ABSTRACT
Even though conflict is often said to be functional for organizations, most recommendations relating to organizational conflict still fall within the spectrum of conflict reduction, resolution, or minimization. Action recommendations from the current organizational conflict literature show a disturbing lag with the functional set of background assumptions that are often endorsed. Insofar as it could be determined, the literature on organizational conflict is deficient (with minor exceptions) in the following three major areas:
1. There is no clear set of rules to suggest when conflict ought to be maintained at a certain level, or when it should be reduced, ignored, or enhanced.
