Sources of Conflict in Sport Organization

1.0 Introduction 

For any individual who has ever been a part of any sports organization be it, profit or non-profit, professional or amateur, local or national, must have experienced the different forms of conflict that may arise within these institutions. According to research done by the American Management Association (AMA), it was found that top-level and mid-level managers spend up to 20% of their time addressing conflict issues ( Rahim, 2017 ). Therefore, there is no reason to believe that things might be different in sports organizations; the only matter of interest is to determine whether the impact of one conflict is more damaging than the other. Conflict is prevalent in all forms of organization, and most of the managers rated conflict management equally important just as any different topic taught in the American Management Association courses. According to Mannix (2003), the ability to maneuver through various degrees of conflicts within an institution is crucial to the success of that organization in totality. This paper shall, therefore, discuss what battle is. The article will go ahead to address the forms of conflicts within sporting organizations and their impacts on the operations of the sporting facility. Also, we shall also explain whether a dispute is dysfunctional or functional to the activities of any sporting organizations, and just to what extent can they paralyze the organizational operations. The paper will delve into the discussions of the various sources of conflicts within a sporting organization and expound on the ways of managing conflicts in sports organizations, thus assuring the continuity of the said organization. 

1.1 What is Conflict? 

Conflict is a broad word with very many different meanings within an organizational context. According to Simon and March (1958), the battle may be described as an itemization within the standard tools of decision making, in that, it becomes difficult for a group of people or an individual to select an alternative action. On the other hand, conflict may be seen as behavior by the members of an organization, which is used in obstruction to other associates. But a more precise and precise definition of conflict about the organizational setting was developed by Morgan. He defines conflict as a scenario which occurs whenever individual interests collide. The collision of interest may be in financial, management, team strategies or training. 

2.0 TYPES OF CONFLICTS 

There are different methods of categorizing the various conflicts that can occur in a sports organization. It all depends on what kind of battle an individual is referring to. One of the methods is to make a distinction of conflicts that occur between subunits of the same level within an organization, and this is commonly referred to as horizontal conflict. The other method is the categorization of battles that take place between different ranked levels, also referred to as vertical conflict ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . The types of disputes in the sporting organization are reminiscent of organizational communications strategies; top-down communication, vertical while same level of interaction is horizontal. 

2.1 Horizontal Conflict 

This form of conflict occurs between those persons representing subunits that are on the same level in the organizational hierarchy. The organizational behavior (OB) literature, deals with this type of conflicts. Rather than attempting to eliminate this form of conflict, the organizational behavior calls for managing it ( Rahim, 2017) . Consequently, horizontal strife may be witnessed within the athletic department, especially between the individuals who lie within the campus recreation program and those in the intercollegiate athletic program. Campus Recreation staff may not agree with the number of funds channeled to the athletic curriculums. Conflicts may also occur over the issue of access to facilities, or scheduling. These two groups due to their different roles in the provision of sport and entertaining opportunities to students tend to come up with different priorities and goals. The different understandings and preferences of various sports management at the same level may give birth to endless confrontations. Hence, these types of conflicts happen to be very much prevalent in sports organizations or the athletic department in general. The role of the athletic director is to try and resolve the various forms of conflicts that may occur, and also he/she is responsible for preventing future outbreaks through; coordination and encouraging collaboration amongst the units of the same level. 

2.2 Vertical Conflict 

A vertical conflict is a form of conflict that arises between different hierarchical ranks in a sports organization ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . The individual who focuses on this type of disputes is the Industrial Relations (IR) theorists. Such conflicts arise due to specific power difference found within the office. Thus, the conflict between the coordinator of intercollegiate athletics and the athletic director may arise over such issues like the difference between the goals of the athletic department, salary issues, and over the amount of authority the manager is allowed to apply ( Rahim, 2017 ). In most instances, much of the conflict of this nature sprout from the need for control within the sports organization, or the subunit need of independence. Henceforth, the members of an organization must master the art of balancing their personal need and fulfillment counter to the demands enforced by the arrangement of the organization. Lastly, vertical conflict may be evaded through appropriate leadership behavior, or through advanced techniques such as the Management by Objectives (MBO); where there is an attempt to found some degree of correspondence between the organizational goals and the individuals. What is important to note is that neither of this methods is capable of eliminating vertical conflict, but they involve some form of trade-off amid the amount of control that might be exercised and the subunits or personal independence. The most common kind of vertical conflict entails the owners (managers) and the employees. 

