identity. An individual adopts attitudes and behaviours that he identifies himself with.
For e.g.: An individual holds different attitudes and behaves differently when he has to perform role of a manager and differently when he has to perform role of a leader.
(c) Role Perception: Role Perception is an individuals' view of how he is supposed to act in a given situation.
For e.g.: The way in which a group member behaves and acts depends on how he views his role in the group.
(d) Role Expectations: Role expectations are others' beliefs about how a person should behave and act in a particular situation.
For e.g.: A teacher is expected to be understanding, a leader is expected to have the ability to control the situations.
At work, management is expected to treat employees fairly, give them good working conditions, good salaries, recreation facilities, etc.
Employees are expected to maintain goodwill of the company, follow instructions of their superiors, be loyal to the organisation, etc.
(e) Role Ambiguity: People experience role ambiguity when they do not know what is expected of them. New employees in an organization experience it and it may lead to job dissatisfaction.
For e.g.: Role ambiguity may also lead to lowering of self-confidence and job-performance.
(3) Norms: Norms are rules within a group indicating how its members should or should not behave. Norms are distinguished from an organization's rule; norms are not formally laid down. Still, they are powerful means for regulating the behaviour of people. Each and every group has its own norms. Some norms are common among most groups.
Most common Norms are:
(a) Performance Norms: They are the most common and the most important class of norms. These norms refer to how hard group members should work, how to get the work done, their level of output etc. These norms are extremely powerful in guiding an individual employee s performance.
(b) Appearance Norms: They include the appropriate dress code, loyalty to the group and when to look busy.
(c) Social Arrangement Norms: These norms regulate social interactions within the group. Things such as the persons with whom group members should have lunch and with whom they form friendship are influenced by the norms.
(d) Allocation of Resources Norms: These norms regulate things like pay, assignment of difficult jobs and allocation of new tools and equipment’s.
(4) Status: A status is defined as a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others. Status differences exist within a group.
For e.g.: Leaders are most important members of their respective groups. Status in a group depends on many factors like seniority, education, performance, prestige, rank given age, or position in other groups.
Organizations use various status symbols like large offices, expensive cars, membership of exclusive clubs, etc. to reflect the status of an individual in an organization's hierarchy.
Studies suggest that, higher status people are more influential than lower status people. They are also given more freedom to move away from group norms.
(5) Size: The size of the group affects the working of the group. Smaller groups are faster in completing tasks than larger groups. However, if the group is engaged in problem solving, then larger groups perform better. So, the size of the group has to be determined by considering the group goals if the goal is generating a wide variety of ideas, encouraging participation, or socializing new members, large groups would be better. On the other hand, if a high-quality decision is the main goal, small group of 5 to 6 members is sufficient. Increase in the size of the group is not always helpful. Sometimes it also leads to social loafing.
Social loafing is a tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually. The social loafing effect was noticed by a Gemman scientist named Max Ringleman. Research has shown that social loafing occurs because:
(a) An individual may believe that others in the group are not doing their share.
(b) The responsibility for doing the job is diffused (spread). Each member feels less responsible for behaving correctly.
(c) The presence of others makes people believe that their contributions are less needed.
Definition of Team:
1. According to Katzenbach and Smith "A team is a small group of people with complementary skills, who work actively together to achieve a common purpose for which they hold collectively accountable"
2. According to Stephen Robbins a work team is "a group whose individual efforts results in a performance that is greater than the sum of those individual inputs."
Advantages of Teams:
According to Robbins, teams have following advantages -
(1) Teams generally outperform individuals.
(2) Teams are an effective way to increase motivation.
(3) Teams facilitate employee involvement
(4) Teams are more flexible and responsive to changes in the environment.
(5) Teams use employee talents better.
Nature of Team:
(1) A team is a relatively permanent work group whose members coordinate their activities to achieve one or more common objectives.
(2) For achievement of objectives, team, members require coordination therefore, they depend on one another and interact regularly.
(3) Sometimes, the terms "group' and "team" are used interchangeably but they are not the same.
(4) The basic purpose of a group is to interact for the purpose of sharing information while the basic purpose of the team is to perform collectively.
(5) The group should have a strong and focused leader, teams generally do not have clear leaders and the leadership roles are also shared.
(6) The group meets through the formal and efficient meetings; the teams are encouraged to have open ended active problem-solving meetings.
(7) All teams are groups, but all groups are not teams because:
(i) Work groups focus on individual goals. While teams focus on individual goals as well as team goals.
