The Connection Between Organizational Structure and Identity and the Conflict Potential of the Organization

The purpose of this paper is to identify some coordinates necessary to evaluate and control the dynamics of conflict potential of organizations. In order to examine the conflictual potential of organizations, we started from Glasl’s (1999) idea according to which, in this approach, attention must be focused mainly on the state and functionality of three main subsystems: the spiritual-cultural subsystem; the social-political subsystem and the instrumental-technical subsystem of the organizations. As a result, the possible vulnerabilities of the organizational system must be looked for, in two major directions. On the one hand, on aspects related to the soft part of the organization, more precisely the organizational identity, and on the other hand, on aspects related to the hard part of the organization, determined by the organizational structure. This paper is not about discovering the sources and factors that determine conflicts in organizations, but about drawing attention to the fact that the organization itself, through the values promoted and the way of organization, can be a source of conflict.