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CONFLICT MANAGEMENT.
Term Paper ID:30451
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Essay Subject:
Discusses workplace conflict.... More...
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7 Pages / 1575 Words
4 sources, 22 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses workplace conflict. Basic model of conflict. Strategic strategies for different types of conflict. Methods managers can use to resolve conflicts. How certain types of conflict can be put to good use. Traditional workplace conflict and new trends, such as decentaalization, globalization and team-based worked as increasing opportunities for conflict.
Paper Introduction:
FEDERALISTS AND ANTIFEDERALISTS
In the early days of this nation, two sides attempted to put their ideas into action. Federalism is, more or less, a sharing of powers- with certain powers delegated to a central government, and those not so delegated, belong to the states that make up the federation.
Given that there are various types of Federalism, they should be defined. At the time the country was constitutionally organized, many people believed in Dual Federalism. “Dual Federalism originated in what may be called “the Rural Republic” immediately after the Constitution was adopted. This form “enumerated powers, sovereign and equal spheres” (Walker, 1995, p. 1). It was the beginning of a new government. At this early time, the federal government was limited. America had a basically rural e
Text of the Paper:
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7). It is alwaysnecessary that the manager keep in mind that "an organizationallybeneficial solution," and not just a solution that satisfies her/hisimmediate needs or those of the disputants, is the goal of conflictresolution (Elangovan, p. Conflict results from issues--big, small, emotional,substantive, simple, or complex. The former has a very highsettlement rate (which is also true of its informal use), "typically 6 to8 percent," and the latter has the merit of "always produc[ing] asettlement" (Ross & Conlon, 2 , p. E. Changes in the workplace over the last few decades have only tendedto increase the opportunities for serious conflict; greater culturaldiversity, increased technology-based communication (as opposed to purelypersonal interaction), and frequent efforts at decentralization are only afew examples of such changes. Thenature of this opposition generated by the 'other' varies considerably,however, and can range from values to aims to interests. 8). The manager may only become aware of the conflict once its intensityreaches a certain stage, but the first step in conflict management isalways to determine its causes and this may help determine whether theapproach taken is inquisitorial, adversarial, consists of the provision ofan impetus of disputants' self-resolution, or whether the manager acts asmediator, adviser, or restructurer (Elangovan, 1995). But, as a number of scholars point out, thereis, instead, a growth in such conflict in workplaces. There has also been amarked increase in collaborative, or team-based, approaches to work, whichincreases opportunities for conflict. The management of conflict has, therefore,become an even more important managerial function than it was in the recentpast (Caudron, 2 ; Wall & Callister, 1995) and is the subject of an ever-growing body of professional literature. R. Hybrid forms of third-partydispute resolution: Theoretical implications of combining mediation andarbitration. 8 3). (1995). Decentralizationhas also meant that a growing number of employees "are being asked to makethe kinds of decisions they never had to make before" and, uninsulated bythe former hierarchical decision-making, they must deal with difficultissues that often generate conflict (Caudron, p. Some authorities, e.g., Wall and Callister (1995), argue thatconflict is never a good thing. 8 5). This essay touches on the sourcesof workplace conflict--both traditional and new--and then addressesmanagerial intervention strategies. When the manager can make aunilateral decision (and there are no substantive means of appeal) s/heexercises the highest degree of control over outcomes. 417). In cases where precedents will be setor outcomes affect the larger groups (i.e., the business as a whole) thecontext implies that an intervening manager "should not select a strategythat yields full outcome control to the disputants" (Elangovan, 1995, p.8 5). When these trends are combined withthe conflicts always inherent in the business environment (e.g., betweenquantity and quality or short-term versus long-term) the increase inworkplace conflict is less surprising. 516). Conflict is all but inevitable in group undertakings and, aside fromtheir membership in the general corporate group, most employees ofbusinesses are involved in interpersonal and group interactions of manykinds. If employees are, instead, willing to disagreepublicly and to voice objections or even perceptions regarding the problemsinherent in proposed courses of action then they are capable of creativeconflict in which genuine change takes place. In order to make decisions about the handling of conflict managershave to understand both the types of conflict and the strategic optionsavailable to them. In addition theopposition need not be real in order to generate conflict but can be amatter of perception on the part of the one who feels s/he or her/hisvalues are being opposed. In addition, an increasingemphasis on efficiency (i.e., doing more with less) places greater stresson corporate employees and "stress can make people intolerant, which, leftunchecked, inevitably leads to conflict" (Caudron, p. This includes not only the meansmanagers can employ to resolve conflicts but alternatives employed in thecase of seemingly insoluble hostilities and even means of harnessingcertain types of conflict and putting them to good use. R. Academy of Management Review, 25, 416-431. In all cases the blocking of goals (including acting inopposition to one party's values) generates "anger, stress, and othernegative emotions" which increasingly color each party's perceptions of theother and transform conflict into clashes of personalities and personalstyles (Wall & Callister, p. Keeping Team Conflict Alive. But many managers have foundthat a hybrid of mediation and arbitration can be even more effective inespecially difficult cases. Managerial third-party disputeintervention: A prescriptive model of strategy selection. Such an escalation in the process itself mirrors the escalation cycle ofthe conflict and, just as the