Social conflicts always lead to negative consequences. Positive and negative consequences of conflicts

In the most general form, the subjective causes of any organizational conflicts associated with people, their consciousness and behavior, as a rule, are caused by three factors:

1. interdependence and incompatibility of the parties’ goals;
2. awareness of this;
3. the desire of each side to realize its goals at the expense of the opponent.

A different, more detailed classification of the general causes of conflicts is given by M. Meskon, M. Albert and F. Khedouri, who identify the following main causes of conflict.

1. Resource distribution. In almost any organization, resources are always limited, so the task of management is the rational distribution of materials, people and money between various departments and groups. Since people tend to strive to maximize resources and overestimate the importance of their work, the distribution of resources almost inevitably leads to various kinds of conflicts.

2. Task interdependence. The possibility of conflict exists wherever one person (group) depends on another person (group) to perform its functions. Due to the fact that any organization is a system consisting of a number of interdependent elements - departments or people, if one of them is not performing adequately, as well as if there is insufficient coordination of their activities, the interdependence of tasks can become a cause of conflict.

3. Differences in goals. The possibility of conflict increases with the complexity of organizations, their further structural division and associated autonomy. As a result, individual specialized units (groups) begin to largely independently formulate their goals, which may diverge significantly from the goals of the entire organization. In the practical implementation of autonomous (group) goals, this leads to conflicts.

4. Differences in ideas and values. Different ideas, interests and desires of people influence their assessment of the situation, leading to a biased perception of it and an appropriate reaction to it. This gives rise to contradictions and conflicts.

5. Differences in behavior and life experiences. Differences in life experience, education, length of service, age, value orientations, social characteristics, and even just habits hinder mutual understanding and cooperation between people and increase the possibility of conflict.

6. Poor communications. Lack, distortion, and sometimes excess of information can serve as a cause, consequence and catalyst for conflict. In the latter case, poor communications intensify the conflict, preventing its participants from understanding each other and the situation as a whole.

This classification of the causes of conflict can be used in its practical diagnosis, but in general it is quite abstract. A more specific classification of the causes of the conflict is proposed by R. Dahrendorf. Using and supplementing it, we can distinguish the following types of causes of social conflicts:

1. Personal reasons (“personal friction”). These include individual traits, likes and dislikes, psychological and ideological incompatibility, differences in education and life experience, etc.

2. Structural reasons. They manifest themselves in imperfection:

• communication structure: absence, distortion or contradictory information, weak contacts between management and ordinary employees, distrust and inconsistency of actions between them due to imperfections or breakdowns in communications, etc.;
• role structure: inconsistency of job descriptions, various formal requirements for an employee, official requirements and personal goals, etc.;
• technical structure: unequal equipment of different departments with equipment, exhausting pace of work, etc.;
• organizational structure: disproportionality of various departments that disrupts the general rhythm of work, duplication of their activities, lack of effective control and responsibility, conflicting aspirations of formal and informal groups in the organization, etc.;
• power structures: disproportionality of rights and duties, competencies and responsibilities, as well as the distribution of power in general, including formal and informal leadership and the struggle for it.

3. Change in organization, and above all technical development. Organizational changes lead to changes in role structures, management and other employees, which often causes dissatisfaction and conflict. Quite often they are generated by technological progress, leading to job cuts, intensification of labor, and increased qualifications and other requirements.

4. Conditions and nature of work. Harmful or dangerous working conditions, unhealthy environmental environment, poor relationships in the team and with management, dissatisfaction with the content of work, etc. — all this also creates fertile ground for conflicts to arise.

5. Distribution relations. Remuneration in the form of wages, bonuses, rewards, social privileges, etc. not only serves as a means of satisfying the various needs of people, but is also perceived as an indicator of social prestige and recognition from management. The cause of the conflict may be not so much the absolute amount of payment as the distribution relations in the team, assessed by employees from the point of view of their fairness.

6. Differences in identification. They manifest themselves in the tendency of employees to identify themselves mainly with their group (unit) and exaggerate their importance and merits, while underestimating the importance of others and forgetting about the overall goals of the organization. This kind of inclination is based on the intensity and emotional coloring of communications in primary groups, the relatively high personal significance of such groups and the issues resolved in them, group interests and group egoism. Reasons of this type often determine conflicts between various departments, as well as between individual teams and the center, the leadership of the organization.

7. The organization’s desire to expand and increase its significance. This trend is reflected by the famous Parkinson's law, according to which every organization strives to expand its staff, resources and influence, regardless of the volume of work performed. The trend towards expansion is based on the interest of each department, and above all actual and potential managers, in obtaining new, including higher and more prestigious positions, resources, power, and authority. On the way to realizing the expansion trend, there are usually similar or restraining positions of other departments and management (center), which tries to limit aspirations and retain power, control functions and resources of the organization primarily within itself. As a result of this kind of relationship, conflicts arise.

