Managing Workplace Conflict. " Conflict " ! What does that mean? Stephen Robbins, author of Organizational Behavior, defines conflict as "a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected or is about to negatively affect something they care about." » In the workplace, this can manifest itself in several ways. Examples may include things that happen; when your ideas or thoughts are not widely accepted. Your opinion is challenged or downplayed. When you need to get a promotion and someone else gets it. When someone you have a crush on; made love with someone else, etc. Conflicts do not always have to be serious. They can also be used as a tool for healthy competition, which can encourage an individual to do their best and cover extra ground. It all depends on how management uses this tool. Overall, we can classify most conflicts that arise in the workplace into two types. First there would be interpersonal conflicts, that is to say conflicts that arise between two or more people. Second would be group conflict, which is when conflicts arise between two or more groups of people, such as teams or departments. The causes of this type of conflict are numerous. Let's look at some of the causes of these conflicts in the following paragraph. Interpersonal conflict, as stated earlier, this type of conflict occurs between individuals. Causes of this type of conflict include, but are not limited to, differences of opinion: In an organization, when many minds work together to achieve the best for the organization, it is often the case that people are not agree with everyone's point of view. Sometimes, they may even vehemently oppose each other's opinion, leading to conflict between the two. C...... middle of paper ...... bringing the parties together and telling them in very clear terms that such conflicts are not acceptable and everyone involved must resolve the conflicts in order to achieve certain goals, then set the objectives to be achieved. Ultimately, I would like to conclude that conflict is not necessarily always good or bad. Only the consequences of conflict are good or bad. Effective management always identifies conflicts with bad consequences and ends them as quickly as possible while encouraging healthy conflicts that lead to good results.References:1. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_conflict2. Workplace Conflict, Better Health Channel.3. http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/define-conflict-workplace-2042.html4. Organizational Behavior, Stephen Robbins5. http://www.mediate.com/articles/belak1.cfm