Social structure and conflict: A relational approach to the study of conflict and its management in organizations

Conflict and its management are central organizational phenomena affecting a wide array of outcomes ranging from individual attitudes and perceptions to group and firm-level performance (Amason 1996; De Dreu 1997; De Dreu and van Vianen 2001; De Dreu and Weingart 2003; Jehn 1995, 1997; Lovelace et al. 2001; Schweiger and Sandberg 1989; Schwenk 1990). Over the past 30 years conflict scholars have amassed an impressive body of research documenting the effects that this construct can have on a host of organizational stakeholders and outcome measures, from employee wellbeing (De Dreu et al. 2004) to team effectiveness (De Dreu 1997; Jehn 1997). This research has also distinguished between different types of conflict. Most notably is a distinction made between relationship conflict, which centers on how well individuals get along, and task conflict, which centers on how individuals perform their work (Jehn 1995, 1997).