TEAM CONFLICT

        A team is a group, where individuals collaborate to achieve common goals and objectives. Teams are generally one of the major advantages for businesses, which assist them in improving their productivity, innovation, and responsiveness to consumers. Interacting with the team members provides employees with higher satisfaction and motivation in their work life (Nunkoo & Sungkur, 2021). On the other hand, team conflict is a common managerial challenge faced by the business organisation due to the diverse perspectives of Individuals. Team conflict can be segmented into three groups: relationship conflict, process conflict, and value conflict. Task conflict is related to the decisions regarding a job, which generally benefits from intervention from the organisational hierarchy.
        The relationship conflict occurs due to the differences among employees in their working style, personality, and behaviour. On the other hand, value conflicts refer to disagreements stemming from fundamental differences in values and individual identity, which can include ethics, religions, and social norms (Brykman & O’Neill, 2021).  These types of conflicts usually negatively affect the efficiency of teams reduce the overall efficacy of the organisation and decrease productivity. 

Impact of team conflict
        As per the understanding of Giudici & Filimonau (2019), team conflict is a common occurrence in the project management process, which highlights their potential impact on the project outcome. It informs that the effectiveness of project manager is associated with their ability to handle and resolve conflicting situations within teams. Giudici & Filimonau (2019) state that task conflict is different from relationship conflict. Task conflict generally leads to creativity and improvement in decision-making. However, relationship conflict is usually disruptive. Yin et al. (2022) opined that teamwork is an essential factor in delivering successful projects, which is possible through effective organisational design. It highlights the ability of the team manager to make adequate decisions. The administrative model of decision-making highlights managers often take decisions, which are not ideal (Kirk, 2019). It generally happens due to the lack of complete information depicting that decision-making is usually risky and uncertain.
        Therefore, managers often make satisfactory decisions rather than the optimum ones, which can lead to team conflict. Individuals involved in the decision-making process often interpret the same information in different ways due to its ambiguous nature. It results in diverse perspectives and opinions during the decision-making process facilitating team conflicts (Vafadarnikjoo et al. 2023). Another reason behind incomplete information is limited resources and time. Due to limited resources and time constraints, managers are unable to compare the alternatives adequately and evaluate their potential consequences. The administrative model of decision-making can be observed in multinational companies, where managers are responsible for making important decisions (Sofaer et al. 2019). For example, The purchasing manager of Ford faced a similar challenge while deciding to identify suitable suppliers among 20000 potential candidates within a month. In this case, the purchasing manager cannot contact each supplier within the small timeframe to accumulate necessary information on terms and costs.
        Giudici & Filimonau (2019) have highlighted strategies such as conflict resolution training, establishing a positive team culture, and open communication with all employees. Team dynamics are generally improved after the resolution of the conflicts along with better decision-making. Constructive conflict among team members can facilitate innovation and creativity, which can help in gaining a better competitive advantage in the respective market. On the other hand, Yin et al. (2022) state that it is highly important to understand the background and individual skills of the employees while forming a team. One of the primary reasons behind team conflict is the changing requirements of tasks and team compositions. These factors pose a threat to the managers as they require managers to adapt their management style according to the team’s requirements. The inability to shift managerial style according to the team dynamics can result in conflicting situations during projects.

