A Model of Two-Group Conflict in R&D Processes at the Enterprise

The purpose of the study is to substantiate the possibility and potential effects of using a new approach and class of models based on sociophysical analogies for modeling and managing conflicts in the business processes of research and development of an organization. A research methodology is proposed, based on the modern post-non-classical paradigm (synthetic picture of the world), formed on the principles of global evolutionism, interdisciplinarity, openness and nonlinearity; sociophysical approach for studying social conflicts and their modeling; historical method of study­ing social phenomena in time and determining the connection between past, present and future, critical-dialectical method of analyzing contradictions of social groups as a source of change, methods of system analysis of conflict as a complex process self-developing over time and system synthesis to resolve social contradictions in the process of development and implementation innovation of the organization. It is shown that employees of an organization can be divided into two groups depending on their attitude to new ideas, technologies and style of behavior when solving new creative problems — innovators and adapters. When developing and implementing innovations, project teams should include workers of both types. The presence of workers in the same team with antagonistic positions can lead to conflict situations. It is substantiated that for the modeling and management of such social conflicts, methods and models of sociophysics can be applied, providing a representation of the conflict as a change in behavioral reactions, and aimed at ensuring the cohesion of group members and their depolarization. The significance of the study is the ability to analyze the contradictions of interests of participants in the process of their interactions when implementing the tasks of developing and implementing innovations based on a sociophysical approach. The developed methodology takes into account the identified features of research and development processes, as well as complex intra-group and inter-group connections of conflicting groups, and allows us to develop requirements for modeling processes of conflict interaction and forecasting the options and nature of its development.