conflict management research paper conclusion

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Exploring the relationships between team leader’s conflict management styles and team passion: From the emotional perspective

Associated data.

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

From the emotional perspective, this study explores how team leader’s conflict management styles affect team passion. A theoretical model is constructed which describes the mediating role of positive team emotional climate and the moderating impact of team emotional intelligence. We collect 101 teams paired data including 101 team leaders and 383 team members to test theoretical model. It is shown that leader’s cooperative conflict management style has a significant positive effect on both positive team emotional climate and team passion. Meanwhile, positive team emotional climate plays a mediating role between leader’s cooperative conflict management style and team passion. In addition, team emotional intelligence has a moderating effect between leader’s cooperative style and positive team emotional climate. This study not only provides a new perspective for follow-up research but also expands the research scope of impacts of conflict management styles. In addition, this study forms the underlying mechanism of team leader’s conflict management styles on team passion from the emotional perspective and investigates the mediating effect and moderating effect of emotional variable, which broadens the research on the mechanisms of conflict management styles on team outcomes to a certain extent.

Introduction

Team work, which emphasizes collaboration and division of labor, is very effective in improving the flexibility of enterprises to cope with the ever-changing internal and external environment. Due to this, teams are widely used in organizations. In a team, the leader and members, for the most part, differ in their backgrounds, preferences, needs, standards, norms, values, and ethics, but they need to actively cooperate and interact to achieve organizational goals ( García and Corbett, 2013 ). Therefore, conflicts within the team are everywhere and unavoidable. Conflict itself is harmless and its handling styles can greatly impact the team or the organization. If it is not properly handled, it may lead to the instability among teams or organizations in the short to long term. However, if it is properly handled, it can bring positive results to the long-term development of the team or the organization ( Shih and Susanto, 2010 ; Way et al., 2016 ). Consequently, it seems studying conflict management is more worthy rather than conflict itself in this particular setting. Whether in organizational-level or team-level, conflicts occur either between employees or between employees and leaders. Raithel et al. (2021) propose that team leaders have a critical effect to deal with conflicts in the team. Therefore, team leader’s conflict management style (CMS) as one of the most important manifestations of leaders’ behaviors, which probably has a significant effect on team members’ attitudes and behaviors.

The existing literature on the influences of CMSs usually split them into two categories. One focuses on the impacts on team climate and team performance ( Shih and Susanto, 2010 ; Tabassi et al., 2018 ; Wang et al., 2020 ), the other is concerned about the impacts on employees’ attitudes and behaviors ( Erkutlu and Chafra, 2015 ; Leon-Perez et al., 2015 ; Way et al., 2016 ; Einarsen et al., 2018 ). Generally, most of related studies are based on cognitive rather than emotional perspective. With the cognitive perspective, previous studies mainly investigate the impacts of CMSs on individual and team outcomes based on social cognitive theory and social exchange theory such as employee innovation ( Desivilya et al., 2010 ) and team coordination ( Tabassi et al., 2018 ). However, a few scholars attempt to probe the relationships between conflict management styles and emotional related outcomes including collective emotional exhaustion ( Benitez et al., 2018 ) and emotional intelligence ( Al-Hamdan et al., 2019 ) with an emotional perspective. Yin et al. (2020b) believes that emotion is a very vital notion for a team. Since many human emotions are generated in interpersonal communication, emotion is critical to a team, especially as the internal mechanism that helps us understand team state and behavior ( Chiang et al., 2020 ). Therefore, it is necessary to consider emotions when carrying out team related studies. Team passion is an important affective factor in teams. Passion refers to individual’s strong inclination to devote time and energy to activities that they like and think important ( Vallerand et al., 2003a ), which can be seen as an attitude based on affection. Permarupan et al. (2013) put forward that behaviors of team members can be evaluated by passions toward their given tasks and roles in the team. Therefore, team passion plays a crucial role in the team as a typical team emotional state. Some scholars explore the factors that affect team passion such as transformational leadership ( Peng et al., 2020 ), shared leadership ( Salas-Vallina et al., 2022 ), temporal leadership ( Zhang et al., 2022 ), and empowering leadership ( Hao et al., 2017 ). It can be seen that leader’s behavior is an impossible-to-ignore antecedent of team passion. A few other scholars attempt to investigate the impact of another common typical leader’s behavior—team leader’s CMSs on team passion. Yin et al. (2020a) prove that team leader’s CMSs have a direct effect on team passion. However, there is no research to explore the mechanism through which that team leader’s conflict management styles impact on team passion by now. Do team leader’s CMSs have indirect effects on team passion by some mediators besides the direct effect? This manuscript is trying to response to the question by examining the intrinsic mechanism between them from the emotional perspective.

On the basis of affective events theory, it considers that work environment characteristics or work events can trigger employees’ affective reactions thus leading to changes of employees’ work attitudes and behaviors, we can infer that team leader’s conflict management styles, as a team event, are likely to influence team passion—a kind of team members’ attitude, through the mediation of some team emotional reaction. Therefore, it is expected that conflict management styles significantly influence team passion. Positive team emotional climate is an important variable of affective reactions ( Levecque et al., 2014 ). Some scholars demonstrated that leader’s behaviors helps to create a team emotional climate ( Chiang et al., 2020 ; Kim et al., 2021 ; Saleh et al., 2022 ). Therefore, this manuscript intends to probe the mediating role of positive team emotional climate. Furthermore, team emotional intelligence (TEI) is a kind of emotional abilities for people to comprehend, manage, and make use of affective information ( Salovey and Mayer, 1990 ). Barsade (2002) proposed that emotional contagion has great influence on individual attitudes and group processes. People who can better perceive other’s emotions have the ability to consider the influence of their behaviors on others ( Ingram et al., 2017 ), then decides the ways to adjust or express his emotions and his emotional impact. Similarly, a team with high TEI is more likely to infect other members’ emotions due that they are able to better perceive, understand and predict other members’ emotions. Consequently, this study posits team emotional intelligence moderates the relationships between team leader’s conflict management styles and team emotional variables.

In conclusion, the purpose of this manuscript is to investigate the mediating mechanism of team leader’s conflict management style on team passion and to determine the boundary condition of these impacts with emotional perspective. The results of this paper can make the following contributions to existing studies of conflict management. On the one hand, this paper expands the research scope of impacts of conflict management styles. On the other hand, this manuscript investigates the mediating and moderating effects of emotional variables between CMSs and team passion, which broadens the study on the mechanisms of CMSs on team outcomes to a certain extent.

Structure of the other parts of the manuscript is as below. The second part discusses the relationships among team leader’s CMSs, positive team emotional climate, and team passion. Furthermore, this part also discusses how TEI plays a moderating role between CMSs and positive team emotional climate. The third part discusses the method of this manuscript, then is the results and the discussions of results. Finally, the fourth part presents theoretical and practical implications, and put forward research limitations and future research agenda.

Literature review and hypothesis

The conflict management theory is mainly originated from Management Grid Theory proposed by Blake and Mouton, which the management model is divided into five different degrees based on two dimensions. Rahim (1983) summarizes five types of CMSs in work teams, i.e., integrating, dominating, avoiding, compromising, and obliging. Then, Thomas (2008) divides CMSs into five kinds: cooperation, competition, avoidance, compromise, and adaptation. However, some scholars question the five-factor classification in virtue of high correlations between different styles ( Ross and DeWine, 1988 ). For example, both compromising and avoiding aim at reducing the differences between the two parties involved in the conflict through indirect and circuitous ways. Besides, collaborating/integrating and compromising concentrates on emphasizing the common interests of both parties so as to calm the contradiction. Tjosvold (1998) divides the conflict management styles into three types: cooperative, competitive, and avoidant.

Cooperative conflict management style embodies an attempt to integrate all people’s interests, which emphasize the openness of others’ viewpoints, considering the interests of both sides and seek a satisfactory solution. Competitive conflict management style only thinks about their own interest and its typical manifestation is that one party’s power dominates the other. Avoidant conflict management style is characterized by flickering words, usually adopting evasive and avoidant methods when facing conflicts. People who adopt this style are not concerned about the outcome of the conflict. Team leaders, as the core of teams, have the duty to organize team and solve problems by using the resources such as human, financial, and material in work teams. Hence, team leaders prefer positive conflict management styles including cooperative and competitive rather than negative ones such as avoidant. Based on this classification, many scholars choose the styles of cooperative and competitive to conduct related research ( Somech et al., 2009 ; Shih and Susanto, 2010 ; Esbati and Korunka, 2021 ). Consequently, this manuscript selects cooperative and competitive conflict management styles for research.

Team leader’s conflict management styles and positive team emotional climate

The existing literature on the impacts of CMSs is able to split into two categories. One focuses on the impacts on team climate and team performance. Some studies confirm that different conflict management styles have different significant impacts on work performance ( Shih and Susanto, 2010 ; Tabassi et al., 2018 ; Wang et al., 2020 ). Others concern about the impacts on members’ attitudes and behaviors, such as job dissatisfaction, bullying behavior, voice behavior, trust, and emotional exhaustion ( Erkutlu and Chafra, 2015 ; Leon-Perez et al., 2015 ; Way et al., 2016 ; Einarsen et al., 2018 ; Esbati and Korunka, 2021 ). As for the influences of leader’s conflict management styles, studies explore their impacts on team performance, employee behaviors, and team climate ( Hempel et al., 2009 ; Erkutlu and Chafra, 2015 ; Tabassi et al., 2018 ) according to social cognitive theory, social exchange theory, and other related theories from the cognitive perspective. Chiang et al. (2020) believe that emotional factors play important roles in team activities. Thus, it is necessary to explore how team leader’s CMSs influence team emotional factors from the emotional rather than the cognitive perspective, so as to provide greater values of conflict management for team development. Scholars generally divide emotions into two dimensions, positive and negative emotions. Positive emotions serve as markers of flourishing, or optimal well-being and in peoples’ lives can be expressed as joy, interest, contentment, and love ( Fredrickson, 2001 ). Negative emotions reduce individual pleasure, as shown in anxiety, sadness, anger, and despair ( Fredrickson, 2001 ; Rank and Frese, 2008 ). When the internal consistency coefficient of emotion in the team is high, which indicates that the emotions of team members are consistent, team emotional climate can be considered to exist ( George and Bettenhausen, 1990 ). Liu et al. (2008) propose that team emotional climate is a common perception of team members to moods and affective interaction in a team which characterizes a team and has a significant influence on teams and members.

As mentioned above, affective events theory emphasizes that work environment characteristics and work events can trigger emotional reactions of employees. Team leader’s behavior, as an event, can affect team members’ emotions and create some team emotional climate. Some researches suggest that leader’s behavior is essential to create team emotional climate ( Chiang et al., 2020 ; Kim et al., 2021 ; Saleh et al., 2022 ). Eisenbeiss et al. (2008) discover that transformational leadership positively impact on team climate shaping. Chiang et al. (2020) declare that authoritarian leadership has a positive relationship with motion suppression climate. Therefore, as one of the significant manifestations of team leader’s behaviors, team leader’s conflict management styles should be able to influence team climate. When dealing with conflicts, team leaders who adopt the cooperative approach usually show respects for team members’ views and actively take a relatively fair way to communicate with team members so as to promote cooperation among the teams, which make team members feel relaxed, equal, free and happy, thus promoting a positive team emotional climate ( Liu et al., 2008 ). Instead, team leaders who adopt the competitive approach tend to impose their opinions on team members. It will lead team members in a passive state which may make them produce negative emotions such as disappointment, tension, suspicion, and fear. It can be inferred that these negative emotions are possible to hinder communications among team members and even aggravate interpersonal relationships, resulting in the deterioration of positive team emotional climate. According to the analysis above, we put forward the following hypotheses:

H1: Team leader’s conflict management styles significantly affect positive team emotional climate.

H1a: Team leader’s cooperative conflict management style has a positive relationship with positive team emotional climate.

H1b: Team leader’s competitive conflict management style has a negative relationship with positive team emotional climate.

Team leader’s conflict management styles and team passion

By now, most of current researches on the influences of conflict management styles are conducted from a cognitive perspective. As emotions have always influenced behaviors, it is valuable to probe the influence of CMSs on emotional factors at team level ( Yin et al., 2020a ). Team passion is a kind of emotional factor which plays a vital role in teams ( Salas-Vallina et al., 2020 , 2022 ; Mindeguia et al., 2021b ). Based on self-determination theory, Vallerand et al. (2003b) define passion as an intensive inclination for people to invest time and effort toward an activity that they like and think is important and categorized it into both harmonious and obsessive passion. The meaning of harmonious passion is internalization by self-determination, which conducts people to join in an activity choicefully and freely. In comparison, obsessive passion comes from an interesting activity that is internalization by non-self-determined method. This kind of passion adjusts actions that are inconsistent with one’s self-concept ( Vallerand et al., 2003b ). This manuscript discusses about harmonious passion. Although passion is not clearly defined at the team level ( Cardon et al., 2009 ), many scholars research the role of passion at the team level ( Permarupan et al., 2013 ; Hao et al., 2017 ; Peng et al., 2020 ; Uy et al., 2021 ; Salas-Vallina et al., 2022 ; Zhang et al., 2022 ). Hence, this manuscript defines team passion as the degree with which a team experiences strong enthusiasm and investment to the team. Because work is indispensable in life, scholars have paid more attention to the passion in the workplace recently ( Vallerand et al., 2003b ; Zigarmi et al., 2009 ; Perttula and Cardon, 2012 ). One line of research has investigated how leaders influence employees’ passion. It is found that leader’s behavior significantly impacts staffs’ work passion, for example, ambidextrous leadership ( Ma J.F. et al., 2018 ) and shared leadership ( Salas-Vallina et al., 2022 ) positively influence members’ work passion. When team leaders adopt cooperative CMS, they usually encourage team members to actively share different viewpoints for discussion, deepen mutual understanding, and promote better cooperation between them. This can help members establish their values in the team and make them willing or even eager to benefit the team and the organization, thus enhancing the team passion. Whereas, team leaders adopt competitive conflict management style tend to impose their thoughts on members. Team members in a passive state may have negative emotions, which hinder the willingness of communication and even aggravate the degree of interpersonal conflicts, thus negatively affecting team passion. According to the analysis above, we propose the following hypotheses:

H2: Team leader’s conflict management styles have significant impacts on team passion.

