book setup 2069 nijamati.indd

Introduction
Overview on Conflict Management
Dr. Niranjan Prasad Upadhyay*
Abstract
But not all con(ict is bad. Con(ict is always di)cult, but it leads to growth
and change, which is good. No one likes pain, but pain wakes you up and tells
you when to react. If you had your hand on a stove, and you couldn’t feel the
pain to know to remove it, you would be in big trouble. If there was no painful
s!mulus, you would get burned. It has been said that con(ict is like a tea bag:
You have no idea how strong it can be un!l it gets into hot water. Posi!ve con(ict
is very useful in group delibera!ons. When faced with a con(ict, most healthy
groups will look for more informa!on to resolve it. Because the disagreement
was expressed, a more thorough inves!ga!on will be conducted. When the
group makes a decision, it will be based on addi!onal informa!on that probably
would not have been obtained had the con(ict not occurred. Even though some
of the feelings generated by con(ict may be nega!ve, disagreement indicates
involvement in the discussion. Con(ict becomes unhealthy when it is avoided
or approached on a win/lose basis, where one side is the winner and one is the
loser. The responsibility as a manager or team member is to ensure that this
situa!on does not occur, because it has nega!ve e$ects for both the winner and
loser. In Nepalese context, bureaucrats are su$ered from con(icts and stresses
due to many factors such as low pay scale, transfer, no security, excessive threats
and poor allowances.
When an individual must choose one or the other of two goals or has both positive and
negative feelings about a particular goal, he/she faces conflict frustration (Upadhyay,
2008). Since motives may be either positive or negative - either seeking or avoiding
- there are four possible types of conflict: approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance,
approach-avoidance, and double approach-avoidance.
Organizational conflict occurs when two or more parties, who have different
objectives, values or attitudes, compete for the same resources. Conflicts can arise
* Former Chief Psychologist, Public Service Commission, Nepal
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