Interactions & Friction in the Workplace

There are three major categories of approach to understanding in social psychology. These include the influence of social factors on the individual, social interaction between and among people, and group processes. All of these affect the way that people get along, or do not get along, in the workplace.

There are several major sources of friction in organizations. Some of these include friction between departments or professions in organizations, friction between men and women, and friction between minority and majority racial and ethnic groups. There can also be friction based on preferential treatment of some individuals, as with nepotism.

A recent study performed by the Families and Work Institute (1993) indicated that one of the major sources of conflict, or stress, in the workforce was diversity.

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ent and eliminating sexual harassment, the effort is not likely to be successful. Intergroup Relations and Conflict According to Robbins (1996), the key to successful intergroup relations is coordination, which can be affected by a number of different factors, including the degree of interdependence of the two groups. Coordinative efforts may be more important if the two groups need to work effectively interdependently. One of the major sources of conflicts between groups is the group composition, both in terms of background and values. Research shows that groups which are quite different might have trouble working together. Groups have different time orientations, backgrounds, goals, and values, all of which can lead to conflicts (Brett and Rognes, 1986). For example, manufacturing personnel have one perspective, which might be a short-term one that is focused on productivity. However, people who work in marketing have yet another perspective, while long-term planners and developers have another perspective. Although they work for the same company, these groups might conflict with each other because their emphases are different. It is necessary to have structure or personnel who can bring these different perspectives t
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2478
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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