The article I want to discuss is written by Angela Ogunjimi. The most important point is related to the interdependence between workplace diversity and increased productivity. Ogunjimi says that Diversity can help and hurt productivity. The difference depends on how well your organization strategically uses your diverse workforce (p. 1).
So, in my opinion, productivity depends upon numerous factors, including the relationships of the employees and their level of cooperation. I would like to consider the points in detail.
The thesis statement
Workplace diversity influences the organizations success. The factors which impact the productivity of the company are related to the employees interactions and their ability to coexist, resolve various contradictions, and take numerous decisions.
The body: the importance of conflicts in workplace diversity/ team project performance improvement
Numerous differences between the employees who work in the same organization are related to workplace diversity. The term is mostly associated with different race, age, gender, education, and many other signs. Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves but how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their interactions (Josh Greenberg, p. 1). Susan Woods (2010) is of the opinion that, We know that greater diversity in the workplace increases the risk of misunderstanding and conflict (p. 1). However, it is necessary to point out that conflicts in the organizations between the employees are not as destructive as most people think.
The difficulty of conflicts comes because perceptions of justice and injustice, fair and unfair, insult and respect are not understood through a shared perspective (Susan Woods, 2010, p. 1). The resolution of conflict improves the employees relations with each other. Of course, the improvement of relations depends upon the way which was used to resolve some contradictions.
If the members of the team come to an agreement their productivity will increase. Effective intervention to increase or decrease conflict requires action to influence attitudes, behaviors, and structures grounded inaccurate diagnosis (Brown, 1977, p. 327). Barton H. Hamilton, Jack A. Nickerson, and Hideo Owan (2004) are of the opinion that Consequently, the impact of diversity on productivity is identified by relatively marginal changes in the composition of a team that may already have set routines and communication patterns (p. 30).
Generally, while speaking about team project performance improvement, its necessary to understand that there are stages of team development, which determine the success of the project. These stages consist of forming, storming, norming, and performing. The members of Monash University (2011) state that forming includes understanding personal expectations and interests, clarifying accountability (p. 1); storming means the employees should focus on conflict-resolution procedures, integrating everyone in the team and building good relationships between team members (Monash University, 2011, p. 1); norming means the employees close cooperation, and performing means the team is to be focused on relationships improvement.
On the other hand, one is to keep in mind that different career fields impact on team performance improvement. For instance, Thada Bornstein says that PI includes five basic stages, namely getting agreement on the project goal; conducting a performance needs assessment; designing the interventions to close the gap; implementing the interventions, and evaluating the change in the performance gap (p. 7).
The conclusion: the importance of collaboration
Different career fields can improve team project performance, if there is one common goal, the employees are to achieve. Thus, L. Michelle Bennett, Howard Gadlin, and Samantha Levine-Finley (2010) state that there are the so-called bottom-up teams, which are to identify a common interest and come together to tackle a problem or achieve an agreed-upon goal (p.16). They affirm that People will often be drawn together by a common interest and will self-assemble to collaboratively address a challenging question (Bennett, Gadlin & Levine-Finley, 2010, p. 16).
Reference List
Bennett, M., Gadlin, H., Levine-Finley, S. (2010). Collaboration & Team Science: A Field Guide. Web.
Bornstein, T. (n.d). Quality Improvement and Performance Improvement: Different Means to the Same End? Web.
Brown, D. (1977). Intergroup Conflict and Negotiation. Web.
Greenberg, G. (n.d.). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and Solutions. Web.
Hamilton, B., Nickerson, J., Owan, H. (2004). Diversity and Productivity in Production Teams. Web.
Monash University. (2011). Guide to Managing and Optimising Team Performance. Web.
Ogunjimi, A. (n.d.). Does Workplace Diversity Increase Productivity? Web.
Woods, S. (2010). Thinking about Diversity-Related Conflict: Respect, Recognition and Learning. Web.
In my organization, the conflict occurred between two engineers responsible for one project. Each of them insisted on his approach to a new IT architecture and did not even listen to the other party. I suppose both of them tried to prove their professional skills and expertise in this subject and, for this reason, insisted on their approach to change. The main negative outcomes of the conflict were aggressiveness and violence in relations, unproductive behavior and low spirit of other employees. The engineers did not want even to talk to other people about this conflict insisting on their approach to change. Aggressiveness, lack of understanding and neglect were the main causes of this conflict (Wood, 2003). In order to solve it, mediation (third party) was used. Mediator played the core role here. Belonging to an independent part of the process he helped the parties of the conflicts being objective. The ability of a third party to resolve conflict can influence the outcome of it. It was found that the approaches proposed by both engineers had much in common (Wood, 2003).
