Intergroup Conflict, The Structure of Organizations, Designing Effective Organizations

TOPICS TO BE DISCUSS:
 INTERGROUP CONFLICT
 THE STRUCTURE OF ORGANIZATIONS
 DESIGNING EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS
INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
Intergroup Conflict – refers to the overt expressions of
hostility between groups and intentional interference with
each other’s activities.
Causes of Intergroup Conflict
 Coordination of Work – the most common source of
intergroup conflict among several different departments.
1. Sequential Task Interdependence
a. Task Interdependence – the amount of reliance a work
group has to put on other organizational units to
complete its projects.
October 2, 2013KAC - Industrial Psychology

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
b. Sequential Task Interdependence – the product
(output) of one group becomes the raw material (input)
of another group.
2. Reciprocal Task Interdependence – some outputs of
each group become inputs of the other group.
3. Task Ambiguity – Lack of clarity over job
responsibilities.
4. Differences in Work Orientation – the ways in which
employees go about their work and deal with others.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
 Organizational Reward Systems – The way in which an
organization monitors group performance and distributes
resources (e.g. money, equipment).
1. Resource Interdependence – Frequently, groups are
relatively interdependent of each other in getting their
work done but compete with each other for resources.
2. Conflicting Reward Systems – Sometimes the ways in
which reward systems in organizations are designed
create a situation in which one group can only
accomplish its goal at the expense of other groups.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
3. Competition as a Motivational Strategy – Managers
sometimes use competition between groups as a way of
motivating workers. The rationale behind this strategy is
that people will produce more under pressure, and that
competition between groups is healthy for the
organization.
The Dynamics of Intergroup Conflict
 Changes within each group
1. Loyalty to group becomes more important.
2. There is increased concern for task accomplishment.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
3. Leadership in the group becomes more autocratic.
4. The organization and structure of the work group
become more rigid.
5. Group cohesiveness increases.
 Changes in relations between groups
1. There are distortions of perception, both about one’s
own group and about the other group.
a. Perception of one’s group is highly selective: people see
only the best aspects of their own group and deny any
weaknesses in their own groups performance.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
b. Perception of the other groups is systematically
distorted: groups see only the worst parts of the other
groups and deny other groups’ positive
accomplishment.
2. Interaction and communication between groups
decrease.
3. There is a shift from a problem-solving orientation
toward other groups to a win-lose orientation.
a. There is a much clearer distinction drawn between the
groups, resulting in a “we-they” rather than a “we-
versus-the-problem” orientation.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
b. All exchanges with the other groups are evaluated in
terms of victory or defeat.
c. The groups tend to see the problem only from their
own point of view, rather than in terms of the needs of
both groups.
d. The parties emphasize the benefits of winning the
conflict in the short run and tend to ignore the long-
term consequences of the conflict for the relationship
between the groups.
4. There is increased hostility toward the rival group.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
Strategies groups use to gain power
1. Contracting – refers to the negotiation of a quid pro
quo (this for that) agreement between two groups (e.g.
collective bargaining agreement between unions and
the management).
2. Co-opting – occurs when a group gives some of its
leadership positions to members of other groups or
includes them in its policy-making committees.
3. Forming coalition – two or more groups cooperate or
combine their resources in order to increase their
power over groups not in their coalition.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
4. Influencing decision criteria – Top management often
cannot make decisions about resource allocation among
groups using strictly rational criteria.
5. Controlling information – Gaining access to sensitive
information and then limiting other groups’ access to it
increases the power of the information-rich group vis-à-
vis other sub-units.
6. Forcing and pressure tactics – Pressure tactics – to
force others to give in represent the most
competitive, or hostile strategy a group can use to gain
power.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
Consequences of Winning or Losing a Conflict
 Effects of Success
1. The most systematic change in the perception of the
winning group is a stronger belief in the negative
stereotype of the losing group.
2. Winning re-affirms both the group’s positive self-image
and its negative evaluation of the other group.
3. The winning group becomes much more concerned
with the satisfaction and needs of individual members.
4. The work atmosphere become more casual, more
complacent.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
4. Group cohesiveness and group cooperation are likely to
increase as well.
5. At least in the short run, the concern for work and task
accomplishment decreases. The winning group has little
reason to re-examine its operations and little incentive
to think about ways of improving.
 Effects of Failure
1. The losing group respond to failure by attempting to
deny the reality of losing. A lot of energy is put into
finding excuses for the loss.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
2. It is unlikely that the losing group will simply admit that
other groups were better and more deserving, and that
nothing would have changed the results of the conflict.
3. The losing group also experiences a noticeable decline
in the quality of interpersonal relationship. Unresolved
conflicts come to the surface as different factions of the
group blame each other for the loss.
4. There is lower group cohesiveness, less
cooperation, and less concern for individual members’
needs.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
5. However, if the group gets over its initial
disappointment and anger and accept its loss
realistically, there can be some positive changes in the
way it operates. It is force to evaluate its own strength
and weaknesses. The group reorganize to become more
effective, and commit itself to working even harder in
the future.
Managing Intergroup Conflict
“Come, let us reason together”
“Put your foot down when you need to stand”
“Turn the other cheek”