Conflicts have a negative bearing on all organizations. The way we are raised from infancy gives us a mentality that battle is ideally a bad thing, and it is something that we should avoid entirely. Concerning an American psychologist Abraham Maslow, within North America there is fear of; disagreement, conflict, antagonism, enmity, and hostility ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . The ideas as mentioned above about battle are mirrored in the interpretation of sports organizations. The most conjoint insight of an efficient sports organization is one where every individual get along and work towards a collective targeted thus, the stress on collaboration. In an organization where collaboration is high, the members are assumed to interact more efficiently, strengthen their work relationship, and make an enhanced improvement on jobs. Other claims made, are that the managers of an organization have more esteem and the level of employee satisfaction is high ( Rahim, 2017 ) . 

Contrary to the collaboration effects, conflict is considered as dysfunctional that hinders development. Battles are a single most leading barrier to the achievement of the organizational goals. This opinion that conflict is dysfunctional is found in both the human relation school and the classical approach to organizational theory. With an emphasis on bureaucratic rationality, the battle is best when avoided, and when it comes to the worst, it can be managed through the imposition of rules and regulations. Correspondingly, human relations theorists perceive conflict as a bad thing, however for this individuals, conflict may be controlled through the provision of training conferences on how organizational members could get along, and at times the use of third-party as an intermediary during times of conflict ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . To finish, these viewpoints are restricted since they are not able to concede the functionality advantage of the battle to an organization. 

In most instances, there is a tendency to think of conflict situations as events that are discrete that is; conflict happens, and then it is automatically resolved by some means. Conversely, some organizational theorists argue that conflict condition comprises of a series of interrelated phases. Through being aware of the aspects of conflict process, and having a bright idea of what are the requirements and events that can trigger conflict situation, the managers of sports organizations will be able to manage incidences of conflict. Pondy developed the most cited stages of the battle. These five stages are explained below: 

3.0 STAGES OF SPORTS ORGANIZATION CONFLICTS 

3.1 Latent Stage of Conflict 

In this stage, Pondy argues that there are specific conditions, which are found in organizations that provide a hidden potential for the occurrence of conflict. These situations are compressed into three necessary forms of inherent strife ( Rahim, 2017 ). The first type involves competing for scarce resources; an example, in this case, is when two or more groups, like teams in an athletic department fighting for a portion of the organizational financial resources. In this case, there is a concealed possibility for conflict. The latent stage of disagreement is in what many terms knew as a conflict of interest; however, malicious in this case. 

The other condition that leads to the latent potential for conflict is; drive for independence. Sub-units and individual in sports organizations often strive to operate independently. Nevertheless, this ability is restricted by the organizational structure and the presence of same ambitions from other subunits and individuals. An example is a manager of a sporting goods store may desire to undertake specific marketing activities to deal with the local condition within his or her region. Unfortunately, the manager may be restricted by the corporate headquarters of the company, which has an unvarying marketing approach. 

Lastly, different goals may translate to possible conflict. The different subunits within an organization may have different objectives. An example is the physical education department, and the athletic department of a university may have different goals, hence the creation of the potential for conflict. 

3.2 Perceived Conflict 

In this stage, one or more parties become conscious, through information received or some form of the stimulus of potential for conflict. According to Pondy, some of the slightly intimidating conflicts can be inhibited. Since organizations face many problems more than people can handle, only a few those with short-run routine solutions are mostly dealt with ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . The management of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 was a huge and challenging task. Thus, Peter Ueberroth, the director of Los Angeles Olympics Organizing Committee (LAOOC), developed a way to run the organization efficiently. The creative tension was a common phrase that the members of staff used to describe the regime that governed the Olympic Committee. The staff members used to work against expectations and deadlines, and this made the event to become a complete success. 

3.3 Felt Conflict 

In this type, emotions such as frustration, anger, and hostility are stumbled upon. The felt conflicts affect people temperamental and test their patience and tolerance level. People reach in many ways, thus generating some of the level of battles, however slight. 

3.4 Manifest Conflict 

Some form of adversarial behavior is exhibited. These behaviors range from rigid adherence and apathy to rules, to violence, and gross exploitation. Some people do not want to relax their stands and adoption of new technology and other changes. Such rigidities may bring about issues of conflict in a sports organization. 

3.5 Conflict Aftermath 

In this stage, conflict can be resolved, lest it becomes the foundation for future conflicts. 