(ii) In groups individual's do not take responsibility for other people's results while in team individual share responsibility for other's results also.
TYPES OF TEAMS
On the basis of objectives of the teams, they may be classified into three types, they are as follows:
(1) Problem-solving Team-
(a) Problem-solving teams are temporary teams; their main objective is to find solutions to specific problems at workplace.
(b) After solving the problem, the team ends. The members return to their normal work.
(c) Such teams normally give suggestions for others to implement. They offer suggestions and ideas on how work processes and methods can be improved.
(2) Work teams-
(a) They are mainly focused on the routine work done by the organisation like developing and manufacturing new products, providing quality services, etc.
(b) Their aim is to use the organization’s resources in the best possible manner.
(3) Management Teams-
(a) Management teams consists of manager’s departments who coordinate together.
(b) They focus on the teams that have great impact on overall performance.
(c) They are permanent as their job does not end with the completion of a particular task or the resolution of problem.
(d) They coach and counsel other teams so that they can manage themselves.
(e) They also coordinate with work teams that are related to each other.
(4) Cross functional Teams-
(a) Cross - functional teams are made up of employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from different areas, who join together for achieving a task.
(b) Such teams help people from different areas within organisation to exchange information, develop ideas, solve problems and coordinate difficult projects.
(c) It takes time to build trust and teamwork in these teams as the members are from different backgrounds, have experiences and viewpoints.
(5) Virtual teams-
(a) Virtual teams never meet in person
(b) They conduct meetings through computer, teleconferencing and other modern electronic devices of communication.
(c)Information is shared through mails, internet, etc.
(d) In such teams, decisions are made faster.
(e) Team members can easily join and leave the team.
Ways of Forming Effective Team
(1) Objectives and team goals should be clear and easy to implement.
(2) Openness and confrontation
(3) Support and trust among members.
(4) Co-operation among members
(5) Sound Procedures
(6) Appropriate leadership
(7) Regular review of team's performance.
(8) Individual development.
(9) Sound inter group relations.
(10) Small teams should be made as they are better they need less time to co-ordinate and resolve differences they need less time to develop member involvement this leads to higher commitment however, if the task needs a large team then a large team should be made.
(11) Team members should be willing to learn they should be competent to achieve the task.
Setting Team Goals
Every team should focus on individual as well as team goals. Before every individual team member finalizes their goals managers should bring everyone together to agree to team goals. By agreeing and committing to team's goals first, individuals should write objectives that state the contribution that they have to make for success of the team.
The goals of the team and objectives of each individual member should be
(1) Aligned-
(a) The goals of the team should be aligned with the goals of the organisation.
(b) The goals of each individual should be aligned with the goals of the team.
(2) Understood-
(a) Goals should be properly and clearly understood.
(b) Everyone should understand how their delivery of goals as an individual will contribute to the team and the organisation as a whole.
(3) Smart-
(a) Goals should be SMART
S-Specific,
M-Measurable
A-Attainable
R-Realistic
T-Timely
(4) Accountabilities and responsibilities should be clearly allocated among team members.
(5) Performance indicators should be created. Key performance indicators should be created that provide warning about whether progress towards objectives and targets is on track. If not then, timely corrective action should be taken.
6) Identifying dependencies for achievement of goals-
(a) Dependencies among various tasks should be identified.
(b) The inputs that are to be delivered by other individual or teams for achievement of the objectives should be identified.
(c) There should be regular flow of communication among all the individual's involved in the process.
(d) Team members should use "Handshakes" to acknowledge their commitment and to create a sense of bonding between them.
(7) Identifying risks-
(a) Risk involved in the process of achievement of goals should be identified.
(b) Steps should be taken to avoid these risks and process should be put in place to monitor the risks.
(c) If the responsibilities of goals are shared unequally, a team is given larger share of goals then it should be considered as a risk and a way should be found out to manage it as a team.
(8) Commitment by all members-
(a) Everyone in the team, and the team as a whole should be committed to achieve the team's goals. (b) All members should agree to be jointly responsible for achieving goals of the team.
Definition of Power:
(1) According to French and Raven-"Power is the ability to make things happen in the way individual wants, either by self or subordinates. The essence of power is controlling the behaviour of others.
(2) According to Stephen Robbins "power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B. So that B acts in accordance with A's wishes.
The greater B's dependence on A, the greater is A's power in the relationship. Therefore, power is the function of dependency.
Nature of Power:
(1) Power is the ability to make things happen in the way an individual want.
