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COMMERCE 2BA3
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Class 9
Conflict and Stress
Dr. Christa Wilkin
Brain Teasers
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Right = Right
Job I'm Job
MAN
BOARD
R|E|A|D|I|N|G
Last Class
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People do not always make rational decisions
Different types of power can lead to higher
commitment
Some people may behave for political gains and
may behave unethically
THIS CLASS
 Conflict and stress
Agenda
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Types of conflict
Managing conflict
Causes of stress
Outcomes of stress
How our personality affects stress levels
Coping with stress
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CH 13: CONFLICT AND STRESS
What is Conflict?
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
Interpersonal conflict is a process that occurs when
one person, group, or organizational subunit
frustrates the goal attainment of another.
Types of Conflict
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
Relationship conflict (the who)
 Interpersonal
tensions among individuals that have to
do with their relationship per se, not the task at hand
 E.g., personality clashes

Task conflict (the what)
 Disagreements
about the nature of work to be done
 E.g., this is the answer

Process conflict (the how)
 Disagreements
about how work should be organized
and accomplished
 E.g., I want to do this part
Question
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
Should we avoid conflict at all costs?
Approaches to Managing Conflict
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There are five styles for dealing with conflict.
None of the five styles is inherently superior.
Each style might have its place given the situation in
which the conflict episode occurs.
Avoiding
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
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A conflict management style characterized by low
assertiveness of one’s own interests and low
cooperation with the other party.
It might be a sensible response when:
 The
issue is trivial.
 Information is lacking.
 People need to cool down.
 The opponent is very powerful and hostile.
Accommodating
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A conflict management style in which one
cooperates with the other party, while not asserting
one’s own interests.
It can be an effective strategy when:
 You
are wrong.
 The issue is more important to the other party.
 You want to build good will.
Competing
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A conflict management style that maximizes
assertiveness and minimizes cooperation.
It can be effective when:
 You
have a lot of power.
 You are sure of your facts.
 The situation is truly win-lose.
 You will not have to interact with the other party in the
future.
Compromise
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A conflict management style that combines
intermediate levels of assertiveness and
cooperation.
It is a sensible reaction to conflict stemming from
scarce resources and it is a good fall-back position
if other strategies fail.
Collaborating
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A conflict management style that maximizes both
assertiveness and cooperation.
It is an attempt to secure an integrative agreement
that fully satisfies the interests of both parties (a
win-win resolution).
It works best when the conflict is not intense and
when each party has information that is useful to
the other.
How to Manage Conflict
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Too much is bad, too little is also bad, some is ok
Emphasize common goals

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e.g., project, organization
Reduce differentiation

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The more team members think they have common
experiences or backgrounds, more motivated to resolve
conflict
Create common experiences (e.g., socialize)
How to Manage Conflict
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Improve communication and understanding

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Caveat: People from different cultures may vary in their
preference of direct communication
Clarify rules and procedures (ambiguous)

Show ultimate frisbee video
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QUESTIONS?
Individual Exercise
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How do you cope with stress? Let’s find out.
For each of the 20 statements, indicate the extent to
which each statement describes you. Once you have
completed all 20 questions, follow the scoring
instructions provided. First, you must add up the
numbers you circled for the four questions that make
up each of the five scales. Second, you then add the
scores from all five scales to give you an overall
total score that can range from 20 to 100.
Stress
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
An adaptive response to a situation that is
perceived as challenging or threatening
The Myth of Stress
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Video clip
What causes stress? (Stressors)
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?
Stress
Organizational Stressors
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Work overload
 Too

much work (paid, overtime, unpaid overtime)
Role conflict
 When
fulfilling the requirements of one role interferes
with the fulfillment of another role requirement
 Inter-role: two different roles conflict
 Intra-role: conflicting instructions on what to do (one role)
 Person-role: expectations conflict with values

Role ambiguity
 Uncertainty
about job duties, performance expectations,
level or source of authority, etc.
Quiz Question
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Derek’s supervisor asks him to work late into the
evening on a report that is due next week but he is
supposed to pick up the kids from daycare. We can
be sure that Derek:
A) is experiencing burnout.
B) is experiencing role ambiguity.
C) is a Type A personality.
D) is experiencing intra-role conflict.
E) is experiencing inter-role conflict.
Organizational Stressors
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Psychological Environment Stressors
Organizational injustice, interpersonal conflict
 Psychological contract
 Job insecurity
 Organizational change

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Physical Environment Stressors
Excessive noise
 Poor lighting
 Safety hazards
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Work – Non-work Stressors
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Time conflict
 Time
required for non-work activities interferes with work
 E.g.,
family responsibilities (e.g., caring for sick parents),
volunteer work etc.

