...CONFLICT T he success or failure of any organization is dependent upon the use of its indigenous, collective energies. When procedures are clear, the "esprit de corps" is high, and the business is said to be productive. But whenever people come together in one setting over a period of time, you can always expect conflict to find itself in the midst. The Webster’s dictionary defines conflict as a sharp disagreement or opposition of interests or ideas but from a more objective perspective, conflict is “a state in which one party perceive that another party has, or is about to negatively impact something that is important to the first party” (Robbins, 2006). The key word to note in this definition is “perceives”. Perceive is a concept that occurs within the mind. It is one’s interpretation of a situation or thing and does not necessarily have to be true. That might explain why on many occasions, a conflict that arises; may be unnecessary or misguided and result in wasted time. Causes of Conflict A s you may discern, the causes of conflict are numerous and each has their own accompanying challenges. Within the organization however, C. Brooklyn Derr in his book Major Causes of Organizational Conflict: Diagnosis for Action, stated that there are six (6) main causes of conflict: 1) The interpersonal disagreements that arise when one person is experiencing individual stress. People bring their whole selves to the workplace and they may...
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...Introduction to Communication In today’s working industry we are faced with multitude problems that hinder the success of the organisation. A major contributing factor to their failure is poor communication. Communication is defined in numerous ways, but here is one that can be associated within the workplace; “any behaviour – verbal or nonverbal- that is perceived by another,” taken from The Business Communication Handbook by Judith Dwyer or “an exchange of words, feelings, symbols, gestures, etc. that must be understood and responded too” taken from Understanding Human Communication by Ronald Adler. For effective communication it is known that it’s a two-way process of sending the right message that is also being correctly received and understood by the other person/s. In any organization or everyday situations, we have different types of communication styles taking place. It may be verbal communication, nonverbal, or graphic communication. During the communication cycle or process many miscommunications or interpretations can take place, i.e. anywhere between the sender, the message, the receiver, feedback, the communication channel, context, and noise. It is within this process where the sender encodes an idea or feeling; verbal, nonverbal or graphical and conveys the message via a communication channel to the receiver where he decodes the message and interprets it to his understanding. The recipient understanding of the message would depict whether the message was...
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...Conflict Causes Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are negatively affected by another party (Kinicki 2009). This is a normal and natural part of any work place. When it occurs, there is a tendency for morale to be lowered and decreased productivity. However, conflict can be useful, it can push conflicting parties to grow, communicate and urge the flow of new ideas. For this to happen, leaders need to understand why conflict occurs and take the correct steps to resolve it. According to psychologists Art Bell and Brett Hart, there are eight common causes of conflict within the workplace; conflicting resources, conflicting styles, confliction perceptions, conflicting goals, conflicting pressures conflicting roles, differing personal values and unpredictable policies (Bell, 2002) This paper will discusses a few of this conflict causes as well examples with consequences and possible steps for resolution. Conflicting goals: On occasion conflicting goals may occur in a workplace. As an example from my organization; the supervisor will tell us that it is important that our exams are done with the highest quality, to take our time and do a good job. On the other hand, the Physicians tell the technologist, I just need this test done, all I need to know is X, Y, Z, and I need it quick. These are two drastically differing goals, which can cause conflict in a variety of ways. Unfortunately this is all too often a scenario in our imaging department...
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...Addressing Challenges of Groups and Teams Lacy Williams LDR/531 University of Phoenix Lois Mason April 15, 2012 Addressing Challenges of Groups and Teams Desert Communications Incorporated is a major wireless telecommunications organization experiencing a decline in net profit. This decrease is attributed to a change in the communications industry and a decline in the demand of communication products. Desert is beginning a strategic movement to reallocate its resources to capitalize on the added communication services in the industry. A team has been assigned to integrate strategies that will help generate the profit needed in regard to its call center. Contained in this paper is the strategic plan created by the team to aid in team and management collaboration, training programs, and tactics in identifying and minimizing conflict within teams. Presenting the Operational Change Before the team creates a strategic plan, management should not inform employees of the change because this may create problems among the employees. They may think jobs are at risk or the company is closing. After the plan is created, management should provide employees with details of the plan that affect them. These details will include the organization’s mission, how it intends to fulfill that mission, and the plan to train employees and provide them with the tools needed to perform effectively their tasks during and after the operational change. Training of Multiple Audiences ...
