These include: threats to status, lack of trust, incivility and unfair treatment. 3.3.2.1 Threats to status
Status or position is believed to be very important to many people in any organisation, hence when they feel that they will lose their status they become a powerful driving force and struggle to maintain a desired image. Newstrom (2007) argues that conflict may arise between a defensive person and whoever creates a threat to his/her status. High threat to status employees are seen to take unnecessary actions such as mistreatment, information secrecy etc, to protect their status (Maher, 2004). On the other hand, positions of safety (a stable position) provide effective interpersonal relationships, trust and an environment that creates a friendly atmosphere (Ibid).
3.3.2.2 Lack of trust
Trust can be defined as perceived trustworthiness where people expect support and believe that they have a relationship where they can discuss issues and rely upon each other (Hempel et al., 2009). Every continuing relationship requires some degree of trust that opens up boundaries, provides opportunities in which to act, and enriches the entire social fabric of an organisation (Newstrom, 2007). Efficient relationships are based on trust, where people work as a team, respect each other’s beliefs, values and opinions. Interpersonal and professional relationships are to a great extent connected to the level of trust between them. Trust develops with experience and behaviour and thus is predicted by the interaction factors between individuals or groups (Kramer, 2006).
Trust takes time to build but it can be destroyed in an instant. When someone has a real reason not to trust another, situations of conflict may increase (Newstrom, 2007). Maher (2004) argues that a lack of trust has serious consequences, often leading to withdrawal and a lack of positive interaction in the workplace. Langfred (2007) confirms that conflicts between team managers and team
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members in organisations have a negative impact on trust relationships which, in turn, affect employees’ performance negatively.
The results from the Hempel et al. (2009) study found that a cooperative approach to conflict management between team members and team managers has a positive impact on promoting trust relationships and on increasing the performance of team members, whereas a competitive approach has a negative impact on trust relationships and on the performance. Therefore, they recommend that managers and employees need training on the collaborative approach to internal conflict management in order to promote trust relationships and to obtain the constructive atmosphere that enhances organisation performance and productivity.
3.3.2.3 Incivility
Pearson and Porath (2005) and Newstrom (2007) argue that incivility in the workplace is regarded as negative, deplorable and unacceptable behaviour for everyone because it leads to conflicts amongst individuals inside the organisation.
Workplace incivility occurs when employees fail to exhibit concern and regard for others or disrespect each other on the job (Pearson and Porath, 2005). A lack of consideration can appear in many forms including brusque greetings, sarcasm, failure to return borrowed supplies, selfishness, showing up late for appointments, untidiness and noise (such as playing a radio loudly). Workplace incivility can cause tensions to rise, anger to grow, and conflicts to emerge (Newstrom, 2007). 3.3.2.4 Unfair treatment
Some organisations have a strong status difference between managers and non- managers (Assaf, 2004). For example, managers could have flexible schedules, be allowed personal telephone calls at work and have longer lunch hours which are not available to other employees. This usually leads to resentment and conflict between employees (Swailem, 2000).
Research in organisational justice has shown that when employees see themselves as being treated fairly, they develop attitudes and the behaviour required for successful change even under bad conditions (Cobb et al., 1995). In contrast, when injustice prevails in management decisions, the affected employees can be
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dominated by feelings of anger, outrage, and a desire for retribution (Folger, 1999). In addition, Folger (1999) and Jermier et al. (1994) believe that unfair treatment to workers usually leads to resistance to change and to the expression of feelings of injustice and anger.
Toh and Denisi (2003) argue that employees who feel they have been treated unfairly are more likely to withdraw and may engage in counterproductive work behaviour which, in turn, can generate conflict.
Lindquist (2010) found that unfair treatment has a negative impact on workers’ efforts and their willingness to work overtime. Therefore, he suggested that employers should consider the negative effect of unfair treatment on effort and overtime when designing contracts and determining promotions.
3.3.3 Financial factors
Financial factors include limitations in resources and facilities. 3.3.3.1 Limitation in resources and facilities
All organisations have limited resources and attempt to find the most efficient way of utilising resources in order to accomplish tasks. For example, if an organisation orders new computers for many of its staff and they cannot use the computers until the technician sets them up and if there is only one technician and each job takes an hour, competition will arise amongst staff for the technician’s time. Resources in an organisation include: money, supplies, space, materials and equipment; all of which are important for everyone (Daft et al., 2010). Employees compete for these scarce resources and this causes conflict between them (Mullins, 2005; 2007) One study found that competition for limited resources often leads to negative conflicts (Hitt et al., 2006).