Causes of team conflict
        According to Park et al. (2020), the primary focus is on understanding team conflict through a network perspective. The basic units of this connection are called “dyadic ties”, which are mainly “one-on-one relationships” or connections between team members. The article says that it helps one to understand team conflicts by looking closely at how team members relate to each other. It also gives us both theoretical ideas and practical tips for tackling and resolving conflicts in teams. However, Jordan & Troth (2021) stated that the primary focus is on the role of “Emotional Intelligence or EI” in reducing conflict, which plays a crucial role in developing communication channels in the work environment. It suggests a practical way to reduce conflict by focusing on individuals.
        The process involves understanding and managing emotions effectively, The primary goal of this method is to help the manager to improve their EI skills. Hussein & Al-Mamary (2019) opined that the lessons learned from a conservation project emphasise the significance of three key aspects such as principled engagement, adaptive management, and collaboration, especially when it comes to resolving conflicts. These aspects mean interacting in a specific way that aligns with certain principles or values, working together, and adjusting strategies based on learning and experience. As per the understanding of Park et al. (2020), team dynamics and collaboration allow one to understand how “conflict network configurations” affect team dynamics. It shows how important it is to understand the “one-on-one connections” between team members. The way teams work together also depends on these connections.
        There are several network configurations such as indirect subgroup and direct subgroup networks, which differentiate the effects on collaboration within a team. Jordan & Troth (2021) stated that leveraging EI in an organisation can help in creating a positive team environment. It also says that mastering EI factors such as relationship management, self-awareness, and self-regulation plays a significant role in better collaboration. Having effective collaboration requires how one is talking to people based on their emotions. Understanding team member’s communication preferences is important, as it allows one to understand whether they are more direct, friendly, social, or thoughtful (Sim et al. 2020). According to Hussein & Al-Mamary (2019), “principled engagement”, “collaboration’, and “adaptive management” are significantly important within the project team. It suggests that addressing team conflict requires deep collaboration and cooperation among stakeholders related to a project team.
        Effective collaboration to mitigate team conflict also requires building trust within the project team. Adaptive management requires constant dialogue and reflection to identify points of tension (Yousefian et al. 2021). Adaptation a dynamic aspect also plays a crucial role in addressing issues and eliminating reasons for team conflicts. However, according to Park et al. (2020), focusing on understanding how conflict is arranged within a team is more important rather than focusing on how to handle conflicts in a changing situation. Additionally, In a dynamic context, accepting team structures and configurations can play a crucial role in how conflicts occur and evolve. On the other hand, Jordan & Troth (2021) stated that EI can be a tool for adapting to dynamic contexts. It suggests individuals can enhance their EI skills, which help them to navigate and respond to changing circumstances in the workplace.
        Continuous improvement in EI is known as kaizen, which means getting better at understanding and managing one’s emotions. It aligns with the belief that people can improve themselves by handling different situations. According to Hussein & Al-Mamary (2019), the conservation project deals with changes and difficulties of a changing situation in conservation work. It highlights the need to adapt to changes in the economy, society, and political environment. It discusses dealing with different timelines among project partners and making budget plans together. It allows for the balancing of fixed schedules from outside sources and flexible schedules within the project. The understanding of Park et al. (2020), mainly focuses on how conflicts are set up within teams. However, it barely talks about how well the strategies for managing conflicts last or in case they can be kept up sustainably. It sets a base for understanding team conflicts through network structures. 
        The structure is barely able to explore how well different conflict setups last or the way they change in the long run. However, according to Jordan & Troth (2021), EI plays a remarkable role in conflict reduction and an individual can enhance his skills by continuously engaging in the enhancement process of EI. It generally prioritises personal growth and adaptability in various situations, which not only enhances one’s potential but also enables the person to team conflict resolution (Udod et al. 2020). It highlighted that enhancing EI can redirect to improving communication skills, which plays a crucial role in making better team environments and increasing productivity. Based on lessons from conservation projects, Hussein & Al-Mamary (2019) stated that it provides qualities to address the issue of sustainability. “Building institutional capacity” is also important for partners and stakeholders organisations. This capacity building is about developing knowledge and conflict management making them a lasting part of these organisations by supporting the long-term success of “conservation efforts”.

The application of Goal-setting theory
        The “Goal-setting theory” is an effective organisational theory that suggests that establishing a clear, challenging and specific goal can motivate employees more than giving them an easy goal. The theory is also known as an “organisational psychology” approach (Jeong et al. 2023). As a result, providing clear and challenging goals makes employees motivated and leads them towards achieving their targets. The theory can also play a significant role in addressing team conflict by engaging and encouraging employees to achieve their target, which distracts them from conflict. The “goal-setting theory” suggests that effective goals are significantly important for an organisation, as they allow employees to stay motivated, which leads to higher performance (Swann et al. 2021). The focus on understanding team conflict through network configurations can be aligned with the approach of setting clear and challenging goals to improve team dynamics and collaboration. The goals can enhance the understanding of the reason for conflict, which can help in increasing team effectiveness.
        As the “goal-setting theory” values the importance of identifying effective and challenging goals. On the other hand, developing “emotional intelligence” suggests identifying and understanding the emotions of people. Therefore, EI can be aligned with the “goal-setting theory”, where the goals will be improving EI skills. It will not only allow team members and leaders to perform better in finding resolutions for team conflict but also find ways to reduce conflict impact, effective communication, and increase team collaboration (Lubbadeh, 2020). Furthermore, in the context of principled engagement, effective collaboration, and conflict resolution the “goal-setting approach‘ is also relevant. The overall alignment of the theory with addressing team conflict matters is visible.
        Every factor such as “network configurations”, “EI development”, and “principled engagement” is focused on reducing or eliminating the reason for conflict and increasing performance. It is similar to the theme of the theory, which suggests aligning specific goals to motivate employees that can lead to increased productivity (Cui, 2021). This framework aligns with the strategic leadership approach, which enables the CEO and the top management to provide a unifying vision to the employees to highlight organisational objectives. For example, Kmart has been utilising a low-cost strategy to control the overall operational cost of operations to facilitate higher profits. The organisation has been able to provide consumers with affordable products and services. The low-cost strategy is an unifying objective of all its employees, which minimises the conflict among team members during the decision-making process.