H2a: Team leader’s cooperative conflict management style is positively related to team passion.

H2b: Team leader’s competitive conflict management style is negatively related to team passion.

The mediating role of positive team emotional climate

The positive team emotional climate refers to the shared perception of the moods and affective interactions among team members as mentioned above ( Liu et al., 2008 ). With positive team emotional climate, there is likely to create a positive emotional “infection” effect within teams, which can produce or maintain a positive emotional state within teams. Based on affective events theory, emotion is considered as a mediating mechanism in the event-outcome relationship. Team members develop shared attitudes, emotional responses, and behavioral patterns through shared experiences or events, and then it will have an influence on team attitudes and behaviors at a higher level conversely. Work passion requires strong positive emotions and internal driving forces and includes the emotional experience of strong work orientation, which leads employees to consider their work as an inner part and want to devote time and energy in it ( Vallerand et al., 2003a ; Birkeland and Nerstad, 2016 ). That is to say, team leader’s conflict management style, as a kind of leadership behavior, can be regarded as a common experience by team members, thus shaping team emotional climate and further stimulating team passion. Yin et al. (2020a) propose that team leader’s conflict management style positively affects positive team emotional climate. Zhu et al. (2022) also prove that paternalistic leadership is positively related to positive team emotional climate. In addition, Permarupan et al. (2013) confirm that the positive organizational climate is conducive to promoting employees’ work passion. Moreover, Mindeguia et al. (2021a) prove that positive climate is a mediating variable between transformational leadership and team passion.

Leaders who adopt a cooperative conflict management style are usually committed to achieving satisfactory results for both parties ( Tjosvold et al., 2006 ). They try to integrate the interests of all members together to form a common best solution ( Tjosvold et al., 2006 ; Desivilya et al., 2010 ). Then, they pay attention to members’ feedback in time and form a free and pleasant environment for communication, thus stimulating the positive emotions of team members and building a positive team emotional climate. Meanwhile, the positive emotional climate makes team members feel comfortable and motivates their passion. Therefore, leader’s cooperative CMS improves team passion by building a positive team emotional climate. Similarly, leader’s competitive CMS reduces team passion by inhibiting positive team emotional climate. Based on hypothesis 1, hypothesis 2, and the above illustration, we propose the following hypotheses:

H3: Positive team emotional climate mediates the relationships between team leader’s conflict management styles and team passion.

The moderating effect of team emotional intelligence

The meaning of team emotional intelligence (TEI) is the competence of teams to formulate a series of standards to manage the processes of emotion ( Lee and Wong, 2017 ). TEI is very important to improve the cooperation and cohesion of team members and promote the behavior of improving team efficiency ( Lee and Wong, 2017 ). Wong and Law (2002) divide TEI as consisting of four dimensions: others’ emotion appraisal (OEA), self-emotion appraisal (SEA), regulation of emotion (ROE), and use of emotion (UOE). Among them, OEA is considered as the ability of individual to sense, comprehend and forecast other emotions. People who have such competence highly are more sensitive to others’ affections ( Wong and Law, 2002 ). Ma and Liu (2019) propose that the impact of emotional intelligence in the context of conflict rests with OEA. Therefore, this manuscript adopts the dimension of OEA to represent and operationalize TEI. TEI is often considered as a method to solve challenging interpersonal relationships ( Samiuddin et al., 2017 ). Miao et al. (2016) proved that emotional intelligence is possible to improve the degree of team members’ satisfaction. TEI can enhance the connection among coworkers, improve the quality of information exchange and decision-making, and reduce conflict in teams ( Lee and Wong, 2017 ). Team with higher emotional intelligence can inspire the confidence and cooperation of team members, thereby building a positive and harmonious working atmosphere, thus promoting communication among members and reducing conflicts ( Rego et al., 2007 ). Therefore, higher emotional intelligence is preferable to perceive the emotional fluctuations of team members in teams. A high TEI team can timely detect members with negative emotions and prompt them to revitalize themselves ( Stubbs and Wolff, 2008 ), which can help create a more positive team emotional climate. We could inferred that high TEI is conducive to communication and conflict resolution in team, and thus improve the positive influence of cooperative CMS on positive team emotional climate and weaken the negative influence of competitive CMS on positive team emotional climate. Teams with low emotional intelligence may not easily recognize the tensions among members and the changes of members’ emotions, in which the barriers to communication between team members become more severe. Thus, low TEI could weaken the positive influence of cooperative CMS on positive team emotional climate and enhance the negative influence of competitive CMS on positive team emotional climate. Then the following hypotheses are proposed:

H4: Team emotional intelligence plays a moderating role between team leader’s conflict management styles and positive team emotional climate.

H4a: High team emotional intelligence enhances the positive influence of cooperative CMS on positive team emotional climate and weakens the negative influence of competitive CMS on positive team emotional climate.

H4b: Low team emotional intelligence weakens the positive influence of cooperative CMS on positive team emotional climate and enhances the negative influence of competitive CMS on positive team emotional climate.

Mindeguia et al. (2021b) propose that high emotional intelligence teams take on the role of “emotion manager” so as to create positive affective events for team members, which can arose passion of team members. Similar to the positive team emotional climate, high TEI teams could rapidly find out the members who lack passion for work and enhance their love for the team. By increasing less-passion members involvement in work, team passion could also be enhanced, which is conducive to the harmonious resolution of conflicts. Mindeguia et al. (2021b) put forward that there is a significant positive relationship between team emotional intelligence and passion. Therefore, this paper infers that teams with high TEI are sensitive to low-passionate members, while teams with low TEI are not. Consequently, high TEI could enhance the positive influence of cooperative CMS on team passion and weaken the negative influence of competitive CMS. On the contrary, low TEI could weaken the positive influence of cooperative CMS on team passion and enhance the negative influence of competitive CMS. Furthermore, Yin et al. (2020b) prove that the moderating role of TEI between team leader’s CMSs and team passion. Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed.

H5: TEI has a moderating role between team leader’s conflict management styles and team passion.

H5a: High TEI enhances the positive influence of cooperative conflict management style on team passion and weakens the negative influence of competitive conflict management style on team passion.

H5b: Low TEI weakens the positive influence of cooperative conflict management style on team passion and enhances the negative influence of competitive conflict management style on team passion.

Therefore, the hypothesized model is displayed in Figure 1 .

Conflict management styles on positive team emotional climate and team passion.

Materials and methods

Sample and data collection.

In this paper, we conduct surveys to state-owned enterprises and internet enterprises in Beijing, Shenzhen, Shenyang, China, such as Baidu, Tencent, JD.COM, and Original Chemical by contacting relevant managers of these enterprises ahead of time and visiting the work places with the help of acquaintances and MBA alumni. This study collected team data in departments, which mainly work in a small group, such as sales, R&D, and propaganda, were chosen for the research. Because of the different size of work teams, each team surveyed a team leader and 3–6 team members. Finally, 484 valid surveys were collected, including 101 team leaders and 383 team members. We used anonymous questionnaire to ensure that it can truly reflect the respondents’ ideas. Questionnaires related to conflict management style were responded by leaders, while those related to team passion, positive team emotional climate and TEI were responded by team members. In order to match team leaders and members, we designed three items such as “what’s you last name” and “what’s your team leader’s last name.” For team leader, 86.79% respondents were males. On the aspect of age, 62.86% of the respondents was between 26 and 35 years, which is the most. The largest proportion held a bachelor degree, reaching 65.7%. After that, master degree or above reached 13.3%. The rest are below bachelor degree. In terms of working years, 50.48% respondents have been working for 6–10 years. For team members, 75.82% respondents were males. On the aspect of age, respondents between 26 and 35 years arrived 60.71%, which is the most. 84.9% respondents held a bachelor degree, then master degree or above reached 7.5%, the rest are below bachelor degree. 51.13% respondents have been working for 0–5 years.

We selected internationally established scales and translated into Chinese to measure these variables. To ensure the equivalency of meaning, we translated questionnaire from English to Chinese and back to English. We adopted Likert five-point scale to measure the items of the questionnaire.

Conflict management styles

In this paper, we measured team leader’s cooperative and competitive conflict management styles by the scale established by Tjosvold et al. (2006) . It measured cooperative and competitive conflict management style with nine items, which is answered by leaders. Specifically, cooperative conflict management style included five items such as “My work so that to the extent possible we all get what we really want” and competitive conflict management style contained four items such as “I demand that others agree to my position.”

Team passion

This study adopted the scale designed by Vallerand et al. (2003b) . The scale had total seven items. For example, “This activity allows me to live a variety of experiences,” “This activity reflects the qualities I like about myself” and etc.

Positive team emotional climate

This study used three items of the positive team emotional climate scale derived from team emotional climate measure created by Liu et al. (2008) . Example items included “In our team, members are optimistic and confident” and “Working in my team, members feel hopeful.”

Team emotional intelligence

As mentioned above, since the dimension of OEA reflects the vital role of TEI in the context of conflict, which can help people to perceive, understand, and predict other emotions ( Ma and Liu, 2019 ). We adopted the items about OEA in the scale created by Wong and Law (2002) . Example items included “I am sensitive to the feelings and emotions of others” and “I have good understanding of the emotions of people around me.”

Control variables

In this paper, the gender, age, education level, and working years of participants, which may have potential impacts on CMS, team climate, and team passion are taken as control variables ( Rahim, 1983 ; Lewis, 2000 ; Beitler et al., 2018 ).

Data analysis and results

In this manuscript, SPSS 24.0 and AMOS24.0 ( Podsakoff et al., 2003 ) were used for descriptive statistical analysis, reliability analysis, and structural validity test. Mplus 8.0 was used both for the multiple regression analysis and hypotheses testing ( MacKinnon et al., 2002 ; Muthén and Muthén, 2012 ). We adopted bootstrapping method to enhance the statistical effectiveness ( Grant and Berry, 2011 ) by extracting 5,000 a * b values repeatedly from the raw data and confirm their unbiased interval.

Table 1 summarized the means, variances, correlation coefficients, and reliability test results for each major variable. According to Table 1 , the Cronbach alpha values of all variables is over 0.7, thus each scale has good reliability.

Descriptive statistical analysis and reliability.

Bold value is Cronbach’s alpha. N  = 101; ** p  < 0.01.

Structural validity

Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted in this study. We used Mplus8.0 to test the structural validity. Table 2 was the results.

Structural validity test of different source scales.

N  = 101, PTEC, positive team emotional climate; TEI, team emotional intelligence; TP, team passion; COO, cooperative conflict management style; and COM, competitive conflict management style.

At team-member level, the fitting degree of three-factor model is good (χ 2 /df = 2.36, GFI = 0.95, CFI = 0.98, NFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.06). And three-factor model is superior to single-factor model (combine PTEC, TEI, and TP) and two-factor models (combine PTEC, TEI, and TP in pairs). At team-leader level, the fitting degree of two-factor model is good (χ 2 / df  = 1.58, GFI = 0.90, CFI = 0.92, NFI = 0.86, RMSEA = 0.07), which is superior to single-factor model.

Data convergent testing at team level

In this paper, the consistency reliability ICC(1), ICC(2), and Rwg were calculated to test whether the data is able to converge at team level. According to the test, the ICC(1), ICC(2), and Rwg of team passion were 0.23, 0.47, and 0.893, separately. PTEC were 0.23, 0.48, and 0.893 separately. TEI were 0.28, 0.53, and 0.885 separately. Therefore, the above variables are able to converge at team level.

Hypotheses test

In this manuscript, variance inflation factor (VIF) was tested by Model 1 to prevent multicollinearity. All VIF values were less than 5, illustrating that there was no multicollinearity problems. Refer to Table 3 for details.

Hierarchical regression results.

N  = 101, *** p  < 0.001, * p  < 0.01. COO, cooperative conflict management style; COM, competitive conflict management style; PTEC, positive team emotional climate; TEI, team emotional intelligence; and TP, team passion.

Test of direct effects

As shown in Table 3 , control variables were gender, working years, age, education level of team leaders and average working years, age, and education level of team members, the regression results of different independent variables to dependent variables were obtained, respectively. In model 2, cooperative and competitive conflict management styles were independent variables and positive team emotional climate were dependent variables. We found that the cooperative CMS positively influence positive team emotional climate ( β 1  = 0.785, p  < 0.001), hypothesis 1a was supported; while competitive CMS had no significant influence on the positive team emotional climate ( β 2  = −0.082, p  > 0.05), which not supported hypothesis 1b. In model 3, cooperative and competitive conflict management styles were independent variables and team passion was dependent variable. We found that cooperative CMS positively affected team passion ( β 3  = 0.729, p  < 0.001), hypothesis 2a was supported; however competitive CMS had no significant influence on team passion ( β 4  = −0.001, p  > 0.05), hypothesis 2b was not supported. We took positive team emotional climate was independent variable and team passion as dependent variable in model 4. Model 4 had a path coefficient β 5 of 0.895 ( p  < 0.001), which illustrated that positive team emotional climate was significantly related to team passion, hypothesis 3 was initially validated. On the basis of above models, model 5 took positive team emotional climate as a mediating variable. Because the competitive style has no significant influence in models 2 and 3, it is unnecessary to keep on discussing the mediating impact of positive team emotional climate between competitive style and team passion and the moderating impact of team emotional intelligence between CMS and dependent variables. Consequently, model 5 did not contain competitive conflict management style. The path coefficient β 6 between CMS and team passion was 0.069 ( p  > 0.05) and coefficient β 7 was 0.842 ( p  < 0.001), which further supported hypothesis 3.