I suppose that listening, objectivity and loyalty would help both of the employees to avoid conflict and implement the project on time. In this case, listening practices is one of the most important principles of communication and conflict resolution. Listening practices imply mutual respect and confidence needed for successful conflict resolution. Subjects to be discussed should be clearly stated. If people are not open and attentive, they fail to perform effectively and solve current problems. The all-channel network involves full discussion and participation which enhance performance in teams. This network appears to work best where a high level of interaction is required among all members of the team in order to solve complex problems. Objectivity will benefit both the employees and organization creating a friendly atmosphere and trust.
The personality of both workers can be described as charismatic. Following Freud, their superego dominates in human relations and determines their personal perspectives. Personal unconscious dominates in Johns personality while Steven can be described as a person with strong collective unconsciousness. For both employees, conflicts are caused by misunderstanding and low degree of participation in problem solving. In terms of Jungs theory, if the parties can agree on mutual objectives then the problem is far easier to resolve than if they have conflicting objectless and personal agendas.(Feist and Feist, 2006). At the beginning of the conflict, the actions which might have led to negative conflict were neglect of the problem, response to aggressive behavior of others, and subjectivity. At the very beginning, nobody had wanted to solve the problem avoiding communication and discussions. Following Murrey, w the conflict became inevitable, many team members behaved aggressively trying to prove their positions and justified their actions. Aggressive behavior generated violent responses to the problem and subjectivity. Only a constructive approach and mediation helped to resolve the conflict. The strategies used to solve the conflict (maintain healthy conflict) were communication and listening, respect to position of others and account of cultural differences (Feist and Feist, 2006).
Dealing with the personal issues and needs in any negotiation is both difficult and important. Working in teams is beneficial for conflict resolution, because, it helps to focus on the interests rather than the positions that the parties have taken. These approaches can help to de-escalate conflict in teams always looking for ways in which both parties can work together to achieve their common objectives and personal needs
References
Feist, J., & Feist, G. (2006). Theories of personality (6th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
The notion of conflict is general to our realization and approval of our switch with reality of personal action. Conflict can be regarded broadly as a theoretical group indicating the clash of authority against power in the striving of all obsessions to become apparent. Conflict also can be regarded just as a discrete sort of social performance as two parties attempting to get something they both cannot have.
The concept of conflict is multidimensional; it encloses a number of shapes. We choose one relying on our logical reasons and sensible problem. As the human concern is to realize conflict as a social field occurrence, I must first believe conflict as a universal grouping. From this most general beginning, I can work towards understanding social argument and its experiential demonstrations.
Reality includes multiform and interrelated potentialities, natures, and authorities. What factor befalls manifest hinges on the dialectical altercation between this reality and our viewpoint that is an influence, an externally directed vector. What we distinguish is the result of the difference between this vector and realisms inner bearing vector of authority.
Conflict is a balancing of vectors of authorities, of potentials to manufacture effects. It is a clash of authorities. But it is not just a balance, equilibrium, of powers. It is not a stable resultant. Conflict is the pushing and pulling, the giving and taking, the process of finding the balance between powers.
Conflict Resolution corresponds to a meeting of denotes (or agreements for the prospect), not unavoidably members interests or viewpoints. Contributors will generally come to maintenance the same agreement or concord for very dissimilar motives. Conflict decision does not inevitably resolve strains among parties. Conflict declaration may just adequately align substances to allow each contributor to make adequate development toward his or her preferred ends to rather stating there to be a state of agreement rather than the vague and demanding state of disagreement.
Introduction
The essence of the paper is to regard the conflict which happened at the managerial level within the Greenlife Company.
Companys culture
As it may be seen in the case study part, the companys culture involves collective management, where no I is encouraged. Jane put all her efforts to create a managing Top Team . Her aim was to create a team of managers who could solve all the matters of the company collectively, but ultimately it occurred that all the decisions were taken by Jane because of her high authority and competency in managerial issues.
Company cultures that promote dialogue and discrepancy over ideas and conclusions at all levels of the firm always overcome the competition. Such cultures enhance leaders who are not afraid of conflict as they trust in the power of productive tension bound for growth. They hearten sanctioning leadership and foster diversity by engaging others in discussions about issues and ideas that, for the good of the company, need to be put on the table and resolved.
In spite of defending the companys interests, Jane succeeded in establishing an almost authoritarian regime.