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
Strategies used to resolve intergroup conflict
1. Avoidance – Keeping the conflict from coming into the
open at all.
2. Defusion – Keeping the conflict in abeyance and
“cooling” the emotions of the parties involved.
3. Containment – allowing some conflict to surface but
tightly controlling which issues are discussed and the
manner in which they are discussed.
4. Confrontation – Openly airing all the issues of the
conflict and trying to find a mutually satisfactory
solution.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
 Conflict Avoidance Strategy
1. Ignoring the conflict – is characterized by the absence
of behavior: the executive avoids dealing with the
dysfunctional aspects of the conflict.
2. Imposing a solution – means forcing the conflicting
parties to accept a solution devised by a higher-level
manager.
 Conflict Defusion Strategies
1. Smoothing – A manager may choose to smooth over
the conflict, playing down its importance and
magnitude.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
2. Appealing to Superordinate Goals – The managers
diverts attention from the current conflict to the
overarching aims that both groups share.
 Organizational Survival – the most frequently used
superordinate goal. If the sub-units do not cooperate
sufficiently, the continued existence of larger
organization is severely jeopardized.
 Conflict Containment Strategies
1. Bargaining – is a form of compromise; two groups
exchange concessions until a compromise solution is
reached.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
 Tacit Communication – Each party signals a willingness
to be flexible in exchanging concessions, without actually
making an explicit offer or promise.
2. Structuring the Interaction between Groups
a. Decreasing the amount of direct interaction between
the groups in the early stages of conflict resolution.
b. Decreasing the amount of time between problem-
solving meetings.
c. Decreasing the formality of the presentation issues.
d. Limiting the application of historical precedents.
e. Using third-party mediators.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT
 Conflict Confrontation Strategies
1. Integrative Problem Solving – is a conflict resolution
strategy that attempts to find a solution that
reconciles, or integrates, the needs of both parties.
2. Redesigning the Organization – can be an effective
intergroup conflict resolution strategy, especially when
the sources of conflict come from the coordination of
work among different departments of divisions.
 Methods of reducing conflict: (1) Self contained work
groups; (2) Lateral relations; (3) Task forces; and
(4) Integrator roles.

THE STRUCTURE OF ORGANIZATIONS
Organizational Structure – the formal arrangement of
operations and activities within an organization.
Three Interrelated Goals
1. Define lines of responsibility and authority within
corporation.
2. Help channel the flow of information in companies.
3. Help achieve coordination of the work activities of
different individual employees.

Four Types of Organizational Structure
1. Functional Organization – is one in which employees
are grouped together on the basis of primary skill.
Advantages:
1. Encourages technical expertise.
2. Reduces duplication of activities.
Disadvantages:
1. Fosters narrow perspective in the functional groups.
2. Makes it difficult to coordinate interdepartmental
activities.

2. Divisional Organization – In divisional
structures, employees are grouped together in one of
three ways:
a. Product division – group together all the people
needed to produce a product or provide a service.
b. Geographical division – all the employees in the same
geographical area report to the same general manager.
c. Customer division – group together all the people
needed to produce a product or provide a service to a
specific set of customers.