Test of indirect effects

Then, we used bootstrapping to exam indirect effects and confidence interval. According to the above, the path coefficients of independent variable-mediating variable ( β 1 ) and mediating variable-dependent variable ( β 7 ) were significant. Then repeated sampling 5,000 times, the mediating effect of positive team emotional climate was significant ( β = 0.258, p  < 0.001, 95% CI of β 1 * β 7 is [0.583, 0.813], excluding 0).

Finally, this manuscript investigated the moderating impact of TEI. Because positive team emotional climate completely mediated the relationship between cooperative CMS and team passion, it was not necessary to test its moderating role between them. Therefore, hypothesis 5 was not supported. The following analysis only examined its moderating effect between cooperative CMS and positive team emotional climate, and the results were shown in model 6. The path coefficients between interaction variable and positive team emotional climate was significant ( β 8  = −0.226, p  < 0.01), which was opposite to hypotheses 4. In this study, method of Aiken and West (1991) was used to further describe team emotional intelligence’s moderating effect. The results are shown as Figure 2 . According to Figure 2 , we can find that whether in higher emotional intelligence teams or in lower emotional intelligence teams, leader’s cooperative CMS positively impact positive team emotional climate ( β 9  = 0.671, p  < 0.001; β 10  = 0.921, p  < 0.001). In addition, with team emotional intelligence higher, the positive effect of cooperative CMS on positive team emotional climate was weaker.

Cooperative styles × TEI influence on positive team emotional climate.

Table 4 showed that cooperative CMS was beneficial to creating a positive team emotional climate and improving team passion. This is because the cooperative CMS requires both parties involved to solve the conflict through open, cooperative, peaceful, and friendly methods. It can not only help create a happy and harmonious team climate, but also mobilize the working motivation of teams. The results also verified the positive impact of positive team emotional climate on team passion. For indirect effects, it showed that positive team emotional climate completely mediated the relationship between cooperative CMS and team passion. Moreover, team emotional intelligence played a moderating effect between cooperative CMS and positive team emotional climate.

Hypotheses results.

CMS, conflict management styles; COO, cooperative conflict management style; COM, competitive conflict management style; PTEC, positive team emotional climate; TEI, team emotional intelligence; and TP, team passion.

Nevertheless, some hypotheses were not supported. First of all, the effects of competitive conflict management style on positive team emotional climate and team passion were not significant. This may be related to the fact that the survey data came from China. The power distance of Chinese society is large. Members who grew up under Chinese traditional education are used to obeying the orders of leaders, even though the current working environment encourages teamwork and reduces the power distance. China is a high power distance society ( Ma Z. et al., 2018 ), and employees accustomed to the commanding work style of leaders. Employees think that leaders have the right to dominant and order them and accept the competitive conflict management style of leaders when confront conflicts. Therefore, team leader’s competitive CMS may not negatively affect team passion and team positive emotional climate. In addition, Chinese culture emphasizes “harmony is precious.” When confronted with conflict, team members are more concerned about escaping from the conflict situation as soon as possible. At that time, even if leaders adopt a competitive conflict management style which members do not like, it is acceptable for team members in order to escape from the conflict environment. We assume that team members’ negative emotions brought by team leader’s competitive conflict management styles and their positive emotions brought by escaping from conflicts may cancel each other out. Therefore, it can be speculated that team leader’s competitive CMS will not affect team members’ emotions. Secondly, TEI plays a negatively moderating role between cooperative CMS and team positive emotional climate. It is likely that team members with high emotional intelligence can regulate and infect other members within the team. According to emotional contagion theory, individuals can influence others or groups through emotional transmission ( Barsade, 2002 ). Consequently, when the level of team emotional intelligence is high, even if team leaders adopt a highly cooperative CMS, positive team emotional climate does not necessarily increase a lot, but keeps a stable standard.

Conclusion and implications

With the perspective of emotion, this manuscript carries out the intrinsic mechanism of two typical conflict management styles on team passion and builds a corresponding theoretical model including the mediating impact of positive team emotional climate and the moderating influence of TEI. The model is tested empirically by investigating the paired data of 101 team leaders and 383 team members. We can find that cooperative CMS is conducive to creating a positive team emotional climate, which can effectively improve team passion. That is to say, positive team emotional climate plays the fully mediating effect between team leader’s cooperative CMS and team passion. Furthermore, TEI plays the moderating effect between leader’s cooperative CMS and positive team emotional climate.

Theoretical implications

First of all, this manuscript explores the impacts of conflict management styles on team outcomes based on affective events theory with emotional perspective. Previous researches on the results of conflict management are mostly based on cognitive perspective and the outcome variables are mainly individual and team performance ( Somech et al., 2009 ; Shih and Susanto, 2010 ; Tabassi et al., 2017 ). Some scholars take organizational identification ( Erkutlu and Chafra, 2015 ), team coordination ( Tabassi et al., 2018 ), and workplace bullying ( Einarsen et al., 2018 ) as outcome variables, but pay less attention to the impacts on team attitudes related to emotions. This manuscript probes the impacts of CMS on an important team attitude related to emotional called team passion from the emotional perspective which not only provides a new perspective for follow-up research but also expands the research scope of impacts of conflict management styles.

Secondly, this study uses cross-level research method to verify the relationships between team leader’s styles of managing conflict and team emotional outcomes. In the past, when examining the impacts of team leader’s behavior on team’s emotion, most studies focus on the influences of leadership behaviors, such as spiritual leadership ( Afsar et al., 2016 ), transformational leadership ( Arnold, 2017 ), empowering leadership ( Kim et al., 2018 ), and authentic leadership ( Agote et al., 2016 ), while few researches concentrate on that of leader’s conflict management styles. Because conflict is inevitable in the team, we can infer that team leader’s CMS as one of the most important manifestations of his/her behaviors should have important effects on team results. Based on this idea, this manuscript explores the relationship between team leader’s CMSs and team emotional outcomes, so as to enrich the literature on the antecedents of team outcomes.

Lastly, this manuscript investigates the intrinsic mechanism of team leader’s CMSs on team passion, confirms the mediating effect of positive team emotional climate between them, and the moderating influence of TEI between CMSs and positive team emotional climate. Previous studies have focused on mediating or moderating effects of cognitive variables, such as team effectiveness ( Cheng et al., 2012 ) and psychological safety ( Erkutlu and Chafra, 2015 ). Since emotions is critical to help individuals comprehend the internal mechanism of team attitudes and behaviors, this manuscript explores the underlying mechanism of team leader’s CMSs on team passion from the emotional perspective and investigates the mediating and moderating effects of emotional variables. This, in turn, broadens the study on the mechanisms of CMSs on team outcomes to a certain extent.

Managerial implications

There are three main managerial implications as well.

Firstly, team leader’s CMSs have a major effect on team climate and team attitude. When teams occur conflicts, team leaders should consider adopting cooperative conflict management style because it is conducive not only to good communication and information exchange within teams, but also to the creation of the positive emotional climate and inspiration of team passion, which helps find more effective solutions to conflicts, ease the relationship between two parties involved in conflict as soon as possible, reduce the loss caused by conflict, improve team performance and etc. Therefore, organizations should guide team leaders to emphasize and adopt cooperative conflict management style to cope with conflicts. Organizations can use case analysis, role-playing, mentor guidance, and other training methods to enhance team leaders’ skills of using cooperative conflict management style. In addition, organizations can also create a harmonious and cooperative working atmosphere that encourages leaders to adopt a cooperative conflict management style in the workplace, so as to improve team innovation performance.

Secondly, as employees’ emotions and working conditions are inseparable, employees’ emotional factors which cannot be ignored since they significantly affect the performance of enterprises or teams should be highly valued by managers. This paper proves that team emotional climate has a significant influence on team outcomes. In addition, leaders and managers should pay more attention to team passion which is the motivation for members to work hard. Therefore, team leaders should not only care about the management of team members’ personal emotions, but also emphasize the shaping of team emotional climate and the stimulation of team passion. On the one hand, it is suggested that team leaders create an open, relaxed, free and friendly atmosphere within the team through team building to arouse team passion. On the other hand, team leaders also can inspire team passion by setting clear and promising goals for team prospects.

Finally, researchers have already found the significance of emotional intelligence at work ( Alkahtani, 2015 ; Lee and Wong, 2017 ; Jamshed and Majeed, 2018 ; Mindeguia et al., 2021b ). The result of this study shows that TEI weakens the influence of cooperative conflict management style on positive team emotional climate. This shows that we do not want to promote the idea that members in teams with high emotional intelligence should be superior, because all members have emotion swings and even individuals with high emotional intelligence cannot avoid negative emotions ( Jordan et al., 2002 ). Moreover, too high TEI is likely to inhibit the promotion and dissemination of a team’s positive emotions since teams with emotional intelligence at a high level may have a strong ability to influence team members’ emotions. Therefore, team leaders should not blindly pursue too high team emotional intelligence, but keep it on a relatively moderate level, so as to play its biggest role.

Limitations and future research directions

Firstly, this manuscript investigates the intrinsic mechanism of team leader’s CMSs on team passion with the perspective of emotion and discovers the mediating effect of positive team emotional climate between them. Future researches can further probe the mediating effect of other emotional variables such as emotional control and affective tone ( Rank and Frese, 2008 ). Secondly, this manuscript only chooses team leader’s CMSs of cooperation and competition. of course, leaders can also adopt other conflict management styles. Thus, future studies can further probe the influence of other CMSs on team outcomes based on emotional perspective. Thirdly, this study just chooses OEA dimension to measure team emotional intelligence. Although it makes sense to some extent, it is relatively simple and not necessarily able to stand criticizing. Consequently, future studies can add other dimensions to measure team emotional intelligence. Fourthly, the data in this manuscript totally came from questionnaire and are measured by self-report lacking of data from multiple evaluation sources. Future researches will consider combining various survey methods to obtain sample data and expand the survey subjects to reduce the impact of homologous data. Finally, we adopt the cross-sectional design in this manuscript. We can collect more longitudinal data in the future.

Data availability statement

Author contributions.

JY contributed to the conceptual design of the study. JY, MQ and MJ contributed to the drafting of the article. GL and ML contributed to the data analyzes. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

The research was supported by Beijing Knowledge Management Institute (5212210983) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72002016).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Article contents

Managing conflict for effective leadership and organizations.

• Dean Tjosvold , Dean Tjosvold Department of Management, Lingnan University
• Alfred S. H. Wong Alfred S. H. Wong Department of Management, Lingnan University
•  and  Nancy Yi Feng Chen Nancy Yi Feng Chen Department of Management, Lingnan University
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.240
• Published online: 28 August 2019

Leaders and employees deal with conflict as they collaborate in the everyday life of organizations and as they confront crises. Depending how they manage conflict, they can frustrate employees and provoke customer complaints but also stimulate their relationships and decision-making. The possibilities of constructive conflict are significant and documented, but the challenges to making conflict constructive are significant too. The practice of defining conflict as a win-lose battle has obscured ways of managing conflict constructively. Fortunately, researchers have developed concepts and findings that can help managers and employees manage conflict. A first step is developing a useful, unconfounded definition of conflict. Deutsch proposed that conflict occurs when there are incompatible activities. Team members are in conflict as they argue for different options for a decision.

Deutsch also theorized that how people believe their goals are related very much affects their interaction, specifically their conflict management. They can conclude that their goals are cooperative (positively related), competitive (negatively related), or independent. People with cooperative goals believe that as one of them moves toward attaining goals, that helps others achieve their goals. In competition, people conclude that their goals are negatively related and only one can succeed in the interaction. In independence, one person ‘s success neither benefits nor harms the others’ success. Researchers have found that the nature of the cooperative or competitive relationship between protagonists has a profound impact on their mutual motivation to discuss conflicts constructively. Cooperative and competitive methods of handling conflict have consistent, powerful effects on constructive conflict. Team members with cooperative goals engage in open-minded discussions where they develop and express their opposing positions, including the ideas, reasons, and knowledge they use to support their positions. They also work to understand each other’s perspectives. They are then in a position to combine the best of each other’s ideas and create effective resolutions of conflict that they are both committed to implement. Teams that rely on cooperative, mutual benefit interaction ways of managing conflict and avoid competitive, win-lose ways been found to use conflict to promote high quality decisions, to stimulate learning, and to strengthen their work relationships. What has an impact on constructive conflict is not so much the occurrence, amount, or type of conflict but how leaders and employees approach and handle their conflicts, specifically, the extent to which their discussions are cooperative and open-minded.

