Workplace Conflict and Performance of Organizations

Abstract

This paper reviews conflict and conflict management strategies for achieving optimal organizational development. Conflict in literature is an inherent occurrence at the workplace whose management can tilt the organization’s performance scale. Understanding conflict in an organizational context, how it manifests, and its impact can help organizations anticipate and de-risk its potential negative impact on performance. This paper reviews the evolving place of conflict in organizational development, analyzes differing perspectives, and highlights documented best practices and models to address conflict and its manifestations in organizations. Further, it expounds how conflict, when not managed well, can lead to a hostile environment that negatively impacts performance. It underscores the need for organizations to proactively identify hostility in the workplace and design effective strategies to manage and resolve conflicts to enhance a productive and positive work environment. We also review the various conflict resolution models that have been proposed, their core application frameworks, and the multiple contexts where these models are applied in organizations to resolve conflicts. Organizational leadership is further recognized as a critical facilitator of systems and strategies to identify conflicts and hostility in the workplace. We also review and propose systems that focus on enhancing communication through policy and staff training to foster and maintain a positive work environment that minimizes the potential negative impact of workplace hostility. Thus, the scope of this paper will look at workplace conflict and hostile work environments and propose solutions to ensure the organization continues to thrive.