Solution

Organisational Conflict

Organisational conflict is defined in Acas (2020b) as disputes or disagreements among individuals, teams or management within a workplace. This can stem from conflicting interests, poor communication, organisational change or the perception of unfair treatment. In the newly merged public sector organisation, there could be conflict, if one team feels that they are being overlooked in favour of another group for promotions or policy decisions. Conflict can be overt, such as strikes, overtime bans or protests, or covert, for example, go slow tactics and work to rule where employees only do the minimum duties. From an employee’s perspective, conflict is often stressful, frustrating, and demotivating (CIPD, 2020a). For the employers, unresolved conflict affects productivity, team cohesion, and can damage reputation.

Organisational Misbehaviour

Organisational misbehaviour refers to actions taken by employees that break organisational rules or expectations intentionally, frequently as silent resistance or personal protest (Labour Laws UK, 2024). It is typically unorganised and individual, different from structured conflict. Examples are absenteeism, fraud, sabotage, theft, or refusal to follow instructions. For example, an employee might deliberately withhold information or repeatedly arrive late after feeling overlooked by management during departmental restructuring during the merger. This can be passive such as withdrawing effort, or active such as damaging property. From an employee’s perspective, this may feel like regaining a sense of control in an environment that was viewed as chaotic or unfair. For employers, it results in the productivity loss, damaged trust and legal issues.

Differences While both organisational conflict and misbehaviour disrupt the workplace harmony, they are distinct in terms of nature, organisation…..

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