• incompatible activities
• mutual benefit conflict
• win–lose conflict
• constructive conflict
• open-minded discussions

Conflict is pervasive and greatly affects leadership and teamwork, the very drivers of organizations (Blake & Mouton, 1964 ; Jehn, 1995 ; Johnson, 2015 ). Conflict is part of the everyday life of organizations in making decisions, handling customer complaints, and managing performance; conflict is also part of dealing with dramatic events such as acquisitions, strikes, and bankruptcies. Conflicts have both constructive and destructive sides. Conflicts can sabotage alliances and relationships, but effectively managed conflict vitalizes partnerships and invigorates interpersonal bonds. Conflict challenges leaders and teammates and engages them in the full range of experiences that organizations offer.

Research on how to manage conflict is critical to understanding relationships and organizations as well as how to make them effective. Leaders and employees must learn to live with conflict; they have to deal with and resolve the many conflicts that threaten to divide them and frustrate joint progress.

We often blame conflict for our frustrations and give it power over us. We think that if we only had less conflict, our lives would be happy and productive. The goal is to be conflict-free, or at least to keep our conflicts minor and forgettable. However, how we approach and handle conflict greatly affects whether it is constructive or destructive. It’s not so much having conflict or how much conflict we have that matters, but what is critical is how we manage our conflict that affects whether it is constructive or destructive.

Constructive conflict occurs when protagonists conclude that the benefits of their conflict management outweigh the costs; they believe that their investments made in handling conflict will pay off (Deutsch, 1973 ). The costs and wasteful investments of destructive conflict are typically well recognized. Angry feelings leave relationships fragmented and joint work stalled; both people and productivity suffer (Averill, 1983 ).

However, conflicts can have very constructive effects, so useful that we may hesitate to call them conflicts. Through discussing opposing ideas in conflict, protagonists can deepen their understanding of their own ideas as they defend their views (Tjosvold, Wong, & Chen, 2014a ). They can also listen to and understand the views of their protagonists; they put themselves in each other’s shoes. They open the possibility of combining the best ideas to create new solutions. In addition to enriching their learning, they can appreciate each other’s feelings, motives, and commitments, making their joint life more personal and richer.

The possibilities of constructive conflict are significant and documented, but the challenges to making conflict constructive are significant too. Managing conflict constructively may sound straightforward, and it can be. But making conflict constructive often tests us intellectually, emotionally, and interpersonally. Managing conflict constructively gives a lot, but it takes a lot.

This article has six sections. Conflict has been defined in confounded ways so that popular stereotypes have interfered with practice and research. The first section defines conflict as incompatible activities that may or may not have opposing goals. Arguing that what has an impact on constructive conflict is not the occurrence or amount of conflict but how we approach and handle conflict, the second section proposes that open-minded discussion and cooperative goals are key conditions to making conflict constructive. The third section reviews research on task and relationship conflict that suggests that these types of conflict can be managed. The fourth section reviews how constructive conflict can strengthen leadership and thereby very much contribute to the relationship between employees and managers. Then research on how conflict can be managed across cultural boundaries is discussed. The sixth and final part suggests how training can strengthen constructive conflict, leadership, and organizations.

Understanding Conflict

Researchers typically have not considered defining conflict critical for understanding it; indeed, they have tended to define conflict by including several notions (Barki & Hartwick, 2004 ; Rahim, 1992 ). However, popular definitions have tended to define conflict in terms of opposing goals and interests. This definition of conflict has greatly frustrated research progress in identifying the many ways conflict can constructively contribute to individual learning and organizational performance. Defining conflict as incompatible actions, we propose, is a much more solid foundation for research than defining conflict as opposing interests.

Conflict as Opposing Interests

Traditionally, conflict is defined in terms of opposing interests involving scarce resources and goal divergence and frustration (e.g., Pondy, 1967 ). Defining conflict as opposing interests is consistent with the prevalent assumption that conflict involves not only differences but is win–lose and reinforces the popular thinking that conflict is typically dealt with harshly and competitively. For many people, conflict is a win–lose battle over goals that they want to win, not lose.

However, defining conflict as opposing interests frustrates effective operations and measures. Conflict is confused with win–lose ways to manage it. For example, the Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale measures conflict with such items as “people do nasty things to me at work” (Spector & Bruk-Lee, 2008 ). This item measures a competitive, win–lose way to manage conflict, not conflict itself.

The popular assumption that conflict is competitive and a fight over opposing interests underscores the difficulties of measuring conflict with items including the term “conflict” in them. For example, research scales that measure types of conflict, such as task and relationship conflict, typically include the term “conflict.” Including the word conflict is likely to contribute to the common finding that both relationship and task conflicts contribute to team ineffectiveness (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003 ; DeChurch, Mesmer-Magnus, & Doty, 2013 ; Tjosvold, Law, & Sun, 2006 ). Conceptual and operational definitions of conflict should help us appreciate both the constructive as well as the destructive sides of conflict and should avoid confounding conflict with popular confusions and stereotypes.

Conflict as Opposing Activities

Deutsch ( 1973 ) proposes that conflict occurs when there are incompatible activities (Tjosvold et al., 2014a ). Team members are in conflict when they argue for different options for a team decision as they perform actions that interfere with each other’s actions. They express their various reasons for the joint action their team should take. Different parties arguing for their different positions are incompatible actions that block each person from getting their option accepted; they are in conflict.

They may express their views to reflect that they have cooperative goals as well as conflicting activities. They argue for their favored option as they put forth their reasons for this option. They may defend their preferred position vigorously and conduct additional research to support their option. They want team members to consider their proposed option seriously. Their goal with protagonists is a cooperative one, however: they want to make the best decision for the team as a whole.

Alternatively, team members may have opposing goals when they argue for different options; they are in competition as well as in conflict. They argue that their option must be accepted and other options should be rejected. They express their arguments for their favored option in win–lose ways. Only one option can be accepted and it should be theirs.

Expressing one’s view can be done both cooperatively and competitively. Studies indicate that these different ways of expressing one’s options often have dramatic effects on the dynamics and outcomes of conflict (Tjosvold et al., 2014a ).

Approaches to Conflict

This article argues that research on how team members manage and deal with their conflicts very much contributes to understanding and developing constructive conflict. It is not so much the frequency, amount, and type of conflict as it is how team members discuss and work out their conflicts. Cooperative and competitive methods of handling conflict have been found to have consistent, powerful effects on constructive conflict.

Researchers recognize the value of a contingency perspective that holds that managers and employees should have alternative ways to deal with a conflict so that they can select the one most useful and appropriate in their situation (Rahim, 1992 ; Thomas, 1976 ). Pretending that there is no conflict and avoiding discussing conflict are useful in some situations, but generally conflict avoidance is not useful, indeed is often destructive (De Dreu & Van Vianen, 2001 ; Friedman, Chi, & Liu, 2006 ; Liu, Fu, & Liu, 2009 ; Lovelace, Shapiro, & Weingart, 2001 ; Ohbuchi & Atsumi, 2010 ). Without direct discussion and action, conflicts seldom disappear by themselves; they can fester and intensify, becoming more complex and destructive (Bacon & Blyton, 2007 ; Eisenhardt, Kahwajy, & Bourgeois, 1997 ; Nemeth & Owens, 1996 ).

This section argues that studies conducted using different theoretical frameworks together indicate that open-minded discussion between protagonists results in constructive outcomes in many situations (Johnson, 2015 ; Tjosvold et al., 2014a ). In open-minded discussions, protagonists develop and express their opposing positions, including the ideas, reasons, and knowledge they use to support their positions. They also work to understand each other’s perspectives. They are then in a position to combine the best of each other’s ideas and create effective resolutions of conflict that they are both committed to implement.

This section further proposes that cooperative relationships, but not competitive ones, are an effective foundation for open-minded discussion and constructive conflict. These relationships orient protagonists to identify and express their own ideas and proposals. They trust that others will try to understand their ideas and positions accurately (Hempel, Zhang, & Tjosvold, 2009 ). They feel they can rely upon each other to use these views to promote each other’s benefit. Their concerns that others will use their ideas and positions against them are minimized. They recognize that they can all gain from the conflict as each protagonist’s goals are promoted.

Open-Minded Discussion

Open-mindedness is the willingness to actively search for evidence against one’s favored beliefs and ideas and to weigh such evidence impartially and fully (Baker & Sinkula, 1999 ; Cegarra-Navarro & Sánchez-Polo, 2011 ; Mitchell, Nicholas, & Boyle, 2009 ; Sinkula, Baker, & Noordewier, 1997 ). Open-minded discussion occurs when people together seek to understand each other’s ideas and positions, consider each other’s reasoning for these positions impartially, and work to integrate their ideas into mutually acceptable solutions.

In open-minded discussion, protagonists express their own views directly to each other, listen and try to understand each other’s positions and arguments, and work to combine their ideas into new agreements acceptable to all. They are open with their own views, open to those of others, and open to new solutions to resolve the conflict. Evidence indicates that these aspects of openness are reinforcing and together constitute open-minded discussion (Johnson, 2015 ; Tjosvold, 1990a ; Tjosvold, Dann, & Wong, 1992 ; Tjosvold & Halco, 1992 ).

Survey items to measure open-mindedness give a specific understanding of open-mindedness (Chen, Liu, & Tjosvold, 2005 ; Wong, Tjosvold, & Yu, 2005 ). These items include: (a) express our own views directly to each other, (b) listen carefully to each other’s opinions, (c) try to understand each other’s concerns, and (d) work to use each other’s ideas. These items are typically strongly correlated with each other and the scale has high reliability.

Open-mindedness in conflict is inherently interpersonal as people act and react to each other. It takes two to have a conflict and it takes two to manage conflict. One protagonist can make bold, persistent, and skilled actions that encourage an otherwise closed-minded protagonist to discuss conflict open-mindedly. Generally, though, open-mindedness by all protagonists is needed to make conflict constructive. Evidence also suggests that protagonists develop similar levels of open-mindedness; one protagonist’s open-mindedness encourages others to be open (Tjosvold, 1990a ; Tjosvold et al., 1992 ; Tjosvold & Halco, 1992 ). Conflicts are more likely to be constructively managed when protagonists discuss their views directly and integrate them into solutions.

Researchers have used various terms to characterize the nature of discussion that results in constructive outcomes. These terms have their own historical roots, emphasize difference aspects of interaction, and provide various ways to measure and operationalize the interaction. These concepts and their operations help us understand the nature of open-minded discussion.

Open-Mindedness Research

Research conclusions are more fully understood and deserve more confidence when various researchers using different operations and samples develop consistent findings. Conflict researchers have used a variety of terms and operations to investigate open-mindedness. We propose that, although these terms are not identical, their differences should not obscure the considerable agreement among conflict researchers that open-minded discussion contributes to resolving conflicts in many situations. The operations of these terms further suggest the similarity of the concepts to open-minded discussion.

Integrative negotiation research provides indirect support that open-minded discussion is a foundation for developing constructive conflict. This research has examined the conditions that develop the creative process by which bargainers discover superior new options for both parties than those currently under consideration (Follett, 1940 ). Walton and McKersie ( 1965 ) propose that this integration is more likely when protagonists consider several issues simultaneously, consider the issues as problems to be solved, freely exchange accurate and credible information about their interests, avoid win–lose behaviors, and argue their own position unless and until they are convinced otherwise.

Experimental integrative negotiation researchers have argued similarly that problem solving interaction characterized by full information exchange results in mutually beneficial solutions (Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993 ; Pruitt, Carnevale, Ben-Yoav, Nochajski, & Van Slyck, 1983 ; Pruitt & Lewis, 1975 ). The operations to measure this problem solving interaction include asking for valid information, requesting information about the other’s interests, giving truthful information, showing interest in the other bargainer’s welfare, and proposing mutual concessions. Integrated negotiators challenge each other’s original ideas, dig into these positions to identify each other’s underlying interests, endure the uncertainty of not finding a quick solution, and are only satisfied with solutions that promote the interests of all.

De Dreu and colleagues have drawn upon integrative negotiation research to develop the motivated information processing approach (De Dreu, 2007 ; De Dreu, Koole, & Steinel, 2000 ; De Dreu, Nijstad, & van Knippenberg, 2008 ). This research also proposes and measures constructive interaction in conflict in terms of problem solving and information exchange. The extent to which protagonists engage in thorough, systematic processing of information was found to induce them to question perceptions that one protagonist can achieve their interests only to the extent that others cannot achieve their own; challenging this trade-off in turn results in more accurate assessments and more integrative agreements (De Dreu et al., 2000 ).

Conflict management styles researchers propose five alternative approaches to dealing with conflict (Rahim, 1983 , 1995 ; Thomas, 1976 ; Van de Vliert & Kabanoff, 1990 ). Although arguing that all five can be useful in some circumstances, these researchers have concluded that the collaborative conflict management style, at times supplemented with other styles, is constructive under a wide range of conditions (Van de Vliert, Euwema, & Huismans, 1995 ; Van de Vliert, Nauta, Giebels, & Janssen, 1999 ). Research on collaborative conflict management styles and experiments on negotiation support that being open with one’s own views as well as being open to other ideas and integrating them contribute to constructive conflict (Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993 ).

Diverse researchers have found that open-minded discussion contributes to resolving conflicts within and between organizations (Johnson, Johnson, & Tjosvold, 2006 ; Tjosvold, 1985 ). Conflict involves incompatible actions, specifically the intellectual aspects of proposing and reconciling opposing ideas that temporarily disrupt reaching a resolution. Fortunately, research by various scholars supports that open-minded discussion very much contributes to effective conflict management.

Cooperative Relationships for Open-Minded Discussion

When do protagonists discuss their conflicts open-mindedly? Researchers have theorized that the nature of the relationship between protagonists has a profound impact on their mutual motivation to discuss conflicts open-mindedly. Open-minded discussions occur when both participants are motivated to work together to manage their conflicts constructively.