8. Difference in starting positions. This may be a different level of education, qualifications and values ​​of personnel, and unequal working conditions and material and technical equipment, etc. various departments. Such reasons lead to misunderstanding, ambiguous perception of tasks and responsibilities, uncoordinated activities of interdependent departments and, ultimately, to conflicts.

The last three reasons characterize mainly interorganizational conflicts. In real life, conflicts are often generated not by one, but by several reasons, each of which in turn changes depending on the specific situation. However, this does not eliminate the need to know the causes and sources of conflicts in order to use and manage them constructively.

The causes of conflicts largely determine the nature of their consequences.

Negative consequences of conflict

There are two directions for assessing the consequences of conflicts: functionalist(integration) and sociological(dialectical). The first of them, which is represented, for example, by the famous American experimental scientist E. Mayo. He views conflict as a dysfunctional phenomenon that disrupts the normal existence of an organization and reduces the effectiveness of its activities. The functionalist direction focuses on the negative consequences of conflict. Summarizing the work of various representatives of this direction, we can highlight the following: negative consequences of conflicts:

• destabilization of the organization, generation of chaotic and anarchic processes, decreased controllability;
• distracting staff from the real problems and goals of the organization, shifting these goals towards group selfish interests and ensuring victory over the enemy;
• dissatisfaction of conflict participants with their stay in the organization, increased frustration, depression, stress, etc. and, as a consequence, a decrease in labor productivity, an increase in staff turnover;
• increasing emotionality and irrationality, hostility and aggressive behavior, distrust of management and others;
• weakening of communication and cooperation opportunities with opponents in the future;
• distracting conflict participants from solving the organization’s problems and a fruitless waste of their strength, energy, resources and time fighting each other.

Positive consequences of conflict

In contrast to the functionalists, supporters of the sociological approach to conflicts (they are represented, for example, by the largest modern German conflictologist R. Dahrendorf) consider them as an integral source of social change and development. Under certain conditions, conflicts have functional, positive results for the organization:

• initiating change, renewal, progress. The new is always a negation of the old, and since behind both new and old ideas and forms of organization there are always certain people, any renewal is impossible without conflicts;
• articulation, clear formulation and expression of interests, making public the real positions of the parties on a particular issue. This allows you to see the pressing problem more clearly and creates favorable conditions for solving it;
• mobilization of attention, interest and resources to solve problems and, as a result, saving the organization’s working time and resources. Very often, pressing issues, especially those that concern the entire organization, are not resolved until a conflict arises, since in conflict-free, “normal” functioning, out of respect for organizational norms and traditions, as well as out of a sense of politeness, managers and employees often bypass thorny issues;
• creating a sense of belonging among the conflict participants to the decision made as a result, which facilitates its implementation;
• stimulating more thoughtful and informed action in order to prove that you are right;
• encouraging participants to interact and develop new, more effective solutions, eliminating the problem itself or its significance. This usually happens when the parties show understanding of each other’s interests and realize the disadvantages of deepening the conflict;
• developing the ability of conflict participants to cooperate in the future, when the conflict is resolved as a result of the interaction of both parties. Fair competition that leads to consensus increases the mutual respect and trust necessary for further cooperation;
• release of psychological tension in relations between people, a clearer clarification of their interests and positions;
• overcoming traditions of groupthink, conformism, “submissiveness syndrome” and the development of free-thinking, individuality of the employee. As a result, the staff’s ability to develop original ideas and find optimal ways to solve the organization’s problems increases;
• involving the usually passive part of employees in solving organizational problems. This contributes to the personal development of employees and serves the goals of the organization;
• identification of informal groups and their leaders and smaller groups, which can be used by the manager to improve management efficiency;
• development of skills and abilities among conflict participants relatively painless solution to future problems;
• strengthening group cohesion in case of intergroup conflicts. As is known from social psychology, the easiest way to unite a group and muffle or even overcome internal discord is to find a common enemy, a competitor. External conflict is capable of extinguishing internal strife, the causes of which often disappear over time, lose relevance, severity and are forgotten.

Of course, both negative and positive consequences of conflicts cannot be absolutized and considered outside of a specific situation. The real ratio of functional and dysfunctional consequences of a conflict directly depends on their nature, the causes that give rise to them, as well as on skillful conflict management.

Based on an assessment of the consequences of conflicts, a strategy for dealing with them in the organization is built.

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Conflict is a very capacious concept. It is studied from different positions and in various aspects by many sciences: philosophy, sociology, psychology, jurisprudence, history and political science. Conflict is the basis of any contradiction, and it, in turn, is a stimulus for any changes, sometimes constructive and progressive, and sometimes destructive, destructive. Most often, the concept of conflict is considered in the relationship between people and social groups; in psychology, conflict is also deep intrapersonal experiences and contradictions that give rise to life crises and depression, but this does not always lead to negative consequences. Very often, internal conflict is a stimulus for development, the opening of new life horizons and hidden potential that a person does not realize.