Advantages:
1. Improves decision making.
2. Fixes accountability for profits and production.
3. Increase coordination of functional departments.
Disadvantages:
1. Increase difficulty in allocating corporate staff support.
2. Losses some economies of scale.
3. Foster little cooperation among divisions.

3. Lateral Relations – a set of structural devices that
encourage coordination among individuals and groups
in different work units.
Five Lateral Relations
a. Dotted-line supervision – gives corporate staff officers
some indirect supervisory control over their
counterparts in the divisions.
b. Liaison Roles – has the responsibility for coordinating
the work of two units.

c. Temporary Task Force – is a committee formed to solve
a short-run problem involving several different work
units.
d. Permanent Team – is a group of organization members
from different work units who meet regularly to address
issues or problems of common interest. Also called a
manpower review committee.
e. Integrating Managers – Their job is to coordinate all the
functional activities on a project on a full-time basis.

4. Matrix Structure – The identifying feature of a matrix
structure is that employees report to two supervisors
rather than to the traditional single supervisor. There is
a dual, rather than a single, chain of command.
Two Variants of the Matrix Structure
 Project Management Matrix
a. Functional Managers – (e.g. VP for Engineering, VP for
Manufacturing) are responsible for the hiring and
development of technically competent employees in
each functional area.

b. Project Managers – (e.g. plane project
managers, weapons system project manager) are
responsible for coordinating the activities of people
from different functional areas who are working on the
same project.
 Geography-by-Product Matrix
a. Merchandise general managers – (e.g. GM of
furniture, GM of appliances) are responsible for
choosing items that will be popular in the market and
for purchasing those items at the lowest possible prices.

b. Regional-level general managers – (e.g. GM of
Metropolitan New York, GM of greater Boston). Their
main duty is to be responsive to the consumer tastes
and income levels of their particular communities.
Advantages:
1. Reinforces and broadens technical excellence.
2. Facilitates efficient use of resources.
3. Balances conflicting objectives of the organization.

Disadvantages:
1. Increases the number of power conflicts.
2. Increases confusion and stress for two-boss employees.
3. Impedes decision making.
Overall Assessment: Making the Matrix Work
1. Dual Human Resource Management Responsibilities.
2. Selection for Conflict Management Skills.
3. Changes in Group Decision Making.

DESIGNING EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS
Two factors that aided Japan in its phenomenal growth
1. Japan has a modern, efficient production technology.
Japanese companies spend great sums of money on
research and development; since World War II, they
have invested heavily in designing and purchasing the
most technologically advanced equipment in the world.
2. Japan has done an excellent job in reading its business
environment, in forecasting how changes in the
worldwide economy, political events, and consumer
preferences might affect its own industries.

Classical Theories of Organization Design
 Bureaucracy – Advocated by Max Weber. It meant an
organization run strictly by principles of rationality and
efficiency.
Principles of Classical Management
1. Division of Work – each member of the organization
should have a very clearly defined job duties and that
no two employees’ job duties should overlap.
2. Utility of Command – states that no member of an
organization should be responsible for more than one
superior.

3. Authority and responsibility
 Authority is the right to give orders;
 Responsibility is accountability for getting a job
completed.
4. Scalar Chain – all communication from the top of the
organization must pass through each successive level of
subordinates until it reaches the appropriate lower level
and vice-versa.
5. Limited Span of Control – the number of subordinates
who should report to a single supervisor. 20 (first-line
managers), 8 (middle managers), 4 (executives).

6. Line-Staff Relationships
 Line Personnel – (e.g. manufacturing and sales)
perform the major functions of the organization.
 Staff Personnel – (e.g. corporate law and public
relations) provide support, service, and advice to line
officials.
7. Use of rules – employees can get their work done more
efficiently and more quickly if they have routine
guidelines they can follow.
8. Impersonality – ill will and inefficiency occur in
organizations when exceptions to rules are made for the
friends and relatives of employees and executives.

9. Technocracy – means “rule by technically competent”.
Only people who have demonstrated adequate
technical training should be hired by organizations.
10. Written Communication – All administrative rules, acts
and decisions should be recorded in writing.
11. Continuous Employment – employers should not be
able to fire employees for arbitrary or capricious
reasons, only for demonstrated incompetence or failure
to follow rules. Therefore personnel can expect to be
continuously employed as long as they perform
satisfactorily.