Theory of Cooperation and Competition

Deutsch ( 1948 , 1973 ) theorized that how people believe their goals are related very much affects their interaction and thereby their outcomes. They can conclude that their goals are cooperative (positively related), competitive (negatively related), or independent. People with cooperative goals believe that as one of them moves toward attaining goals, that helps others achieve their goals. In competition, people conclude that their goals are negatively related and only one can succeed in the interaction. In independence, one person’s success neither benefits nor harms the others’ success.

Deutsch ( 1973 ) further proposed that cooperative goals are a useful way to understand when protagonists are able to manage their conflicts constructively. Both survey and experimental studies confirm that with cooperative goals, managers and employees discuss their differences directly and open-mindedly (Alper, Tjosvold, & Law, 1998 ; Poon, Pike, & Tjosvold, 2001 ; Schei & Rognes, 2003 ; Tjosvold, 1988 ). Teams are considered cooperative to the extent that members rate that their goals go together (Alper et al., 1998 ); they are considered competitive to the extent that members rate that they favored their own goals over the goals of others (Alper et al., 1998 ); teams are considered independent to the extent that members rate that one member’s success is unrelated to the success of their teammates (Alper et al., 1998 ). Competitive and independent goals have been found to lead to conflict avoidance or to conflict escalation or both (Alper, Tjosvold, & Law, 2000 ; Tjosvold et al., 2001 ). Protagonists with cooperative goals promote each other’s benefit because doing so is to their own advantage.

Protagonists typically have mixed interdependencies as well as more “pure” cases. Galinsky and Schweitzer ( 2015 ) note that social relationships contain both competitive and cooperative aspects. This co-opetition has been thought to leave protagonists more flexibility in how they manage conflict (Landkammer & Sassenberg, 2016 ).

Antecedents to Open-Mindedness

A key dynamic of having positively related goals of cooperation is that by helping others reach their goals, one also reaches one’s own goals. In cooperation, people promote their own goals and others’ goals simultaneously. Researchers have used other theoretical frameworks to capture this idea of positively related goals where self-interests are mutual in that promoting one’s self-interest promotes the self-interest of the others. Researchers have used the dual concerns and pro-social motivation to capture positively related self-interests.

In dual concerns, theorists have proposed that conflict participants can be committed to promoting others’ interests as well as their own (Thomas, 1976 , 1992 ). Rahim and Bonoma ( 1979 ) and Rahim ( 1983 , 1992 ) built upon Blake and Mouton’s ( 1964 ) managerial grid. Concern for self describes the extent to which people attempt to satisfy their own interests. The second dimension describes the extent to which people want to satisfy the concerns of others (Rahim & Bonoma, 1979 ). High concern for self and high concern for others resemble cooperative goals. Dual concerns occur when protagonists are motivated by their own interests and outcomes: they are willing to assert themselves to get what they want and they are also motivated to promote their partners’ interests and outcomes.

Dean Pruitt and other integrative negotiation researchers have also developed the dual concerns model (Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993 ; Pruitt et al., 1983 ; Pruitt & Rubin, 1986 ). Here protagonists committed to the interests of the other as well as themselves discuss conflict open-mindedly where they are only satisfied with solutions that promote the interests of both.

Motivational and social value orientation theory (Kelley & Schenitzki, 1972 ; McClintock, 1977 ; Messick & McClintock, 1968 ; Van Lange & Kuhlman, 1994 ) also found that preference for both self and other promotes constructive conflict (De Dreu & Van Lange, 1995 ; De Dreu, Weingart, & Kwon, 2000 ). Social motives refer to preferences for outcomes to the self and other: pro-social, pro-self, and competitive negotiators differ in attaching a positive, zero, or negative weight to the other’s outcomes, respectively (De Dreu & Boles, 1998 ; De Dreu & McCusker, 1997 ; Van Lange, 1999 ).

Pro-social protagonists choose options that maximize joint outcomes; protagonists are pro-self if they select options where their own outcomes are higher than the other, and they are classified as competitive if they choose options that maximize the differences between the two, that is, their own outcomes are much better than the other’s outcomes. Pro-social motivation has been found to develop the open-minded exchange of information that results in constructive conflict (De Dreu, Weingart, et al., 2000 ; Nauta, De Dreu, & Van der Vaart, 2002 ).

Researchers have developed the dual concerns model, pro-social and pro-self social motivation, and cooperative goals as theoretical perspectives to understand relationships that promote constructive conflict (De Dreu, Weingart, et al., 2000 ; Deutsch, 1973 ; Pruitt & Rubin, 1986 ; Rahim & Bonoma, 1979 ). This section argues that these different terms obscure fundamental agreement that the commitment to promoting each other’s goals facilitates open-minded discussion.

Managers and employees of course do not always discuss their differences open-mindedly and, according to the contingency perspective, under certain conditions it would be inappropriate and dysfunctional to do so. Commitments to competitive and independent goals are apt to lead to closed-minded discussions with an emphasis on promoting one’s own interests without concern for the ideas and aspirations of the other. Indeed, with competitive goals they are apt to actively frustrate each other’s goals as they understand this is a way of promoting their own.

This article refers to cooperative relationships as underlying open-minded discussion. Previous research has directly tested whether cooperative relationships promote open-mindedness, providing both experimental and survey data (Deutsch, 1973 ). Research has demonstrated both the causal relationship that cooperative goals promote open-mindedness and survey evidence that supports that cooperative relationships support open-minded discussion in a wide variety of organizational situations (Tjosvold et al., 2014a ). In addition, many social psychologists and other social scientists have developed our understanding of cooperation and competition (Deutsch, 1973 ; Deutsch, Coleman, & Marcus, 2011 ).

Conflict Type Research

For more than two decades, organizational researchers have distinguished types of conflict and argued that the type of conflict determines how constructive the conflict is (Jehn, 1997 ; Jehn, Greer, Levine, & Szulanski, 2008 ). Whether the conflict is about getting tasks done or about the quality of relationships between protagonists, conflict type is thought to determine whether conflict is constructive or destructive. Theorizing on the role of conflict types has stimulated considerable research by many investigators.

Research findings on conflict types supports the traditional view that high levels of conflict disrupt teamwork, and refines this idea by indicating that this proposition is especially true when these conflicts are relationship-based. Relationship conflicts, as measured by such items as how much friction, tension, and personality conflict are in the team, have been found to make conflict destructive (Jehn, 1994 ; Jehn et al., 2008 ). Reviews of literature, including several meta-analyses, have consistently found that relationship conflicts correlate with low levels of team productivity (Choi & Sy, 2010 ; De Dreu & Weingart, 2003 ; DeChurch et al., 2013 ).

These results have straightforward practical implications for leaders and team members in reducing relationship conflict. Given the heavy reliance on correlational findings, it can be more cautiously concluded that relationship conflicts are signs of destructive conflict and are unlikely to contribute to constructive conflict. Researchers have, however, sought to identify boundary conditions that minimize the negative impact, and unlock the positive impact, of relationship conflict (Thiel, Harvey, Courtright, & Bradley, 2017 ).

Whereas relationship conflicts disrupt, it has been proposed that conflicts over tasks contribute to group performance (Jehn, 1997 ; Jehn et al., 2008 ). However, findings do not consistently support this theorizing that task conflict strengthens group performance (Choi & Sy, 2010 ; De Dreu & Weingart, 2003 ; DeChurch et al., 2013 ). The inconsistent effects of task conflict indicate that expressing diverse views can be useful but not consistently. It appears that expressing opposing views must be done skillfully to contribute to constructive conflict, but task conflict theory does not directly suggest the conditions under which expressing opposing views contributes to constructive conflict.

Managing Task and Relationship Conflict

Researchers have worked to document the conditions that determine whether task and relationship conflict are constructive or destructive. For example, some evidence suggests that task conflict is apt to be more productive when it is in moderate amounts, is not closely related to relationship conflict, and when the outcomes are financial performance and decision quality rather than overall performance (De Dreu, 2006 ; de Wit, Greer, & Jehn, 2012 ; Farh, Lee, & Farh, 2010 ; Mooney, Holahan, & Amason, 2007 ; Shaw et al., 2011 ).

Several studies show that relationship conflict can hinder teams from capitalizing on the potential positive value of task conflict (de Jong, Song, & Song, 2013 ; de Wit, Jehn, & Scheepers, 2013 ; Shaw et al., 2011 ). Research has found that relationship conflicts encourage a competitive approach to managing conflict by leading people to make forceful demands, overstate their position to get their way, and in other ways treat conflict as a win–lose contest (Tjosvold et al., 2006 ). In contrast, to the extent that protagonists had few relationship conflicts, they resolved their conflicts in ways that supported mutual benefit; specifically, they encouraged a “we are in it together” attitude, sought a solution useful for all members, combined their best ideas, and treated conflict as a mutual problem to solve (de Jong et al., 2013 ; de Wit et al., 2013 ; Shaw et al., 2011 ).

Research suggests that how task and relationship conflicts are discussed, not just the amount of them, affects their constructiveness (DeChurch et al., 2013 ; Maltarich, Kukenberger, Reilly, & Mathieu, 2018 ; Rispens, Greer, Jehn, & Thatcher, 2011 ; Tekleab, Quigley, & Tesluk, 2009 ; Todorova, Bear, & Weingart, 2014 ). Recent studies have found that task conflict can be constructive when discussed open-mindedly and skillfully (Bradley, Klotz, Postlethwaite, & Brown, 2013 ; Chun & Choi, 2014 ; Humphrey, Aime, Cushenbery, Hill, & Fairchild, 2017 ; Jiang, Zhang, & Tjosvold, 2012 ; Tekleab et al., 2009 ). Teams with members with high levels of openness as a personality characteristic were found to have constructive task conflict (Bradley et al., 2013 ; de Jong et al., 2013 ). Overall, evidence indicates that open-minded discussion contributes to making both relationship and task conflict constructive (Gibson & Callister, 2010 ; Lau & Cobb, 2010 ; Tjosvold, 2002 ; Tjosvold & Su, 2007 ; Weingart, Behfar, Bendersky, Todorova, & Jehn, 2015 ).

Conflict Management for Leadership

Leadership has long been considered a key contributor to effective organizations. Much of the power of organizations is that they motivate and coordinate the work of many people; for that to happen, managers must lead employees. Without leadership, employees may fail to face up to difficulties, allow problems to simmer, and just go through the motions. Research indicates that to have effective leadership, managers and employees must make conflict constructive (Chen et al., 2005 ; Chen & Tjosvold, 2007 , 2013 ; Chen, Tjosvold, Huang, & Xu, 2011 ; Hui, Wong, & Tjosvold, 2007 ).

Conflict management research is updating our understanding of what it takes to be an effective leader and how to develop it. Studies indicate that by developing constructive conflict, managers can improve the quality of their leader relationships with employees. Managers can then orient and train employees so that they discuss their various ideas and improve the quality of their decision-making and their overall teamwork. Researchers have demonstrated that leaders can be effective by adopting various leadership styles; recent studies show that constructive conflict is very much needed to make these leadership styles effective.

Conflict for Quality Leadership Relationships

Leadership has long been thought to be “situational” in that the actions effective leaders take depend upon the situation; they monitor the situations and decide upon effective actions in the situation (Stogdill, 1974 ). In addition, though, researchers have found that successful leaders are consistent across many situations in that they develop quality relationships. Considerable research has found that successful leaders have quality relationships (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995 ). It’s not so much that managers have the “right” personal skills and characteristics but that they have high quality relationships with employees that help them influence employees and increase their productivity. With these relationships, leaders are able to engage employees, strengthen their teamwork, and in other ways convince them to contribute effectively to the organization.

Less recognized is that leaders and employees cannot allow frustrations to brew; they need to manage their conflicts to develop quality relationships (Chen & Tjosvold, 2007 ; Chen, Tjosvold, & Su, 2005 ; Tjosvold, Poon, & Yu, 2005 ). An important reason why quality relationships are useful is because they promote constructive conflict that in turn results in employee involvement and performance (Chen & Tjosvold, 2013 ; Tjosvold, Hui, & Law, 1998 ). Otherwise, relationship conflicts are apt to undermine team productivity as they allow frustrations to fester (Chen et al., 2005 ; Chen & Tjosvold, 2007 ; Tjosvold et al., 2005 ). Leaders need to manage their conflicts to reduce relationship conflicts and develop and maintain quality relationships.

Conflict for Making Decisions

Leaders have traditionally been thought to make tough decisions and then use their power to implement them. But this is a misleading notion. Studies by diverse researchers have documented the contribution of conflict to making decisions (Amason, 1996 ; Anderson, 1983 ; Cosier, 1978 ; George, 1974 ; Gruenfeld, 1995 ; Mason & Mitroff, 1981 ; Mitchell et al., 2009 ; Peterson & Nemeth, 1996 ; Salas, Rosen, & DiazGranados, 2010 ; Schweiger, Sandberg, & Ragan, 1986 ; Somech, Desivilya, & Lidgoster, 2009 ; Tetlock, Armor, & Peterson, 1994 ; Tjosvold, Wedley, & Field, 1986 ; Wong, Ormiston, & Tetlock, 2011 ). Through conflict, conventional thinking is challenged, threats and opportunities identified, and new solutions forged. Discussing opposing views has been found to give teams the confidence to take calculated risks where they also are prepared to recover from their mistakes; with this preparation, they innovate (Tjosvold & Yu, 2007 ). Even in a crisis, leaders are typically more effective when they seek out diverse views (Tjosvold, 1984 , 1990b ). Rather than making tough decisions alone, effective leaders are oriented toward promoting the conditions and relationships for open-minded discussion of opposing views among colleagues and employees. They develop constructive conflict that helps employees make and implement decisions as a team.

