ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the types and sources of conflicts specific to global projects, providing some ideas on how to identify conflicts during risk analysis, how to foster functional conflicts and how to identify and resolve dysfunctional conflicts. Conflict management can be seen as a process that begins when two or more parties have a different viewpoint on the same topic, hindering or improving the project performance. Many projects involve conflict, created by resource availability and by different priorities on costs, time, scope and quality. Global projects add the differences in country and organisational cultures to this list, which increases the probability of having stakeholders with diverse views on customer satisfaction, different reactions to change and various approaches to risk management. Furthermore, the reduced amount of face-to-face interactions increases likelihood of negative conflict and aggravates the conflict resolution process. The optimal level of conflicts allows a positive movement towards project goals, a good problem-solving environment and quicker adaptation to project changes.