Group development
Internal conflict can be the most serious and destructive force an organization faces. Decisions can take forever personal agendas override team priorities critical information is not communicated productivity is lost!
Greenlife Company had a steady development through all the history of its existence. Lucy did her best in order to succeed in the market of cosmetics and enhance the companys activity. It happened so, her son Patrick did not inherit Lucys authority, charisma and ability to rule the company, that is why not to break the process of the companys development, Lucy was obliged to hire new workers, and Jane (informal leader) was among them. Here employing became the key moment in the further development of the company, as her authority allowed her to gather all the other managers around her and take all the necessary decisions collectively. Her authority and high competency became the essence and factually the reason for the conflict.
Conflict Solution
Lucy should try to persuade Patrick that he is not the as talented manager as Jane is. Jane has greater experience; she is more charismatic and authoritative. In spite of the fact that she has been hired aside, she has more power over employees.
Family relations are inappropriate in business, and most companies had already assured in this fact.
One of the variants of problem solutions is to arrange either voting (who should leave the company), or create a competitive managing team under Patricks control, in the order it could offer alternative decisions and solutions.
Lucy should choose any style of conflict management and define for herself what aim she chooses: personal or corporative interests.
Strategies
As it has been stated earlier, first of all, it is necessary to take into account the interrelation between personal interest and a companys position:
The difference between positional cooperation and interest-based cooperation was brought into usage by Roger Fisher and William Ury in their book Getting To Yes (1983). Simply stated, a position is what you want, and interest is why you want it.
Fisher and Ury depict the denotation of location and curiosity by telling of &the proverbial kids who argued over an orange. After they finally consented to divide the orange in half, ate his half, and disposed of off the peel, while the other disposed the fruit and used the peel from the second half to bake a cake. Too many delegates end up with half an orange for each side instead of the whole fruit for one and the whole peel for the other.
This story defines the character of the conflict between Jane and Patrick: Jane just wants to unite the company with the other, while Patrick just wants to save his leading position at the management level. In order not to stay with the halves of an orange , it is necessary to define what aims they both chase. As it may be seen from the case study the only Janes aim is to enlarge the company; thus, in order not to amalgamate with the other company, it would be enough to adjust joint production but still stay separate companies.
Fisher and Urys first standard is to divide the people from the matters. People are inclined to suit individually included with the issues and with their sides places. And so they will lean to take retorts to those matters and spots as individual harasses. Dividing the people from the matters allows the parties to tackle the issues without breaking their relations. It also assists them in getting a more obvious view of the substantive dilemma.
The authors categorize three primary types of people troubles. First are differences in observation amongst the parties. Since most arguments are grounded in differing understandings of the facts, it is essential for both parties to realize the others point of view. The sides should try to put themselves in the others place. They should not just presume that their worst terrors will become the acts of the opposing party. Nor should one party accuse the other of the difficulty. Each party should try to make offers which would be petitioning to the other side. The more that the sides are included in the process, the more probably they are to be concerned about and to sustain the result.
Emotions are the second reason people difficulties. Negotiation can be a frustrating process. People often retort with terror or irritation when they feel that their interests are intimidated. The first step in contracting with feelings is to recognize them and to try to realize their source. The sides must recognize the fact that some emotions are current, still when they dont see those emotions as sensibledischarging anothers emotions as difficult is likely to provoke an even more forceful arousing retort. The sides need to allow the opponent to express their feelings. They need not react expressively to affecting outbreaks. Representative signals such as apologies or a statement of understanding can help to soothe strong emotions.
Communication is the third main source of people problems. Negotiators may not be speaking to each other but may simply be impressing their individual constituencies. The sides may not be hearing from each other but may instead be planning their own responses.
Even when the opponents are talking to each other and are not listening, confusion may occur. To challenge these problems, the parties should utilize active hearing. The listeners should give the lecturer their full notice, infrequently summarizing the speakers summits to corroborate their sympathetic. It is significant to consider that realizing the others case does not mean approving it. Narrators should move their speech toward the other parties and keep concentrated on what they are trying to converse. Each side should avoid accusing or attacking the other and should speak about themselves.
Usually, the best way to deal with people troubles is to prevent them from arising. People problems are less likely to come up if the parties have a good relationship and think of each other as partners in negotiation rather than as adversaries.
Strategies: Brainstorming
After persons have split their attention, they still need to choose what to do to achieve an equally fulfilling conclusion. The goal of brainstorming is to make as many conclusions as possible to solve a matter. Brainstorming should contain a few rules such as be original, list all thoughts without judging them and advise as many thoughts as possible. This procedure helps opponents to see that there are many probable resolutions for a matter and that working together considerately, they can determine them.