Assessment of Classical Management Principles
1. Bureaucracies typically insure uniformity and
predictability in the quality of their products.
2. Bureaucracies are generally most effective in those
organizations that provide only a limited range of goods
and services.
3. Bureaucratic rules can lead to insensitive treatment of
subordinates and clients.
4. Bureaucracies do not quickly assimilate the influx of
new technology; they are slow to innovate.

 Two reasons why bureaucracies are slow to adopt new
technology.
a. There is an information flow problem.
b. There is a decision-making problem.
5. Bureaucracies have trouble dealing with unanticipated
problems and new issues; they are not flexible and
adaptable in changing environments.
Technology and Structure
 Technology – is the tools and equipment used to
transform raw materials into finished products.

 Technology – the transformation process by which
mechanical equipment and intellectual skills are used to
produce the organization’s goods and services.
Types and Examples of Technology
by: Joan Woodward, a British Industrial Sociologists
1. Unit Technology – the organization transforms raw
materials to meet the particular preferences of the
customer. The unit of production is made to order for
the customers.

2. Mass Production Technologies – standardized
operating procedures are used to produce standardized
products. The same technology and the same
operations can be repeated over and over again.
3. Continuous Process Technology – the manufacture of
chemicals, the production of pharmaceuticals, and the
refining of oil are all examples of continuous process
technology. Often involves the production of liquids or
gaseous substances.

Contingency Theories of Technology have argued the
following three propositions:
1. Woodward’s South Essex Study
 The type of technology in the organization influences
the types of organization structure that should be used.
2. The Aston Studies
 Different departments and divisions of the organization
use different technologies.
3. Jay Galbraith’s Theory of Organization Design
 Different types of coordination and control systems are
appropriate for different types of technology.

Environment and Structure
 Environment – those factor external to the organization
that influence the effectiveness of the firm’s day-to-day
operations and its long-term growth.
 Consider IBM as an example of an organization. What
are the environmental factors that influence its day-to-
day operations and long-term growth?
(a) Economic conditions; (b) Demographic trends;
(c) Advances in technology; (d) Changes in market
conditions; (e) Legal climate; and (f) political conditions.

Demographic
Trends
Advances in
Technology
Market
Conditions
Legal Climate
Political
Conditions
Economy
O R G A N I Z A T I O N S

Dimensions of Organization Environments
 Environments vary in how favorable or hostile they are.
Favorable environments facilitate the organization’s
growth; hostile environments impede it.
1. Environmental Stability – refers to how fast the
environment is changing.
a. Static Environment – are those that change very slowly.
b. Dynamic Environment – are those that change very
quickly.

2. Environmental Complexity – refers to how many factors
in the environment influence an organization.
a. Simple Environment – if there are very few factors that
influence an organization.
b. Complex Environment – are those in which many
factors can influence the organization’s operations.
3. Environment Uncertainty – refers to the amount of
information managers have about important
environment factors.
a. Certain Environment – if managers have fairly complete
information about environmental factors that influence
major business decisions.

b. Uncertain Environment – if managers have very little
information about environmental factors that influence
their business decisions.
Contingency Theories of Organizational Environment have
argued the following three propositions:
a. The type of environment of the organization influences
the types of organization structure which should be
used.
b. Different departments and divisions of the organization
have to respond to different environments.

c. Organizations should vary the strategies they use to adapt
to their environments, depending upon how hostile their
environments are.
 Burns and Stalker: Mechanistic and Organic Structure
 Mechanistic Structure – is basically what we have called
bureaucracy. Have very formal hierarchies. Power and
decision-making are centralized at the top of the
organizations; orders and communication flow downward.
 Organic Structure – is the antithesis of a bureaucracy. Its
structure is flexible; there are fewer rules and division of
labor. Communication is more informal.
 Lawrence and Lorsch’s Contingency Theory

Coping with Organizational Environments
 Reactive Strategies
1. Creation of special sub-units to deal with environmental
forces.
2. Creation of corporate marketing or public relations
departments.
3. Creation of boundary-spanning roles.
 Proactive Strategies
1. Acquisition of new businesses and/or sale of existing
businesses.
2. Diversification.
3. Political activity and trade association.

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