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The Effects Of Conflict On The Workplace

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Conflict in the workplace is something that’s been going on for centuries. Although we think of conflict as negative, it can also have a positive impact. In this paper we will look at both the negative and positive impact of conflict in the workplace.
Conflict is opposition or antagonism toward other individuals or things (Hegar, Human Relations at Work, pg 480). For example, if your co-worker was given an award for outstanding work performance but you feel that you were more deserving of the award. Now there is a conflict between you two. Even if you do feel like you are more deserving, you should still try and keep that to yourself and get your work done. Holding that type of animosity just creates more conflict. Two types of conflict that are important in human relations are conflict at the individual level and conflict at the organizational level. When needs of individuals are at odds conflict can develop. The reasons for this are frustration and interpersonal conflict. Some of our biggest frustrations come from the workplace. It may be because we feel that our work in unfulfilling, co-workers that we don’t get along with demanding structures within the organization that seem to micromanage us. In most instances we feel that our options for real fulfillment at work are limited which creates conflict inside us. Intrapersonal conflict occurs when a person or group of people frustrates or interferes with another person’s efforts at achieving a goal (Hegar, Human Relations

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