CONFLICT MANAGEMENT The Psychology of conflict and conflict ...

1. CONFLICT IN THE WORKPLACE 37
In highlighting frontiers of research on time and conflict, we turn to historians
such as Braudel (1947) and propose that conflicts at all three levels
are dynamic and embedded in different layers of time—structure, conjuncture,
and events—as they each have different implications for conflict in
organizations. Figure 1.2 provides a summary of our discussion below.
Structure refers to those aspects of the context that are fixed and hardly
change. Workplace conflicts are embedded in geographical contexts within
which organizations are located and this context influences conflict
dynamics in organizations (Brief et al., 2005; Dietz, Robinson, Folger,
Baron, & Schultz, 2003). For example, levels of community violence are
significant predictors of workplace aggression, above and beyond organizational
norms for fairness (Dietz et al., 2003). Interethnic conflict in
communities also affects the dynamics of conflict within organizations
(Brief et al., 2005). Other factors in the immediate geographical context
that influence conflict include thermodynamic features, including ambient
temperature. Van de Vliert, Huang, and Parker (2004) have shown that
temperature has notable and quite stable influences on the emergence and
management of conflicts. As we have noted throughout this chapter, the
national cultural context within which organizations operate influences the
emergence, outcomes, and management of workplace conflicts. A third
and final example is the historical context, which provides a relatively stable
Structure
Conjecture
Events
Geography and national cultures
within which organizations are
located
Scientific Management
Marxist Ideology
Battle of Classes
Workplace
conflicts i...n
Workplace
conflicts i...n
Workplace
conflicts i...n
Timeline (e.g., 1900–2000)
HRM; Information
Technology; Teambased
Organizations
Workplace
conflicts i...n
fiGure 1.2. Conflict in and around organizations across different layers of time.