Intergroup Conflict Management Framework for Hong Kong's Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

An examination of 28 project leaders' and managers' opinions on conflict and conflict management practice in Hong Kong found that intergroup conflict is the most commonly experienced type of conflict, as more Hong Kong–based companies adopt a matrix or pseudo-matrix organizational structure. Although nearly 80% of the interviewees were not familiar with modern conflict management theory and practice as presented in contemporary literature, they tended to use what classic scholars in conflict management would call the “confrontation” mode in handling task-oriented conflict, and the “withdrawal” or “forcing” mode in handling emotion-oriented conflict. Short product development cycle time was found to have a very significant influence on the conflict management practices of contemporary project managers and project support personnel working in Hong Kong's manufacturing industry. We propose a conflict management framework based on our findings, and we discuss the concept of “cognitive-affective conflict.”