Conflict to Implement Leadership Styles

Researchers have argued that managers can be effective by adopting leadership styles such as transformational, servant, and productivity and people values (Eisenbeiss, van Knippenberg, & Boerner, 2008 ; Xu & Thomas, 2011 ). Less appreciated is that these styles are effective by promoting constructive conflict. Recent studies have demonstrated that to be successful in applying these styles, leaders develop constructive conflict.

Transformational leaders are expected to stimulate superior performance by appealing to employees’ higher aspirations (Bass, 2006 ). For example, they were found highly motivated not by unilaterally directing employees but by helping them manage their conflicts cooperatively and constructively (Zhang, Cao, & Tjosvold, 2011 ). This constructive conflict in turn resulted in high team performance in a sample of independent business groups. In a related study, government officials who exercised transformational leadership promoted cooperative conflict management that in turn resulted in strong government–business partnerships (Wong, Wei, & Tjosvold, 2014 ).

Leaders who value people and productivity have long been thought to be effective leaders, but the dynamics by which these values have beneficial effects have only recently been documented. In a study of international joint ventures (Wong, Wei, Yang, & Tjosvold, 2017 ), results support the idea that productivity and participation values strengthen the partners’ beliefs that their goals are cooperatively related, which in turn reduces free riding and promotes performance; in contrast, competitive goals appear to promote free riding and obstruct joint performance. The results have practical implications by showing that developing cooperative goals can strengthen the benefits of productivity and participation values.

Working in diverse organizations in India, team leaders indicated their people and productivity values and team members rated their open-minded discussion and their effectiveness and performance (Bhatnagar & Tjosvold, 2012 ). Structural equation analysis suggested that productivity values promoted open-minded discussion and thereby team effectiveness and productivity. Productivity-oriented team leaders challenge their teams to make high quality decisions and induce them to discuss issues open-mindedly, which in turn helps teams be effective (Bhatnagar & Tjosvold, 2012 ).

Servant leaders, as they emphasize service to others, team consensus, and the personal development of individuals, have been thought to lay the groundwork for cooperative conflict management in customer service teams (Wong, Liu, & Tjosvold, 2015 ). This constructive conflict helps team members resolve issues and in other ways effectively coordinate with each other; this coordination in turn helps these teams serve their customers. Findings indicate that to the extent that they have servant leaders, teams are able to discuss their disagreements, frustrations, and difficulties directly and work out solutions for the benefit of the team and its customers. These results provide support that improving the capacity to discuss opposing views open-mindedly can be a useful means for servant leaders to enhance teamwork and customer service in China and perhaps in other countries as well.

Ethical leaders want to act justly themselves but they also want employees to be committed to ethical principles and to act morally (Eisenbeiss, 2012 ; Mayer, Aquino, Greenbaum, & Kuenzi, 2012 ). A recent study indicates that effective ethical leaders and their employees engage in open-minded, cooperative conflict management where they express their ideas, work to understand each other, integrate their ideas, and apply their resolutions. Through this constructive conflict management, they work out arrangements that help them act effectively and morally in their situation as they also develop trusting, high quality relationships with each other. Ethical leaders and their employees were found to avoid competitive conflict involving trying to impose one’s own ideas and resolutions on others. Results also confirm that effective leaders develop high quality relationships that help them influence employees as well as to be open and influenced by them (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995 ).

Researchers have identified a number of styles that have been shown to help leaders be effective. Although they are developed from diverse leadership theories, studies have found that constructive conflict, in particular cooperative open-minded discussion, is an important mediator of successful implementation of these leadership styles, whether they be transformational leadership, valuing people and productivity, servant, or ethical leadership. Managers can use different leadership styles to encourage constructive conflict that empowers them to lead effectively.

Cultural Differences

Theories of conflict management that can be applied in diverse cultures are increasingly relevant. In the global marketplace, many managers and employees must handle conflicts that cross cultural boundaries. Team members increasingly have diverse cultural backgrounds, even when all operations are in one country. Many managers have to work with suppliers and customers who are from other cultures and live in other countries. Research has shown that open-mindedness and cooperative relationships develop constructive conflict in organizations even when protagonists are from both Western and Eastern cultures (Chen, Tjosvold, & Pan, 2010 ; Tjosvold, Wu, & Chen, 2010 ; Tjosvold, Wong, & Chen, 2014a ).

Research on conflict management has developed our understanding of the impact of cultural values, in particular collectivism and individualism. Western cultures have traditionally been thought to support open discussion of conflict consistent with their emphasis on individuals with their rights and proclivity to express their views. Eastern cultures have been considered collectivist where there is deference to their groups and leaders. Some studies support this traditional thinking. People from the West have indicated more preference for open handling of conflict, whereas those from the East prefer reticence (Kirkbride, Tang, & Westwood, 1991 ).

However, research suggests that this reasoning needs updating. Recent studies indicate that collectivist values induce open-minded discussion whereas individualistic values promote conflict avoidance. Collectivist values have been found in experiments to strengthen cooperative relationships that in turn promote open-minded discussion between individuals from collectivist and individualistic cultures (Chen et al., 2010 ; Tjosvold, Wu, et al., 2010 ; Tjosvold, Wong, & Chen, 2014a ). Collectivist culture team members were found to believe their goals are cooperative and that they are expected to work effectively with each other, and they sought to and actually understood opposing arguments and combined ideas for integrated decisions.

Studies confirm that cooperative and competitive approaches to managing conflict, although developed from theory in the West, apply to organizations in collectivist China as well (Chen et al., 2011 ). Indeed, findings challenge stereotypes that Chinese culture and leadership are highly conflict-negative. Chinese people are not rigidly committed to conflict avoidance but have been found to manage conflict cooperatively and openly. Chinese collectivism, social face, and other values can be applied in ways that aid direct, open, cooperative conflict management (Tjosvold, Wong, & Chen, 2014b ).

Cooperative conflict management can also guide the strengthening of cross-cultural interaction. Bond ( 2003 ) and Smith ( 2003 ) argue that cross-cultural researchers, in addition to the tradition of documenting cultural value differences, should study the relationship and interaction between culturally diverse people to identify how they work together effectively. Recent studies show that diverse people can work together when they manage their conflicts cooperatively (Chen et al., 2010 ; Chen & Tjosvold, 2007 , 2008 ; Chen, Tjosvold, & Wu, 2008 ).

While the “genotype” (the underlying conceptual structure of the theory of cooperation and competition) appears to be similar, the “phenotypes” (how the theory is manifested in particular situations) often are not (Lewin, 1938 ). In particular, the actions that develop cooperative goals and communicate an attempt to discuss conflicts open-mindedly may be quite different in China than in North America, as may the general levels of cooperative goals and conflict. However, diverse people can use research to develop a common understanding and platform for how they can manage conflict cooperatively and productively (Tjosvold & Leung, 2003 ).

Training Teams

Employees, managers, and executives are more effective when they manage important conflicts open-mindedly and cooperatively. Research suggests that, when they study cooperative, open-minded conflict, plan how to approach their own conflicts, and reflect on their experiences, managers and employees are more effective at managing conflict and more productive (Lu, Tjosvold, & Shi, 2010 ; Tjosvold et al., 2014a ).

A software company in Beijing used a cooperative team workshop and two months of follow-up of team feedback and reflection to develop open-minded conflict management (Lu et al., 2010 ). More than 150 employees from all the teams in the company participated in the workshop and the follow-up activities.

They had already organized cooperative teams to work on projects and satisfy customers. At the workshop, these groups studied the theory and reviewed the research in order to appreciate the value for them and their organization of strengthening cooperative, open-minded approaches to managing their conflicts. They decided that they wanted to improve their conflict management. They met regularly to assess their current level of cooperative conflict and developed plans for managing their conflicts more constructively. They practiced in their teams, met regularly to assess their current level of cooperative conflict, and developed plans for managing their conflicts more constructively. They reflected on their experience managing conflict within and between teams with consultants, and developed concrete ways to improve their conflict management.

Findings confirmed that open-minded discussion and cooperative relationships are a valuable basis upon which teams can strengthen their conflict management, collaboration among teams, and contributions to their organization. The training was found to heighten cooperative goals, develop open-minded discussion of conflicts, foster creativity within and between cultures, and produce higher group confidence and productivity.

Human resource personnel can apply conflict management findings by initiating professional development teams for managers and employees (Tjosvold & Tjosvold, 2015 ). They realize that becoming more effective requires the encouragement, feedback, and support of others. In these teams, managers and employees study cooperative, open-minded conflict management, reflect on their current experiences, and develop concrete ways to strengthen and practice conflict management skills. They remember not to expect perfection but to focus on reflecting on their experiences to improve.

Managers and employees confront a great variety of conflicts. With persistent pressures for them to rely on each other’s resources and to work together as a team, they are likely to encounter increasingly difficult conflicts that spread across organizational and national boundaries. Yet they are expected to resolve them quickly. Theory and research such as that referred to in this article helps to focus our efforts to manage even our complex conflicts constructively. We have learned from research that we can profitably strengthen our cooperative relationships and discuss our conflicts open-mindedly. Our conflicts will not disappear, but we can engage our partners so that we manage our conflicts and work together to get things done.

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10.8 Conclusion

Conflict can run the gamut from minor annoyances to physically violent situations. At the same time, conflict can increase creativity and innovation, or it can bring organizations to a grinding halt. There are many different types of conflict, including interpersonal, intrapersonal, and intergroup. Within organizations, there are many common situations that can spur conflict. Certain organizational structures, such as a matrix structure, can cause any given employee to have multiple bosses and conflicting or overwhelming demands. A scarcity of resources for employees to complete tasks is another common cause of organizational conflict, particularly if groups within the organization compete over those resources. Of course, simple personality clashes can create intrapersonal conflict in any situation. Communication problems are also a very common source of conflict even when no actual problem would exist otherwise. When conflict arises, it can be handled by any number of methods, each with varying degrees of cooperation and competitiveness. Different situations require different conflict handling methods, and no one method is best.

Negotiations occur during many important processes, and possessing astute negation skills can be an incredible tool. A key component to negotiations involves having a BATNA, or “best alternative to a negotiated agreement.” Negotiations typically move through five phases, including investigation, determining your BATNA, presentation, bargaining, and closure. During a negotiation, it is important not to make any number of common mistakes. These mistakes can include accepting the first offer, letting ego get in the way, having unrealistic expectations of the outcome of the negotiation, becoming too emotional during the process, or being weighed down by previous failures and letting the past repeat itself. It is important to keep in mind that many cultures have preferential methods for handling conflict and negotiation. Individuals should understand the cultural background of others to better navigate what could otherwise become a messy situation.

Organizational Behavior Copyright © 2017 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Conflicts: Interpersonal Conflict Management, Research Paper Example

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Conflict is critically examined in this paper. The aspect of conflict is first introduced from various definitions that have been conventionally accepted in the contemporary society. The other issues that are given attention regarding conflicts are the various types that are in existence within the different set-ups. The world is examined as an epitome of conflict issues and differences between individuals and groups. The effects of such conflicts are also tackled, and possible solutions as well as policies that aim at controlling these conflicts. The general discussion on the state of conflicts in the contemporary society is analyzed in the conclusion sections, and any matters that have been raised today in the world of conflicts, especially in relationships.

Introduction

Conflict is a word that is derived from the Latin word conflictus and according to Donohue & Kolt (1994), it refers to a struggle or clash between opposing forces. It may synonymously be used to refer to a ‘battle’ that exists between individuals or groups based on ideological differences. The conflict arises when there id failure on the part of the parties involved to come to a general understanding regarding the issue that causes conflicts. The issue behind conflicts has been given attentions at the domestic set-ups, and even at the workplace.

A World of Conflicts

The world in which we live today has been known to be a center of conflict of all kinds. Individuals and organizations have expressed unending struggles and fights for common interests, through the different ideologies that they hold. In the current society, there are numerous aspects of conflicts that have been witnessed. Introductions of modern technology has led to great differences between the conservatives and the dynamic people. Policies that are being used to handle different emergent issues have led to serious conflicts between the rival groups, hence leading to constant arguments and enlargement of the boundaries between the persons. In the business society, there are many conflicts that exist between firms that compete for market share. Issues have been raised, dealing with unfair competition practices.

Equally, in the social set-up, families have had numerous conflicts, based on different ideologies towards the same issues. The relationships between individuals themselves and between organizations have been greatly affected by the conflicts that arise during such times when there emerges issues that need to be unanimously solved by more than one person. There are four main types of conflicts, and these are briefly discussed in this discussion.

Types of Conflicts

The most common type of conflict is interpersonal conflict. This is the conflict that arises due to a struggle between two people based on the same thing, but from different levels of understanding. This kind of conflict arises from different reasons. In most instances, it is based on personal interests that differ from one person to another; with each party not willing to give up any section of their interests to let go the conflict. An example in this case could be the conflict that exists between a student and a teacher based on a particular concept. The student may argue from a given perspective to score marks whereas the teacher will be defending his or her argument to uphold the quality of the marking scheme. Most people have expressed some degree of misunderstanding as to what conflict entails. What comes to our minds is usually some sort of violence, but it is not always the case that there must be violence for conflicts to exist.

In addition to interpersonal conflicts, the other type of conflict in the intrapersonal conflict. In this category, a person is at war with himself or herself regarding to the various issues that are internal, either emotional, psychological or physical. The state of the mind is not fully operational, and one may be fixed in a dilemma to make choices between relevant alternatives. The conflicts of this nature are not easy to identify or solve, but with time they may begin to show physical signs, such as stress or stigma.

