1. Its meaning and relevance
2. How best to cope it
The normative conception of conflict strongly influenced by a pre occupation with
stability and equilibrium in organizational design, links conflict to violence,
destruction, inefficiency and irrationality. This form of intellectual myopia was
especially invidious in suggesting that administrators have the responsibility of
avoiding, controlling or eliminating conflict.
Descriptive approaches challenge the whole basis and rationale of
these assumptions. They permit us to depart from an outmoded paradigm by
suggesting that any social interaction in which the parties compete for scarce
resources or values has the potential for conflict.