CONFLICT MANAGEMENT The Psychology of conflict and conflict ...

446 TJOSVOLD
see them as dishonest (Hogan, Curphy, & Hogan, 1994; Kouzes & Posner,
2005). Many managers and employees appear to be skeptical about the
value of our ideas and studies, even though present conflict management
practices are very costly. Years ago, we did a study to estimate the dollar
costs of when organizational members did not work together well and
manage their conflicts (Tjosvold & Janz, 1985). The costs were many thousands
of dollars a year for each employee. The costs are probably much
larger today.
Applying organizational research is intellectually challenging and
requires close collaboration between researchers and practitioners, but
shortcomings in our research itself also interfere. Reading the chapters
suggested several key conflicts in the study of conflict. These comments
identify key conflicts and argue that confronting and resolving these and
other conflicts can help us fulfill the promise of conflict research.
ConfliCt to DeveloP our DisCiPline
In the development of disciplines as in organizations more generally, conflict
has a normal and potentially quite constructive role. Indeed, researchers
are continually disagreeing over such issues as the value and utility of
data and their sources (Kennedy, 2003). Researchers also debate such major
issues as the role of values in developing science (Anderson, 2004). Like
others, conflict researchers have reached agreement on ways of considering
our area and conducting studies in it; however, there are also differences
of opinion about various issues and approaches that can potentially
alter and strengthen the field (Kuhn, 1962).
Morton Deutsch (1989) recounted that well-managed conflict contributed
significantly to the very productive and influential Research Center
for Group Dynamics at MIT. Kurt Lewin communicated to each person
that he or she was vital to the center’s mission. He led loosely organized
research seminars, called the Quasselstrippe (or winding string), and encouraged
lively, spirited debate. Near the end of these exhilarating controversies,
he typically offered a deeper perspective that would integrate both the
conflicting views and the people arguing them.
However, their inabilities to resolve conflicts also had costly, long-term
consequences. Deutsch argued that Lewin’s early death contributed to the
widening rift between the “tough-minded scientist” Leon Festinger, the
“soft-hearted activist” Ronald Lippit, and the people sympathetic to them
and their ideas. It was not so much that their conflicts escalated into open
warfare, but rather, they led to the development of separate groups and
perspectives that grew apart. The unresolved conflict between science
and action continues to divide contemporary social psychology and its
offspring, organizational psychology and behavior.
This note identifies conflicts that I think deserve more attention and
more controversies. The field is not characterized by warfare; conflicts have