(2) Managers derives power from both organizational and individual sources. These sources are called position power and personal
Power respectively.
(3) From the point of view of organization, leadership and power are related to each other. Power is used by leaders to achieve group goals. Power is the means of facilitating their achievement of goals and objectives that they have set for themselves in view of organizational requirements.
(4) Power requires one person's dependence on another person.
(5) Power is essential to leadership and management functions.
(6) Power can be divided into two types:
(i) Formal and
(ii) Informal or personal
Formal power is based on the position of an individual in an organization.
Informal power or personal power resides in the individual and is not dependent on Individuals position.
Using position and personal power properly to achieve the desired influence over other people is a challenge for managers.
Bases of Power
Power can be divided into two types Formal and Informal.
(1) Formal power–
Formal power is based on an individual s positions in the organisation, formal power can be further classified into four types as follows:
(A) Legitimate Power-
(i) Legitimate power is also known as positional power.
(ii) It's derived from the position a person holds in an organization's hierarchy. For example, junior workers report to managers. Hence, managers have position power to assign duties to their juniors.
(iii) For positional power to be exercised effectively, the person using it must be deemed to have earned it legitimately.
(iv) Another example of legitimate power is that held by a company's CEO.
(B)Coercive Power-
(i) Coercive power is derived from a person's ability to influence others through threats, punishments or sanctions.
(ii) A junior staff member may work late to meet a deadline to avoid disciplinary action from his boss.
(iii) Coercive power is, therefore, a person' s ability to punish, fire or reprimand another employee.
(iv) Coercive power helps control the behavior of employees by ensuring that they follow the organization's policies and norms.
(C) Reward Power-
(i) Reward power arises from the ability of a person to influence the allocation of incentives in an organization.
(ii) These incentives include salary increments, positive appraisals and promotions.
(iii) In an organization, people who have reward power tend to influence the actions of other employees.
(iv) Reward power, if used well, greatly motivates employees. But if it's applied through favoritism, reward power can greatly demoralize employees and reduce their output.
(D) Information Power-
(i) information power is derived from access to information and control over it.
(ii) When people have needed information, others depend on them.
(iii) For eg. Managers have data that subordinates do not have. The higher the level of an individual in an organisation, more is the information access to him.
(2) Informal Power or Personal Power -
Informal of personal power resides in an individual and is not dependent on his position. It can be further classified into two types as follows:
(A) Expert Power-
(i) Expert power is derived from possessing knowledge and expertise in a particular area.
(ii) It is the ability to control other's behaviour by possessing knowledge, experiences or judgement that the other person lacks, but needs.
(iii) Individual's possessing expert power are valued for their problem-solving skills. They can perform important tasks and hence they are considered as invaluable.
For eg.: A subordinate obeys a manager possessing expert power because the manager possesses expertise in the relevant task. He knows how the task is to be done.
(iv) The opinions, decisions or ideas of individual's having expert power are considered useful by other employees and greatly influence their action.
(v) Possession of expert power also helps in possession of other powers such as legitimate power.
For Eg. An individual possessing expert power may be promoted to higher level. This helps in possession of legitimate power also.
(B) Referent Power-
(i) Referent power is derived from the interpersonal relationships that a person develops with other people in the organisation.
(ii) An individual develops reference power when another individual's like and respect him.
(iii) For Eg. An employee may obey the manager because he lies and respects him.
(iv) Reference power develops from charisma, the charismatic person influence others through admiration, respect and trust others have for them.
(v) People obey the individual because they want to behave, perceive or believe as he does.
Definition of Politics
According to Farrell and peterson politics, refers "to those action that are not required as part of one's formal role in the organisation. That influence, or attempt to influence. The distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organisation."
Nature of politics
(1) The above definition clearly states that-
(a) Political behaviour falls outside the scope of one's job requirements.
(b) It includes efforts to influence the goals, criteria or process employed for decision-making that will result in the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organisation.
(c) Hence, political behaviour includes a variety of behaviours such as withholding important information from decision makers, whistle blowing, spreading rumors, leaking confidential information etc.
(2) Power and Politics are related to each other.
(3) Political behaviour is universal and inevitable in organizations. It takes place in all types of organizations.
(4) Political behaviour is said to be the non-rational influence on decision making.
(5) According to Aristotle politics takes place because of diversity of interests. Individuals try to satisfy organisational goals as well as their own needs driven by self-interest. All employed within an organisation bring their own interests, wants, desires and needs at workplace.
