ABSTRACT
The management of organizational conflict involves the (a) maintenance of a moderate amount of conflict at intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup levels, and (b) enabling the organizational members to select and use the styles of handling interpersonal conflict so that various situations can be effectively dealt with. The styles of handling interpersonal conflict in organizations was first conceptualized by Follett. She also found other ways of handling conflict in organizations, such as avoidance and suppression. The structural approach attempts to improve organizational effectiveness by changing the organization's structural design characteristics—differentiation and integration mechanisms, system of communication, reward structure, etc. This approach mainly attempts to manage conflict by altering the amount of conflict experienced by the organizational members at various levels. A structural intervention aims mainly at maintaining a moderate amount of conflict by altering the structural sources of conflict.