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...GROUP #5 COMMUNICATION PROJECT – PARADISE RESORT AND SPA WHAT IS COMMUNICATION? Communication is the transmission of information and ideas from one individual or group to another. The crucial element of this definition is meaning. “Communication is the glue that enables people to work together to accomplish results.” "The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said." Peter Drucker Communication in organizations or organization communication encompasses all the means, both formal and informal, by which information is passed up, down, and across the network of managers and employees in a business. These various modes of communication may be used to disseminate official information between employees and management, facilitates team work, to exchange hearsay and rumors, or anything in between. Organizational Communication serve to improve customer relations, bolster employee satisfaction, build knowledge-sharing throughout the organization, and most importantly, enhance the firm's competitiveness. According to Fielding, an organization consist of groups of people who work together to reach specific goals. The individuals must communicate with each other and share information if they are to reach the shared goals. How the organization is managed, for example autocratically or democratically affects the communication within the organization and the direction in which communication will travel. Generally the four channels of direction...
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...and resolve conflict successfully. Conflict management is a skill that can be learned. The human relationship is a complex and dynamic inter-action. As living creatures, we need and crave the opportunity to interact with other humans by speaking, listening, and spending time with them. Most of this interaction tends to be mutual and cordial. Yet, at times, the interaction can be laced with tension and discord. If left alone, the tension can lead to conflict that may damage the relationship or even become volatile. Conflict between individuals and within groups often occurs because people have differences of opinion, have different values and goals, or receive inaccurate information. Conflict is not always a bad thing. In many cases, conflict can lead to a better understanding of and response to issues. Conflict also can lead to creative problem solving and the initiation of innovative ideas. However, if conflict is sup-pressed and not addressed, it can lead to distrust and greater discord within the group. For a group to be productive and successful, group members and leaders need to be able to identify, address, and resolve conflict successfully. Like any other leadership skill, conflict management can be learned. The overall goal for conflict management is to find common ground (mutual goals and interests that all parties share) within the issue and use that as the foundation for resolution. Source: Trautman K. ,Kriesel C.B. Rice T. Mnanging Group Conflict,g2115. Pdf ...
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...Introduction The telecommunications industry is ever evolving and Global Communications has failed to adapt. An industry that was characterized by local monopolies in the 1980s has seen a shift in recent years towards the global market (Cansfiled 2007). In recent years excess competition has led to a decrease in over 50% of Global Communications stock. Questionable decision making and internal communication have forced leadership to a decision of outsourcing call centers to foreign countries and a push through new products towards globalization. This paper attempts identify: The issues and opportunities that all Global Communications stakeholders face, the gap that needs to be bridged, and the end state visions the company will adopt to reinvent itself. Issue and Opportunity Identification Global Communications is faced with increased industry competition and their stock value has depreciated over 50 % during the past three years. Global faces a great deal of competition in local and international long distance services. Cable companies have stepped in and provided robust portfolio of products to consumers at the cost of market share for Global communications. The result of this increased competition and the rise in call center costs have caused management to devise an aggressive plan to address these issues. This plan calls for outsourcing of call centers to foreign countries and a move towards the global market, offering consumer and businesses, a well rounded...
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... Analysis of Cases Date: 13 December, 2013 Case#1 Treetop Forest Products Problem Statement The primary focus problem at treetops appears be lack of focus by management on packaging department; the packaging team at Treetop Forest is experiencing many problems. Their output was shrinking and affecting the rest of the departments adversely. The unproven employees were slacking off, not gelled together and were adopting norms that were not fitted with the company. Inventory costs and the risk of damaged stocks were also increasing. The quality of the finished products is also decreasing, resulting in a loss in the market share in the industry, hence being unable to compete with other companies. Because market was quite competitive. Cause of the problem As a result of there being no full time manager assigned to the packaging department the management at Treetop appears to have broken their psychological contract with the packaging department employees. Supervisor of other departments were bound to supervise packaging department as well, in addition to their normal duties. Social loafing was causing the decrease in productivity in the packaging team. The inclination to suppress physical or intellectual effort when performing a group task represents the slacking behaviours of the employees in that department. The lack of supervision...