Evaluation of the variants
After opponents have produced some probable resolutions, they need to choose which will be the final agreement. This can be done by requesting the opponents to talk about each option in order to discuss all the merits and demerits of each. The options that the students dislike can be crossed out. Then the parties can be requested to predict the outcomes that might follow after selecting each option.
Conclusion
Situations of conflict, whether they are between health care workers or health care workers and families, command large amounts of time. If a conflict exists within a health care team, everyone is affected, regardless of the source. Both sides in a dispute tend to interpret the other sides intentions through the lens of their own anger, hurt and fear. By evading such problems, there is the risk that the matter will escalate or fester.
Health care teams can begin to experience frustration, tension, caregiver burnout, and intra-team conflict due to muted tension or the polarization of opinion. Even if one side perceives itself to have won, both sides suffer unrecoverable losses of time, emotional depletion, stress, and often professional or personal regard. Patients and families begin to feel intense anxiety, decreased confidence in the health care system and, in the event of the death of a family member, complications in the bereavement process. The resolution of conflict in end-of-life care can create a higher quality of health care, more cohesive, happy and efficient health care teams and a substantial increase in patient and family satisfaction.
References
Boulding, Elise. Peace Culture: The Problem of Managing Human Difference. Cross Currents 1998: 445.
Guttman, Howard M. The Art of Managing Conflict: It Does No Good to Run Away from Disagreement and Discord. Confronting Conflict Head-On Will Make Any Organization Run Smoother. USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education) 132.2704 (2004): 62.
Moore, David B. Managing Social Conflict-The Evolution of a Practical Theory. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 31.1 (2004): 71.
Peterson, Randall S., and Elizabeth A. Mannix, eds. Leading and Managing People in the Dynamic Organization. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003.
Rahim, M. Afzalur. Managing Conflict in Organizations. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 2001.
Smith, Kenwyn K. The Movement of Conflict in Organizations: The Joint Dynamics of Splitting and Triangulation. Administrative Science Quarterly 34.1 (1989): 1.
Roger Fisher and William Ury, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In , New York: Penguin Books, (1983).
Views of conflict taken by Lofgren, COO of Schneider National Inc.
There are two types of conflicts in organizations. There is task conflict and relationship conflict. There is a general belief that any organization which does not experience tension and conflict will not be successful or grow. The two types of conflicts can be experienced at once in an organization. Lofgren takes the view of task conflict as the best conflict for their organization. Task conflict brings about effective decisions.
Organizations which make good decisions usually take on task conflict because it fights for the best solutions to the problems of the company, unlike relationship conflict which interprets difference of opinions as to the difference of characters. Lofgren believes that task conflict will help the company in mediating the points of conflict in the company by making sound decisions that help in the growth of the business. He does not go for relationship conflict because he believes that conflicts between people are not positive.
Factors for conflict-free transition
Lofgren was the first nonmember executive to run the Schneider Company after Don Schneider and his son. He took over the company from the don without any conflicts or any issues arising from other stakeholders. For there to be a conflict, one party has to perceive that another party has negatively affected or is about to affect something that the first party cares about (Robbins & Judge 123).
In this case, there was no conflict in the transition process because Lofgren had all the positive intentions of continuing with what the don had started and even making the operations of the company better. Lofgren and the other employees had no potential opposition towards the change in the executive or leadership. There was also no cognition and personalization of the change in leadership and therefore there would not result in any perceived conflict from the stakeholders. Lofgren had no bad intentions and therefore there was no reason for any conflict.
How the organization of executive creates and reduces conflict
The organization of the executive group has six members who are from different backgrounds and have different behaviors and characters. This is a potential reason and cause of a relationship and task conflict. The conflict will be caused by different members having different goals and objectives, their interpretations of facts will also be different and there will be a lot of disagreements that will be based on the expectations of the behavior of each executive member.
All of these factors will cause conflict. The organization of the executives will also reduce conflicts because there will be an element of cooperation among the executive members and cooperation is one of the ways of reducing conflict for example the members of the executive were working together and even bringing counselors to teach them how to be better people and understand each other. The members will also develop trust among each other and this will reduce the chances of any conflicts arising. Lofgren also practices good leadership and therefore this reduces the chances of any conflicts.