Strain conflict
 Stress
from one domain spills into other
 Relationships,
finances, new responsibilities, etc.
 Attitudes can be transmitted to other people
Outcomes of Stress?
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Stress
?
Outcomes of Stress
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Psychological reactions
Physiological reactions
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High blood pressure, sweatiness, heart palpitations,
dizziness, more cortisone, etc.
Behavioural reactions
 Attempts

to cope (e.g., shopping, exercise)
Videos of Office Stress
Burnout
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Emotional exhaustion
Lack of energy, difficulty emoting
 Compassion fatigue: no longer able to empathize

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Cynicism / depersonalization
Indifferent attitude to work
 Treating individuals as objects / callousness
 Strict adherence to rules and regulations

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Reduced professional accomplishment
Lower self-efficacy
 No longer see value of extra effort

Organizational Outcomes
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Too much stress can lead to:
 Job dissatisfaction
 Occupational injuries and illnesses
 Decision-making, cognitive abilities, task performance
 Absenteeism, turnover
Question
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Are certain types of people more stressed out than
others?
Personality
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Personality can affect both the extent to which
potential stressors are perceived as stressful and
the types of stress reactions that occur.
Personality
Stressors
Stress
Outcomes
Locus of Control
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People’s beliefs about the factors that control their
behaviour
Externals are more likely to feel anxious in the face
of potential stressors
 E.g.,

The world is against me
Internals are more likely to confront stressors
directly
 E.g.,
I can get through this
Type A Behaviour Pattern
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A personality pattern that includes aggressiveness,
ambitiousness, competitiveness, hostility, impatience,
and a sense of time urgency.
Type A: can’t relax, constantly busy, impatient
Type B: easy-going, patient, relaxed
Question: Which personality type are you? Are you
one or the other?
Negative and Positive Affectivity
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Negative: The propensity to view the world,
including oneself and other people, in a – light
 E.g.,

Positive: View world in a + light
 E.g.,

pessimistic, moody
happy go lucky, always smiling, optimistic
People high in NA report more stressors in the work
environment and feel more subjective stress
Reducing or Coping with Stress
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
Some of the things that organizations can do to
reduce workplace stress and assist employees in
coping with stress include:
 Job
redesign
 Social support
 Family-friendly human resource policies
 Stress management programs
 Work-life balance programs
Job Redesign
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Organizations can redesign jobs to reduce their
stressful characteristics.
Most formal job redesign efforts involve enriching
operative-level jobs to make them more stimulating
and challenging.
There is growing evidence that providing more
autonomy in how service is delivered can alleviate
stress and burnout.
Social Support
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Social support refers to having close ties with other
people.
A social network acts as a buffer against stress.
The buffering aspects of social support are most
potent when they are directly connected to the
source of stress.
Coworkers and superiors are the best sources of
support for dealing with work-related stress.
“Family Friendly” Human
Resource Policies
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“Family friendly” human resource policies include
some combination of formalized social support,
material support, and increased flexibility to adapt
to employee needs.
A common form of material support is corporate
daycare centres.
Flexibility is also important and includes flex-time,
telecommuting, job sharing, and family leave
policies.
Stress Management Programs
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Programs designed to help employees “manage”
work-related stress.
Stress management programs involve techniques
such as meditation, training in time management,
and biofeedback training.
They can be useful in reducing physiological
arousal, sleep disturbances, and self-reported
tension and anxiety.
Work-Life Balance Programs
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Work-life balance programs encourage employees
to participate in activities to improve their mental
and physical health.
Work-life balance programs include fitness facilities
and memberships, employee assistance programs,
and health food programs.
Work-life programs are believed to lower healthcare costs due in part to stress reduction.
Wellness Programs Research
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My study on wellness programs
Findings suggest that after one year health promo
initiatives decrease return on assets (ROA), while
work-life balance initiatives increase ROA. However,
both effects become non-significant after three
years.
Group Exercise
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Form groups of 5 to 6 people. Share your results
within your group from your stress test. Talk about
potential stressors and outcomes of your stress. Talk
about effective ways to deal with stress.
Pick a spokesperson to summarize your results
I will randomly call on a few groups to present
Summary
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
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There are different styles to managing conflict
but no style is inherently superior (contextual)
Stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it depends
on how we cope with it
For Next Class
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Read Chapter 14 on organizational structure
Hand in group assignment at the beginning of class