Conflict management in the workplace.“Conflict”! What does it 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 the first party cares about." In the workplace it can manifest itself in different ways. Examples can include things that happen; when your ideas or thoughts are not widely accepted. Your opinion is opposed or downplayed. When you have a promotion waiting for you and someone else gets it. When someone you have a crush on; is making love to someone else, etc. Conflicts don't always have to be serious. They can also be used as a tool for healthy competition, which can encourage an individual to be their best self and cover extra ground. It all depends on how management uses this tool. Overall we can classify most conflicts that occur in the workplace into two types. The first would be interpersonal conflicts, that is, conflicts that occur between two or people. The second concerns group conflicts, which is when conflicts occur between two or more groups of people, such as teams or departments. There are many causes that can give rise to this type of conflict. 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. The causes of this type of conflict include, but are not limited to, Difference of opinions: In an organization, when many minds work together to achieve the best for the organization, it often happens that people do not agree with the point of view of others. Sometimes they may even vehemently oppose each other's opinion, leading to conflict between the two. C...... middle of paper ......arguing the parties together and telling them in very clear terms that such conflicts are not acceptable and all involved must resolve the conflicts to achieve certain objectives and thus establish the objectives to be achieved. In the end, I would like to conclude that conflict is not necessarily always good or bad. It is only the consequences of conflict that are good or bad. Effective management always identifies conflicts with negative consequences and ends them as soon as possible and at the same time encourages healthy conflicts that give rise to good outcomes. References:1. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_conflect2. Workplace Conflict, Better Health Channel.3. http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/define-conflitto-workplace-2042.html4. Organizational Behavior, Stephen Robbins5. http://www.mediate.com/articles/belak1.cfm