How Lofgren manages conflicts
Lofgren faces conflicts positively because he believes that conflict makes an organization stronger. He manages conflicts in different ways. Cooperativeness is one of the ways that he manages conflicts. He ensures that other members concerns are satisfied. He also manages conflicts by being assertive. This means that he ensures that his concerns are met and satisfied as well for example his concern of getting together an executive group was fulfilled and this reduced conflicts that would be created by him personally. He is also accommodative and listens to the views of the other members even though he is the leader. This helps in reducing conflict.
Team building activities
Lofgren has to ensure the growth of the company by creating positive conflict but also avoiding relationship conflict. He can achieve this by carrying out team building activities. One of the team building activities that Lofgren can use to create positive conflict is training.
This will bring the executives together but will also create a task conflict because it will recognize that all people are not equally trainable but at the same time try to impart necessary skills in them while challenging them to work together and use their skills to promote the growth of the company. Another team-building activity that Lofgren can use is task sharing. This will lead to the executives working together and gaining trust among each other and it will also lead to task conflict as every executive will want to work harder or more than the other to appear more effective but to the benefit of the company
What to do to increase trust
Trust is a state where one agrees to be vulnerable to another because you have positive expectations for how things will turn out (Martin 154). Followers who trust their leaders will try to align their actions and attitudes with the leaders attitudes and requests. Lofgren can build trust by showing integrity, benevolence, and the ability to be a good leader. He can also take risks and share information with the executives to ensure group effectiveness and productivity. Groups which trust each other will likely engage in task conflicts without engaging in relationship conflict.
One of the interpersonal conflicts I saw in the workplace was the case when all employees were supposed to discuss a long-term project on attracting clients. Meanwhile, some of them were unaware of the decisions made by the majority of the participants. As a result, their growing discontent led to the ultimate refusal to work with others and the neglect of their duties, which they were actually incapable of performing in the absence of information. This situation was critical for the outcomes of the elaborated initiative, and the expertise of people who could have advantageously shared their knowledge of the subject was ignored.
The resolution of the conflict was ensured by the actions of one of the managers who proposed using digital solutions to involve everyone in the discussion. Hence, the idea was to consider only the decisions made collectively when using the chosen program as valid, and other suggestions should have remained at the stage of examination. This approach promoted the inclusion of all workers in the process for receiving better results. At first, some of them were unwilling to negotiate due to the previously formed negative opinions, but the managers efforts led to the ultimate change of attitude.
The method used for overcoming the challenge was extremely beneficial for the company, but it can be complemented by other tools allowing to prevent similar occasions alongside addressing the already emerged crises. Thus, the use of questionnaires at all the stages of project elaboration can help timely detect any negative emotions and reveal their sources (Chen & Tang, 2018). In this way, the effectiveness of subsequent measures in the case of appearing problems in this regard will be increased due to a better understanding of the causes by managers.
Conflicts in the workplace settings have become inevitable, and they have heavily arise between the co-workers, and between the supervisors and the subordinates (Bingham, 2004). Conflicts can also occur among the employees themselves, and between the employees and external stakeholders, which include the customers, suppliers, as well as the regulatory agencies (Bingham, 2004). Managing conflicts at the workplace has become a key management competency, and it is advisable that all the small business owners make sure that they study and acquire effective managements skills in conflict management in order to maintain a positive workplace environment (Bingham, 2004). Reviewing conflicts, as well as resolving them at the workplace would definitely help one in gaining ideas on what to expect whenever conflicts arise at their workplaces. In most scenarios, conflicts at the workplace have become a fact in life. Today, we can all see instances where employees have contradicted due to conflict of interests. In this case, the paper intends to discuss on how to address a conflict
Conflict scenario
One day there was a case of crisis within the organization that took several hours to be resolved; however, since I was the purchasing manager, I was capable of handling that problem where I managed to resolve it within the shortest time possible. Jerry one of my suppliers, who was also known to be a slow paced talker, called me to confirm the particulars of the proposal. He wanted me to add more details into a proposal that I had already spent days preparing. On the other hand, I was in a hurry to make up for the lost time in my department. However, Jerry wanted to thoroughly understand what he will be bidding on, and he therefore, thought that there was ambiguity. At first we were both angry t one another and we could make no progress in addressing the situation. The decision I made to solve my problem was to kindly ask Jerry if we could postpone the conversation since we were both defensive. I thought that this could give Jerry an idea that my impatience would be more prevalent if we continue with our conversation. The fact that conflicts occurs among others in the workplace does not necessarily look as a bad thing as long as the conflict can be resolved effectively and lead to personal and professional growth.
