Understanding conflict in teams: a literature review of conflict within organizational and sports teams

Introduction: Considering that conflict seems inevitable in sports teams, the lack of research done on conflicts within sports teams seems rather surprising. Instead, research efforts have been directed into investigating conflicts in organizational teams, developing numerous organizational concepts and theories. This paper seeks to understand what conflict is, its nature and as well as existing conflict management strategies used in organizations, and attempt to relate these organizational conflict theories and concept to sports teams. Methods: A comprehensive search of online databases EBSCOhost, SPORTDiscus, SAGE Journals and JSTOR was performed to identify potential papers to review. The search strategy involved combining terms covering the topic of conflict in organization teams as well as in sports teams. Critical reading of the literature proceeded once a significant pile of academic journals was produced from the respective databases. Results: Conflict should be understood as a dynamic process rather than as a mere occurrence due to certain conditions. Organisational theories and concepts mentioned, seem relatable and applicable to conflict experienced by sports teams as well. Discussion: Future studies could utilise the mentioned organizational theories and concepts to provide empirical data for conflict research in sports teams to assess if conflicts in organizational and sports teams are similar. Conclusion: The present study has shown that organizational conflict theories and concepts seem relatively relatable and applicable to conflicts in sports teams. Future studies could consider using organizational conflict theories and concepts to study conflict in sports teams to assess possible relation and provide empirical data to support it.Bachelor of Science (Sport Science and Management