What is Conflict

Right from ancient texts to modern-day management philosophies, conflict resolution stands to be the most revered skill that has been discussed everywhere, in detail. 'The art of conflict resolution' - as it is hailed by social science scholars, psychologists, teachers, business tycoons, relationship experts, is a tactic that plays pivotal role in every walk of life. Right from the board room to the bedroom, you're surely going to encounter 'n' number of situations where you'll have to exercise your conflict management skills. Management and psychology has abundant literature on the conflict issue but presenting all information about the same in the limitations of this web page, is next to impossible.

Definition of Conflict
There are no fixed definitions of conflict. To put it in simple words, it is a situation in which two or more parties differ in thoughts, actions and deeds on some topic, idea and opinion. To understand it, consider the Gaza strip conflict. Decades have passed but the differences in opinions, ideologies and inability to resolve that 'conflict', has resulted in immense loss of men, money and material. In essence, conflict is a disagreement on some or the total aspects of an idea, opinion or act.

The parties in conflict try to resolve the conflict by agreeing on some common terms. This is where the role of conflict management comes into picture. What is conflict of interest? It is a disagreement between two or more parties depending on their interests involved in the outcome of a deal or a discussion. For instance, two corporate firms are going through a merger & acquisition deal but both sides have their own 'interests' that are not negotiable for the other party. In such cases, it leads to conflict of interest. In conflict of interest, to reach to any decision, there is a high risk that the interests of any one party has to be compromised.

If you have heard the terms, 'what is internal conflict' and 'what is external conflict', but never got a clue about their definition, then read them here. Internal conflict is a war within oneself or one entity or organization. There can be many situations of internal conflict. You're working in a firm wherein the management proposes a policy but as employees you're unhappy with the policies. This is an internal conflict. Similarly, every example of a conflict within an individual, country, group, organization that brings with it the risk of being right and losing something or being wrong and winning something, are typical examples of internal conflict. In external conflict, there is struggle against external forces. Think of any movie where a protagonist is fighting against the antagonists to win her love or is going against nature, crossing deadly seas and mountains to win her love. Any struggle against outside forces to meet one's needs is external conflict.

Types of Conflict
There are numerous types of conflicts. Relationship conflicts or interpersonal conflicts, for instance, occur due to presence of many negative emotions and feelings in a relationship. They can be with your friends, spouse, parents or children. Data conflicts are often due to the presence of wrong facts, misinterpreted information or several communication barriers. When the facts and figures in a discussion are distorted, there can be ambiguity in getting a clear understanding of the whole issue, thereby leading to 'data conflict'. If you think, there are only these few types of conflict, then you're utterly mistaken. There are conflicts in literature, although that is an altogether different literary style, wherein, characters and plots are presented to display some conflict. Either the protagonist is against the values of society and world or he is fighting an inner war with himself, after having taken some wrong decision under pressure.

There are also conflicts in workplace; just peep around your seat and you'll observe that your sense of doing a job, may be quite different than others. You may be a task oriented person, wrapping up your work within stipulated time while the other person may spend hours making his or her work more artistic. Similarly, differences in leadership styles, personality clashes at workplace and differences in background and even gender are supposed to be issues that can create workplace conflict.

What is Conflict Theory?
Conflict theory was popularized by Karl Marx, indisputably, one of the greatest figures in sociology. As per conflict theory, the fundamental process of designing of societal structure occurs when there is a class struggle between individuals for wealth and power. Karl Marx earnestly believed in the group struggle in society between rich, poor, peasant, worker and authorities that leads to a more dynamic equality and individuality in the society. He was against monarchy or aristocratic rule as that can lead to "wage slavery", as put by Marx. Marx championed the cause of a more inclusive society, wherein, the interests of underprivileged is identified. It was in 1960s, that many conflict theories gained prominence.

What is Conflict Resolution?
Conflict resolution is a skill that can be developed gradually. Identifying your interests and working upon the most profitable solution for a conflict is generally the most common strategy adopted by people. Strong negotiation skills and the ability to put forward your opinions intelligently, goes a long way in resolving conflicts.

There is no end to explaining conflict, as it is a broad topic, covering many facets. The above information presented before you was just to give you a glimpse of conflict and its related facets. Conflict resolution is certainly one of the biggest attributes an individual can develop in his personality as that is required at every step of life.