ABSTRACT
The study of organization theory and organizational behavior cannot be complete without an analysis of confl ict and its management. The classical organization theorists did not comprehend the role that confl ict can play in an organization. They assumed confl ict to be detrimental to an organization. As a result, they attempted to design organizations to minimize confl ict. The human relations movement in the 1930s also emphasized the need to enhance harmony and minimize confl ict among organizational members. Whereas the classical organization theorists attempted to reduce confl ict by altering the structural design of an organization, the human relationists attempted to reduce it by strengthening its social system. This notion of organizational confl ict dominated management thinking during the fi rst half of the twentieth century.
