Conflict Management Essay Research Paper Organizational BehaviorBut

Conflict Management Essay, Research Paper

Organizational Behavior

But we cannot avoid conflict, conflict with society, other individuals and with oneself. Conflicts may be sources of defeat, lost life and a limitation of our potentiality, but they may also lead to a greater depth of living and the birth of more far-reaching unites, which flourish in the tensions that engender them.

-Karl Jaspers

The amount of entropy in corporate America has increased substantially because of two basic reasons. The first involves the immigration of a large and continuous population of ethnic, migrant workers from different corners of the world. These knowledge workers are products of varying, and at times diametrically opposing environments that in turn, affect their perceptions and subsequently the formulation of their opinions and beliefs. This may be illustrated in a comparison between two coworkers; a wealthy Swede and a lower-middle class Pakistani (first world and LDC comparison) working on the same project simultaneously. Their perspectives on several issues will vary, as their upbringing is mirror opposite.

The second reason may be attributed to the era of globalization, which has created a favorable environment for mergers and acquisitions. The acquisition of smaller companies by a large firm creates large amounts of conflict within the organization, as the acquired company becomes a mere sub culture within the larger firm. A collection of these sub cultures causes cross-cultural conflicts between employees as each employee has their own fixed mindset. However, they now have to adopt a new set of (conflicting) goals, work in a different environment under a separate management team. The resultant conflict is harmful to the existing organizational environment, and unless rectified, produces a self-destruct climate that does not support the long-term goals of the corporation.

As corporate America enters the next millennium, it is faced with the increasingly difficult task of integrating these varying opinions, climates and management styles to produce an environment that supports the company.s long term.s goals. This process of integration is better understood by studying the science of conflict management.

A Conflict is a process that encompasses all kinds of antagonistic interactions (passive resistance to overt aggression) among people, designed to inhibit the attainment of goals of another party that has dissimilar and incompatible objectives.

Conflict management involves resolving these negative processes through communication and compromise. It is the art of persuading two antagonistic parties to come to a workable solution on a debatable subject to attain a common goal.

This paper performs an acute dissection of organizational conflict. It emphasizes that a certain amount of conflict is necessary for corporations to constantly innovate and survive in a turbulent environment. Particular attention is devoted to organizational metamorphoses in mergers and in trade negotiations between the U.S and Pacific-rim countries, as they both present cases of differing organizational cultures and ideologies.

PERSPECTIVES IN CONFLICT ANALYSIS

Conflicts can be analyzed from five different perspectives, beginning from the individual level, up to the organizational level. It starts at the individual level (Intra-indvidual conflicts) where individuals are confronted with moral dilemmas or .deadly quarrels. .

The next level involves conflicts between individuals (Inter-individual conflicts) that occur because of communication gaps and differences in opinion. Individual-group conflicts are ones where individuals find themselves sparring with groups. This may occur when an individual breaks a norm. They usually occur with newer employees who are not familiar with the norms of the organization. A rung above this level of conflict involves conflict between groups, which include conflicts between all aggregations of people, regardless of size. It encompasses conflicts across departments of a firm as well as conflicts between different firms. Inter group conflicts are most commonly found in acquired companies where cultural differences exist between old and new employees. The best way to resolve these conflicts involves setting up work teams within the troubled zones, whereby grievances are openly aired and defensive routines (not discussing the undiscussability of the undiscussable) are avoided.

While studying an acquisition between Compaq and Tandem computers, I proposed that the establishment of work groups across all levels of the organizations consisting of Compaq and Tandem employees would be the most effective way of diffusing tension and subsequently reducing conflict between employees. Communication in small groups enable peers to interact with each other, increasing their understanding of each other which in turn increases interpersonal coordination.

SOURCES OF CONFLICT

Conflicts usually spring from the following sources within an organization.

1. Limited Resources: Basic economics state that all resources are finite, and this promotes conflict among individuals and groups.

2. Interdependent Work activities- Differences in opinion regarding the usage of these scarce resources result in conflict as people have differences in perspective.

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать