CROSS CULTURAL SENSITIVITY & CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Conflict is not always something to be avoided. A moderate level of conflict can increase a unit’s effectiveness, especially in a project management environment, where constant changes demand the focus of all project team members. Task conflict can increase the effectiveness of organizational communication and decision making. It can stimulate innovation and creativity, as members solve their conflicts of interest and opinion.    

Recent research has emphasized that the type of conflict can contribute to group failure or success (Amason, 1996; De Dreu; Van Vianen; Harinck; Mc Cusker 1998, Jehn 1995, 1997). People tend to approach conflict more constructively when they perceive the conflict to be more about the task than about relationships. However, a recent study on metaphysics states that the type of conflict may not distinguish between constructive and unproductive outcomes (De Dreu, Weingart, 2003).

It is the combination of both subjective and objective combinations which makes the conflict complex. If we consider the above in an analytical way, then a proportional mix of both is the empirical question. Inter subjective basis of conflicts results in spaces with respect to its practice. For conflict management and resolution, an analytical language or discourse is required because a universal model of decision making is always a rational choice. Here, the inter-subjective orientation is towards the communication, interpretation, difference in decision making, language and various needs of different cultures.

 The concept of culture is complicated in many ways, to name a few – social standing, refinement, taste and belonging. It is socially inherited shared and learned way of living possessed by people by virtue of their acceptance in social groups. Therefore, the observation states that different conflict management styles is meant for different circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to the management of conflict or conflict resolution, since culture is always a factor. Cultural fluency is therefore a core competency for those who intervene in conflicts, manage conflicts or simply want to function more effectively and efficiently in their own lives and situations. Culture changes and they are a symbolic way of life, so we need not accept or succumb to the dire predictions of cross cultural sensitivities and conflicts. We can understand the dynamics of various cultures, so that, when conflicts occur, they can be resolved in the most effective and humane way possible.