Conflict in the Global Workplace

CONFLICT IN THE GLOBAL WORKPLACE

Globalization and the increased complexity and interdependence of contemporary issues have concomitantly created a greater need for organizational cooperation and a greater possibility for organizational conflict. Contemporary issues such as the global distribution of goods and the need for healthy work environments are so complex they require cooperation and new forms of partnerships among organizations from different sectors of society and cultural groups. Digitized technology and mobile media also enable participation of different cultural and organizational actors who had heretofore been denied access to organizational problem-solving arenas. In this chapter, we explore the dynamic relationship between global diversity and organizational conflict. Diversity is not just something we strive for in contemporary organizations, it is a fact of life in all the joint ventures that are at the core of the globalized workplace.

But it is not just the large global issues and joint collaborations that have changed the nature of organizational life. Technological and structural innovations affect our everyday experiences, our sense of self, and our relationship to our communities. Digital media have changed the nature of our work, how we accomplish our work, and with whom we work. Communication across time and space is less costly, boundaries are more permeable, interpersonal and group relations are more fluid, and networks are transformed. Both long-term and short-term transnational teams are now a central feature of the global workplace and a major context for both conflict and cooperation.

The changing face of the global workforce and substantial increases in participation by traditional minorities (e.g., women, Hispanic workers in the United States, Turkish workers in Scandinavia and Germany, South Asian workers in the Gulf States region) further facilitate increasing contact among diverse groups with diverse values, expectations, and norms. Traditional dominance by a particular cultural group is ending, and expectations for the less dominant are rising. Perceptions of justice and fairness may vary greatly across populations and often become a major point of contention in both joint ventures and global teams.

SECTION FOUR: INTERCULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT

Clearly, globalization has brought amazing opportunities to work smarter, faster, more creatively, and better with more people across time and space. Heterogeneous and flexible groups are more creative, increase the quality of ideas generated, and are more likely to reach high quality decisions than homogeneous groups. Globalization and heterogeneity go hand in hand. But as we shall see, heterogeneity also brings challenges and greater possibilities for conflict.

This chapter follows five central arguments that will help us better understand conflict in the global workplace: One, definitions of globalization, culture, and cultural variability influence how we understand conflict. Two, conflict dynamics occur at the nexus of macrofeatures of the environment and the microcontext of the work group. Three, paradoxes of globalization create powerful tensions across the organizations and groups. Four, transnational teams are a primary site of workplace conflict. And five, global alliances mirror the conflict dynamics found in teams.