4.0 STRUCTURAL SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS 

In sports organizations, conflicts may shoot from some various sources, and they can take different forms ( Rahim, 2017 ). Henceforth in this part, we shall discuss the structural causes of conflict in sports organizations. These sources include: 

4.1 Differentiation 

Sports organizations usually breakdown work and allocate it to the various subunits to attain the objectives of the organization efficiently. Nevertheless, in the previous chapter, it is seen that the differentiation process, results in subunits exhibiting different goals, time alignment, and administration ideas. Therefore, despite the fact that organizations differentiate due to technical reasons, the boundaries' of expertise and tasks are strengthened by sociopsychological procedures which result in methodological boundaries becoming political and social limitations. Henceforth, the more the differentiation within a sports organization, the more the probability of conflict and this is due to the significant dissimilarities generated amongst the subunits ( Tjosvold et al., 2014) . Differentiation causes the persons within the subunits to think differently because; they have different priorities, they have unique education backgrounds, they use an entirely different set of terminologies, and perhaps even use different work methods. 

Though the differences as mentioned above are a necessary and appropriate aspect of the operation of any sports organization, they do not produce empathy and tolerance for the problems faced by the subunits. Macintosh and Whitson identified how increasing differentiation in Canadian National Sports Organization, which was embroiled in endless series of conflicts, as a result of employing additional specialized workers during the quadrennial development era. This activity triggered conflict within these organizations because; then new expert workers introduced different and new objectives to the national sports organizations. These goals emphasized more on a high-performance sport, and the new ideas were about how the organizations should operate, and this resulted in a clash between the volunteers who had been previously running the organizations. 

4.2 Interdependence 

Whenever there are significant levels of differentiation and subsequent variations in the; the power of subunits, the value of orientation and in the mode of operations within the sports organization, the possibility of conflict is very high. Conversely, as pointed out by Pondy, this possibility is latent. For conflict to become evident, some degree of interdependence among the subunits is essential. Dependence generates an opportunity for the blocking and interference associated conflict. There are three types of relationship; reciprocal, pooled, and sequential. Each one of these is increasingly complex and requires amplified levels of management. Thus, we can conclude that the more multifaceted the interdependence in sports organizations, the higher the possibility of conflict. 

4.3 Low Formalization 

One of the ways used in managing the complexity relating to increased reciprocal interdependence and differentiation is by the use of procedures, regulations, policies, and rules. Formalization assists in reducing ambiguity, clarification of roles, and establishing standard ways of operations. Subsequently, whenever formalization is high, the possibility of conflict in sports organization becomes less; and when formalization is less, the possibility of conflict is excellent. It is, however, important to note that some scholars do not conform to this position, and claim that regulations and rules can as well contribute to conflict within an organization. Formalization of a clear structure of operation in a sporting organization is paramount for the realization of peaceful coexistence devoid of any disputes. 

Lack of formalized regulatory mechanisms like rules and regulations implies that the sub-units tend to depend more on coercion and political tactics to undertake their operations ( Day, 2015 ). An example is the national sports organization in Canada which has formalized their assortment measures of national team athletes, and they have made the criteria well known before the process of selection. Formalization, therefore, reduces political nature and subjectivity of the assortment criteria; this helps to avoid conflicts that generally arise due to this matter. 

4.4 Competition over Resources 

Whenever two or more subunits in a sports organization compete over a portion of the scarce and limited resources, there usually arises conflicts between them. Since sports organization have so much space, equipment, and money, there is always a conflict over who is going to get what ( Tjosvold et al., 2014 ). Since the resources assist the subunits in accomplishing their objectives fast and efficiently, managers often use different strategies such as political maneuvers and inflating budgets to upsurge their portion. 

Consequently, conflict over resources may occur horizontally within a sports organization; an example is when the sports studies department in a learning institution competes with other departments for an increased subsidy. In the same way, this scenario may also occur vertically, most specifically between managers (owners) and workers. A perfect example, in this case, is the conflict over monetary resources. 

4.5 Differences in Reward System 

The nature of the reward system employed in a sports organization is the primary determinant of the extent to which the subunits will cooperate or will conflict with one other. If there is frequent rewarding of the managers of various departments for attaining the overall objective of the organization, rather than rewarding them for achieving the departmental goals; this increases the level of cooperation in the organization ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . Also, if the rewards are based on individual performance instead of the overall sports organization, the higher the possibility of conflict. An example in a sports organization that produces gear; if the sales department is always rewarded for the increase in the volume of sales, there would be a possibility that the department would want to create as many original accounts as possible. So, the accounting department that gets its rewards from the minimization of losses will not consider those departments that have a risky credit rating. And for these reason conflict will automatically arise within the sports organization. 