Role of EI in mediating team conflict
        According to Wang et al. (2019), Emotional Intelligence or EI plays a crucial role in eliminating team conflicts and facilitating managing and understanding emotions, especially in the construction industry. It has highlighted that the significance of EI among the project members facilitates the ability to concentrate on various tasks and resolve challenges, which in turn increases cohesion and project performance. Wang et al. (2019) state that managing emotions and facilitating understanding assist in resolving team conflict in construction workers. It has highlighted the direct negative impact of conflicts related to tasks, relationships, and processes on overall team productivity.
        On the other hand, Fisher et al. (2020) also highlighted the pivotal role of EI in reducing conflicts among construction teams. It has established a direct link between overall productivity, EI, and trust, which helps alleviate conflicts among project teams. Wang et al. (2019) have asserted trust as a primary factor in eradicating the adverse impacts of relationship conflict on team performance. Similarly, Fisher et al. (2020) have informed the importance of trust as a conflict moderator addressing the implementation of EI training, efforts to build trust, and effective conflict management in large-scale construction projects. Khosravi et al. (2020) have informed the correlation between trust, intentions of knowledge sharing, and psychological empowerment within workplaces. It has also indicated the positive impact of psychological empowerment and trust on the willingness of the employees to share their knowledge.
        Wang et al. (2019) have highlighted various types of conflicts such as interpersonal, intrapersonal, intergroup, intragroup, inter-organisational, and intra-organisational conflicts. Interpersonal conflict refers to disagreements between employees and friends. On the contrary, Intergroup conflict generally occurs between different departments within the same company, which generally results in task conflicts.  According to Khosravi et al. (2020), task and relationship conflicts do not affect the intention of knowledge sharing. Psychological empowerment of the employees helps in reducing intergroup and interpersonal conflicts. Intrapersonal conflict informs internal struggle such as determining between various choices. Intragroup conflict generally occurs between teams due to the diversity of opinions among individuals. Therefore, Wang et al. (2019) have provided a comprehensive overview of the type of team conflicts that arise in the business industry.
        Conflict management has emerged as a vital part of managing businesses as it helps in retaining and managing the workforce, which is a major asset of the business firms. Khosravi et al. (2020) have highlighted the necessity of building trust among employees to influence their knowledge-sharing intentions. For example, the concept of learning organisation aligns with the knowledge-sharing aspects as it provides the employees with integrated information regarding company processes. Walmart has been able to benefit from organisational learning as it has been able to determine specific store formats for Malaysia to induce product selling.  On the other hand, Fisher et al. (2020) have highlighted the effectiveness of emotion regulation and management in enhancing the ability of team members to control their emotions in conflicting situations. It can help the employees understand the perspective of others and manage their emotions as well. It can be asserted that one of the major reasons behind team conflict is the inability to manage the expectations of the workers.

