Dysfunctional and Functional Conflicts in Buyer-Seller Relationships

Given differing organizational needs and goals, underlying conflicts and tensions are an inherent part of buyer-seller relationships. This research presents and tests a conceptual framework examining the effect of the type of conflict (dysfunctional and functional) in the relationship, the conflict management approaches used by the salesperson, and the subsequent quality of the buyer-seller relationship. The framework is tested using surveys completed by 109 salespeople. The findings of this study are relevant to marketing practitioners and managers, particularly salespeople, sales managers, and purchasing managers. First, the most straightforward and obvious finding is that dysfunctional conflict is detrimental to relationship quality. Conversely, functional conflict showed no significant association with either trust or satisfaction. The only conflict management strategy that had a significant association with both functional and dysfunctional conflicts in this study was the confronting strategy.