The differences are internal, and in most cases within the minds of those that are experiencing the conflict. Unfortunately, most of us have no skills of handling intrapersonal conflicts. Hocker, & Wilmot (2013) explain the reason why there are counselors and professional advisors that have been given the responsibility of attempting to provide possible solutions to our daily problems. An example of intrapersonal conflict is seen where a High School student is challenged on the best undergraduate course to pursue. In this case, there are equal options from which the student is to make a choice. The dilemma is in the mind of the decision maker, based on what best faculty to pursue. There will be need to seek professional advice to solve the problem. This does not mark the end of the basic conflict types.

Another category of conflicts is the intragroup conflict. This type of conflict exists between members of a common pool. The group in this case could be a business organization, a welfare organization, sports club, among very many existing groups. This kind of conflict arises when there is no consensus on a critical issue or decision to be made. Allocation of finances has the greatest contribution to the intragroup conflicts. An example is the conflict between the management of an organization and the employees, based on pay reductions. It is not easy for the employees to admit to pay reductions. Instead, most of them will even organize strikes and boycotts to communicate to their bosses concerning the pay schemes that they advocate for.

The last type of conflict is the intergroup conflict that takes place between rival groups, with common interests of acquiring resources from a common pool. In this case, the groups could even be neighboring countries fighting over gold mines or boundaries. In this type of conflict, the solution is mostly derived from external bodies (Eunson, 2012).

In the previous section, one of the main types of conflicts that were mentioned is the interpersonal conflict. The conflict that exists between couples or people in a relationship of any kind falls under interpersonal conflict. There are ways in which interpersonal conflicts contribute towards the welfare of different relationships.

Functions of Conflicts in Relationships

It may appear that conflicts always have negative impact on the concerned persons who are affected by those conflicts. However, it is not guaranteed that the outcome of all forms of conflict will be negative to the people who are participating in it. In relationships, for example, couples who are able to solve their conflicts to the satisfaction of each one of them understand each other more. It leads to strengthened bond between the couple, and this mutual understanding helps to eliminate possibilities of any future related conflicts.

Moreover, conflicts in relationships have the tendency of being solved not to the satisfaction of both parties in some instances. This feature is important in determining the levels of satisfaction that either of the spouses obtains from their relationships. This kind of evaluation is important since it makes the two people to come up with possible suggestions towards enhancing the relationships.

Some of the roles played by conflicts in relationships have a negative effect on the status of the relationship. It is not guaranteed that once a conflict emerges it will find a solution. Some of the conflicts are left unsolved and they may totally ruin relationship. Family break-ups have been rampant in the 21 st Century due to the interpersonal conflict of interest between the spouses. This has brought down many relationships. There are possible tactics that have been proposed and used to solve interpersonal conflicts.

Interpersonal Conflict Management

Interpersonal conflict is managed in five distinct stages. The very first stage involves defining the conflict, followed by examination of possible solutions to the conflict. After coming up with possible solutions, a test solution is selected from among alternatives, which is then evaluated. The final step involves rejection or acceptance of the proposed solution.

Conflicts are in existence in all the areas that we get involved in different activities. They come in different forms, depending on who is participating in them. There are different ways in which these conflicts impact on our welfare, based on how they are approached.

Donohue, W. A., & Kolt, R. (1994).  Managing interpersonal conflict . Newbury Park [u.a.: Sage. Eunson, B. (2012).  Conflict Management . Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

Hocker, J. L., Wilmot, W. W., & Wilmot, W. W. (2013).  Interpersonal conflict . New York: McGraw-Hill.

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Global Growth Is Stabilizing for the First Time in Three Years

But 80% of world population will experience slower growth than in pre-COVID decade

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2024 — The global economy is expected to stabilize for the first time in three years in 2024—but at a level that is weak by recent historical standards, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report.

Global growth is projected to hold steady at 2.6% in 2024 before edging up to an average of 2.7% in 2025-26. That is well below the 3.1% average in the decade before COVID-19. The forecast implies that over the course of 2024-26 countries that collectively account for more than 80% of the world’s population and global GDP would still be growing more slowly than they did in the decade before COVID-19.

Overall, developing economies are projected to grow 4% on average over 2024-25, slightly slower than in 2023. Growth in low-income economies is expected to accelerate to 5% in 2024 from 3.8% in 2023. However, the forecasts for 2024 growth reflect downgrades in three out of every four low-income economies since January. In advanced economies, growth is set to remain steady at 1.5% in 2024 before rising to 1.7% in 2025.

“Four years after the upheavals caused by the pandemic, conflicts, inflation, and monetary tightening, it appears that global economic growth is steadying,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President. “ However, growth is at lower levels than before 2020. Prospects for the world’s poorest economies are even more worrisome. They face punishing levels of debt service, constricting trade possibilities, and costly climate events. Developing economies will have to find ways to encourage private investment, reduce public debt, and improve education, health, and basic infrastructure. The poorest among them—especially the 75 countries eligible for concessional assistance from the International Development Association—will not be able to do this without international support.”

This year, one in four developing economies is expected to remain poorer than it was on the eve of the pandemic in 2019. This proportion is twice as high for countries in fragile- and conflict-affected situations. Moreover, the income gap between developing economies and advanced economies is set to widen in nearly half of developing economies over 2020-24 —the highest share since the 1990s. Per capita income in these economies—an important indicator of living standards—is expected to grow by 3.0% on average through 2026, well below the average of 3.8% in the decade before COVID-19.

Global inflation is expected to moderate to 3.5% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025, but the pace of decline is slower than was projected just six months ago. Many central banks, as a result, are expected to remain cautious in lowering policy interest rates. Global interest rates are likely to remain high by the standards of recent decades—averaging about 4% over 2025-26, roughly double the 2000-19 average.

“Although food and energy prices have moderated across the world, core inflation remains relatively high—and could stay that way,” said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank’s Deputy Chief Economist and Director of the Prospects Group . “That could prompt central banks in major advanced economies to delay interest-rate cuts. An environment of ‘higher-for-longer’ rates would mean tighter global financial conditions and much weaker growth in developing economies.”

The latest Global Economic Prospects report also features two analytical chapters of topical importance. The first outlines how public investment can be used to accelerate private investment and promote economic growth. It finds that public investment growth in developing economies has halved since the global financial crisis, dropping to an annual average of 5% in the past decade. Yet public investment can be a powerful policy lever. For developing economies with ample fiscal space and efficient government spending practices, scaling up public investment by 1% of GDP can increase the level of output by up to 1.6% over the medium term.

The second analytical chapter explores why small states—those with a population of around 1.5 million or less—suffer chronic fiscal difficulties. Two-fifths of the 35 developing economies that are small states are at high risk of debt distress or already in it. That’s roughly twice the share for other developing economies. Comprehensive reforms are needed to address the fiscal challenges of small states. Revenues could be drawn from a more stable and secure tax base. Spending efficiency could be improved —especially in health, education, and infrastructure. Fiscal frameworks could be adopted to manage the higher frequency of natural disasters and other shocks. Targeted and coordinated global policies can also help put these countries on a more sustainable fiscal path.

Download the full report: https://bit.ly/GEP-June-2024-FullReport

Download growth data:   https://bit.ly/GEP-June-2024-Data

Download charts: https://bit.ly/GEP-June-2024-Charts

Regional Outlooks:

East Asia and Pacific:  Growth is expected to decelerate to 4.8% in 2024 and to 4.2% in 2025. For more, see  regional overview.

Europe and Central Asia:  Growth is expected to edge down to 3.0% in 2024 before moderating to 2.9% in 2025. For more, see  regional overview .

Latin America and the Caribbean:  Growth is expected to decline to 1.8% in 2024 before picking up to 2.7% in 2025. For more, see  regional overview .

Middle East and North Africa:  Growth is expected to pick up to 2.8% in 2024 and 4.2% in 2025. For more, see  regional overview.

South Asia:  Growth is expected to slow to 6.2% in 2024 and remain steady at 6.2% in 2025. For more, see regional overview.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Growth is expected to pick up to 3.5% in 2024 and to 3.9% in 2025. For more, see  regional overview.

Website:  www.worldbank.org/gep

Facebook:  facebook.com/worldbank

X (Twitter):  twitter.com/worldbank

YouTube:  youtube.com/worldbank

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128 Conflict Management Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best conflict management topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on conflict management, ⭐ simple & easy conflict management essay titles, ❓ essay questions on conflict management.