The study of conflict is based on a set of different concepts that make up this complex phenomenon: its dynamics, methods of managing conflict and its typology. Moreover, these concepts can be correlated with various conflicts - social, interpersonal and intrapersonal, but in each of them they will have their own characteristics.

Dynamics of conflict

Conflict is a dynamic, evolving process. The following main stages of its development are distinguished: pre-conflict situation, open conflict and the stage of its completion.

The latent stage preceding an open conflict is the formation of all its structural elements. First of all, the cause of the confrontation arises and its participants appear, and then the parties become aware of the opposition to the current situation as a conflict. The dynamics of the conflict can develop further if, at the first stage, the main contradictions are not resolved peacefully and amicably.

The second stage is the transition of its participants to conflict behavior, the features of which are defined in psychology and conflictology. The dynamics of the conflict at this stage are characterized by an expansion in the number of participants in the confrontation, disorganized actions of the parties directed against each other, a transition from solving problems in business ways to personal accusations, very often with a sharply negative emotional attitude, as well as a high degree of tension leading to stress.

The dynamics of the development of the conflict at this stage are designated by the term escalation, i.e. the increase in destructive, destructive actions of the conflicting parties, often leading to irreversible catastrophic consequences.

Finally, the dynamics of the conflict in the last stage is the search for ways to resolve it. Various methods, techniques and strategies for conflict management are used here, conflict specialists and psychologists are involved. As a rule, resolution is carried out in two ways: by transforming the reasons underlying it, and by restructuring the subjective ideal perception of a given situation in the minds of its participants.

It should be noted that conflict resolution strategies do not always lead to complete success. Quite often, everything ends in a partial result, when the visible forms of the emergence and course of a conflict situation are eliminated, but the emotional tension of the participants is not relieved, which can cause new confrontations to arise.

Complete resolution of a conflict situation occurs only when all its external contradictions and causes are removed, and all internal, emotional and psychological factors are eliminated.

The most difficult task at the last resolution stage of the conflict is the transformation, changing the subjective ideal perception of the causes of the confrontation in the minds of the participants on each side. If this goal is achieved by the mediators or the management of the organization, then the conflict resolution will be successful.

Conflict, interpersonal or intrapersonal, proceeds according to a standard pattern and has the same stages and methods of resolution, only, of course, with its own specifics.

1.1 The concept of conflict. Positive and negative consequences

Conflict is understood as a clash of opposing tendencies in the psyche of an individual, in the relationships between people and their formal and informal associations, caused by differences in views, positions and interests. In an organization, conflict always results in certain behavior and actions that involve interference in the affairs of others.

Conflict can take the form of cooperation, competition, or open struggle.

Conflicts are often characterized by uncertainty of outcome due to the wide variety of possible behavior options of the parties, determined by random factors, psychology, hidden goals, which can subsequently be further transformed. But, nevertheless, conflicts can be predicted, and their consequences, although with considerable difficulty, can be foreseen.

An extensive and acute conflict can cause a crisis and ultimately lead to its destruction or significant change.

A person enters into conflict in a situation that is significant to him and only when he does not see an opportunity to change it (in this case, actions take the form of attack or defense), but usually tries not to complicate the relationship and maintain restraint.

The modern point of view on conflicts is that many of them are not only acceptable, but also desirable, since they provide information about the problems of the organization, allow one to identify problems, processes hidden from view, various points of view on certain events, etc.

Positive consequences of conflict are considered to be solving the problem in a way acceptable to all parties; strengthening mutual understanding, cohesion, cooperation; reduction of antagonism, unanimity, humility.

Conflicts lead to the restructuring of existing and the formation of new social institutions and mechanisms, contribute to the formation and consolidation of groups, maintain boundaries between them, balance of interests and power, and thus ensure the deepening and relative stability of internal relations.

Finally, conflicts contribute to increased activity and motivation to work, increased qualifications, stimulate debate and curiosity, the emergence of new ideas and alternatives for the development of the organization, increased ability to change, and improved quality of decisions. Absolutely without conflicts, worries, tensions, a person can stop in his development. All this facilitates the management process, increases its efficiency, and therefore, depending on the situation, conflicts are often better not to suppress, but to regulate.

At the same time, conflicts can also have dysfunctional (negative) consequences: dissatisfaction, deterioration of the moral and psychological climate, curtailment of cooperation, increased staff turnover, decreased productivity, activity in the future, increased hostility, the formation of an image of the enemy and the desire for victories rather than problem solving.

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