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...Ethical and Legal Issues of a Merger Human Resource Management & Talent Development Ethical and Legal Issues Corporate mergers are pursued because there is a belief that if both independent companies are combined as one, the resulting company will grow more rapidly and will be stronger competitively. Management teams from both sides of these companies will no doubt encounter ethical and legal challenges prior to the merger, during the merger, and after the merger has been completed. HR acts as a moral compass for these companies, and issues that must be faced raise questions about fairness, equality, integrity, honesty, accountability, and consequences of behavior. As HR Director of the acquiring company, it is my responsibility to aid all employees in adhering to the code of ethics that has been implemented into our organizational mission statement. Furthermore, it is my job to create a safe and ethical environment in which every employee can enjoy his or her incontrovertible rights, which include the ability to access information about his or her job and the freedom to be able to do their job without any duress. HR can be a conflicting job for those of us in management, as we are called upon to walk a very narrow line between what is legally and morally best for the employee and financially advantageous to the company (Moore, 2014). However, the alternative of facing civil and criminal penalties that would incur due to law breaking, or even the implication of law...
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...COMPETENCIES NEEDED FOR THE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT Md. Musharrof Hossain Head, HRM, ICDDR,B Competencies needed for the Conflict Management The following competencies are required for Managers for better management of conflicts: Knowledge: 01. Understand the laws and regulations that have an impact on conflict management and on organizational functioning in areas related to conflict management. 02. Understand the organizational change process. 03. Understand the design and practice of training in the workplace, including adult learning theory. 04. Understand conflict resolution theory, principles and methods, particularly as they apply to the various conflict resolution mechanisms typically part of conflict management systems. Be aware of current best practices in conflict management. Competencies needed for the Conflict Management Abilities: Ability to manage organizational change. Ability to conduct needs assessment (i.e. to discern the nature of the organizational needs). Ability to design and conduct adult training. Ability to design and conduct evaluation of program implementation. Ability to facilitate groups and build consensus. Ability to design a conflict management system (or to lead the design process). Ability to work collaboratively. Ability to assess the decision-making centers in an organization and to gain the support and cooperation of the key decision makers. Ability to mediate, or to use a mediative process...
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...will look at a previous experience of conflict at work and relate this to human resource management. My focus points will be: the management team’s attitude to the conflict and how I managed the conflict. I will begin with focusing on how the conflict developed. I will outline the positive and negative aspects in the way it was handled in order to learn from the experience and what should have been done differently. I will use relevant theories to analyse the situation but I will also discuss my identity, the management’s response and how I dealt with the conflict. I will use my findings during this essay to help me prepare for future employment and dealing with in work conflicts. Theoretically conflict within the workplace is ‘the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party’ (Wall & Callister, 1995, p. 517). HR professionals are trained to deal with conflicts within the work place, using grievance and disciplinary procedures. It is the employer’s duty to either act on behalf of the human resource department or have a trained professional to represent the HR department. Studies show that most large and medium sized firms have set procedures to deal with conflicts, however ‘such procedures tend to be absent only in small firms’ (Kersley et al; 2006 Suff 2010a, b). My essay will now be presented in 3 related sections, the first outlines and discusses the conflict with the other employee and how the different...
