At one point in time, even if it were being avoided, parties in business relationships would tend to sour. This is often the reason for business disputes to turn up.

Even if all the parties involved have the best intentions, each side would always view their particular position as the reasonable one and that the business practices they would like to implement as ethical.

It is a widely known concept that the law is cognizant of the fact that reasonable minds could differ. When each view and positions become rooted, there will be a tendency of refusing to bend and compromise. This is when a business dispute may arise.

Business people involved in a dispute usually consider filing a corporate lawsuit in order to resolve the dispute. Taking their case to court for litigation usually occurs when efforts that involve informal dispute resolution fail. Courts of law are indeed the places to settle differences in opinions that characterize a business dispute.

Once upon a time there was a rug merchant who saw that a beautiful carpet he acquired had a large bump in its center. He gently stepped on the bump to flatten it out. He succeeded, but the bump reappeared in a new spot beneath the carpet.

He jumped on the bump and it disappeared…for a moment, until it appeared in yet another new spot. Again and again he jumped, scuffing and mangling the rug in his frustration. Finally, he lifted one corner of the carpet and an angry snake slithered out.

I love this story, which I found in a book by systems guru Peter Senge, because it leaves a vivid image of the problem created by failure to raise and address conflict at work—it just becomes the snake under the rug.

A few years ago the Harvard Business Review published a piece of research about the price of silence during organizational or interpersonal problems at work. In “Is Silence Killing Your Company,” authors Leslie Perlow and Stephanie Williams explore the reasons for and the results of employees’ decision to keep silent instead of questioning or confronting a problem.

They suggested there are several reasons people hold their tongues: It’s better, as the old adage goes, to be quiet and thought a fool than to talk and be known as one. People sometimes keep quiet to avoid embarrassment or follow ingrained rules of etiquette. And organizations send a message—intentionally or unintentionally, formally or informally—that it’s best to fall in line and doing so will preserve job security.

Family conflicts are the spice of life, according to some people. I know that conflict within my own family structure causes me no end of pain and aggravation and I would prefer to do without it, but we are assured that some thrive on the emotional buzz.

Of course it all depends on one’s own personal nature and whether one feels stimulated by the sound of the teenage members of one’s family tearing each limb from limb over a dispute with the television remote control.