Listening is a good instrument of conflict resolution. One ought to listen to others as they express their ideas. Based on our interactions, I noticed that we could not make progress if I continued talking without allowing Jerry to express his opinion. I am quite talkative, and this made Jerry feel that I was not giving him time to share his side of the story. He felt that I was patronizing him, even as I tried to speak slowly. Hence, the more I continued speaking with him, the more he became so defensive and stubborn. I could notice that by the change of his tone. When I realized that he was becoming defensive, I also tried to become defensive to safeguard the interests of the organization. Nevertheless, this did not help us since it all ended in an acrimonious states. We agreed to give each other some time to identify our conflicting interests, since they were the ones leading to disagreements.
Steps taken to make the decision
There are various processes that should be taken when one is making a decision. The first process or step is to define the problem (Edelman, Erlanger & Lande, 2006). It is true that one cannot make decision when there is no problem. A person, therefore, needs to state the problem that needs to be solved as well as state the outcome that the person may desire to accomplish after making the decision. Problem statement helps one evaluate the various approaches that one can use to address the problem. The second process is developing the alternatives (Edelman, Erlanger & Lande,2006). To arrive to an agreement with Jerry, we agreed to identify the different options that would help in solving the problem without affecting both the company and the supplier. Since the conflict was arising from the transportation cost, we had to look for alternatives to help us address the challenge.
The third step in decision-making process is evaluating the alternatives. This process of decision making is very significant since it allows the parties locked in a conflict to analyze each of the alternatives that they both have come up with (Jordan & Troth, 2004). The options stated has to have advantages as well as disadvantages to both parties. Hence, the parties can only reach to an agreement through compromising on some of their demands. After tabling our alternatives, we agreed to select the alternative that would suit both of us. Jerry was requesting that the company pays for transportation cost else, it allows him to include the cost in the price of his supplies. Conversely, I demanded that Jerry caters for transportation cost since he was selling his products at a high price. Once all the alternatives are evaluated, the decision-making process then ensues. In this process, the parties ought to set aside their interests and identify an option that would favor all of them. Eventually we agreed to share the cost incurred in transporting the products from Jerrys warehouse to the company.
After identifying the most appropriate alternative among all the available options, the last step in decision-making process entails implementing the alternative agreed upon by all parties (Tinsley & Brett, 2001). This process is very crucial because the people involved in the solution implementation should make sure that they know about the implications of not following the recommendations to the letter. Failure to honor the agreement might affect the relationship between the parties, making it hard for the two to engage in other transactions in future. Besides implementing the alternatives identified in during the negotiation plan, both parties ought to monitor the implementation process to make sure that nothing goes wrong (Tinsley & Brett, 2001). Together with Jerry, we ensured that the staff involved in transporting and receiving the supplies did not violate our agreements.
References
Bingham, L. (2004). Employment dispute resolution: the case for mediation. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 22(2), 145-174.
Edelman, L., Erlanger, H. & Lande, J. (2006). Internal dispute resolution: the transformation of civil rights in the workplace. Law & Society Review, 27(3), 497-534.
Jordan, P. & Troth, A. (2004). Managing emotions during team problem solving: emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. Human Performance, 17(2), 195-218.
Tinsley, C. & Brett, J. (2001). Managing workplace conflict in the United States and Hong Kong. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 85(2), 360-381.
At the workplace, dealing with clients can be potentially disastrous, especially in cases where there is a misunderstanding. In one particular case, a client was rude and disrespectful during our interaction, which led to a slight argument. Subsequently, the client raised a complaint with my supervisor who was quick to judge and place the blame squarely on me, without taking into consideration the facts and context. While I tried to plead my case to the supervisor, the initial reaction was that the client was right. As a result, I was temporarily taken off duty in that station to perform other tasks as punishment despite my protests. I agreed to take the punishment but raised the matter to management for review, noting that the supervisor had not considered my side of the story. Ultimately, I was reinstated to my workstation after it was determined by management that the client was at fault.
Conflicts are inevitable in the workplace due to the diversity in backgrounds among colleagues and stakeholders. Therefore, following the response mechanisms put in place by organizations can ensure that there is a structured way of dealing with conflicts when they arise. This means that when a problem occurs, the first action I will take is to try and resolve it amicably with the aggrieved party. In case this step fails, the next course of action I would take will be escalation to a senior in the organization for investigation and arbitration if necessary. This provides the opportunity for all the involved parties to present their case after which an appropriate decision can be made after considering both sides. Therefore, by using such interactive conflict resolution mechanisms in the workplace, I can be assured that there is feedback from all involved individuals to maintain trust in the process.