• Conflict Management Essay The process of conflict management in organizations requires determination and participation of two parties, employees and the management. Furthermore, the employer should be empathetic to the employees and should be concerned of any problem with […]
• Interpersonal Conflict: Management, Economics and Industrial Organization A healthy and effective interaction strengthens the relationship of the people involved, and information is easily conveyed. Communication is the foundation of every interpersonal interaction, and it is crucial to a long-lasting and healthy relationship.
• Schneider National Inc.’s Conflict Management Lofgren believes that task conflict will help the company in mediating the points of conflict in the company by making sound decisions that help in the growth of the business.
• Educational Administration: Conflict Management and Resolution Therefore, it will take the energy of a strong character to sort out the conflict between people. This also makes the other person in conflict to perceive the conflict as imaginary and of no consequence.
• Conflict in the Public Sector: Management and Resolution This occurs due to the varying attitudes of people and understanding among the different clients; considering all these facts, the public sector needs to design strategies that would prove to be helpful in dealing with […]
• Customer Service Conflict Management Strategies The key difficulty is, therefore, to find out what type of customer the support is dealing with and, thus, to choose the appropriate strategy to calm him/her down.
• Conflict Management as a Study Subject Reflection In the following journal entries, I will summarize my thoughts and ideas after exploring the module’s activities and lectures and discuss some theories and practices in relation to my past and future experiences.
• Etisalat Company’s Conflict Management Practices Conflict management serves as a vital component of modern management to achieve the prosperity and success of a company. This dimension is most applicable for the selection and application of a relevant organizational conflict management […]
• Overview of Conflict Management In order to understand the significance and role of conflict in organizational management, as well as the causes of disagreements in the employed environment, conflict definitions should be identified.
• Importance of Conflict Management Given that a conflict or at least the predisposition for it is thought to be a natural feature of the human experience, it is guaranteed to occur, especially in the turbulent world of healthcare, with […]
• The Police Agency’ Conflict Management In the police agency, parties may use the collaboration strategy involving information sharing, openness, and elucidation of the various conflicting issues not only to reach a common ground that is satisfactory to the conflicting parties […]
• Singapore Airlines Conflict Management and Negotiation The study will entail analysis of the policies used by Singapore Airlines to manage conflicts among employees, the ethical dilemma facing the HR staff, and the alternative solutions.
• Communication and Conflict Management in Nursing It is essential to emphasize that to reduce the burden on the nurse and the number of inquiries to patients, and it is necessary to use reflexive listening.
• Managing Conflict Situations in Nursing In this case, it is necessary to use a collaborative conflict management style that is said to be one of the most useful variants.
• Conflict Management in Japanese Culture Japan and its culture truly represent the cultural compromise that determines the development of the entire Japanese spiritual tradition.
• Conflict Management in “The Avengers” Movie This character trait is often sought after by managers in their employees since this often indicates that this individual is more willing to work with others and will do as they are told for the […]
• Conflict Management Strategies Thus, one needs to have a clear understanding of the characteristics of the team members and the responses that they have in the process of a conflict in determining the strategy that he/she will use […]
• Conflict Management: Simple Rules for Avoiding and Resolving Conflicts In order for the workplace to be a welcoming environment in which conflicts are rare occurrences, it is essential to establish an organizational culture based on respect and equality.
• Creating Ideal Teams: Conflict Management in Teams During my employment, I noticed that the essential step that led to high satisfaction and increased performance of a team lies in its creation.
• Aspects of the Conflict Management An example of a time I used a conflict resolution strategy was when I attempted to bring the parties involved in a conflict together so they could talk.
• Event Management and Evaluation With Conflict Theory As such, the event and the performance of the staff and the managerial team worked in accordance to appropriately provide for them.
• Managing a Sexual Harassment Conflict at Sony In Sony, as in any other company, conflicts also occur, and managers strive to establish a common language between all sides involved, though the result of the conflict may be disappointing for one of the […]
• Conflict Management in Healthcare Conflict management: a crucial part of the clinical environment; Potential sources of conflict: hierarchy issues and interdisciplinary concerns; Case under analysis: misunderstanding between an anesthesiologist and a surgeon; Cause: a misconception caused by underlying […]
• Conflict Management: Conversations With Difficult People The consequence of conflicts in a workplace is a decrease in customer satisfaction, a significant turnover, and a decrease in labor productivity.
• Managing Authorship Conflicts in Educational Institutions However, scientists are people like everyone else, trying to make a career and forced to comply with the requirements for the publication of scientific papers; they often lie, cheat and take advantage of students.
• Pediatric Operating Room: Conflict Management Strategies For example, in the pediatric care unit, when the patient needs long-term care, conflict occurs mainly between the parents and the care team due to differences in the religious and cultural beliefs of the parents.
• Discussion: Managing Conflict of Interest A review of the literature revealed that promoting transparency and accountability, and implementing policies and regulations that stimulate adherence, are critical in managing conflicts of interest.
• Five Conflict Management Styles The performance formula is directly linked to the coaching model in that the performance formula helps determine one’s reasons for low performance and the improvement action required.
• Conflict Management in the Healthcare Workplace Conflict management at the workplace is one of the crucial elements related to the organization of work in healthcare facilities. Consequently, if ignored or not handled adequately, the disputes between the colleges at the workplace […]
• Transformative Mediation: Conflict Management Consequently, the role of a transformative mediator is to support parties in shifting toward the recognition of the causes of their conflict and empower them to take action toward change.
• Conflict Management in Human Services This implies that I am relatively flexible in my attempts to solve the problem and I always want to make the opinion of the opposing party count.
• Conflict Management: Styles, Strategies, and Their Effect A closer look at the phenomenon in question will reveal that a conflict map works as a method of arranging the facts related to a particular problem in a specific order so that the links […]
• Conflict Management Efficiency in Team Leaders The team leader is also responsible for ensuring that all the team players in the organization are motivated in the areas of work, in which they are involved; in the running of the organization’s activities.
• Communication and Conflict Management But since women have a compromising nature and are normally found to be in listening instead of in lecturing roles, we find Linda listening coolly to frank and telling him to try and talk directly […]
• Humor Application in Conflict Management: Facilitating and Regulating Communication To an extent, the value of humor can be explained by the fact that it helps to establish a more relaxed atmosphere, the quality sometimes needed at a workplace.
• Applying Constructive Conflict Management to a Conflict The prelude phase describes the situation that made the conflict possible, taking into account its participants, their relationship, and the environment where the conflict takes place.
• Effective Business Meetings and Conflict Management A good meeting should stick to the agenda and deal with matters that are relevant to the items of agenda. Organizers can seize the benefits of communication technology to ensure success of a meeting.
• International Journal of Conflict Management Critique The chapters in the journal article tackle a variety of large and small disputes and conflicts that take place in organizations and groups.
• Inter-Jurisdictional Conflict Management The term could also mean the extent of power or items that such power controls or protects.”Inter” means between or among, therefore, inter-jurisdictional conflict signifies a conflict among two or more powers over something that […]
• Conflict Management Concepts Implementation and Outcomes The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the implementation of the conflict management concepts and to analyze this process along with the outcomes.
• Intergroup Conflict and Its Management Therefore, it must also be considered as a valuable asset that would allow this group to resolve the conflict by exchanging thoughts and opinions.
• Internal Managerial Conflicts: Jones and Shephard Accountants, Inc. The success of projects will to a large extent rely on the interests, support, and commitment of the senior management. A deep analysis of the organizational structure of Jones and Shephard Accountants, Inc.is prone to […]
• Understanding Conflict Management The lack of team dynamics in the workplace results in the cropping up of conflicts. In this case the key issues and the grievances must be taken care of before it affects the overall performance […]
• Conflict Management in Empyrean Company First of all, Kensworthy may have considered himself a great investor in the company and therefore felt that he had a right to promotion and management in the company.
• Conflict Management and Negotiations In the event that compromising is used as the approach in this conflict situation, the manager will be talked to by a colleague into accepting the fact that has to have the one-hour extension in […]
• Conflict Management: Teambuilding and Dynamics Each team has to perform the assigned task and in addition it must coordinate with other teams to ensure smooth progress in operations.
• Human Communication and Conflict Management in Family I must admit that the communication styles I learned brought me back to the days in my family where there were a lot of communication styles that I had to contend with.
• Conflict Management Challenges in Trade Unions This step will help the owner to reduce negative feelings and misunderstanding between the trade union and the company. This step will help the owner to create a positive atmosphere and explain the situation to […]
• Food Merchandising Corporation’s Conflict Management Everyone is aware of the high rate of failure of start-up and first time entrepreneurs are always fired up to start a business only to declare bankruptcy later on due to many unforeseen problems or […]
• Conflict Management Styles Applied in Healthcare In the mentioned above conflict, the patient was a young woman, whose parents wanted to visit her often throughout the day.
• Theater Stage Manager’s Conflict Resolution Assuming the role of the mediator in managing the conflict between the friends, I had to use my knowledge gained when studying to become a stage manager because of the need to initiate the productive […]
• Managing Organizational Conflict: Rahim’s Meta Model In addition, they are trained to minimize the degree of differences between the two sides of a conflict and highlighting common points of view that are likely to satisfy the involved parties.
• Concourse Equity Inc.’s Conflict Management The triggering events in the conflict between Luther and Rihanna happened when Luther made a Chauvinist comment about Rihanna by saying that she ought to be in the kitchen cooking tea for men in the […]
• Managerial Conflict Resolution for Marketing Team The report that I have indicates that the main issue in regards to this standoff is that your team wants the project to progress as a TV campaign, while your colleagues are adamant that it […]
• Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism’s Conflict Management The concept of Sulha, although not directly outlined in the organization’s code of conduct, is the main driving instrument of internal conflict resolution in the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism.
• Masdar City Project and Conflict Management Despite the noble vision that the founders and financiers of this project have, it is important to appreciate that conflicts may emerge.
• Abu Dhabi Sports Council’s Conflict Management In the case of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the absence of a coherent conflict management technique may cause the organization to fail in its endeavor at making the sport popular among the UAE citizens.
• Conflict Management in Nursing Decision-Making The key objective of this work is to assess conflict management styles as the basic mechanisms for resolving controversial situations in the decision-making process in nursing communities.
• Marbles Construction Company’s Conflict Management The 2009 agreement was meant to safeguard the interests of both the company and the employees. Most of the supervisors and mid-level managers were in support of the workers’ requests and this made it difficult […]
• Conflict Management: Importance and Implications First of all, the author perceives the concept of conflict and conflict management from the perspective of positive conflict resolution, addressing the root causes of conflicts.
• Conflict Resolution in Management Teams The behavioral and social cognition features of the relationships suggest that managerial tasks and relationships are the key attributes of incompatibilities that in organizations.
• Employee Motivation, Conflict and Personnel Management The other managerial issue in the case is that of conflict management and resolution. The two were not only long serving members of the organization but had also advanced in age, thus making their conflict […]
• Riordan Manufacturing: Diversity and Conflict Management Whenever a change is introduced in an organization, it is quite common for employees to respond with mixed reactions in spite of the benefits associated with the same change. It is imperative to note that […]
• Role of Coaching in Conflict Management The case is different in Japan since the achievements of the group play an important role in the success of the organization as compared to individual efforts.
• Management Issues: Conflict Mediation It is very important that the leaders of such companies apply the skills of conflict mediation in order not to let the interpersonal relationships influence the effectiveness of the business process and the organization’s success.
• Managing Conflicts: U.S. Harvest Scandal Therefore, it can be considered that once the USA Harvest organization had established the principles of transparency as the basis for its organizational strategy, the failure would have been avoided.
• Conflict Management in the Healthcare Sector In a bid to ensure that medical practitioners are able to treat and adapt to new changes in healthcare, change must take place.
• Workplace Group Problems: Conflict Management and Dynamics If a group engages in destructive conflict, then the outcomes can result in loss of the main objectives in the quest for sub-group interests, encourage the committee members to be defensive, and may results in […]
• Selina Lo’s Conflict Management in Ruckus Wireless Company Selina Lo must learn these styles in order to accommodate her new employees and establish a culture of managing conflict and negotiation in Ruckus Wireless.
• Conflict Prevention in Project Management To this end, it is essential to iron out these differences prior to commencement of the project because if the expectations vary then the outcomes are also likely to vary as well.
• Effectiveness of Various Conflict Management Practices In the same way, the unfolding of the conflict will determine if the conflict at the workplace has positive and negative effects to the organization.
• Conflict Management in Organizational Teams A calendar that indicates deadlines for various tasks should be displayed on a clearly visible point to remind the employee of the urgency of the task.
• Change Management and Conflict Resolution in Communities The different levels of perceptions on emerging issues among the members of the community are the source of conflicts. The management of such conflicts augments the quality of the choices in the project’s operation processes.
• Managing Conflict: Decision-Making Process in Organizations Conflicts in this institution also arise from among the physicians, the management team and physicians and between other professionals and the physicians.
• Managing Conflict in People in Organizations The sources of conflicts include cultural differences, organizational structure and the personality orientations of the employees. In conclusion, personal conflicts can be attributed to personality orientation, goal incongruence and the expected level of performance.
• Tesco PLC Constructive Conflict Management This will lead to fruitful corporation within the organization and the external environment. This will result to the success of both the organization and employees.
• Managing Internal and External Conflicts Given the adverse effects of stress, the ability to manage stress is a critical aspect in conflict resolution. As the discussion above has elucidated, there are a variety of conflict management strategies that can be […]
• Organizational Behavior, Motivation and Conflict Management For instance, in an organization motivation is low in the absence of the three functions while it is high when valence is positive and expectancy and instrumentality are high.
• Effective Conflict Management in Planning Firstly, the planner must have the knowledge of the possible kinds of conflict that may arise in the course of planning.
• Crisis Communication and Conflict Management in Health Care Environment Crisis communication and response have a large significance in restoring the organization’s status and their effectiveness depends on skills of the crisis communicators and their understanding of crisis management.
• Conflict Management and Organizational Roles To put an end to such misunderstanding in the office, the individual roles should be clearly established beforehand by the senior member of staff who overlooks the whole working body of staff members.
• Conflict Essence in the Management Setting In studying conflict management and theories that explain the rationale behind it, this essay is going to focus on one type of conflict. As a remedy to interpersonal conflict, this theory demands understanding of the […]
• “Organizational Communication and Conflict Management” by Kenan Spaho The author goes further to explore the relevance of conflicts in an organization. It is the duty of managers and supervisors to deal with all types of conflicts in their organizations.
• Human Resource Management and Conflict Resolution Within the scope of the study, the author has chosen an important and debatable topic because human resource management is one of the most important issues affecting all institutions in the modern world.
• The Mediating Role of Trust: Conflict Management Styles in Managers The article by Chan et al.is relevant to the issue of conflict management in the workplace as it explores the concept of leadership and open communication in conflict resolution.
• Negotiation in Conflict Management Process The presented solutions should be enlightened by the prevailing problems and be considerate of all parties in conflict. All members of a team in negotiation should recognize the relationship and be willing to make the […]
• Constructive Conflict Management in Tesco Tesco’s internal conflict with its employees has so far been dealt inappropriately resulting in the escalation of tension and the company’s perception by both employees and consumers has suffered.
• Effective Management of Conflicts in Organizations The human resource management should constantly track the signals of conflict in the organization in order to solve it in time to avoid hostile encounters and emotional outburst which negatively impact on the image of […]
• Manager’s Role in Averting Negativity and Conflicts This often leads to poor performance of the employees and the entire company. Instead of simply declaring the need to work more, the manager can develop a strategy to avoid probable negative attitude.
• Conflict Management Skills: Andy & J This is a skill that seemed to be well mastered by Andy; he employed this together with the rest of the skills made his discussion with J a successful.
• Conflict Management: Enhancing a Peaceful Coexistence By the right attitude, it means that employees work harder to benefit the organization so that they benefit from the productivity, and not working harder in order to compete with their colleagues.
• Organizational Conflict Management Third, each of the departments will be encouraged to be emphatic towards the other. They will promote acknowledgement and listening to the views of each of the departments.
• Conflict Management System Design and Introduction In order to design an effective conflict management system, data has to be collected on the type of conflict affecting an organization so as to establish the type of conflict to address given that conflict […]
• Managing Conflict and Workplace Relationships In the case above, it is important for the manager to maintain calmness and approach the situation without any predetermined conclusions.
• Conflict Management as the Essential Quality of a Leader Conflict management is one of the essential qualities of a good manager especially in a world that has a wide range of challenges to be confronted.
• Toolkit for Conflict Management Change is the process of improving the organizations processes and employees performance with the intention of increasing productivity. Also, with the use of suggestion boxes, the employees are able to write down their views and […]
• Managing Conflict in Organizations For management teams to find workable and viable solutions to conflicts, it is important for such teams to consider the underlying causes of conflicts, the behavior of the involved groups or individuals, and the nature […]
• Conflict Resolution and Management: How Does It Work? In addressing conflict resolution and management, it is equally important to appreciate the role of emotions in influencing decisions, stances and direction of interests.
• How Many Resolution Methods Are There for Conflict Management?
• What Is the Best Conflict Management Style?
• How Does Mediation Work in Conflict Management?
• What Are the Benefits of Effective Conflict Management?
• Why Is Conflict Management an Important Skill?
• Is a Collaborative Negotiation Style the Most Effective Form of Conflict Management?
• What Is the Most Important Tool in Conflict Management?
• Are There Negative Outcomes of Conflict Management?
• What Is the Importance of Conflict Management at the Workplace?
• How Do You Handle Difficult Conflict Management?
• What Is the Best Conflict Management Strategy?
• What Makes a Good Conflict Management?
• How Are Leadership and Conflict Management Related?
• What Is the Main Goal of Conflict Management?
• Is There a Universal Key to Conflict Management?
• What Is the Role of Conflict Management in the Success of a Team?
• Is the Competing Conflict Management Style the Most Assertive?
• Why Is Emotional Intelligence Important for Conflict Management?
• What Are the Main Issues of Conflict Management in Business?
• Is There a Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Management Style?
• What Is Accommodating Conflict Management Style?
• Is Conflict Management a Soft Skill?
• What Is the Source of Conflict Management?
• How Can a Company Improve Conflict Management?
• What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Conflict Management?
• Construction Management Research Topics
• Team Management Paper Topics
• Management Skills Research Topics
• Nonprofit Organizations Paper Topics
• Organizational Design Topics
• Problem Solving Essay Ideas
• Time Management Essay Titles
• Hospitality Management Essay Ideas
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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IvyPanda . "128 Conflict Management Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/conflict-management-essay-topics/.