4.6 Power Incongruence 

Even though various subunits may be on the same level in the hierarchy of the sports organization, some might have more power over the others since they can quickly acquire and control the resources needed, or they are more central to the workflow. The differences in ability can automatically lead to conflict, mainly if the daily interaction neither does nor mimic the apparent power. In an athletic department, for example, the athletic director is in the top region of the hierarchy as compared to a basketball trainer ( Day, 2015 ). Nonetheless, due to the rank accredited to the basketball program in the United States, the basketball trainer may be perceived or may be viewed by others to have substantial power. In case the trainer starts to give orders to the athletic director, conflict is likely to arise. 

4.7 Communication Problems 

Lack of clear and adequate communication is one of the most frequent causes of conflict between the subunits of an organization. As information is transferred vertically (up to down or down to up) in a sports organization hierarchy, there might be misinterpretations and distortions. As a result of a breakdown in communication, conflict may follow. Likewise, the interaction between subunits on the same level (horizontal level), is also prone to misapprehension. As discussed previously, the personnel who comprise of the various subunits of the sports organization originate from different settings, and some may use different vocabulary in conducting their tasks. For example, the terminologies used in the development and research department are different from that used in the sales and marketing department ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . If in case these two departments happen to interact, then communication problems will occur and conflicts can upshot. The sporting organizations are often lost in the confusion of the direction of communication. The lack of streamlined channel of communication and order is a recipe for troubles and conflicts in the organizations. 

Conflicts can also happen in case a subunit cuts of its communication to another subunit, or it withholds and keeps information to itself. There was one national level sports organization, which was forced to move its central office ( Tjosvold et al., 2014 ). During this process, some of its files were suspended leading to conflict among staff who resided in the area where the offices were situated, and the new team who were employed to operate the new offices. Failure to communicate with the player was a severe issue that led to the conflict between groups of the Women's Field Hockey Association of Canada; over the firing and rehiring of the national trainer. 

4.8 Participative Decision Making 

It is perceived as a method of ensuring that there is total involvement of people within an organization; through allowing the discussion and debate of organizational decisions, it either maintains or raises the level of conflict within the organization. According to Slack & Parent (2006), allowing more people to air their opinions, and to participate in the decision-making process of an institution leads to more diverse ideas, and this raises the probability of conflict arising. These everyday interactions, which occur among various members in a sports organization may act as a barrier and serve as a difference establisher; thus leading to significant conflicts. 

Despite the above-discussed issue, the use of participative decision making within an organization may lead to positive outcomes, even though it has a high probability of igniting conflict. In a sports organization, the levels of participation in the decision-making process range from; consultative partnership, here employees contribute to the process, but they are not responsible for the final decision that will be made ( Day, 2015 ). The other one is employee involvement, in this case, the employees input about job and work procedure correspondingly. 

4.9 Employee Reshuffle 

If the responsibilities and the role of people change or different expectations are bestowed upon them, these individuals often find themselves in a conflict situation. In a sports organization, improving an individual's role even if it appears as the perfect move to make, can cause stress and disruption that may result in conflict. The changes in a sporting organization should be followed by a bright organization structure that makes limits such conflicts from occurring. If the difference is perceived as a demotion, the general level of stress will increase, and this also raises the potential for conflict. Similarly, roles at times carry specific expectations, at times these expectations are related to; the opportunity, nature of work, new office, or even level of salary ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . If the person employed for the job as expectations that are different from those set by the influential members of the organization, or if the expectations are not met, then both of these parties might experience frustration that can translate to conflict. An example is a role conflict between the ethics committee, the board, the head of ethics, and the CEO. 

5.0 CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES 

Since conflict carries both negative and positive effects, it has to be managed. An ideal situation for the sports manager is when the conflict level in his/her organization is at an optimal level. Below we shall discuss some strategies, which may be used in conflict management. Conflict can, therefore, be managed through changing attitudes or changing behaviors. Behavioral change is shallow since it does not go deep into the root of the conflict ( Tjosvold et al., 2014 ). Hence it is a solution that is short-term. Attitudinal change, on the other hand, requires a lot of commitment and it takes a more extended period to undertake. Nonetheless, it is the base of a more cooperative sports organization. Some of the conflict management strategies include: 

5.1 Authority 

The use of formal authority by the senior managers is one of the most common ways of managing conflict within the organization. Even though the involved parties may not agree with the decisions of the manager, they customarily comply and recognize the decision made. This form of conflict resolution method is mostly applied in pro sport. The commissioner, in this case, has specific powers to resolve conflicts. For example, the Major League Agreement is one of the governing contracts that is adhered to by all major league baseball players. These players commit themselves on a contractual basis to take all disputes or conflicts to the commissioner for mediation; they are also expected to accept the judgment of the commissioner as compulsory. The only issue with this method of resolving the dispute is the fact that it is short term, it addresses only the current problems, and it also fails to bring about attitudinal changes necessary for long-term constancy ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . There is need to have broadened authority roles to implement plans and strategies that will avert possible future conflict issues. 

