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 |  Subject: Defining and Phases of Intercultural Conflict  Sat Apr 05, 2014 11:18 am | |
| Defining and Phases of Intercultural Conflict
Communication plays an intimate role in conflict and a challenging problem confronting individuals and multinational organizations is handling conflict. Linda Putnam (1988) observes that “since communication permeates every aspect of conflict, it is more than a variable, it constitutes the essence of conflict”Defining Intercultural ConflictStella Ting – Tommey and John Oetzel assert that intercultural conflict derives from the existence of parties of different cultural communities. The more divergent the differences in group membership, the wider the conflict gap between the two cultures will grow. Intercultural conflict occur in a variety of contexts and various classification have been suggested for describing these context. However, conflicts in context characterized by competition exhibit a contest- like striving where participants contend against each other. There are varying levels of conflict intensity but the outcome is predictable – there is a winner and a loser.Types of conflict:1. Affective conflict occurs when feelings and emotions are incompatible2. Value conflict occurs when people differ in ideologies on specific issues3. Cognitive conflict occurs when thought processes or perceptions are incongruent4. Goal conflict occurs over disagreement about preferred outcomesA closer look at some essential qualities of intercultural conflict:1. Conflict is an integral part of our international social fabric. Conflict is a pervasive activity that is often mistakenly viewed as abnormal or destructive. 2. Conflict may result in either positive or negative outcomes. It may be functional as well as dysfunctional for the individual and organization. Conflict that tends toward greater polarization between parties, it reflects dysfunctional conflict, whereas those interactions learning toward integration reflect functional conflict. Thus, conflict may be the very stimuli that prompt us to communicate with others and to sustain communicative relationships3. Conflict can be satisfactorily managed. Although we want to believe that all conflicts are resolvable, some are so deeply ingrained, perhaps so necessary that they consistently defy resolutionPhases of intercultural ConflictIntercultural conflict may be viewed as a series of five interlocking phases or stages that mutually interact with one another and influence the outcome of any conflict situation:1. Latent conflict: The underlying conditions that can trigger a conflict. Inherent differences between values, norm, and beliefs may be a source of conflict2. Perceived conflict: The involved parties aware of their differences and consequently begin to experience significant frustration3. Felt conflicts: The participants become ego- involved and begin to assess their individual motives and the motives of others. It represents the merger of their perceptions and emotional reactions.4. Manifest conflict: Actual conflict behaviors are exhibited which open aggression, verbal displays, overpowering competition. It is the stage when participants recognize conflict and use communication skills and peacemaking abilities to manage it.5. Conflict aftermath: Resulting from the complex interactions of the previous phases. It evaluate outcomes is productive or counterproductiveThese five phases are helpful in visualizing conflict as a process and can be useful when selecting appropriate communication styles and conflict handling strategies. 5th April, 2014 |
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