Impact of Power Imbalance in Conflicts

Introduction

Almost every conflict situation consists of one party having more power than the other. When the power differential is significant, this usually has a major effect on both the matter and process of the dispute. In order for the outcome of the conflict to be fair, both parties must be relatively equal when it comes to power if resolution of the conflict is to be fair. If one side is far more powerful than another, they are more likely to impose their solution on the weaker party, who in turn will be forced to acquiesce, because they have no other choice.

(Tost, Gino & Larrick 2013) argues that “when a formal leader experiences a heightened subjective sense of power, he or she tends to dominate group discussions and interactions, which leads other team members to perceive that their views and perspectives are not valued”. This perceived imbalance definitely hampers any attempt at managing workplace conflict. When employees feel that they have no authority or empowerment they tend to be disengaged, and disengaged employees effect productivity. Low productivity can be considered a form of dissatisfaction and thus labelled a conflict that must be addressed by both employee and manager.

Conflict and Power

The textbook definition of conflict is when two or more individuals or concepts appear to be incompatible, and in this case low productivity versus high productivity is the conflict that must be addressed between the employee and manager. Power on the other hand is the capacity to do something either by physical force or strength and in this case the employee perceives that the manager has all the power in this situation. This now becomes a power imbalance or struggle of major proportion as the employee perceives t...

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...etermine how efficiently and effectively the conflict is resolved.

References

Abigail, R. A., & Cahn, D. D. (2011). Managing conflict through communication. 4th Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Fast, N., & Chen, S. (2009). When the boss feels inadequate: power, incompetence, and aggression. Psychological Science, 20(11), 1406-1413. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02452.x

Greer, L. L., & van Kleef, G. A. (2010). Equality versus differentiation: The effects of power dispersion on group interaction. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 95(6), 1032-1044. doi:10.1037/a0020373

Wilmot, W., & Hocker, J. (2011). Interpersonal conflict. 8th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Tost, L., Gino, F., & Larrick, R. P. (2013). When power makes others speechless: the negative impact of leader power on team performance. Academy Of Management Journal, 56(5), 1465-1486. doi:10.5465/amj.2011.0180