Primerica, Inc. offers health insurance, investments, and banking to middle-income households in the United States as well as Canada. It is evident that at a large firm such as Primerica, there would be disagreements amongst personnel at all levels. Negative behaviors such as utilizing slang or other disrespectful comments and disrespecting coworkers sentiments are frequent difficulties in such a setting. Other habits include becoming a member of a clique, inciting hatred among fellow co-workers, and electronically publicizing ones thoughts for others to read, among others (Konopaske & Matteson, 2018). Because Primerica is a banking and insurance firm, factors such as poor communication might lead to an error that could hurt the organization. According to Konopaske and Matteson (2018), a negative perception such as insults, public embarrassment, severe disruptions, or workplace aggression might be termed psychological abuse and result in management concerns (Weatherly, 2021). As a result of the frequent engagement, every group falls into a confrontation with each other at some point in time.
Conflict Drivers
Negative workplace behaviors would lead to excessive dysfunctional conflict and a low degree of organizational effectiveness in terms of work interdependence. A Primerica with sequential and reciprocal dependency would have low performance, inefficient service delivery, and satisfaction with destructive behaviors (Sankaran & Graham, 2019). Perceptual discrepancies can also develop when there is no shared aim, such as the staff placing a more significant priority on good collaboration and coordination between themselves. If management is not there to set a precise objective for the organization and give explicit parameters, the disharmony from disputes can become unhealthy. According to Sankaran and Graham (2019), workplace incivility and pessimism could prompt severe anxiety, depressed mood, and stress-related health complications (Sankaran & Graham, 2019). Furthermore, many firms that tolerate ongoing unethical behavior can be sued for vast sums of money.
Conflict Resolution
The administrator who is to handle the disagreement must tackle the intergroup conflict. According to Konopaske and Matteson (2018), having defined organizational principles will motivate workers to maintain a continuous work ethic, often described as drawing a line in the sand, in order to address a problematic habit. Furthermore, there must be no compensation structure for underachievers or employees who fail to meet the companys goals (Raines, 2019). Furthermore, Konopaske and Matteson (2018) state that a solution is to provide outlets for personnel such as support systems, complaint forms, or a kind of arbitration through Human Resource Managers (Raines, 2019). A supervisor who seeks to sort out an issue between two parties and strives to address the situation swiftly but with both sides agreeing on the resolution is an example of compromise (Konopaske & Matteson, 2018). When engaging with a negative mindset, determining the source of the issue might lead to reconciliation and a joint goal commitment.
Conclusion
As previously noted, organizations will always have some level of conflict, and dealing with gross misconduct is a typical issue for the company that affects various people and even departments. A lack of adequate supervision and precise goals can lead to poor business performance because of the consecutive and reciprocating dependency in a banking and insurance firm such as Primerica. Managers must negotiate in the office and establish certain ethical norms and limitations to match the companys aims with employees. If the core issue is resolved, a poor attitude can be reversed.
References
Konopaske, J. M., & Matteson, M. T. (2018). Organizational behavior and management (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
In any business deal it is highly important that the final agreement between the business partners preserves employees civil rights as in the case of failure in this area the company may eventually suffer great material and reputation looses. To find practical guidelines on how to do it in the best way it is useful to study other companies collective bargaining outcomes and to make adequate conclusions out of it.
Collective bargaining in itself can be described as a process of palaver between the representatives of the employer and an authorized union of workers. The purpose of such negotiations is to determine conditions of employment including the payment issues, working hours, working conditions, and any other issues connected to the process of work. These notions are the most important during the negotiation process between the management of the company and the representatives of the workers.
I have studied the case of the Big Three Union of American giant motor-car construction companies which includes General Motors, Ford and Chrysler (Stebenne 1996). The case occurred as a result of the conflict between the union of labor power and the companies management. During the long period of conflict and negations the union of workers succeeded to achieve its goals and secure the workers better working conditions and fees. However, this result was achieved after a long session of negotiations and the interference of the state which laid to the companies great material and reputation looses.
The conflict arose in 1950s at its first stage. The employees demands were to secure better working conditions namely less working hours, regular breaks and a higher level of fees. The representatives of the workers informed the companys management of the difficulties the workers had had at their places of work namely the lack of proper hygiene conditions, the absence of breaks relevant for power regeneration and having meals, too long hours of work which were absolutely unacceptable on the manufacture with such level of danger for human health (Moody 1997). The representatives of workers supported their statement with significant facts of medical researches and addressed the guarantees of rights and freedoms provided in the Constitution. During the first stage of negotiation, the agreement was not developed. Later, the union of Big Tree was punished for that and fined by the government. This provided the basis for the future success of employees unions at the second stage of the collective bargaining negations (Bronfenbrenner 1998). However, the companies have already suffered significant material and reputation losses.
