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management skills, employees have the
opportunities to explore all the possible reasons to
consider which might cause a big issue and try to
resolve it in a timely manner. Conflict is not always
a bad thing. Through conflict management training
and practice, employees will build a healthy
relationship within the team. They will feel
motivated, open-minded, less stress, happy which
made the world definitely becomes a better place to
stay and commitment as a result of conflict
management.
Furthermore, we have to know that conflict is
bound to happen in the workplace. Whether it is
functional or dysfunctional (Olu, 2014), the impact
of conflict can be far-reaching. There are potential
positive consequences of functional conflict arise in
the workplace such as leading to new ideas,
stimulating creativity, motivating changes, helping
employees and groups establish identities, and
leading better communications. Functional conflict
is more likely to yields positive consequences. It
can create trust among employees and within the
organization as a whole. Employees can learn and
grow from each experience through functional
conflict. Moreover, employees are able to express
their thoughts or opinions in a stress-free manner,
which is critical for open and effective
communication. Through functional conflict,
employees could not only build a supportive
network but also create a positive interpersonal
relationship with each other.
On the other hand, however, there are also
possible negative consequences of dysfunctional
conflict such as diverting energy from work,
lowering moral, wasting resources, creating negative
climate, breaking down group cohesion, and
increasing aggressive behaviors. Dysfunctional
conflict often resulted in reducing morale, self-
esteem, and motivation. This negative conflict is
more likely to wedge barriers between individuals,
groups, hindering customer service, creating
negative communication and relationship, which
limits work efficacy as well as an organization’s
development. As a HRD or T&D practitioner, the
keys are to allow healthy conflict to play out and
resolving negative conflict without damaging
employees and the organization.
With what has been illustrated through the
research, conflict management as an Organization
Development (OD) and Training and Development
(T&D) tool has a significant impact on employee's
and leaders’ work effectiveness and organizational
development. Duke (1999) observed that conflict
could arise between individuals or groups in an
organization if the goals are not specified or when
the management shift blame on all. OD and T&D
practitioners, holding a positive attitude toward
conflict is always the first step to find out a solution.
With a positive attitude, most of the negative
conflicts can be managed, resolved, or even
transferred into a positive force. We could also
increase knowledge of differences between
employees and leaders in term of cultural attitudes
and conflict management styles. The second step is
for all the members to learn skills and techniques to
communicate more effectively and focus on the
issue rather than personalities. Not all conflicts are
bad and not all conflicts are good. Hence,
management are duty-bound to resolve conflicts for
the sake of increasing organizational performance,
because the results of successful conflict
management will result to good communication,
time management, good cooperation and increases
organizational performance (Kehinde, 2011)
In conclusion, conflict is an everyday
phenomenon in each organization (Olu, 2014). It is
a natural part of interacting with others. For an
organization to grow effectively and efficiently it
depends on the way it manages the conflict within its
organization (Olu, 2014). Quite often, conflict
arises out of opposing goals, values, and needs. One
important task of conflict management is to create
an environment in which individuals and groups of
people can cooperate with one another to achieve
their goals and the goals of the organization as a
whole (Olu, 2014). With what we have discussed in
this paper, we have gained a better understanding
and more knowledge about the theoretic foundation,
strength and limitation, impact, and application of
conflict management. A well-conceived Conflict
Management System provides qualified assistance
early in the conflict cycle. It serves as an effective
and invaluable Training Development and
Organizational Development tool which can be
utilized to stimulate employees’ motivation, build a
positive network among employees, improve work
productivity, and thus to enhance the organization’s
development and long-term growth.
REFERENCES
Ayoko, O. B., Ashkanasy, N.M., and Jehn, K.A., (2014)
eds. Handbook of Conflict Management Research.
Cheltenham, Glos, GBR: Edward Elgar.
Duke C. (1999). Organizational conflicts affecting
technology commercialization from nonprofit
laboratories. Journal of Product and Brand
Conflict Management in the 4.0 Industrial Revolution
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