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Case study about organizational conflict
Conflict management theory
Weakness in conflict management
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Conflicts in an organization impact the employees and the organization itself in a variety of ways. It is a constant hindrance in organizational life due to conflicting goals between managers and workers. In definition, conflict is “the interaction of interdependent people who perceive incompatible goals and interference from one another in achieving those goals” (George 287). While most individuals perceive conflict as being a negative aspect in a working relationship, others believe it “allows the opportunity to release built-up tension, stimulate critical thinking, and strengthen relationships” (George 287). I extensively observed the conflicts at Noah’s Ark Preschool and found these conflicts to have both positive and negative effects on the organization and its employees. During my evaluation I focused on how conflicts emerged, how they were managed, and in what ways the organization could improve its conflict management skills.
The first step in resolving organizational conflict is to consider the typical sources of conflict (Donais). The sources of conflict are infinite, but some are recurrent and persistent. Poor communication skills can stimulate conflict and lead to misunderstandings between employees or between employee and manager. While conducting my interview, I learned the director of Noah’s Ark, Regina, is frequently vague and inconsistent with instructions. One employee described a situation in which Regina allowed the employees to wear shorts one afternoon—which is against dress code— but disciplined them for wearing shorts the next day. In this situation, lack of communication and information from employer to employee caused a misinterpretation of rules the organization routinely abides by.
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...; How Dangerous Can it Be?." Yahoo Contributor Network. N.p., 3 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Kuehner-Hebert, Katie. "Mismanaging Workplace Conflicts." www.HREOnline.com. LRP Publications, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
"Association for Conflict Resolution—Giving Voice to the Choices for Quality Conflict Resolution." Association for Conflict Resolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Segal, Jeanne , and Melinda Smith. "Conflict Resolution Skills." Turning Conflicts into Opportunities. N.p., 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Burrell, Bonnie. "Collaboration Toolbox || MODULE 1 > Conflict Management."Collaboration Toolbox || MODULE 1 > Conflict Management. N.p., 1 Jan. 2001. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Dreu, Carsten K. W. de.. "Productive Conflict: The Importance of Conflict Management and Conflict Issues." Using conflict in organizations. London: Sage, 1997. . Print.
Lipsky, D. B., Seeber, R. L., & Fincher, R. D. (2003). Emerging systems for managing workplace conflict: lessons from American corporations for managers and dispute
Conflict Resolution: Understand to Achieve. Whenever people unite to work as a team for anything more than a brief duration, some conflict is normal, and should be expected (Engleberg, Wynn & Schutter, 2003). Because of the inevitability of conflict, being able to recognize, address, and ultimately resolve it is vitally important, since unresolved conflict may have undesirable effects, including reduced morale, or increased turnover (De Janasz, Dowd & Schneider, 2001). Just as conflicts within team environments vary, so do methods for resolving them.
O’Rourke, J. & Collins, S. (2008). Managing Conflict and Workplace Relationships. New York: Cengage Learning.
While Mike believes that conflict is a normal part of any organization, and the real challenge is how one deals with it. He then provides you with his “5 Keys of Dealing with Workplace Conflict,” (Myatt, 2012) which are: “Define Acceptable Behavior, Hit Conflict Head-on, Understanding the WIIFM Factor, The Importance Factor, and View Conflict as Opportunity.” (Myatt, 2012) What I have learned for this article is, that in order to be a good leader, you need to know how to deal with conflict, employ effective conflict resolution, while also avoided unnecessary
Abigail, R. A., & Cahn, D. D. (2011). Managing conflict through communication. 4th Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
It has been estimated in a study by the American Management Association that managers spend between 20% to as much as 50% of their times dealing with conflict among their employees (American Sentinel, 2012). When workplace conflicts are left unresolved they can lead to dissatisfaction, depression and other problems such as aggression and violence (Whitworth 2008). The negative, sometimes hostile, environment created by unresolved conflict has been recognized to be a hazard not only to staff, but also to patient care (The Joint Commission 2008).
Hocker & Wilmot, 2007, Poole, & Stutman, 2005 Folger and 2007 Cahn& Abigail. "Interpersonal Conflict and Conflict Management." Devito, Joseph A. The Interpersonal Communication Book. Boston: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, 2009. 276.
Interpersonal conflict is very common with many relationships. It occurs when two people can not meet in the middle or agree on a discussion. Cooperation is key to maintaining a healthy debate. More frequently; when dealing with members of your own family, issues arise that include conflict and resolution. During this process our true conflict management style appears “out of thin air”. (Steve A. Beebe, 2008, p. 191).
Although there is a plethora of possible sources of conflict in any workplace, the ones in this case are rather explicit. These include personal differences, Informal deficiencies’, role incompatibility, environment stress, perceptions, and expectations. Personal differences could be related to personal values, physiognomies, family bonds or ties, and material belongings.
Conflict is area of concern that occurs in every organization in one form or fashion. Zhang, Cao, and Tjosvold (2011) stated in theory,
...s, Parents, Teachers Team up to Work on Conflict Resolution Skills: [FINAL Edition]. Seattle Times, p. B4. Retrieved March 21, 2015, from ProQuest Central database. (Document ID: 49058162).
Differences within the team are the major reason for conflict. This stems from differences in opinion, attitude, beliefs, as well as cultural back grounds and social factors. The Conflict can be positive which is functional and supports or benefits the organization or a person’s main objectives (Reaching Out, 1997). Conflict is viewed as positive when the conflict results in increased involvement form the group, increased cohesion, and positive innovation and creativity. Conflict tends to be positive as well when it leads to better decisions, and solutions to long-term problems.
Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update. . Journal Of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 265-274.
In the organizational setting, it comes through job retention or desires to be met, employer/employee disagreements and settlement, confidentiality reports and information sharing; all these leads to change in feeling and attitude. However, there are conflict management challenges facing many organizations in Nigeria. It is phenomenal, but can be controlled or managed. Notably, there seems to be growing importance of the conflict in various organizations. Olu and Adesobomi (2013) in a survey revealed that managers spend most of their time handling issues and that conflict management is important for them to function effectively. This means that conflict is always an issue and that peace is one of the important tools needed for an effective running of the organizational Conflict Levels of Educational Supervisors”, stated that supervisors sometimes experience organizational conflict which included other inter-groups and even with departmental heads. Furthermore, communication competence was reported to predict organization conflict. However, conflict remains an issue in organizations and the objective of conflict management are mainly to issue good lasting and quality solution. It is to give disputants fair process and sense of empowerment to resolve conflicts (Spiroska, 2014). This means that conflict is a continuous process and does not cease. However, as a result of a large number of cases of poor conflict management, its
Conflict exists in every organization as a result of incompatible needs, goals, and objectives of two people while aligning to the overall business requirements. Though disagreement is linked with negative impact, the approach has healthy considerations (Leung, 2008). For instance, some conflicts create an avenue for the exchange of ideas and creativity to meet the set organizational purposes. However, damaging disagreement in organizations results in employee dissatisfaction, turnover, and poor services and reduced productivity. The paper establishes different types of interpersonal conflict and key resolution strategies used to address the problem. Human resource managers need to have the capacity to identify different levels of conflicts and the best methods to negate them.