The application of Equity theory
        The application of Equity Theory can help in reducing team conflicts especially related to tasks and relationships. The equity theory is a theory of motivation, which concentrates on the perception of people regarding the fairness of the outcome of their work compared to their input. This approach highlights the importance of impartiality, justice, and fairness to all the employees in an organisation (Kollmann et al. 2020). On the other hand, lack of equality such as underpayment, and overpayment can increase conflicts among the team members. Establishing fairness and equality in the work environment generally influences employees to become more collaborative toward each other, which facilitates their supportive intentions (Zhou et al. 2020). It aligns with the importance of facilitating knowledge-sharing intention among the employees to facilitate employee empowerment.
        The higher management of the business organisations generally has a major contribution toward minimising the scope of conflicts among employees by establishing equal payment and opportunity strategies for all employees. Creating an inclusive and diverse environment for all employees generally reduces the scope of conflict. According to Jordan & Troth (2021), EI is highly effective in facilitating communication and positive leadership practice. EI has four integrated factors: self-regulation, social awareness, self-awareness, and relationship management. It has provided an in-depth insight into the EI, which generally helps in resolving team conflicts. Therefore, it depicts similarities with the concept introduced by Fisher et al. (2020), which highlights the mitigating effects of EI on team conflict emphasising the negative outcome on the team performance.
        On the contrary, Jordan and Troth (2021) highlight various strategies for managers to enhance their EI, which can improve communication across various functional teams and reduce occupational stress among workers. On the other hand, Khosravi et al. (2020) have highlighted the correlation between interpersonal trust and different types of conflicts, which aligns with the equity theory. Therefore, it can be said that the application of equity theory can help the business organisation establish a positive environment for the workers to improve their EI and their application in conflicting situations to assist others. It depicts the importance of an equal and inclusive environment as a primary setting for resolving team conflict through EI.

Importance of organisational policies and structure in reducing team conflict
        The complete focus is on the centre around the understanding of how teams operate in a professional structure while maintaining and following organisational policies and objectives. It has explored the complexities of team dynamics, and factors that contribute towards effective collaboration within a workplace. Yin et al. (2020) have discussed cooperative and competitive team conflict management approaches. It has also highlighted the implication process based on the team’s emotional environment and passion. On the other hand, Nguyen et al. (2019) stated that “avoidance conflict resolution tactics”, “dominance”, and ‘integrative” play a remarkable role in influencing individuals and team’s performance. These conflict management styles refer to the process of dealing with conflicts within a team, which allows individuals or leaders to reduce conflict within the team and increase productivity and innovation.
        Similarly, the EI refer to the ability to identify, understand, and manage self-emotions and the emotions of others. Yin et al. (2020) opined that team EI has a moderating effect, which plays a significant role in the relationship between “conflict management style” and “team emotional environment”.It suggests how important it is to have a “collective emotional intelligence”, which can influence the “team’s emotional climate”. However, as per the understanding of Nguyen et al. (2019), investigate the link between individual and “team emotional intelligence” and various other team conflict resolution approaches. Nguyen et al. (2019) state that it has explored problem-solving tasks at both individual and team levels.
        It did not analyse any gender distribution, however, it has highlighted information on preference for dominance and “educational background”, which allows it to analyse the relationship between EI and performance. Furthermore, it has analysed task and relationship conflict by focusing on the absence of relationship conflict in randomly selected teams. Therefore, it has been considered that the impact of EI is significant on the “conflict resolution” styles. However, Yin et al. (2020) discuss the “team conflict management style” and its mediation process through a “positive team emotional climate”. It has also analysed various details such as “gender distribution”, and “educational background of participants”, which helps in understanding the team conflict mitigation approaches. It has primarily focused on task conflict in the context of implications in a Chinese region by concentrating on cultural factors such as “power distance” and “emphasis on harmony”.

Standing Plans
        Addressing the issue of team conflict requires implementing standing plans that involve “specific policies” and “standard operating procedures or SOPs” and single-use plans that involve programs and projects (Hollmann et al. 2020). Policies involve developing and communicating specific “conflict mitigation policies” within the teams. For example, Facebook has integrated the mission statement, which highlights “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected”. It has assisted the enterprise in incorporating policies, which are aligned with their mission statement leading to reduced team conflict. These mitigation policies are required to outline acceptable and not entertainable behaviours during conflict situations, which can play an important role in maintaining a positive environment (Freeman et al. 2021). Clearly defining the steps is also crucial, which will be adopted by individual and team leaders when conflicts arise.
        Addressing team conflict also needs SOPs for the conflict mitigation process, which involves defining the exact actions that need to be followed conflicts occur without compromising with consistency and fairness. These SOPs can have instructions for identifying the conflict type, responsible person or matter for the conflict, and developing solutions methods. It can ensure that conflicts will be handled in a systematic manner, which reflects transparency within the management process (Hollmann et al. 2020). “Conflict resolution programs” can be developed, which aim to achieve some specific goals such as communication or enhancing emotional intelligence (Keashly et al. 2020). Implementation of a specific project can be done, which can address ongoing conflicts within the team. This project will ensure coaching and mentorship to improve team dynamics by reducing team conflict and increasing productivity.