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...and demands result in conflicts, which has been defined as a lack of agreement where the parties involved recognize a threat to their wants, safeties, and disquiets (Mayer, n.d). Conflict will occur due to some misunderstanding among the involved parties, and it is quite unavoidable in organizations as well as institutions such as schools. There are different types of conflict that may be witnessed in the society. An individual may be in conflict with another man, with the society, or with other aspects of nature. One can also have inner conflicts; this occurs when the individual has divided thoughts and is not able to make a decision on a given issue. In an organizational setup, conflicts may arise due to many reasons including, but not limited to, irreconcilable objectives and goals, mismatched personalities and scarcity of shared resources (Jung, 2003, p. 3). Similarly, an individual may be in conflict with the values, beliefs or practices imposed by the society on its people. There are mixed consequences of such conflicts. Organizational conflicts can be both beneficial and harmful to the successful operations and ultimate productivity of the organization. While conflicts may impede the production pace of an organization, they may also lead to the development of strong organizational cultures to promote future organizational management. Conflict resolution refers to all the activities that are applied to trim down the degree of violence in conflict and develop some level...
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...This stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as part of a group.. 2. storming stage - The second stage in group development, characterized by intragroup conflict. 3. norming stage The third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness 4. performing stage The fourth stage in group development, during which the group is fully functional. 5. adjourning stage The final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than task performance. groups that begin with a positive social focus appear to achieve the “performing” stage more rapidly. Storming and performing can occur simultaneously, and groups can even regress to previous stages. GROUPS WITH TEMP DEADLINES punctuated-equilibrium model A set of phases that temporary groups go through that involves transitions between inertia and activity. Work groups have properties that shape members’ behavior and help explain and predict individual behavior within the group as well as the performance of the group itself. - roles, norms, status, size, cohesiveness, and diversity psychological contract: an unwritten agreement that exists between employees and employer. This agreement sets out mutual expectations: what management expects from workers and vice versa.18 conform to the important groups to which they belong or hope to belong. These important groups are reference groups, in which a person is aware of...
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...as well as human relations have explained conflict as a concept. Esquivel and Wiener (1997) described conflict as “ a discord that occurs when the goals , interest or values of different individuals or groups are incompatiable with each other in an attempt to achieve their objectives. Lawal (1993) described conflict as the disagreement of organization members or groups over means or ends and an attempt to establish their views in preference to others. Wilson (2002) said those people or organization that is able to manage conflicts strategically are those who has most success in their endeavour. He further states that most organizations view conflict in a negative way ,it is assumed that it drains energy, reduces focuses, caused discomfort ,hostility and eventually cost the organization a huge sum of money. Wilson however states that if conflict is well managed it can be very positive , it will highlight organizational problems and promote changes by encouraging shared solutions and enchanced morale and team sprit when dealt with openly and promply. Schramm-Nelson(2000) defined conflict as a state of serious disagreement and arugement about something perceived to be important by at lest one of the parties involved, while azamosa (2009) , says that conflict involes the total range of behavior and attitudes that is in opposition between individuals owners and mangers on one hand and the working people on the other hand. Conflict no doubt is human nature but it has severe...
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...Property of Kendall Hunt Publishing Irwin, Hopkins, Payne's Comptetent Communication at Work 2010 copyright | 978-0-7575-5217-5 Chapter 6 Interpersonal Communication Skills at Work After reading this chapter, you will be able to: ■ Understand the role of interpersonal communication in the ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ workplace Describe the types and functions of relationships Identify different approaches to conflict Determine how certain conflict styles work in different situations Analyze and apply negotiation strategies that meet different objectives Provide and evaluate constructive feedback Identify and apply Gibb’s framework for building positive climates Chapter Outline I troduction n Defining Interpersonal Communication T ypes of Workplace Relationships Dealing with Conflict Giving Constructive Feedback Dev eloping Supportive Communication Climates Conclusion A ctivities Ref rences e 120 Irwin_Competent Communication01E_Ch06_Printer_Pdf.indd 120 8/25/10 2:04:21 AM KEY TERMS I terpersonal n communication I terdependence n Uniqueness M ixed-status relationship L eader-member exchange theory (LMX) I -group n Out-group Same-status relationship I formational peer n C ollegial peer Specialpeer C ict onfl A voiding A ccommodating C ompete C ompromise C ollaborate Negotiation C onstructive feedback Or ganizational climate Descriptiv message e P roblem-focused message Spontaneous communication Empatheticmessage M essage of equality P rovisional message Introduction Cora Sims has worked...
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