Conflict and Competition

Public relations are the management of competition and conflict of an organization and the interests of the public that impact the organization. According to Darwin, the principles of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest are the main causes of conflict." Conflict itself is neither good nor bad. It occurs due to individual differences, cultural differences, clash of interests, social changes or when basic needs are not met. However, conflict also causes war and destruction of lives and property. It is often seen as dysfunctional, unhealthy competition, loss of affinity, hostility, suspicion, and distrust.

Conflict involves confrontations and attacks between organizations and various stakeholders or publics. An example of a conflict was when Target decided to ban the Salvation Army from collecting donations at its store entrances during the holiday season. The store immediately found itself in conflict with various community groups that charged the store with being a "grinch" and not supporting the needs of the poor and homeless. Target then had to manage the attacks on the company's charitable reputation, as well as a possible consumer boycott and threats to its revenues.

Competition on the other hand can be defined as rivalry in which every seller tries to get what other sellers are seeking at the same time such as sales, profit, and market share by offering the best practicable combination of price, quality, and service. Where the market information flows freely, competition plays a regulatory function in balancing demand and supply. The distinction between competition and conflict is partly a matter of degree, but it is also a matter of focus. In competition, the eye is on the prize such as sales or political support, for example.

According to Wilcox and Cameron (2012), with conflict, the eye is on the opposition, on dealing with or initiating threats of some sort or another. In either case, professional practice by this definition is vitally important to organizations. The advantage of competitions are spirit of competition drives all to excel to higher levels, as weaknesses are exposed and creative solutions are proposed. However, competition also causes disadvantage. The competition gets so fierce that people forget they are ultimately on the same team, and opposing groups destroy each other, hence destroying the whole community or country

Professor Glen T. Cameron, of the University of Missouri, says the newer definition emphasizing the strategic management of competition and conflict is a more "muscular PR" and uses the image of Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin to make his point. The swimmer represents preparation, strength, and fair play in order to compete against others. This image of public relations embraces competition and conflict as a sometimes necessary and usually healthy element of public relations practice as stated by Hendrix and Hayes. (2008).

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