Managing conflict between marketing and other functions within charitable organisations

Extensive research has been undertaken into the proposition that certain organisational arrangements and working methods (e.g. centralisation, functional specialisation, multi‐disciplinary teamworking and training, organisation‐wide reward systems) influence the levels of dysfunctional conflict in businesses. The present study assessed the relevance of these variables for explaining the existence of conflict between marketing and other departments within non‐profit organisations. Additionally the investigation examined the role of “psychological distance” (a construct borrowed from the international marketing literature) as a possible determinant of conflict. A total of 148 marketing managers of large UK charities completed a questionnaire exploring these matters. It emerged that several of the factors known to mitigate dysfunctional conflict in the commercial world exerted similar effects in many of the sample charities. Psychological distance was significantly associated with both the presence of dysfunctional conflict within a charity and the manners whereby conflict resulted in adverse organisational consequences.

[1]  Sundar G. Bharadwaj,et al.  The quality and effectiveness of marketing strategy: Effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict in intraorganizational relationships , 1996 .

[2]  Natasa Rupcic,et al.  The fifth discipline-the art and practice of the learning organisation , 2002 .

[3]  Donald L. Mccabe.  Buying Group Structure: Constriction at the Top , 1987 .

[4]  Allen C. Amason.  Distinguishing the Effects of Functional and Dysfunctional Conflict on Strategic Decision Making: Resolving a Paradox for Top Management Teams , 1996 .

[5]  C. Pearson,et al.  Participant characteristics and organizational processes: a Hong Kong case study. , 1997 .

[6]  F. Mavondo,et al.  Psychic distance and the performance of international retailers – A suggested theoretical framework , 2000 .

[7]  J. Swift,et al.  Cultural closeness as a facet of cultural affinity , 1999 .

[8]  T. Adeyemi‐Bello.  The impact of leadership style on organizational growth , 2001 .

[9]  Monica M. Lee.  Understandings of Conflict: A Cross-Cultural Investigation , 1998 .

[10]  Julia Richardson,et al.  Business values, management and conflict handling: issues in contemporary Singapore , 1995 .

[11]  C. Egri,et al.  Leadership in the North American Environmental Sector: Values, Leadership Styles, and Contexts of Environmental Leaders and their Organizations , 2000 .

[12]  Sigal G. Barsade,et al.  Being Different Yet Feeling Similar: The Influence Of Demographic Composition And Organizational Culture On Work Processes And Outcomes , 1998 .

[13]  Allen C. Amason,et al.  Conflict: An important dimension in successful management teams , 1995 .

[14]  J. Antony.  The integration of marketing and logistics functions : an empirical examination of New Zealand firms , 1999 .

[15]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Enhancing Communication between Marketing and Engineering: The Moderating Role of Relative Functional Identification , 1997 .

[16]  R. Bennett,et al.  Charity involvement and customer preference for charity brands , 1999 .

[17]  E. Kelloway,et al.  Exploring commitment and leadership in volunteer organizations , 2001 .

[18]  Jack M. Feldman,et al.  Self-generated validity and other effects of measurement on belief, attitude, intention, and behavior. , 1988 .

[19]  L. Pondy.  Organizational conflict: Concepts and models. , 1967 .

[20]  A. Erez,et al.  EFFECTS OF ROTATED LEADERSHIP AND PEER EVALUATION ON THE FUNCTIONING AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF‐MANAGED TEAMS: A QUASI‐EXPERIMENT , 2002 .

[21]  Allen M. Weiss,et al.  No es como mí: Relational demography and conflict in a Mexican production facility , 2001 .

[22]  Roger Bennett,et al.  Direct marketing managers in UK charitable organisations , 1998 .

[23]  M. Bagshaw.  Conflict management and mediation: key leadership skills for the millennium , 1998 .

[24]  Carol L Cone,et al.  Causes and effects. , 2003, Harvard business review.

[25]  M. Lindell,et al.  Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[26]  R. Bennett.  Market Orientation Among Small to Medium Sized UK Charitable Organisations: Implications for Fund-Raising Performance , 1998 .

[27]  J. Pinto,et al.  Antecedents and consequences of project team cross-functional cooperation , 1993 .

[28]  D. W. Barclay.  Interdepartmental Conflict in Organizational Buying: The Impact of the Organizational Context , 1991 .

[29]  Roger Bennett,et al.  E-commerce and the organisation of the marketing function , 2002, Int. J. Serv. Technol. Manag..

[30]  Robert W. Ruekert,et al.  Marketing's Interaction with Other Functional Units: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Evidence: , 1987 .

[31]  Tony Conway,et al.  International relationship marketing ‐ The importance of psychic distance , 2000 .

[32]  Erica L. French,et al.  A culture of conflict , 1996 .

[33]  Tasadduq A. Shervani,et al.  Market-Based Assets and Shareholder Value: A Framework for Analysis , 1998 .

[34]  John R. Darling,et al.  Effective conflict management: use of the behavioral style model , 2001 .

[35]  Barbara T. Shapiro,et al.  The self‐directed team: A conflict resolution analysis , 1999 .

[36]  R. Bennett.  Modes of Response to Marketing Communications Failures in the Computer Services Industry , 2003 .

[37]  Ajay K. Kohli,et al.  Reducing marketing’s conflict with other functions: The differential effects of integrating mechanisms , 2000 .

[38]  Gilbert A. Churchill.  A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs , 1979 .