Managing cross-cultural conflict in organizations

Abstract

Conflict is part of being human and thus it is a pervasive aspect of socio-cultural and professional interaction. People who have never experienced conflict at the workplace are ‘living in a dream world, blind to their surroundings or are confined to solitary confinement’ (Boohar, 2001). Over the past decades there has been an increase in research on conflict and its management both internationally and at an interdisciplinary level (Rahim, 1989; Thomas, 1992). Conflict and its management have therefore been researched from different angles and disciplinary perspectives, such as psychology, behavioural sciences, sociology, communication, health sciences and anthropology (Wall and Callister, 1995; Vecchio, 2000). Despite the increase in the number of concepts and definitions of conflict, there is no comprehensive definition of conflict and conflict theory in general. Management scientists have shared renewed interest in the subject of conflict and its management in workplaces (Jehn, 2000; Kumar and Van Dissel, 1996; Putnam and Poole, 1987; Rahim, 2002; Zapf 1999). This interest could be ascribed to the increased observation of conflict in organizations (Schermerhorn et al., 1997) and the assertion that organizations are inherently competitive and riddled with conflict (Pondy, 1992: 257). According to Rahim (2002: 206), conflict and its constructive management are important for the optimal functioning of organizations; however, most conflict management recommendations still focus on conflict reduction, resolution or minimization, because of the negative impact it can have on organizations and individuals. Conflict management should rather be focused on continuous transformation. It can lead to distress and distraction from work, affecting decision-making processes, relationships and individual effectiveness, as well as productivity and creativity (Cowan, 1995: 24). Additionally, there is evidence that conflict can impact negatively on organizational productivity, and increase costs (Burton, 1990). Despite these assertions, if constructively managed, conflict can contribute positively to job satisfaction, well-being (De Dreu et al., 2004: 15) and even stress reduction (Friedman et al., 2000). According to Wils et al. (2006), managing conflict in the workplace involves the diagnosis and analysis of organizational conflict, and the development of effective intervention techniques and methods to resolve it. Organizational conflict management strategies involve the analysis of types of conflict, impact of conflict, and conflict resolution styles (Rahim, 2002). However, amongst conflict management scientists (Francis, 2003; Pondy, 1967) it is ‘common sense’ that the best way to manage conflict is a situational and contextualized approach (Rahim, 2001). This approach, which considers cross-cultural contexts, has replaced the striving for ‘one best approach’ to managing conflict (Rahim, 2002: 217). However, it is assumed that cooperation is one of the most useful key concepts in reducing organizational conflict in a globalized context (Blake and Mouton, 1986). International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 12(1) 3–8 a The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1470595811413104 ccm.sagepub.com CCM International Journal of Cross Cultural Management