stakes have increased in the course of theconflict, so, now, the costs for the (as yet unidentified) less-satisfiedparty increase. The effects feed back toaffect the causes and the result is an escalating cycle which "will flowthrough numerous iterations (1995, p. Conflict and its management. Mediation comes first and the idea is that theresolution procedure progresses in a "low-to-high-cost sequence" for theparties (Ross & Conlon, p. 418). Furthermore in the case ofpersonality-based conflicts the likelihood of resolution depends entirelyon the willingness of the parties to modify behaviors or to change theirperceptions of the other and this requires a different approach bymanagers. It might be intuitively assumed that workplace conflict would havedeclined as managerial science increased the capabilities of those who areexpected to manage conflict. Ross, W. As Caudron (2 ) notes, however,one of the drawbacks of many work environments (and this is true even ofteam-based endeavors) is that employees perceive managers as requiringconformity and obedience. The strategiesemployed in resolving conflict vary considerably--but they do so along aspectrum of "the degree of wielded by the third parties over the resolutionprocess and the outcome" (Elangovan, p. In thisrespect it is often most effective, therefore, for managers to retain ahigh degree of control over the process. Wall, J. In other words, the "initialand residual causes of conflict form a solid basis for its escalation" andthe disruptive and destructive consequences of conflict grow as theiterations intensify (Wall & Callister, p. But because of the cyclical, escalating tendency ofconflict the simplest causes can generate the most intense conflicts.Indeed, as Wall and Callister point out, the more complex the issuesinvolved the more likely it is that these characteristics "concomitantlymake the conflict solvable" (1995, p. There are manycauses for this. (1995). In the case of large,indivisible issues, however, disputants tend even more strongly to formemotional attachments to their positions, which are characterized by all-or-nothing stances, and there are far fewer opportunities for face-saving orthe development of cooperative solutions. But their perspective is limited to thestudy of conflict that cannot be managed by the participants and requiresintervention--and, significantly, excludes instances in which the conflictis between managers and subordinates. H., & Conlon, D. (2 ). Since communication is one of the basic sources of suchproblems, for example, Wall and Callister (1995) note that increasedcultural diversity in the American workplace and even remote communicationvia technologies such as telephone, e-mail, and other means have increasedmiscommunication. They must also, however, bewilling to work out their own objections in turn and, thereby, "show acomfort level with conflict" (Caudron, p. 521). This approach not onlyfacilitates innovation and improves communication, it also reduces thefrustration level of employees who feel voiceless and of managers whosechanges are simply acknowledged with a nod while employees go right ondoing things the way they have always been done. Conflict is defined,therefore, as a process involving two or more parties in which one party"perceive[s] the opposition of another" (Wall and Callister, p. The threat/promise of binding arbitrationfacilitates the parties' efforts to agree to a settlement during mediation. 5). Complex and multiple issues, of course,generate the highest levels of conflict since they provide the most roomfor misunderstanding. This means that they can ensurethat power imbalances between the disputants are not seen as influencingoutcomes unduly and they can control the degree of the parties' influenceover the decision (or their perceptions of it), thus ensuring that they aresatisfied with the resolution or, at least, with the process. A., & Callister, R. 527). These clear sources ofpotential conflict are, therefore, eliminated by improving communicationoverall while encouraging an informed, creative level of conflict. 519). The same is true in cases where time pressures may be ofconsiderable importance and/or the disputants' personal characteristics donot lend themselves to cooperative conflict resolution. Complex issues may generate anenormous number of causes of conflicts but, at the same time, they can bemore readily resolved if they are broken down into smaller issues that"provide an opportunity for the parties to set trades and face-saving exitsfrom the conflict" (Wall & Callister, p. The decision about the degree of control the manager will employ inher/his approach to conflict resolution also depends on numerous attributesof the dispute and the disputants. 417). And the controlover the process means "control over the development and selection ofinformation" regarded as the basis for resolution--such as givingparticipants "authority to conduct an investigation and plan thepresentation of evidence," which demonstrates a high degree of control overthe process (Ross & Conlon, 2 , p. Elangovan, A. Journal of Management, 21, 515-548. 8 5). But the second important consideration isthat the parties perceive the process of intervention as being fair,"because commitment to the implementation of the resolution is an importantcriterion" of successful conflict management (Elangovan, p. 515). 52 ). Academy ofManagement Review, 2 , 8 -83 . In order to cultivate suchpositive conflict managers must model such behaviors and, for example,publicly praise the effort even of those whose objections they dissent fromor whose ideas they feel are impractical. This has occurred in the former case because people lacksufficient shared bases of social communication and in the latter casebecause of the absence of typical nonverbal adjuncts to communication, suchas facial expression and tone of voice. The basic model of conflict, as constructed by Wall and Callister intheir 1995 meta-analysis of the conflict literature, consists of causes anda core process that has results and effects. 5). References Caudron, S. (2 ). PublicManagement, 82(2), 5-13. Although some forms of mediation and arbitration are employedinformally in most cases in those cases where solutions cannot be reachedby other means conflict cannot be resolved except through the manager'sexertion of full authority (i.e., imposing a solution) or the use of formalmediation and arbitration procedures. In such instances "they won't voice theirobjections, concerns, or dissenting opinions--or suggest new ways of doingthings" (Caudron, p.
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