(6) Politics may be good or bad for organisation.
TYPES OF ORGANISATIONAL POLTICS
Individual's use a number of ways to influence the working of organisation, they make use of various ways depending on the situation.
" Political behaviour of individual's in an organisation can be broadly classified into two types namely.
(1) Legitimate Political Behaviour and
(2) legitimate Political Behaviour
(1) Legitimate Political Behaviour-Legitimate political behaviour refers to normal everyday politics. It includes the following types of behaviours:
(A) Controlling the agenda -
(i) At committee meetings decision are made based on the opinions of the committee members and also on whether the committee has time to make decision.
(ii) Decisions can be stopped by removing items from the agenda or they can be manipulated by placing them in particular places on the agenda.
(iii) Generally, the items in the beginning are discussed in great detail, while those at the end of the agenda are discussed in short, due to lack of time.
(iv) Items at the end of the agenda are overlooked or decided without paying much attention.
(B) Controlling access to Information -
(i) Controlling access to information is an important political strategy to control decision. (ii) People who have access to needed information or have the capacity to manipulate information, are able to control decisions.
(C) Forming a Coalition -
(i) Sometimes when groups and individuals know that they do not have the power to influence the decision-making process, they increase their power by forming a coalition with other groups.
(ii) Coalitions are formed to maximise the rewards to the group and its members.
(iii) Hence generally, coalitions are made up of the minimum number of members needed to achieve a desired decision.
(D) Co-opting -
(i) It involves getting support by putting opponents together.
(ii) This strategy of putting opponents together helps in reducing uncertainty and minimizing outside criticism.
For eg.: Schools, colleges, etc. use co-opting by putting influential people in management and Board of Directors.
Other type of legitimate political behaviours in organisation are -
(E) Complaining supervisor about other's mistakes.
(F) Developing outside contacts through professional activities.
(G) Managing Impressions over other's
(H) Attacking and Blaming others for the mistakes.
(2) Illegitimate Political behaviour -
Illegitimate political behaviour is extreme. It violates the 'rules of game'. It involves activities such as -
(a) Sabotage:Destruction of an employer's property (such as tools or materials) or the hindering of manufacturing by discontented workers.
(b) Whistle blowing: Whistleblowing is the term used when a worker passes on information concerning wrongdoing. In this guidance. We call that "making a disclosure" or "blowing the whistle". The wrongdoing will typically (although not necessarily) be something they have witnessed at work.
(c) Symbolic protests such as wearing orthodox dress etc. Generally individual's use legitimate political behaviour in organisation.
Organisation."
Causes of Organizational Politics
Politics in organisation takes place because of-
(1) Individual factors
(2) Organisational factors
(1) Individual factors -
Research has shown that certain personality traits, needs and other factors are related to political behaviour, they are as follows:
(a) Employees high in self-monitors, possess an internal locus of control, have high need for power. This makes them engage in political behaviour.
(b) The high self-monitor is capable of behaving differently in different situations. They are skilled in political behaviour than the low self-monitors.
(c) Individual's having an internal locus of control have the capability to manipulate situations in their favor. They can control their environment by using political behaviour.
(d) Machiavellian personalities are also good at politics as they have the tendency to manipulate others for personal gain. They use politics for their own interest and do not consider it unethical.
(2) Organisational factors–
Politics in organisation takes place because of the following organisational factors:
(a) Political behaviour takes places in an organisation when an organization’s resources are declining, and the existing pattern of resources is changing.
(b) Cultures characterized by low trust, role ambiguity, unclear performance, evaluation systems zero-sum rewards allocation practice, high pressure for performance, self-serving senior managers and democratic decision-making create reasons for politics.
(c) When organizations downsize to improve efficiency, people engage in political behaviour to protect their existing status.
(d) Role ambiguity means that the prescribed behaviour of the employees are not clear. The greater the role ambiguity, greater is the chance of political behaviour.
(e) Managers who are autocratic make use of politics.Autocratic means managers centralize power and make decision by themselves. They give order, assign tasks and duties without consulting the employees. Hence, many organisations ask managers to be less autocratic and more democratic but in reality very few managers practice it Internally, if the manager's believe in autocracy they make use of required committees, group meetings, and conferences for manipulating employees.
(f) Lesser the level of trust in the organisation, higher is the level of political behaviour.
(g) Promotion decisions lead to political behaviour.
