Definition
Any form of disagreement Caused by different opinions, unequal allocation of resources and the differences that occur in the daily operations. These disagreements may be within the members of the same group or even with members from other different groups (Weisel.2016).
Summary
Groupwork and teamwork are the key concepts in carrying out operations in in the organization. Employees come together and contribute, giving their own opinions to be able to contribute a given task. Each group is given a different task, and it’s at this time that conflict arise ,making it hard for the employees to co-relate and deliver their task as expected (Aaldering,2016).group members have different opinions towards a certain task and this may lead to them not understanding each other because each one of them wants his or her opinion to be the best. Poor communication among the groups may lead to misunderstanding and some groups may underrate the roles of another group. Members may feel overused when roles are divided among them so as to complete the given task.
Leaders in every group should identify the conflicting issues and address the on time before they get out of hand. Groups are the main players in the organization. Therefore, there should be set rules and conflict resolution mechanisms to prevent and end organization conflicts that may affect the success of the organization. Organizations should prevent themselves from any form of conflict because it may be ineffective if the conflicts lead to incomplete works and enemity among the team members.
Discussion
The intergroup conflicts are a major problem in the organizations ang there is need to look at them, understand the root cause and find ways to end or cope with them as an organization.
There are many causes of intergroup conflicts which may include the following;
Different personalities in the groups leading to difference in opinion and thoughts and most people believe they are always right and should therefore never be corrected. Unequal resource allocation leading to conflicts. The different tasks each group is given requires resources so as to be completed. When a group feels less considered in the resource allocation process, they feel less important and start throwing their frustration to other group leading to conflicts. (Stevenson,2016).
How members ate rewarded in an organization may also lead to conflicts. Awarding a group with more rewards than other will make them boost whereas others are lamenting thus will create some sort of conflict because humans are responsive to inequality. Another cause is different opinions when the groups are brought together to discuss on a certain issue. Each group is pushing on their own opinion and this may lead to conflict among the groups.
The intergroup conflict has consequences affecting organization as a whole. The conflicts may not always be negative and it’s the organizations responsibility to understand its employees through the time of conflict. Conflicts acts as an eyeopener to the organization and they are able to prevent such conflicts from occurring in the future.
The main objectives of forming the group are jeopardized due to conflicts and a lot of time is wasted while trying to solve conflicts. Some intergroup conflicts may kill the spirit of teamwork making the relationship between employees hard (Ritov,2017).an organization may die or be ineffective due to lack of co-operation.
To end conflicts in the groups, there should be well laid task and roles assigned to the different groups. Capability merits should be considered while doing this in order to avoid conflict while a task is poorly done. Secondly, resources should be allocated wisely to prevent dissatisfaction in some groups. Group members should also be enlightened on group diversity and have a sense of accommodating other people’s opinions, thoughts and skills. Lastly, there should be set rules and regulation to aid harmony among the group members.
References
Aaldering, Hillie, Greer, Lindred L., Van Kleef, Gerben A., & De Dreu, Carsten K.W. (20116). Interest (mis)alignments in representative negotiations: Do pro-social agents fuel or reduce inter-group conflict? Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 120(2), 240-250.
Ritov, I., & Kogut, T. (2017). Ally or adversary: The effect of identifiability in inter-group conflict situations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,116(1), 96-103.
Stevenson, K., Randle, J., & Grayling, I. (2016). Inter-group conflict in health care: UK students’ experiences of bullying and the need for organizational solutions. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 11(2), 6.
Weisel, & Böhm. (2016). “Ingroup love” and “outgroup hate” in intergroup conflict between natural groups. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 60, 110-120.