Conflict Management Styles and Knowledge Management Cycle Categories: Theoretical Analysis with Application

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between conflict management styles and knowledge management cycle categories. This question is relevant because it is important to verify whether the way organizations and groups manage knowledge is related to the way they manage conflict and relationships. The research is based on theories of conflict management (Deutsch, 1980), and knowledge management (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). The relationship is measured through a quantitative study, using confirmatory factor analysis, on two already validated scales. The sample was composed by 381 respondents and we validated 330 questionnaires. We had two main hypothesis exploring the biunivocal relation between  types of knowledge management and types of conflict management. We used four types of knowledge management, namely Capturing, Organizing, Refining and Transferring. We used five types of Conflict Management namely Collaborating, Accommodating, Compromising, Competing and Avoiding. All the nine scales were submitted to validation. Refining and Transferring were not validated. After factorial analysis we conclude that the KM cycle is indeed related to conflict management, and in particular, more integrative ways of managing conflict are related to a higher level of knowledge-management-related activities. This finding reinforces the notion that KM is based on dialogue, as put forward by Nonaka’s concept of Ba (Nonaka and Konno, 1998). The study is original because KM and Conflict Management are two fields which have not so far been linked and studied together The study is limited in that the sample was composed of a small number of individuals; confirmation of the results is needed using a larger sample.