Sport Researchers Explore Conflicts Between Individuals And Organizations

Sept. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- In previous research on conflict in non-profit sport boards task-related disagreements suggests that oftentimes resulted in personal conflicts between individuals in organizations. In order to fully understand the nature of intra-group conflict, Shannon Kerwin and Alison Doherty explored the conflict 'triggering' process in more detail.  An Investigation of the Conflict triggering Process in Intercollegiate Athletic Departments appears in the current issue of the Journal of Sport Management.

When athletic departments are making key decisions regarding funding, institutional control, and other sport board issues, it is important to recognize how quickly conversations can break down where task disagreements are then taken personally. If sport managers want to promote more efficient/effective decision-making processes, it is important to understand the nature of conflict in our sport organizations.
Among the implications, the finding regarding the moderating influence of value dissimilarity on the association between task and relationship conflict would be the most significant result and the one with the greatest potential impact. According to Kerwin, what we see in this study is that “certain factors within an organization can increase or decrease the relationship between conflict types”. That is, we can potentially reduce the chances of task related (functional) disagreement turning personal (dysfunctional) by being aware of and managing employee values.

According to Kerwin and Doherty the findings suggest that sport managers should promote a culture of diversity where diverse values are embraced and welcomed into the decision-making process.  “If our sport organizations embrace value dissimilarity, the conflict triggering process may be reduced,” says Doherty.

Please direct inquiries to Shannon Kerwin (skerwin@Brocku.ca; Brock University) and Alison Doherty (adoherty@uwo.ca; University of Western Ontario).