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

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.