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INTERDEPARTMENTAL CONFLICT: TANGENTIAL PERSPECTIVES ON ITS SIGNIFICANCE, ORGANISATIONAL ORIGINS AND INEVITABILITY

Brian Bloch (University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand)

Leadership & Organization Development Journal

ISSN: 0143-7739

Article publication date: 1 May 1988

490

Abstract

Management theory and practice place undue emphasis on vertical, superior‐subordinate relationships in organisations. Yet much interaction occurs horizontally, between departments such as marketing, finance, personnel and production. Interdepartmental conflict, in particular, is an underresearched issue and that which does exist tends to emphasise certain aspects at the expense of others. Relatively underemphasised elements of interdepartmental conflict are analysed here in terms of a conceptual model linking the variables in a chain of causality. Attention is drawn to such issues as the co‐ordinative and delegatory responsibility of general management, the intrinsic incompatibility of departmental objectives, overspecialisation and intra versus intergroup differentiation.

Keywords

Citation

Bloch, B. (1988), "INTERDEPARTMENTAL CONFLICT: TANGENTIAL PERSPECTIVES ON ITS SIGNIFICANCE, ORGANISATIONAL ORIGINS AND INEVITABILITY", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 10-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb053643

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 1988, MCB UP Limited

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