factors that contribute to interdepartmental rivalry in an organisation and solution?

Answer 1

departmental heads that are competing for recognition, people or budget.
Departments competing for the same responsibility/project.
Departments with competing solutions to the same problem.
Departments fighting for their survival in an organization that's cutting back.
Departments that do not have the political and social capital to get resources without competing.

Departments that have had work assignments shifted back and forth.

Answer 2

Interdepartmental rivalries are commonplace so I would suggest that they are the norm. A little competition is healthy but if the departments get to a point that they hurt each other's effectiveness then it should be addressed. The best thing to do is to have regular team building exercises, after all they are all part of the same organization. Try team sports in which the various departments are intermixed. Even develop contests that require teams that are intermixed. Social events that include various departments are also great. The key is to increase organizational cohesiveness by getting to know each other, depending on each other and having fun with each other.

***If you are in position of oversight to these departments you must also never show any preference. This will cause a rift that will be difficult to repair without having you replaced.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Rivalry is good, but only if it's constructive, rather than destructive, rivalry. In constructive rivalry, the two departments compete and better their respective output without hurting the competition's ability to perform.

In destructive rivalry, the two departments compete, but rather than bettering their own output so much, they attempt to denigrate the output of the competing department. It's a case of pushing the other guy down rather than lifting oneself up. I am presuming, because you are looking for a "solution," the rivalry you are asking about is destructive.

Solutions are case specific. But management 101 textbooks are clear, an organization takes on the culture of its leadership. If a department's leadership feels inadequate and insecure, which are the kinds of emotion that breeds destuctive rivalry, then the department will attempt to push the other one down rather than lift itself up.

Although changing leadership behavior is feasible, it is usually time and money consuming. So the proper solution would be to remove the destructive leadership with leadership that is constructive. The problem with that solution is that senior management, above the department level, may also be destructive; in which case, senior management would see no problem and replacing the destructive department head would be unlikely.

As many of your answerers have stated, team building exercises are frequently used to get groups acting constructively. But team building is unlikely to resolve anything so long as the leadership practices destructive rivalry.