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Dynamics of Overt and Covert Conflict in Organizations: The Power of Organizational Identity

Mikkelsen, Elisabeth Naima and Humle, Didde LU (2020) In Group and Organization Management
Abstract
Conflict in organizations takes many forms. However, most existing literature on organizational conflict focuses on overt forms of conflict expression and handling. While covert conflict exists and shapes the collective organizing of conflict in organizations, the relationship between overt and covert forms of conflict has not yet been well explicated. This article offers a novel perspective on the dynamics of overt and covert conflict in organizations by examining why some forms of conflict gain legitimacy over others. We present an ethnographic study of how the staff and management experienced everyday conflict at a Nordic aid agency that highly prized harmony and collaboration in the workplace and had therefore adopted a deliberate and... (More)
Conflict in organizations takes many forms. However, most existing literature on organizational conflict focuses on overt forms of conflict expression and handling. While covert conflict exists and shapes the collective organizing of conflict in organizations, the relationship between overt and covert forms of conflict has not yet been well explicated. This article offers a novel perspective on the dynamics of overt and covert conflict in organizations by examining why some forms of conflict gain legitimacy over others. We present an ethnographic study of how the staff and management experienced everyday conflict at a Nordic aid agency that highly prized harmony and collaboration in the workplace and had therefore adopted a deliberate and logical approach to conflict. An affective underside of the organization, marked by subtle and suppressed conflict expression, however, alluded to an acknowledged organizational order that guided conflict interaction among members and kept the production together. To explain these organizational dynamics, we use narrative theory as an original and fertile perspective for studying both overt and covert forms of conflict and their interaction. This reveals an important feature of their relationship: they are intertextually linked through their relationship to the dominant organizational identity, which hegemonizes what is and what is not allowed to get into conflict over. From these findings, we develop a model of the structuring of overt and covert conflict through organizational identity, thus contributing to the organizational conflict literature. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
conflict in organizations, narrative theory, organizational identity, ethnography, power
in
Group and Organization Management
pages
40 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85091348384
ISSN
1059-6011
DOI
10.1177/1059601120961248
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3d862b1e-9085-4072-bbfd-ce209d6b0d73
date added to LUP
2020-10-14 07:27:20
date last changed
2022-04-19 01:16:14
@article{3d862b1e-9085-4072-bbfd-ce209d6b0d73,
  abstract     = {{Conflict in organizations takes many forms. However, most existing literature on organizational conflict focuses on overt forms of conflict expression and handling. While covert conflict exists and shapes the collective organizing of conflict in organizations, the relationship between overt and covert forms of conflict has not yet been well explicated. This article offers a novel perspective on the dynamics of overt and covert conflict in organizations by examining why some forms of conflict gain legitimacy over others. We present an ethnographic study of how the staff and management experienced everyday conflict at a Nordic aid agency that highly prized harmony and collaboration in the workplace and had therefore adopted a deliberate and logical approach to conflict. An affective underside of the organization, marked by subtle and suppressed conflict expression, however, alluded to an acknowledged organizational order that guided conflict interaction among members and kept the production together. To explain these organizational dynamics, we use narrative theory as an original and fertile perspective for studying both overt and covert forms of conflict and their interaction. This reveals an important feature of their relationship: they are intertextually linked through their relationship to the dominant organizational identity, which hegemonizes what is and what is not allowed to get into conflict over. From these findings, we develop a model of the structuring of overt and covert conflict through organizational identity, thus contributing to the organizational conflict literature.}},
  author       = {{Mikkelsen, Elisabeth Naima and Humle, Didde}},
  issn         = {{1059-6011}},
  keywords     = {{conflict in organizations; narrative theory; organizational identity; ethnography; power}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Group and Organization Management}},
  title        = {{Dynamics of Overt and Covert Conflict in Organizations: The Power of Organizational Identity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1059601120961248}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1059601120961248}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}