5.2 Avoidance 

In this method, the conflict is avoided either by ignoring that it exists, or directing one's attention away from the battle. If for example, the athletic director and the Dean of sports studies faculty engage in an argument, the Dean might decide to change the subject to a less contentious one. On, on the other hand, the athletics director might choose to turn a blind eye to unlawful disbursements to College sportspersons, in the belief that any conflict that might arise from the illegal act would be avoided. Avoidance, however, may lead to severe future conflict eruptions especially with the understanding that the underlying issues were not solved in the past. 

5.3 Separating or Merging Conflicting Units 

As conflicts come about from the interdependency amongst subunits of the sports organization, a simple way of managing this type of conflict is through removing interdependence ( Day, 2015 ). This creates a situation where there is no use for subunits to collaborate while undertaking organizational tasks. Hence each one of the units becomes an independent body. Creation of independence of sports departments who report to a unitary authority independently is a sure way of averting possible conflicts from the organizations. 

5.4 Integrating Devices 

The integration of devices may entail the use of an individual or a small group. The central role of these groups or individuals is to lengthen the boundaries amid subunits. In case a group is used, it contains representatives from all the subunits within the organization, even those who conflict. Integrating these people is an efficient method of dealing with these problems since they all get to see each other viewpoints. 

5.5 Subordinate Goals 

As discussed earlier, various subunits within the sports organization develop their objectives. At times, the incompatibility of the goals of one subunit with that of other units may result in conflict. Through the subordination of goals, the friction may be reduced. This is because the subunits will view the secondary objectives as more important, than their subunit goals. Through the creation of subordinate goals, cooperation is enhanced within an organization. 

5.6 Job Rotation 

Job rotation is the most natural and most effective method of solving conflicts in organizations. It works in this sense; an individual from one subunit is transferred and works in another subunit, and this is on a temporary basis. Through this, the people moved come to understand the problems, attitudes, and issues in the other subunits. Therefore, this can quickly solve conflicts, as these people get to work together and understand each other better. Rotational responsibilities also provide adequate idea and knowledge to the organizational staffs to be able to understand and handle all issues from the different sports agencies, thus avoidance of cases of conflict. 

5.7 Issue Management 

In organizations, internal issues and the surrounding environment are the cause of conflicts. In most cases, external issues have significant impacts on the institutional activities. One of the ways to make sure that foreign matters are managed in time is through the use issue management procedure ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . This procedure involves: identifying the issue, analyzing the problem, formulation and implementation of the most appropriate response to manage or prevent the problem. 

5.8 Introducing New Blood 

At times staff in the sports organization tend to become contented, and one of the ways of keeping them on their toes is through the introduction of new people within the organization. The new people bring new ideas to the organization, and this challenges the current mode of operation. Thus, this makes the old staff develop new plans. 

6.0 CONCLUSION 

In conclusion, conflict within an organization is a situation that is beyond the control of man. This, therefore, calls for drastic measures to be taken to deal with this matter. The effects of conflicts, if not mitigated early enough may even lead to the total collapse of the organization. Organizational management and staff must sit down and come up with various policies that will help in managing conflicts in an organization ( Slack & Parent, 2006) . The cases of pride and rigidity should be substituted with the better attitude of attentiveness and consideration and acceptance of new ideas for organization growth. If conflicts are reduced, organizations will be able to operate efficiently, and there will be maximum productivity. Change starts with you. 

Reference 

Day, G. E. (2015). Successfully managing conflict.  Leading and Managing Health Services: An Australasian Perspective , 273. 

Rahim, M. A. (2017).  Managing conflict in organizations . Routledge. 

Slack, T., & Parent, M. M. (2006).  Understanding sport organizations: The application of organization theory . Human Kinetics. (2nd Ed.) ISBN- 13: 9780736056397. 

Tjosvold, D., Wong, A. S., & Feng Chen, N. Y. (2014). Constructively managing conflicts in organizations.  Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav. ,  1 (1), 545-568.