(h) Top management may create an environment for political behaviour by engaging in certain behaviours, giving a signal to people below in the hierarchy that it is OK to engage in such behaviour when employees see that top management is successfully making use of political behaviour, an environment is created that supports political behaviour.
Political Games
Henry mintzberg is one of the main business teachers. He described a set of political games, most of them are about building power in various areas. In organisations, more than one game can be going on at the same time and with the same people. Important political games played by individual's in an organisation are as follows:
(1) Insurgency game
(a) It is normally played to resist authority.
(b) It can also be played to resist expertise or established ideology or even to effect change in the organisation.
(c) It ranges from protest to rebellion
(d) It is usually played by "lower level employees". Those people who feel the maximum weight of authority.
(d) For eg. Trade unions play this game.
(2) Counter Insurgency game
(a) It is played by upper level authorities to fight back against insurgents.
The management plays it with legitimate power.
(3) Sponsorship game
(a) It is played by lower people in the organisation to build power by attaching themselves with higher level people who can help them.
(b) Individual attaches himself with someone with more status promising that he will be loyal to him in return for the power.
(4) Alliance Building Game
a) It is building power through peer networks, generally among line managers who agree between themselves to support each of them in order to build power base to advance themselves in the organisation.
(5) Budgeting game
(a) It is about getting the most money an individual can, by asking for too much money knowing that he will get only a part of what he has asked for.
(6) Expertise game
(a) It is played by people with expert power, they manage their knowledge and skills more for their own gain than that of the company.
(b) People with expert power give information only to those who can help them in return.
(7) Empire -Building Game
(a) It is played by managers, to build power base, not with peers but individually with subordinates.
(8) Line versus Staff game
(a) It is played between line managers and staff advisors.
(b) It is played to increase personal power and also to defeat the rival.
(c) It puts line managers -with formal decision-making authority against staff advisors. Each side tries to exploit the other.
(d) Generally, the staff does not have direct authority, this allows the line manager to refuse or resist their demands.
(9) Rival Camp's game
(a) It is played to defeat a rival
(b) It takes place when alliance building or empire building games lead to two camps.
c) Its tums into an us- vs- them game.
For e.g.: It may take place between marketing and sales etc. where there are different expertise, interest, goals, this make it easy to point out at other camp.
(10) Strategic candidates’ game
(a) It is played to bring change in the organisation.
b) Individuals or groups try to bring the changes wanted by them with the use of political means.
(11) Whistle-blowing game
(a) An insider leaks the information, he is usually a lower level employee, to an influential outsider, on questionable or illegal behaviour of the organisation.
Conflict: Self-interested struggle that arises when the goal-directed behavior of one person or group blocks the goal-directed behavior of another person or group.
Definition of Conflict
K.W. Thomas Says "conflict is a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected or is about to negatively affect, something the other party cares about"
Level of Conflicts/Features
(1) Inter individual conflict
(2) Intra individual conflict
(3) Inter-group conflict
Inter-Individual Conflicts
In an organization people need to work together. Almost every relationship has the power to produce some degree of conflict.
Inter-individual conflict exists when two individuals feel themselves in opposition. It is an interpersonal process that occurs from disagreements over goal to be achieved.
(a) Matter of perception: Whether conflict will occur or not is determined by how individuals or groups perceive each other. One or more individuals or groups must be affected by, and be aware of the conflict. If no one is aware of the conflict it is said that no conflict exists.
(b) Opposing interests: Conflict occurs due to opposing interests between individuals or groups. The interests are opposed because conflict involve goals which cannot be shared.
(c) Harm to other's interests: Conflict involves the belief that other actions are harming one's interests. "
(d) Social interaction: It is a form of social interaction. The opposing behaviours are interactive in the sense that it takes two people to make a fight.
Intra-Individual Conflicts
Intra-individual or Internal conflicts occur within oneself an individual is confronted (faced) by two or more alternatives and he is not able to decide as to what to accept and what to reject. In such a situation an individual is said to be in a conflicting situation. A conflict can be within oneself) or external (between two or more individuals).
We have studied external conflicts, now let us study internal conflict is an unavoidable part of our life i.e. we cannot avoid it.
Sigmund Freud around 100 years ago said that internal conflict creates some degree of psychological distress (extreme unhappiness, pain or suffering). A lot of research studies have proved that more the level of conflicts one experiences in his life, the more is the distress one experiences.
There are four major types of conflicts.
1. Approach-approach conflict: In approach-approach conflict person has to choose between two equally attractive alternatives. This kind of conflict occurs when a person is confronted (faced) by two goals and both the goals are equally attractive to him.