Reasoning on this case, I would propose the next strategies for my company while collective bargaining negotiations: effective information reception concerning the demands of the workers and their complaints as to the violation of their civil rights, offering the union of the workers possible ways to solve the emerging problem, and finding an optimal compromise decision. It is important to succeed in finding an ultimate compromise on each and every stage of negations as it is impossible to pass to the next stage without success on the previous one.
Concluding on the above-mentioned information, it should be stated that the importance of preserving the employees civil rights is great for any business establishment. Thus, it is significant for its management to participate in the process of collective bargaining in order to provide the companys workers with fair working conditions and well-deserved fees.
References
Bronfenbrenner, K., et al. (1998). Organizing to Win: New Research on Union Strategies. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press.
Moody, K. (1997). Workers in a Lean World: Unions in the International Economy. New York: Verso.
Stebenne, D. (1996). Arthur Goldberg: New Deal Liberal. New York: Oxford University Press.
Conflict resolution has never been an easy process for an organization that comprises people from diverse backgrounds and equally diverse lines of thought. This is because many different and contradicting ideas are raised concerning the same issue. Careful consideration of every notion is necessary if a binding and amicable resolution is to be arrived at. This paper will look at such an instance. The situation used is that of a manufacturing company, Orbit Limited, which is planning to mechanize some of its operations. This step will lead to the loss of jobs by hundreds of workers. As a result, a major conflict arises. Some are in support of the step while others are strongly opposed to it.
The Conflict at Orbit Limited
In the case of Orbit Limited, it is hard to determine whether those opposing the move to mechanize the companys operations are doing that out of goodwill or they have vested interests. In most conflicts, there will always be those who are right and those who are wrong. The challenge is that at the time of the conflict, everyone is normally convinced that his or her stance is the best. In this case, the Managing Director has a hard time trying to clarify the benefits of the move. However, it would also be prudent if the manager allows those who are opposing the move to present their views.
Effect Of Use Of Power In Conflict Resolution
The situation in Orbit Limited is a fragile one and should the Managing Director try to ignore other controversial ideas, an even more, serious conflict is imminent. The deadliest mistake that the Managing Director would do is to use his or her powers to decide on the most appropriate course of action. This will only portray his incompetence as a leader and may strike up a revolution against him. The best decision in this circumstance is to provide room for constructive controversy. Although the two parties disagree, there is a possibility that they can discuss this issue and arrive at a solution that will partly fulfill the interests of all of them.
Use Of Constructive Controversy
The probability that Orbit Limited will finally agree on a single resolution is high if everybody involved gives room for negotiations. Negotiations help to clarify any equivocal parts of a disagreement (Littlejohn and Foss, 2008). This helps to vividly open the eyes of both parties to other alternatives that will satisfy everybody. For instance, it is possible that after constructive controversy, the parties involved here will settle on reducing the number of machines to be introduced and consequently retain a good number of employees. This is an ideal situation where constructive controversy can lead to better-informed decisions and amicable problem-solving.
Use Of Communication Theories
Communication theories can also serve as effective tools when dealing with such conflicts. In this section of this paper, the writer will assume the position of a consultant who will help to resolve the conflict using relevant communication theories. The most appropriate communication theory here is the Standpoint Theory. By using this theory, I will be in a position to convince everybody in the conflict that even though they may think they are right, several others who are viewing the problem from different vantage points may equally be right. This theory will mostly be directed to the topmost officials because even though they have power, those who are below them in rank have the capability of finding better solutions than them.
The second communication theory that will be of equal importance, in this case, is Rhetoric. Since my main aim would be to persuade the audience at orbit Limited, it would be helpful to use the three rhetorical proofs namely ethical, logical and emotional. The Rhetoric communication strategy goes hand in hand with the Face-Negotiation theory (Miller, 2005). When making the speech in a bid to solve the conflict, I would wear a facial expression that would appeal to the audience and achieve the sole purpose of convincing them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be seen from the above discussion that conflicting ideas in any type of organization are inevitable. It is also clear that the best way to solve any agreement is by listening to both sides of the story. Moreover, a proper solution should encompass the interests of all the conflicting parties. Finally, it can be inferred from the foregoing that communication theories are important tools in solving conflicts.
Reference List
Littlejohn, S.W. and Foss, K.A. (2008). Theories of human communication. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Miller, K. (2005). Communication theories: Perspectives, processes, and contexts. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.