For e.g. - A person gets two job offers, both are equally attractive involving good salary, working conditions, respect, incentives, etc. In this case, conflict may arise about the choice of one job out of two, as both the jobs are attractive.
.
2. Avoidance-Avoidance conflict: In avoidance- avoidance conflict an individual has to choose from among two negative or unattractive alternatives. This kind of conflict arises when an individual has to make a choice between two unattractive outcomes.
For e.g. –
(a) A fat person must choose between dieting and to remain fat.
(b)A student must choose between attending a lecture or not attending a lecture. If he attends the lecture he feels bored as he is not interested but if he does not attend the lecture he will not get attendance. So, here he has to choose between two negative or unattractive alternative this is avoidance-avoidance conflict.
3. Approach-Avoidance conflict: Approach-avoidance conflict is in which achieving a positive goal will produce a negative outcome also. In simple words, in this kind of conflict an individual has to make a choice between one goal which is attractive and the other go which is not attractive, the choice is difficult because one side has a positive side and other side has an unattractive side.
For e.g. -
(a) An individual does not know singing, but wants to be a singer. Here, he wants to be a singer is a positive goal while he does not know singing is a negative goal.
(b) A student wants to score good marks, but he does not attend regular school. Here, scoring good marks is a positive goal while not attending school is a negative goal.
4. Multiple Approach avoidance conflict: This kind of conflict occurs when an individual has to make a choice between two or more goals and both have positive and negative outcomes. The choice is very difficult but decision is to be taken.
For e.g. - An individual is a good cricket player as well as a good student. He wants to participate in cricket match and also wants to get good marks in exam. He cannot do both together, his friends want him to play for the country and bring a trophy and a medal, while his parents want him to get a rank in the class as he is an academic scholar. In the above situation if he goes for the cricket tournament he may lose the rank and if he attends the classes he will be able to get a good rank, he cannot achieve both, as both have to be done on the same time. The individual will have to make a choice between the two things. In the above example, both choices involve positive and negative outcomes.
Ways of Resolving Conflict Through Five Strategies
An individual may try to avoid conflict, but he cannot completely stay away from it. Hence, whenever he faces conflicts he has to resolve it. Resolve means he has to find a solution for solving the conflict.
Resolution of a conflict is very necessary. There are two ways of resolving the conflicts, they are direct ways and indirect ways are as follows:
Direct ways: Direct ways are the ways in which an individual directly resolves the conflicting situation. They are:
(a) Attack:
(i) While using attack an individual directly attacks conflicting situation.
(ii) He may learn new techniques or may try to acquire more physical energy or any other way to directly attack the situation.
For e.g. Student who is afraid of giving exams may prepare himself well by using various learning techniques like studying thoroughly and building confidence, etc. This will help him in getting good marks and also facing the conflict of getting afraid of exams directly.
(b) Compromise:
(i) This is the most common way which is used by majority of the people to resolve the conflict.
(ii) It is used by most people to stay away from the conflicting.
(iii) Sometimes, attacking the situation is not possible and withdrawing from the situation is also not possible. So, a person has to compromise.
For e.g. An individual need to help his father in running the business and he also has a desire for higher studies. In this case, he will use compromise by joining a correspondence course of a distance education to obtain a degree. He will be satisfied as he will be in a position to achieve both the goals.
(c)Choice:
(i) Another way to resolve a conflict is to make a choice.
(ii) He makes a choice which gives him satisfaction.
(iii) An individual takes a right choice when he has more choices.
(iv) Sometimes, it becomes difficult for an individual to make a choice, he may take advice or help of his friends, parents, subordinates, and other known people whom he admires.
(v) Once he makes a choice the conflict is solved.
(d) Selection:
(i) When an individual is making a choice he is actually selecting one alternative from others.
(ii) One has to select the most correct alternative from others.
(iii) He has to consider the negative as well as positive qualities of alternative which are there before him.
(iv) He may take advice and opinion from the experts while making a selection.
(e) Withdrawal:
(i) Sometimes an individual withdraws from the conflicting situation when he is neither able to attack nor able to compromise or make use of any other way of conflict resolution.
(ii) They may do consciously or unconsciously i.e. knowing or unknowing.
For e.g. A person may leave his job because he may find that he is not competent enough to handle it. While withdrawing from their situation his ego may be hurt badly.
However, individuals also use indirect methods for resolving conflicts.
They may not always use direct ways to resolve conflicts.
